What I’m Watching: Boss (Season Finale)

Boss: Season 1, Episode 8 “Choose” (B+)

After such a gut-wrenching and intense season, it was hard to imagine that this finale could top all of it. What we got was a somewhat splintered but altogether powerful conclusion to many of this season’s arcs which sends us into season two with a whole new sense of purpose and even darker tone. Tom going around telling people that he’s not going anywhere feels good in that he’s back in top form, though it’s clear that there isn’t one person whose strings he isn’t attempting to pull. It was most devastating to see Ezra come clean with Tom about the fact that he was the one that leaked the incriminating documents, because he realized that Tom was no longer in it for the betterment of the city, just for his own aggrandizement. Ezra was the one person that Tom truly trusted, and therefore it’s fitting that, after much discussion from Ezra, he was dealt the ultimate punishment: death. Ben’s victory over Cullen, who gave a very noble concession speech, was hardly unexpected but somber nonetheless, as he reserved his biggest thanks not for Kitty but for Tom, declaring his eternal loyalty to the master manipulator. Getting slugged in the face by Ross didn’t even make him flinch, but he’s going to have an uphill battle ahead of him with the introduction of the determined other candidate. Darius tailing Tom didn’t come to anything, and visiting Emma in prison was tragic but didn’t have too much of an impact on her evil father. Dr. Reyes calling newly promoted editor Sam Miller is sure to have negative consequences, and I hope she doesn’t suffer the same fate as Meredith’s father’s nurse. Meredith’s dependency on Tom seems to have returned, though he won’t be able to console her since he’s busy having a seizure, something that’s sure to cause him some grief as we enter season two sometime next year.

Season grade: A-
Season MVP: Kelsey Grammer and Kathleen Robertson as Kitty