It’s UnREAL finale time and that means taking everything that’s happened throughout the season, mixing it all up, and turning up the crazy twists to a point where you wonder whether Everlasting will see another season, especially considering the final moments of the episode.
Quinn’s back at it after the discovery that she can’t have children, seemingly ending things with John Booth. But, there’s no sting of heartbreak in her actions for most of the hour as she decides that the show takes priority. Just determination to make Everlasting implode in spectacular fashion and she’s well on her way to accomplishing her goal now that she and Rachel have patched things up and are on the same page again.
For better or for worse, there is no more entertaining team up on UnREAL than when Quinn and Rachel work their manipulative producing powers and bring the drama to the show and that is what we got this episode. Rachel’s seen through Coleman and his scheming and sends him packing topped off with an escort out of the Everlasting mansion with big, burly security guards. Of course, he’s not willing to let it go and tries everything in his power to get the story he needs.
Viewers did learn some new things about him. No, not that Coleman is the worst (that was clear a few episodes ago from how he handled Rachel). No. It seems that his documentary that led to admiration from the network was also a manipulated story he told. So in essence, he would have been a perfect fit at Everlasting, if only he wasn’t a (more) terrible person that didn’t seem to like to be told what to do. Though Rachel has a moment where she thinks she finally gets the pair trapped in a corner after being told by Jeremy that Yael is a reporter, Coleman brings up that they can only keep them until the finale is over and then they are free to go.
With that realization, she ends up going to Jeremy, who Yael and Coleman brought back, that this is it. It’s over for all of them. That seems to spark something in Jeremy and whether it was Rachel playing him or her just telling him what they’ve all done, it works…granted, in a horrific way.
While Rachel is primarily the one handling the mess that was Coleman and Yael–who later try to bring in Jeremy before his crisis of conscience–Jay’s losing hope in the vision that he bought into at the beginning of the season while Madison’s concern doesn’t seem to run as deep.
“After everything, we put him through, he deserves an ending.” Jay’s become officially disillusioned with what they have been doing the whole season. He tells Rachel as much after hearing about Quinn’s plan to have both Tiffany and Chantal believe they are going to be chosen and tell them they are going to marry Darius that night on live television…without Darius’ knowledge. Of course, it’s not as hopeless as he thinks with some part of Rachel still willing to offer a way that everyone can get what they want out of the finale.
She certainly did follow through, as the night of the finale approached. Quinn’s idea to surprise Tiffany and Chantal, not to mention Darius and a re-emerging Romeo worked pretty well and added a bit of comedy to the moment, as they were relatively civil when they were live but completely lost it when the Everlasting finale cut to commercial. While Quinn was hoping to surprise the contestants, she was the one that ultimately got the surprise as Ruby appears in the midst of Darius making a choice between the remaining two contestants.
In the middle of the manipulation and the cynicism, it was nice to see that Ruby and Darius were real. While the crew was loving every minute of it, the moment strikes a nerve with Quinn and prompts her to ask “true love. Who gets that?” It’s a quiet but heartbreaking moment for Quinn, especially with how things worked out for her after she made the choice to break things off with Booth.
With Everlasting done for the season, Rachel has to break the news to Quinn about what’s going to happen. That conversation gets interrupted when Jeremy tells them that he’s taken care of things as it cuts to Coleman’s overturned car and police on the scene.
The final scene was interesting as it mirrored the end of the first season but saw the group of people deeply implicated growing, with Chet and Jeremy joining Rachel and Quinn just staring out while sitting on those chaise lounges.
What’s next for the team now that they know what Jeremy’s done? Where is Everlasting going next? What did you think of UnREAL this season?