SOME SPOILERS AHEAD.
This was quite the satisfying ending to what has been a compelling thrill ride of a series. I have no real complaints about how this series was concluded, just one or two sort of minor nitpicks. The biggest of which is Frankie’s father’s involvement in the whole saga.
Am I the only one who felt that Frankie’s father being the one who drugged and imprisoned Cora, so that she would forget about what happened at the Beverwyck on the 4th of July…was kind of random? It came out of nowhere and felt kind of deus ex machina-ish. I think that Todd having been the culprit would have fit more appropriately. But of course, he was out of the country during the period that Cora was imprisoned and was dead by the present.
And Frankie knew that his father had been imprisoning Cora. I know that I said this in the last recap, but this new information made the look he gave Cora as she killed him even more loaded. He was complicit in what happened to both sisters.
At least he had tried to save Phoebe. With Cora he did nothing. All he did was call his daddy and ran along home while his father buried Phoebe. In spite of it all, Cora didn’t blame Frankie. I must say that I was impressed with her compassion and ability to forgive him. It wasn’t like Frankie had purposely harmed Phoebe the way his father had Cora.
My other little nitpick was that J.D.’s death really was a case of him being killed by people involved in his drug dealing, because of his closeness to Cora’s case. It would have been nice if it was more directly tied to what happened to Cora and the ensuing cover up. Not just that Frankie’s father was the doctor whose identity he stole to get the pills he sold. Like say it was Frankie’s father who had sent those two men to kill J.D.
Harry’s doubt that that was the explanation behind J.D.’s murder made me skeptical of it as well. Although, it did seem like he was in denial to some extent and chasing something that wasn’t there. And there wasn’t, as pertained to J.D.’s death, but his unwavering persistence is what led to the discovery of Frankie’s father’s involvement. As well as the revelation that Maddie was alive, clean and a mother.
Cora’s mother actually got me to feel sympathy for her when she visited Cora in prison. She did what she thought was best for her children. Still, she hadn’t at all recognised how she abused Cora and Phoebe and fostered the disdain they had for her. She didn’t think that she did anything wrong. She seemed heartbroken that they were planning to leave her and I don’t blame her for thinking that they had (Although she did say that Cora running away killed Phoebe so…she knew that she was dead? I haven’t figured that one out yet). Even so, she didn’t even try to treat them any better.
Mason finally took his and Cora’s son to see her! I suppose that was because she was going to be in prison for basically the rest of her life (she got a 30 year sentence). Whereas before there was a chance – kind of – that she would get out. He won so many points by refusing to stop visiting her and taking their son to see her like she asked. That was the kind of devotion to her that I loved to see from him. Not the whole chasing J.D. thing.
Cora’s 30 year sentence, in light of everything, was harsh and felt so unfair. Really, her pleading guilty did not help her at all. Thank goodness that she had Harry in her corner. Unlike Captain Farmer who only seemingly cared about getting Cora thrown in prison, he wanted to find the truth and help her. If not for him and, again, his unwavering persistence, she wouldn’t have gotten the lighter, fairer, sentence.
I honestly thought that Cora was going to stay in prison. That despite everything, the truth remained that she had killed Frankie and she couldn’t escape the consequences of that. Not that she should have, but this sentence – that she be sent to a psychiatric facility and have her case reviewed every two years – was so much more fair. She’ll get the help she needs to overcome her traumas and she won’t spend the rest of her life in prison. She didn’t intend to kill Frankie, she just happened to have a knife in her hand.
Overall I really enjoyed watching this series. It was a wonderful experience.
Random thoughts:
- Welp. Todd’s dead. There goes that theory.
- Good job Caitlin!
- Now we get the rest of the story!
- Of course J.D. took advantage of the situation.
