I suppose it's not surprising this episode played like the last four year's worth of episodes. Some laughs, a lot of repetition in character arc's, a few eighties references and Patton's Oswalt saying, "That's the thing about ..."
As it was the finale, I was hoping for an hour long episode to really give it a sendoff. Back to the Future provided an excellent way to bring back the first five years of the show through some sort of dream sequence or flashback and tug at those heart strings for fans of the show and for the best decade I can remember.
The episode felt rushed and lacked that emotional release one might have expected about a nostalgic series. They tried to put a montage at the end, tying all the characters and moments together, but it never quite got there for myself. I was thinking that they might have found a way to end the show at the end of the eighties (like New's Year's Eve) or at least in 1989 to give it that closure. However, it remained in that eighties something limbo.
Of course, any show ten years old it getting long in the tooth and it certainly needed to be concluded. Watching the show through Adam's youthful enthusiasm for the first 5 years gave it the emotional anchor that was needed to balance out the zaniness of the other characters. But, he grew up and with it, the child like wonderment which had to be morphed into teenage/young adult issues.
The writer's might have given the show a bit more shelf life with the introduction of a child that could have played off of Adam's interest and love of the era, like a new sibling or neighbour. Erica and Jeff's daughter was introduced too late for any great effect.
Overall, I enjoyed the show and it was a nice trip back to a fun and simpler time. It was one of the few shows where I liked all the characters and wanted them to succeed. And yes, the Eighties were awesome!
As it was the finale, I was hoping for an hour long episode to really give it a sendoff. Back to the Future provided an excellent way to bring back the first five years of the show through some sort of dream sequence or flashback and tug at those heart strings for fans of the show and for the best decade I can remember.
The episode felt rushed and lacked that emotional release one might have expected about a nostalgic series. They tried to put a montage at the end, tying all the characters and moments together, but it never quite got there for myself. I was thinking that they might have found a way to end the show at the end of the eighties (like New's Year's Eve) or at least in 1989 to give it that closure. However, it remained in that eighties something limbo.
Of course, any show ten years old it getting long in the tooth and it certainly needed to be concluded. Watching the show through Adam's youthful enthusiasm for the first 5 years gave it the emotional anchor that was needed to balance out the zaniness of the other characters. But, he grew up and with it, the child like wonderment which had to be morphed into teenage/young adult issues.
The writer's might have given the show a bit more shelf life with the introduction of a child that could have played off of Adam's interest and love of the era, like a new sibling or neighbour. Erica and Jeff's daughter was introduced too late for any great effect.
Overall, I enjoyed the show and it was a nice trip back to a fun and simpler time. It was one of the few shows where I liked all the characters and wanted them to succeed. And yes, the Eighties were awesome!
