If anything, this ensemble is still incredible and magnetic enough for me to watch. It’s also past even the themes (let alone story) of the trilogy now, so it’s a truly blank page. But damn. Watching Q die after being the character I’ve ever seen myself in the most...it’s been haunting me. A lot.
I finally got to the finale this past weekend, and I feel exactly the same way about Quentin. I don't know that I've cried as much during a TV episode in quite some time, and it's still very raw. I initially assumed that Jason Ralph wanted off the show, and that's why they did it, so it was kind of frustrating to discover that it was the writer's decision instead. The more I read of their reasoning, the more depressed it makes me. One interview mentioned how they thought it was a bold move to kill off the white male protagonist. That's funny because I (and probably many, many others) always connected with Quentin not because of his ethnicity or gender, but because he's someone who always felt more at home in a fantasy world than the real one, and who has very real struggles with depression. That's what drew me to the books, as well. They also defended their decision not to include on final scene with he and Eliot by saying that you rarely get that kind of closure in real life. That's true, but it also contradicts their decision to give him that bonfire scene (which was amazing and beautiful and also absolutely heartbreaking all at once) and as definitive an answer to his question of whether he mattered or not. Real people don't often get closure before losing someone, but they also don't get conclusions to their "arcs," either. I'm at least glad his arc did get a nice ending. The writers also mentioned they didn't know what they'd have done with him next season if he survived, and while that's kind of a cop-out, it's also understandable given where the show is compared to the books. I'll definitely keep watching because I love all of them so much, and because I love that world. I told my wife that I'll just think of it as being able to mourn Quentin along with the other characters, and I guess that'll have to do.
A small thing is Q turns himself into a whale at one point to swim to Antarctica and there's a random aside about how he can hear the other whales, who he's surprised to find out are magicians, doing intense magic in the ocean depths.
Should I read the books? I didn't realize there were only 3, and they're not long at all. Did anyone else watch the show first then read?
A friend and I have discussed how weird it is that we both love the show and the books for some vastly different reasons and neither seems to detract from the other in the way adaptations normally do. Truly fascinating. the first book is just okay, the second (even with the Renard scene that the show handled much more PC/gracefully) and third are truly some of the most moving works I’ve ever read.
It was just announced that this will be the last season. I think the show is still as good as ever but I'm not surprised. Hopefully they knew in advance enough to give it a solid ending.