Why the "rushed" ending worked for me . . .Inside -- HarmyBoard Reviews

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Date Posted: 23:37:18 05/07/05 Sat
Author: JAG Junkie
Subject: Why the "rushed" ending worked for me . . .Inside
In reply to: ~~ 's message, "season ten, series finale: Fair Winds and Following Seas, April 29, 2005" on 15:23:11 04/28/05 Thu

I spent A LOT of time being mad that we weren't going to see a 4-5 ep buildup to the end. I wanted to see them dating and working out the work/life balance thing and working through all their residual issues. I was very resentful of DPB for depriving us of that. I still retain some of those feelings, but now, having seen the finale, I am very happy and very satisfied.

For one thing, I just don't know if the long buildup would have played out onscreen as well as it does in fanfic. Maybe I just don't trust all the writers as much as I used to after the last couple of seasons.

But mainly, I think the way it was handled was almost perfect. I say *almost* because I would have preferred for it to last a few minutes longer (LOL) but in this case I think the quality (many thanks to HAE & MAE) was more than enough to make up for the lack of quantity!

Some people have commented that it seemed unbelievable, improbable, or unrealistic that everything would or even *could* drastically change in a matter of minutes. But I disagree.

H/M have been best friends for 9 years. They have been thru more predicaments and difficult situations together than most people go thru in a lifetime. Their experiences together have formed an incredible emotional bond that may have been fragile at times, but never broken. Somewhere along the way (and I personally think it was early on) each one fell in love with the other. And I think that each one somewhat knew how the other one felt, but we all know the various obstacles they faced along the way that kept them from being able to connect at the same time. However, the love remained, regardless. I say the love even deepened and grew stronger *because* of (and not *in spite of*) the lack of a physically intimate relationship. They were able to focus on *why* they loved each other and not be distracted by physical satisfaction.

Then, when suddenly faced with a very real deadline (sorry, the *deadline* thing is actually kind of growing on me now), all those other complications and issues fell away in unimportance and the one thing that remained was their abiding love. Each one had realized, in their own journey, that love transcends all those other things. And they were each faced with a final decision to embrace what they had wanted all along.

Mac realized that Harm was *attempting* to make a small first step on a couple of occasions. First, when he said that decisions needed to me made, & not just staffing decisions. And then when he came to her apartment and responded to her �were you ready� with his �were you�. But she hadn�t given him the sign he needed to continue (she said it doesn�t seem so bad, just taking it one day at a time). So, in turn, she needed to be the one to make the move, not a push, just a slight nudge. He had made his feelings clear enough in the past and had put the ball in her court when he told her to come to him when she was ready.

I was SO happy that when she gave him the opening (let�s talk about you and me) that he took his own advice and plunged in. Even though he didn�t say the 3 little words at that moment, his meaning was clear in that he said more than he had ever said to her before. In a way, what he said was better than just I love you. A person can love many different people during their life, but he was telling her that she would always be *THE* one. That told her everything she needed to know, because she knows Harm wouldn�t fake a mindblowing statement like that. He could never trivialize something that important.

As far as Harm, he didn�t need to hear her *say* the words. When Harm asked if she loved Webb, she didn�t say yes, she told him that she had �said the words�, meaning that her love for Webb was unsure at best. So he knows that she would *say* the words if she felt she needed to, but he needed her to tell him in another way. He got his answer in her eyes, her kiss, her body language, and her not so Freudian slip about proposing. That confirmed it for him.

In that moment, everything was clear to them and their destiny was theirs for the taking. The last steps had been taken and they were both ready to move forward together, whatever the cost.

That is how I think a nine year history could change in a matter of minutes.

And if I make another stab at a fanfic (got something working in my head already), I may use some of these thoughts again, so my apologies!

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responses -- all, 23:42:33 05/07/05 Sat