Welcome everyone to the big finale of Eighty Six! It took a long time to get here, damn near 3 months just for these last two episodes, but it’s finally happened. Does it wrap things up well? Do Lena and Shin finally meet? Is it worth the huge wait? Let’s jump in and find out!
So as far as endings go… I think Eighty Six actually did a good job. I know, I know, “Lenlo, you’ve ragged on Eighty Six for almost 6 months now, what do you mean its good?!”. Trust me, I was surprised to. But for all that I hate how we got here, hate the 9 episodes of mediocre journey, Eighty Six did the best it could to wrap up what it had. It called back to, and connected with, all the story beats that lead up to here. The 86ers finding something beyond war, finding acceptance in a new community, the whole thing with Eugene. A lot of this is augmented by some pretty stellar direction, and yeah if you think about it to hard its still meh. But emotionally? I think Eighty Six delivered on it’s ending. And you know how important endings are to me.
Getting into the details, I really liked how Eighty Six remembered and called back to episode 2. Seeing the 86ers return to their hobbies, get gifts, start to really ingrain themselves in their communities and make friends outside of the squad. Even Shin went and found literally anything to do besides mope about war. It’s all small and cute stuff, sure. But that small stuff is what helps give each of them character they were otherwise lacking across the season. It’s the same for seeing Eugene’s grave and his sister again. I didn’t like Eugene, I don’t like his place in the story as a sacrificial lamb. But I do like that Eighty Six bothered to remember him and to remind us of what happened. To remind us that, as poorly presented as the relationship was, it mattered to Shin. That’s some good shit.
Similarly, I also really liked the visual parallels between Lena and Shin’s segments. The closing of the boxes, remembering the fallen, walking through their communities, changed as they are. I wish that Lena got more than half an episode to expound upon her own journey obviously. I really wanted to see and hear more about what happened during their defense of San Magnolia and how the race relations between these two groups worked out. I continue to think that is a far more powerful story than what we got regarding Frederica. But I appreciate that Eighty Six remembered to give us anything at all. Maybe that sounds like settling for scraps. I dunno, maybe I am. After the rest of the season though I’m going to take what I can get.
Lastly, I think the closing shot of the season was really well presented. I may hate that they brought Fido back, but I do love what they did with him. Presenting the whole thing like a home-movie, with the President and others setting up this meeting knowing full well how Shin feels about Lena. It’s cute! It’s the kind of lightheartedness that we don’t get to see in this show often. And as a finale I thinks it a great way for the pair to finally meet.
All in all I think Eighty Six ended as well as could be expected after how we got here. There were a lot of small details I appreciated, such as the guy having the front facing photos on his desk and making his wife/kid color their hair to say “I’m one of the good ones”. Or showing that the racial tensions still exist in San Magnolia even after they were saved. Its clear that a lot of time and care went into crafting this episode. More than went into the rest of the season, that’s for sure. Does it erase the poor experience I had with the rest of the show? Not really, I still won’t be recommending people watch Eighty Six. But at least I can know that for those that do they at least will end on a high note.
And that’s it! Final review coming soon! I cut this one a bit short since I’m almost done with the main review. Just a few revisions to make in light of this ending as well as some cleanup. Figure I can get it out sometime next week. Once that happens though, it becomes time to start prepping for another season! This is going to be a fun one since I’m the only person still writing on a regular basis. But I’m gonna make it work damnit!
