Well, as a season finale, I'm all for it. As a series finale, it blows. Too many loose ends! Shall we count them up?

First: Bruce and Susan. She is really hot under the collar at Bruce -- not because of Melinda, per se, but because Bruce lied to her about Melinda. Bruce can't understand why Susan's so upset about the lying, and that more or less confirms Susan's suspicions that they're just not connecting. Want to know who planted those suspicions? Melinda, who, when confronted by Susan, said, "Hey, Bruce feels you two aren't connecting these days." Melinda also told Susan that she wasn't in love with Bruce, but she was attracted to him and they're a lot alike. Anyway, Susan and Bruce have a huge blowout at the Deckers' end-of-summer party and Susan ends up stalking off with some strange man. But that must not have taken, because a few hours later, she's fielding a phone call from Roger, and she agrees to meet him in his hotel room. Bruce won't notice because he's tracked down Melinda to whatever bar she's frequenting that evening.

Second: Roger's in a hotel room because he somehow couldn't bring himself to board a plane to Cincinnati and begin job-hunting. This is after he A) accepted the job offer, and B) overrode Janet's objections with "You may be the heart of this family, but I am the head of it." So Roger's angry at Janet. Janet's unhappy because she had wanted to grow old with Susan and be around for Trina's baby, and then Roger doesn't get on the plane. Instead, he calls Susan and she meets him in his hotel room. Meanwhile, poor Janet's left at home to paste her new column, "Ask Janet," into her scrapbook and sit alone at her kitchen table.

Continue reading this entry on Television Without Pity.