‘Jack Irish’ Recap: ‘Season 3, Episode 4’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for the series finale of ‘Jack Irish’.
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One common belief that we all share in, is that our respective tragedies in life are designed to teach us something poignant and powerful, to the point where our lives should be shaped and formed by that awful, awful moment. But while we hold hard to that belief and do our best to right the wrong that has come our way, what’s fascinating about the chaos and pain that comes our way, is that sometimes… its lesson inherent isn’t as deep or as powerful as we might like to think and sometimes, there might not be a lesson at all. We just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and saw our lives change for the worse because of it. Which leaves one to wonder, what do we become and what do we do when we reach that epiphany? And it just so happens that the final episode in the Jack Irish saga explored that question.
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A feat that the series finale accomplished by exposing every detail revolving around Operation Great White and well, what was uncovered brought Jack Irish great heartbreak. Simply because, as the web of deceit unraveled before his eyes, Jack came to learn that Izzy’s death, was not part of some grand plan to harm Jack. No instead, her death revolved around collateral damage, the kind that was set in motion by Great White, and there wasn’t a single officer involved in that operation that chose Izzy for termination through Wayne’s shaky hands, nor were they even aware of Jack Irish. They simply started his heartbreak through their greediness, and because they pushed Wayne a little too hard at an inopportune moment in his life, Izzy ended up being on the end of the gun on a dark day and well, that left Jack beside himself.

For he had spent decades trying to put away scumbags to feel whole about her passing, and of course… he dedicated hours to finding answers to her death, and sacrificed his safety to do so, and well… that’s what led to the exploration of that aforementioned question. Because being faced with the reality that he dedicated his life to righting a wrong that had no depth, forced Jack to reassess his life and his future and everything he’s done since the day she died and well, while he tried to process what should come next for him now that he realized he dedicated himself to fixing a fury that rose out of falsehoods, he figured he could at least do the right thing in the meantime, and bring Troy and his mother to justice. For he also learned that Nina was lying about her true identity and that she told Troy a great deal of lies about who is father actually was in life and well… after quite the hunt, everything came to a head in the most appropriate place possible, a graveyard.

After all, death surrounded this case and death haunted everyone touched by that fateful day when Izzy died. So, what better a place for a massive cash drop… then where the dead rest eternally? And well, it turns out this final showdown with the Milovich family… was actually quite the healthy thing for Mister Irish. For Troy’s decision to put down his mother and himself after learning the truth, brought an end to decades of chaos from a family without self-control and without that family around to haunt him… Jack had no choice but to quietly face that all-important question and really figure out what Izzy’s death was designed to teach him and well, what he learned out of her passing at last… was quite upbeat and powerful. To the point where he actually decided to quit his current gig and move out to the countryside to be with his son and be the father, he always dreamed of being. 

Which means that Jack Irish finally came to realize that since Izzy’s death was meaningless in the end, and born of cruelty, that the only way to truly honor her and her memory… was to live. To go on and not let the darkness of the world swallow him whole and live the full life that he and Izzy once dreamed of and well… clearly Jack is finally doing just that and that is… a wonderful way to bring this saga to a close. Since it finally gives Jack freedom from his pain and outright happiness and peace. Plus, he can now teach his son to be a better man than the ones, he put behind bars and well… it doesn’t get more satisfying than that and you really cannot go wrong with a series finale that asks the audience to instead look at what good can come out of our darkest hours instead of breaking down their ‘meaning’ ad nauseam. For to do so gives us hope and a desire to get to tomorrow… so we can see what wonders await us beyond the darkness.

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