Lodge 49 season 1 finale review: A tiny beacon of gold; blood in the water
Going into the finale, it was clear that just about everyone was on the cusp of devastation and disrepair. Dud and Ernie had been duped in the Orbis – Captain scheme, Liz had jumped off of the corporate training boat, and it looked as though the Lodge was going to be shut down for good.
Yet, leading out of the finale, it does seem as though everyone had the smallest glimmer of hope … at least for most of the episode. Liz realized that she had torpedoed most of her life throughout the hour; she couldn’t go back to Shamroxx, she freaked out everyone in corporate by making her think that she was dead, and she still had tends of thousands of dollars in debt. Yet, she managed to plea successfully to the bank (basically almost via a death threat) that she needed to leave there in the free and clear. Her account was closed, but she also had the magical stamp of “paid” above her loan agreement. For the first time, she is truly free to do virtually anything that she wants.
For Dud, meanwhile, he seemed to realize after everything with Captain, and also losing his car due to his excessive loans at the pawn shop, that now was the time to get serious. He started looking for a career, he shaved his beard, and he even tried to get up on the surfboard … even if that eventually led to him bleeding out in the water with a shark nearby. Through this, though, it did feel like he got the answer that he somehow wanted: That his father didn’t kill himself, which was causing him a tremendous amount of grief somewhere in his subconscious. The episode actually opened with a flashback to Dud’s father right before his death, and you can make a case both for and against him dying. He seemed to take care of some affairs, including selling his watch and also asking the donut shop owner to look after the pool shop for a time. Yet, he also went out into the ocean with flippers. Why do that if you’re just wanting to die, unless he wanted of course to swim so far out there that he could ensure no one would find him?
It really doesn’t matter, though, what really happened with Dud’s father — it’s more about what he needs to tell himself in order to make it through everyday.
As for the Lodge itself, it will survive thanks to the last-minute work from both Connie, who was overseas, and also the British representative stateside. The funny thing is that nobody else seems altogether aware of it yet. Blaise found a reprieve from his misery in the form of some alchemical materials tucked away in the Lodge (how great was the moment with the gold, shining down across his finger?). Meanwhile, Ernie found a secret pathway that seems to be guiding him back to Mexico, where some of Larry’s “beliefs” may or may not hold any water. At the time of the scene, though, Ernie just felt he didn’t have anything to lose but to check it out, given that his job and his life were in tatters.
CarterMatt Verdict
Whether it be via the fight between Bobby and Ernie or the scene of Dud being dragged out of the water at the end of the finale, the Lodge 49 finale had just about everything. This was a simple story, but also one that was fantastic-written and offered up both temporary closure and plenty of room to explore. All in all, this was a worthy conclusion to what was a very entertaining first season as a whole.
Related – Check out some additional Lodge 49 news, including some early speculation on the second season
What did you think about the Lodge 49 finale overall? Be sure to share right away in the attached comments! (Photo: AMC.)