What I’m Watching: Why Women Kill (Season Finale)

Why Women Kill: Season 1, Episode 10 “Kill Me as if It Were the Last Time” (B+)

Well, this was quite the finale. Showing the characters together in the same house from different time periods was a real head trip, one that worked well to capture the chaos of the moments of violence occurring for all of the couples. Opening with each of them looking at the house to buy it and then closing with them handing the keys off to the next owners was clever, and it was a cool opportunity to get to see the older versions of Beth Ann and Simone as they met with the successive couples. I’m pleased that the deaths didn’t occur as we had expected them to, and all three situations were relatively satisfying. The least creative was in the present, where Jade stabbed Eli but he didn’t die, and Taylor stabbed Jade so that it officially counted as a woman killing. I like that they came back from what they experienced, which actually made sense since their arrangement was mostly agreed-upon ahead of time even if it got a bit out of control. Simone helping Karl to achieve a peaceful death at the time of his choosing after dancing with him was sweet, and I like the idea that Tommy ended up as a great artist who may not have encountered Simone again in his very successful life. It was decidedly creepier to think about Simone and Tommy’s affair when we saw tiny Tommy tell Simone she was pretty when he first met her as a child. April showing up when Ralph was supposed to bang down the door seemed like it was going to mess up Beth Ann and Mary’s carefully-orchestrated plan, but, fortunately, it played out almost exactly as it should have. The smile on Beth Ann’s face when Rob looked at her, realizing that she had tricked him into thinking the gun was loaded, was perfect, an effective instance of revenge after she gave him one last chance to come clean about his many lies. This show has been very involving, and I feel like I really got to become invested in the characters and their drama. The very quick fourth death was, I’d say, more of a joke than anything else, and in season two I presume we’ll meet all new characters. This show was finally renewed for a second season just one day before this finale premiered, which is a relief given the strong potential here. I’m hopeful that a new storyline will help keep it fresh and that this show will continue to offer very watchable material for many seasons to come.

Season grade: B+
Season MVP: Ginnifer Goodwin as Beth Ann and Lucy Liu as Simone