What I’m Watching: The End (Penultimate Episode)

The End: Season 1, Episode 9 “With Sparkles” (B+)

This episode opened with an unexpected assortment of similar montages showing multiple characters engaging in passionate sex and stopping to appreciate one another. Things got messier from there, particularly for Kate as she experienced difficulty getting home and then found out that the police were raiding Edie’s community looking for evidence of the drugs used in the suspicious suicides of her two neighbors. Being invited to join the other two women in the lounge seemed harmless enough, but then it became clear that she was indulging in an activity that she had long since stopped, something that was immediately detected by Oberon as soon as she finally arrived home. Josh was right to point out the incongruity of her trusting him with her kids but not with her drugs, and, as usual, Persephone is aware of much more of what’s going on than others realize. Jasper’s return just showed Oberon how clueless he really was about what their relationship meant to him, and that was an unfortunate catalyst for Kate’s poorly-timed return. Dawn came gunning for Edie when she thought she was trying to steal Henry away, but apparently honesty may be the best policy when it comes to revealing people’s true characters. Seeing Dawn sit down next to Philippa, who was angrily scrolling through photos of Kate and Nikos together, was an entertaining brief moment of non-interaction. The end of this episode was far more worrisome, with that literal and figurative storm arriving in a big and terrifying way.