Written by John Edward Betancourt
Caution: This article contains spoilers for the Series Finale of ‘Outer Range’. To revisit the previous episode, click here.
It really is quite amazing, when everything comes together in a television show. Because that moment is special, for it truly informs the audience what the show is eager to accomplish and a fine understanding of its meaning. Sometimes, we get this wondrous moment quickly, and other times… it arrives via a supremely slow burn. One that requires patience and wonder and loyalty from an audience, but the reward is worth the wait. Because when that convergence moment arrives, there’s nothing like it and it truly captivates and inspires awe. If anything, that particular moment is top of mind today, simply because the series finale of Outer Range featured that wondrous moment. For ‘Do-Si-Do’ and ‘The End of Innocence’ were powerhouse explorations that spoke deeply to how the power of the past impacts us in present day and drives us to search for what we want in a negative manner. For one simple reason. But before we discuss that reason, we need to explore the darkness that surrounded these episodes since the past pushed people to take part in stunning acts. For instance, we saw Perry so eager to have his family back that he let another iteration of himself die. So he could take his own place and find that joy again because he couldn’t handle what his wife did with Amy. Not to mention, we saw Wayne finally dive into the hole to find meaning and understanding regarding his own journey and his own decisions following the death of Billy. For sadly, Luke could no longer handle his own past and what it didn’t provide him with, and that prompted him to unleash his rage and put down his own blood. But of course, the most pertinent setup regarding the past, came forth via Autumn. Who finally came to realize, she was an older version of Amy and that she needed to set all kinds of things in motion. Specifically, losing her memory so that the future she envisioned could proceed. Which brought forth a mad dash to save her younger self, one that failed.
Because Amy went into the hole so Autumn could find agency and could at last set in motion a dark plan to gain control and force people to be molded in the image she wanted of them. Something that chilled Royal to no end and left him wondering how best to stop Autumn. Which is a cliffhanger for certain, one that we will not see resolved with the news that this season will be the end of the line for the show. But this will work as a series finale, simply because it manages to tie together how the past… controls us and haunts us. Because the worst parts of it always come to the forefront of our minds and leave us wondering what if? and if we cannot resolve it… we become what we saw here.
Which was… people filled with regret and longing, and pain and suffering. All because they could not reconcile the past and could not understand… that we are nothing without it. So, we must instead, embrace the past and embrace our pain and resolve it all, and understand what it taught us. So that we don’t feel a need to do anything but live in the moment, and cherish every last one of them, and make the most of them since they matter the most. Which in many ways, makes this series, a cautionary tale. One where the hole represents our traumas, our pain and days gone by and how plunging into them is dangerous and painful and troublesome. Giving rise to a lovely legacy for this series. One that can now stand as a fierce character study on such matters and in a way, the cliffhanger nature of Autumn’s dark machinations and Wayne’s unknown destination and the plans to have the Abbot land examined by science… actually lends to the ending. Because the future is unknown, and it brings the lessons home perfectly. But yes, it is a shame that this series won’t get another season. Because it was bold, unique, and truly wanted to tell a different kind of story. Which should always be welcome in the land of television. But alas, what’s done is done and now all we can do is learn from this magnificent series and embrace its powerful lessons on facing yesterday to look toward a better tomorrow. Watch ‘Outer Range’
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