Containment Season 1 Episode 13 Review: Path to Paradise

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It's been a fun ride, hasn't it, y'all? Containment Season 1 Episode 13 definitely managed to wrap this limited series up with a neat little bow. 

Since we've known this was the only season of Containment we'd be getting, the countdown to resolution has been ticking. There could be no cliffhangers in the final episode, and what we were given was a nice end to what has been a pretty great series.

But truthfully, I'm still trying hard not to be disappointed that this is all we get. Enjoy it while it lasts or something, right? 

A Breakthrough - Containment

It's difficult to discuss series finales in general, but it's even more difficult to discuss them when there's only been one season, because there's good and bad which comes with knowing a series is ending.

The writers have time to prepare and create closure for the storylines. The actors have time to find new gigs. The audience has time to adjust to the fact that the end is nigh. 

But sometimes there's the feeling that everything is a little too okay when the final credits begin to roll, and that's what tonight felt like. Just a little bit. (DON'T HATE ME.)

I have loved every second of this show, but the finale felt a little too easy. A little too settled and happy ending-ish for people who are still trapped inside a cordon for who knows how long. 

The sun is shining, the people will be cured (thanks to a pseudo-savior who has the antibody and also happens to be a priest), Lex and Jana are reunited, Teresa's taking back her family store, and Bert and Micheline are dead.

Micheline, when she knew the infection in her leg was too severe, instead of trying to find anyone to help, instead of asking her granddaughter or Xander to find help, decided to poison her last glass of wine and die in her home. Bert, being the loving and attentive husband he is, decided to die with her.

This is one of those things where the real-life human in me says that people in situations like theirs, trapped inside a cordon, no way to call for help, sick and/or dying, get to decide their own fates. Full stop.

The writer and TV watcher/critic in me says this was not the beautiful farewell it was supposed to be. 

Had she fallen into a coma from the infection while Bert painted the dream of the two of them dancing, the appropriate amount of pathos would've been struck. Their final scene would've been one which left the viewer to imagine that they both survived, whether or not it was true.

Too much of the episode was spent with Jana, Suzy, and Quentin following Meese around the tunnels. Then he just shoots the guy he's working with, so now when he gets out, in addition to going to jail for falling into the cordon and racketeering and exploitation, he's also going down for murder. 

Suzy's claustrophobia, which prevented her from even thinking of escaping via the church tunnel, became magically surmountable. A blip on her psychiatric radar. 

Lex and his father can't find Leo because "Leo didn't want to be found" and then Roy tracks him to a hotel, shows up in the middle of the day without any sort of surveillance despite the fact that he's technically part of Lommers' investigation into Lex's life, and they publish the expose' that destroys Lommers just in the nick of time. 

All of that was just a little too convenient. Maybe as convenient as Cannerts finding a cure AFTER Katie died instead of before, and yes, I'm definitely still bitter about that. KAKE FOR LIFE.

Except I'm sort of cranky about Jake throwing Katie's ashes into the wind because what if Quentin wanted to do that? If he'd been reunited with the boy and they'd both been on that rooftop together saying goodbye to her, cool. 

Poignant and proof that Jake and Quentin will go on to be family. Jake's solo farewell with Katie's ashes just felt selfish.

I'm glad he found a way to grow through the experience and realized his own worth and strength. The writers shoved a LOT of character development onto Jake for only 13 episodes, probably more than just about anyone else besides Lex, and Chris Wood did the job of bringing the character to life incredibly well.  

But I don't know. I'm trying really hard right now to appreciate this for what it was: the final sequence of a (long) movie where the pieces finally fall into place, the hero has a monologue, and everyone rides off into the sunset.

I know I'm coming off sort of bitter, and I'm sorry. Truly. It just stinks to want more and know that this is it. This is the end. 

Oh well. It was a fun few months, wasn't it?

What did you think of the Containment series finale? Did anything shock you? On a scale of 1 to 10, how much do you wish we were getting a second season? Let's chat about the series one more time and don't forget you can always relive every moment and watch Containment online!

Path to Paradise Review

Editor Rating: 5.0 / 5.0
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User Rating:

Rating: 2.7 / 5.0 (39 Votes)

Miranda Wicker was a Staff Writer for TV Fanatic. She retired in 2017. Follow her on Twitter.

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Containment Season 1 Episode 13 Quotes

If there's one thing I learned from having you as a father, it's that you don't trust OPS.

Lex

Jake: Katie always gave me a hard time when I thought about giving up. She always saw me as more of a hero than I saw myself.
Cannerts: She had a way of seeing the good in people.
Jake: Yeah...she did.