‘Enlisted’ finale review: On the Regimental Ball (and our season 2 hopes)
While the future of “Enlisted” on Fox may not be a hopeful one, the finale on Sunday night managed to still bring to the table everything that we’ve loved about the show. At one moment, you are watching soldiers tells Sgt. Major Cody how much he means to them at a Regimental Ball. Then, you are watching a story about Cody’s fake foot getting left on the foot of the car and a desperate attempt by Chubowski to get Lori Loughlin to attend.
The entire story revolved around the detachment’s attempts to throw Cody a proper ball even though the real one was canceled, and for the most part they succeeded in that. Even Lori Loughlin appeared! The twist was that it wasn’t until the very end, long after the ball was supposedly over.
For the most part, this finale slanted to the emotional side, especially as Pete started to question his existence and how greatly he deserved it after knowing so many men who didn’t make it back home. This touched on the symptoms of PTSD and the feelings that many go through after arriving back home, and this entire scene ended with one of the show’s biggest tear-jerkers. Then, people jumped in the ocean with their uniforms on.
At this very moment, it is hard to sit here and write about the show without questioning what a season 2 could be, given the possibilities left on the table and the character arcs that are still possible, especially for Pete and Perez. However, sometimes you just have to celebrate things for what they are. “Enlisted” had a great 13-episode run, and while it’s understandable to be bummed at Fox over their treatment of it, at least it got on the air and managed to have all of its episodes on TV. If something happens to give us hope for the future, we’ll start getting excited about it then. For now, this was a fitting end to one of our favorite comedies of the past year. Grade: A.
What did you think of the “Enlisted” finale, and if this is the end, how do you feel about the show’s run? Share your thoughts below, and head over here if you want to sign up to get constant email updates via our CarterMatt Newsletter.
Photo: Fox