Wow. Now this is drama. Helen Mirren is outstanding at conveying the multitude of emotions coursing through her character. "Final Act" is an extraordinary depiction of the horrible climaxes of life when everything is coming down on you and you can't quit, you can't break down. You must hold it together as well as you can, admit that you must change yourself and persevere through the guilt and shame and fear and trauma, hoping that you will come out the other end eventually without screwing anything else up. Wow. I'm stunned by the complexity of the story, characters and direction.
At the end of the episode I just watched, a climactic scene takes place in a parking lot and instead of opting for the close-up to involve the audience, the director shows the CC TV of the action, putting the audience in a hopeless, out-of-control vantage point, illustrating the lack of control that any of the characters have at this point. Events happen, cutting back and forth between the painfully distant observation of the action and the involved, director's camera. The emotions and consequential action are shown and then we are tossed away and shown the futility of our presence in the action. We, as is Mirren, are helpless to stop the violence. Wow.
I must now watch earlier episodes and catch up, as should we all. This, not Deadwood or Weeds, is evidence of the golden age of television. wow.
