I know, I'm the guy in here saying "but the acting!!" over and over...mainly because I didn't expect to have a single episode try to tie up so many loose ends.

I like that they tried to end this season on a happy note, but it just felt ham-fisted to me like the final scenes of season one did. Unfortunately this time it was about half the episode that felt off for me. The two moments that really pulled me out were the book falling on the floor to the page Wayne needed to see right then - classic children's adventure story stuff - and then his memory loss kicking in right as he solved the case.

Thematically, I get it. This story was always about Wayne and Amelia and once he met her he was never the ace detective he imagined himself to be ever again, and in some ways this episode was about him recognizing that job and the Purcell case ruined his idyllic life. Not that any of that explains why Ghost Amelia is the scariest character in the entire season, and Mr. July is actually one of the friendliest.

The problem for me is that the show doesn't really act like that's the point. The case is always, always front and center, which is why audiences kept complaining about how much time was spent on their relationship instead of pushing the plot forward. And even in this episode when the script hammers home that Wayne's family is really what matters, Wayne doesn't get to recognize robbing Julie of her happy ending isn't a good thing on his own, instead he just has to magically amnesia his way out of the situation. His son doesn't toss the address away, he puts it in his pocket. There's not going to be a second season of this story arc, so what's the point? And why is it OK that the Purcell family ultimately just a bunch of dumped bodies? Because they were poor and fucked up?

I really enjoyed this season but it seems clear to me it needed at least one more episode to get out everything it wanted to get out. The flashback sequence with Mr. July kind of bummed me out too (maybe just because I'd read too much Reddit this year), as did Michael Rooker's whiskey swilling bad guy act. During a season of television that really took its time and let everything breath, this episode asked me to choke down a whole lot of information real quick.

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"This is the streets, and I am the trap." � Jay Bilas
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