Ahhhhhh I just finished the series. Out of 20 episodes, there wasn't a bad one in the bunch. Every time I was like "this premise is kind of wearing thin" they would do another ep EVEN BETTER than the last.

But can we talk a little about the finale? This is probs big <SPOILER ALERT> so if you haven't watched the series go watch the whole ten hours RIGHT NOW BECAUSE YOU WILL DIE LAUGHING.

From the premiere, the protagonist, which is Henry (although he shares top billing in the credits with Ron it bears noting), is sort of post-dream. What I mean is, the premise of the show is that you can reach for the stars, fail totally, and then go on living and sometimes, sometimes, it is still worth it.

I liked the series a lot, and found Henry's character particularly compelling and intriguing because he was so over and done with acting. We even get a tip of his hand, as it were, in the Steve Gutenberg ep (perhaps my personal favorite) to find that he was actually good, and that he's still over it anyway.

So I can't decide if the end of his arc was fulfilling in that he came around and realized that "following your heart" is worth the risk, just like Ron (and I guess Roman and Constance and Lydia) did, or if he is a tragic figure in that he is returning to something he'd already moved through. While the sentimentalist in me wants to think that this whole two season journey for his character was to get him back in that audition room, I can't help but call to mind Casey, crying behind a couch.

One other point: of the principle characters, they all get an end to their story: Ron gets the girl and the promotion, Lydia gets a man, Roman writes his masterpiece, Constance marries for love and gets the money too, Casey loses her big break (and I think it is implied that she keeps trying anyway?). Kyle doesn't really get an apotheosis though. Last we hear of him is his band's unintentionally anti-Semitic performance (which might happen in any episode), and that's it. Is this supposed to imply that his character, out of all of them, is irredeemable? That he really is just a haircut, and that people like him (schmoozy networkers who are pretty and get work because of it) are really just destined to the same fate and story that Kyle has been treading for the past two seasons?