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HERC's Seen The ALLY Finale!!
SPOILER ALERT !!
Ally McBeal 5.21 FAQ
What’s it called?
“Bygones.”
Who’s responsible?
Teleplay credited to series creator David E. Kelley.
What does TV Guide say?
“After five years of quirky characters, capricious fantasies and legal frivolities, the gavel comes down on this series, as Ally (Calista Flockhart) makes a life-changing decision. Prompted by concern for her daughter Maddie (Hayden Panettiere), Ally makes a shocking announcement to the firm, directly on the heels of another bombshell from Richard. Ally's news brings back original cast members Lisa Nicole Carson, Courtney Thorne-Smith and Gil Bellows, while Richard's bulletin leads to an appearance by Carl Reiner, who plays a man of the cloth with a peculiar affliction. And it wouldn't be a proper Ally finale without John Cage's musical muse, Barry White.”
What’s Ally’s shocking announcement?
She’s quitting Cage Fish McBeal to move to New York.
Why would Ally move to New York?
Her daughter is freaking out; she misses her friends in the Big Apple.
What’s the bombshell from Richard Fish?
He and Christina Ricci’s character are getting married.
What is TV Guide not telling us?
It’s a bad end to a bad season. You’ll swear the bulk of the episode looks like it was built from wrap-party outtakes.
The big surprise?
The return of three departed cast members only serves to add to the whole “wrap party outtake” vibe.
In other words, there’s no big surprise?
Right.
Robert Downey Jr. doesn’t turn up?
Nope.
Cage doesn’t move to New York to marry Ally?
Nope.
Judge Ling doesn’t return to win Fish back?
Nope.
Liza Bump doesn’t get cold feet?
Nope.
Ally’s kid doesn’t get smooshed by a Bon Jovi tour bus?
Nope.
What’s good?
There’s a brief, dramatic teaser setting Ally’s final episode in montion. And I actually caught myself out loud when Barry Humphries’ character, Claire Otoms, introduced herself to Carl Reiner in the unisex bathroom.
What’s not so good?
The affliction that constantly grips the Reiner character – he goes “vasovagal” when emotional – quickly grows tedious beyond imagining, and is emblemic of the crippling tonal difficulties “Ally” has endured lo these past three seasons.
This is airing opposite the “Angel” season finale. Should I bother to tape this final “Ally”?
Eh, I wouldn’t bother. Let's hope Kelley tightens things up for "Girls Club," the female-lawyer show he's prepping for Ally's timeslot this autumn.
How does it end, spoiler-boy?
Outside Vonda’s bar, Ally – wearing the teensiest minidress ever – bids adieu to Nell, Georgia, Fish, Renee, Cage and the ghost of Billy Thomas. “Looking back,” her voiceover proclaims, “many of the saddest times in my life turn out to be the happiest. So I must be happy now. Yeah. This is going to be good. Why else would I be crying?”
Herc’s rating for “Ally McBeal” 5.21?
*1/2
- ***** better than we deserve
- **** better than most motion pictures
- *** actually worth your valuable time
- ** as horrible as most stuff on TV
- * makes you quietly pray for bulletins
The Hercules T. Strong Rating System:
Smell this shoe!
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May 20, 2002 2:49:32 AM CDT
This show has been all downhill ever since ally and ling kissed
by leonard shelby
that was cool
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...to such bad, bad rubbish. So sad that it took such a rotten turn after the first two seasons. Glad FOX is putting it out of its misery now, so we won't have to watch it shrivel and die like some other shows I could mention. . .
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..Larry Paul rules all
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...Allie shriveled and died two seasons ago at least. We've been watching a corpse since then (and I don't mean emaciated Calista either).
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Let's make a TV show.
Let's try REALLY HARD to make it "quirky"
Let's try REALLY HARD to make it "whimsical"
Let's try REALLY HARD to make it "spunky"
Look what we made, a steaming pile. -
May 20, 2002 9:25:02 PM CDT
Eh, if you're still a fan of this show, you're getting w
by village idiot
I was a mild fan a few years ago, but let's face it: the show got unbearably precious and indulgent. Insofar I still have any feeling left it, I feel that the ONE SAVING GRACE of the show would have been for Ally to finally seeing the light when it came to John Cage, and have them go off into the sunset. But no. No. We get the ending that Herc describes. Blechh.
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The teensy dress was a nice touch though; too bad Kelly had to wade through four awful seasons to get her back in one. Poughkeepsie.
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Ally Mcbeal never got as bad as people said. It had rocky patches but I could have watched another 3 years. When it was at its best it was one of the funniest shows ever. At its worst it was still better than piece of shit Friends(which deserves to die), fat loser Drew Carey, Frasier and most other tv programs. Calista, you are leaving a huge void in the tv babe pool. Besides the Sarah's(Jessica and Michelle) there is no one. Sela ward is gone. I guess that frizzy haired, annoying bitch Debra Messing will suffice.Ally will go down as one of the all-time greats.
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Look, I was never a huge fan of this series, but I did appreciate some of the good things it had going for it.
I still maintain that this series was doing awesome until Downey left.
After that, they had to scramble to fill a void. Then half the cast suddenly leaves, too.
This show imploded from the inside. What a waste.
I found the reasoning for Ally's departure to be...stretched to say the least. At literally the snap of the fingers, poof!, she's ready to walk.
This episode deserved to be two hours long to flesh it out and deal with some loose ends. Also, how and why was the ENTIRE cast not brought back for this thing?
This felt woefully rushed, just like this whole last season or so did.
I have to admit: I'll kind of miss it...
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