Goodbye Red Band Society

Today I watched the final two episodes of Red Band Society. Yes I said the final two episodes as this series has ended (though it's not officially cancelled by Fox.. it will be). So it was kind of bitter sweet knowing that this would be the final two episode of this series. What is worse is that the series production was halted after the midseason finale. So they didn't get to do an official wrap up to the series and characters. So I'm when I started watching these I was worried that it would end on some horrible cliffhanger that would never be resolved.

Well I started with S1 Ep 12 "We'll Always Have Paris" As Kara is undergoing a heart transplant in real-life, she finds herself in the in-between world with Hunter. After their time together, Kara doesn't want to leave Hunter, but he gives her a speech on the importance of life, after which she wakes up from surgery. A temporary patient named Mae shows up at the hospital, putting Dash on alert. They had started an online relationship on a cystic fibrosis forum, but he avoids her as their conditions don't allow them to be actually be together. Charlie is regaining his motor skills and Dr. Naday has him playing video games. Meanwhile, Jordi's grandmother Alma has taken a disliking to Dr. McAndrew while he's still trying to get her to sign off on the surgery. However, Jordi later tells Dr. Andrew that he doesn't want it anymore, no longer believing that he can get better. At the end he does agree to the surgery but before he goes under, Jordi decides to give Leo, who has been depressed and silent since he got the news about his cancer, a pep talk and is the one that's finally able to get through to him about continuing to fight their battles.

I have never been a big Kara fan as she is such a horrible person. But over the season we have gotten to see a 'softer' side of her and with this episode we got to see a bit more. What I do like about Kara is that she knows she's a bitch and a horrible person and sometimes feels bad about it. It was good to see her and Hunter being together as if nothing was wrong in the world. They did make a cute couple. She loved him as she was willing to die to be with him. Again like with Kara I was not a fan of Dash but as with Kira we got to see a different side to him in this episode. He's not always the player and actually has a big heart and cares for his friends. I didn't care much for the Jordi storyline and his religious grandmother but it wasn't horrible. Overall I enjoyed this episode my only complaint is that is didn't have enough Octavia Spencer (Nurse Jackson) in it, she's my favorite character. Time to move on to the finale.

The final episode of the series which was S1 Ep 13 "Waiting for Superman" Dash and Mae sneak off to be together, but are caught by Kenji and Brittany, who end up employing security guards to keep them apart. Emma's parents are visiting for a family therapy session. After a failed trust fall exercise and an argument with Emma in the bathroom, Emma's mother almost leaves the hospital until Brittany has a talk with her in the elevator. It is only her mother returns that Emma is able to have a deep conversation with her. Charlie is now able to move about in a wheelchair and Nurse Jackson thanks Dr. Naday for everything before he jets off to meet with his next patient. Meanwhile, Leo is pessimistic about beating cancer for a second time and it's hard for him to have been the one to hold everyone up, until Mae tells him that he doesn't always have to be invincible like Superman. The "red band society," including Charlie, reunite on the roof one last time and start singing You Can't Always Get What You Want, which results in Charlie speaking for the first time since the coma. Later that night, he is discharged from Ocean Park. The series ends with Dr. McAndrew and Nurse Jackson acknowledging that the hardest part of their occupations is knowing that everyone eventually leaves, though they themselves will always remain.

I enjoyed this episode more then the one before it as it focused more on the characters that I like. And this being a mid season finale we actually got some nice character story end points. Starting with Emma and her family. By the end she and her mom have this huge break through which can only be good news for her anorexia. More character growth for Dash as he realized that he cares for Mae and can't put her in danger by continuing their relationship. Charlie is up and about (with the help of a wheelchair) and at the end talk before being sent home. Kara still being a bitch, I was hoping for a bit more change after receiving Hunters heart. But there was a nice moment between Kara and Emma. We got to see a bit more of Nurse Jackson and how she deals with all the stress of her job. Leo has his ups and downs but end the series on a up and being accepting into an experimental drug test (his last hope of beating cancer). And Jordi decides that he is going through with the operation with his grandmother's consistent.

Overall a nice ending to the series, yes we are left with a few minor cliffhangers and we really only got the resolution of one of the characters (Charlie). But it was still a decent ending to what was one of my favorite new TV series this season. I'm sad to see it go as it had so much potential but I'm happy that we got to see 13 wonderful episodes.