The premise of this show and the commercials were so good that I had a really difficult time believing there was any way the finale and the big reveal were going to live up to it, so I am happy my expectations weren't too high. I liked the multiple twists that played out in the last episode. It really stayed true to the formula of the show. However, the ending has several problems.
The first problem was all it did was highlight a huge plot hole from episode 1 that I kept thinking was going to be explained somehow. That plot hole being Kate asserted that Jeanette saw her through the window but everyone seemed to be under the impression that she had been trapped in the basement for the entire time. So why did no one (especially the police) question how someone could have seen her when she was trapped in the basement? There is one window in the basement but it's very high up and covered with wire. The only way someone could have seen her was if they were crouching outside the house looking through it, not running away and stopping to look back from a distance like Kate stated. Considering how much this was investigated and how many reporters did exposés on this it's impossible to believe no one would have noticed this huge problem with Kate's story.
The second is it's unclear why Kate seemed to be so sure that Jeanette saw her. Her claim is she only lied about the eye contact because she was 100% certain that the person saw her but how could she possibly have felt 100% certain without eye contact? Is she just that much of a narcissist that she believes people can tell exactly who she is in the middle of the night in a dark room with mostly closed curtains? Why would it not ever cross her mind that Jeanette assumed she was someone else or that someone's first instinct seeing a woman standing freely in a living room wouldn't be kidnapping?
Another plot hole was how this became such a huge story and seemingly no talk show made any effort to get Jeanette's side of it. I could see them all not believing her, but not attempting to capitalize on the opportunity to get the accused girl in front of their camera and hopefully get caught lying on television for ratings? That's just not how people in show biz work. They would have tried to bury her worse than Britney.
Finally, the snow globe. There was no reason why Jeanette would have given it to Mallory and there was no reason why Mallory should have been packing in the last scene. Mallory wasn't present for Kate and Jeanette's conversation so why would she feel she needed to leave town?
There are also still a lot of open plot points and stories that didn't quite come to a resolution. Did Kate know that it was Jeanette's brother who printed her chat and not Ashley? Did Ashley ever confront Jeanette's brother? Did Jamie really "ruin Ben's future" with that car accident? The extent/permanence of his injury was never firmly established. Are we expected to assume that his career plan was to go pro and that he had the skill to even do that? I don't think that was ever established either. Also, why are we supposed to accept Mallory as a likeable character now, when all she has done throughout the series is be jealous of the popular girl and bully and peer pressure people into doing what she wants them to do? Also how out of line was Ben for how he treated Vince? When he said Vince calling him was painful the assumption was that Vince had broken his heart but Ben actually basically dumped Vince for caring about him. Holding his hand is definitely something that a straight guy may have done for a friend they were concerned about. I find it hard to believe he was sitting around fuming over that for a year.
All of these unfinished plot points combined with the plot holes gave me the impression that the story wasn't fully fleshed out from beginning to end before some of the episodes were written which you absolutely cannot do with a show like this. Every "I" needs to be dotted and every "T" crossed before pen even touches paper.
All that being said they did ok resolving it after backing themselves into a figurative corner. I personally would have kept the misunderstanding twist and had all girls be fully innocent. Instead I would have had the finale end with a violent confrontation between the three of them ending with a possible death that we would learn more about in season 2. This would have established the narrative that a pile of lies and misunderstandings can turn any innocent girl into a killer.
However, since they wanted at least one girl to be plainly evil the twist at the end was fine. It could have been improved slightly by having the scene where Jeannette hears Kate in the basement play simultaneously with Jeannette's interview on the Marsha Bailey Show. Right after we see Jeanette choose not to let Kate out of the basement, end it with her saying "I forgive you" on camera and looking so happy and popular while the studio audience erupts into applause for her, with the "Creep" song playing of course. But, the ending is fine as is.
I don't know what's going to happen with season 2. I'm not too interested in Jeanette anymore and surprisingly I think this outcome may have been the best for Kate's mental health and closure, even though it's a lie. I'm kind of split on if I want them to move on and establish a whole new story with completely new characters, or shift to some minor characters like Vince or Ashley. I guess I'll have to tune in next season to find out.
The first problem was all it did was highlight a huge plot hole from episode 1 that I kept thinking was going to be explained somehow. That plot hole being Kate asserted that Jeanette saw her through the window but everyone seemed to be under the impression that she had been trapped in the basement for the entire time. So why did no one (especially the police) question how someone could have seen her when she was trapped in the basement? There is one window in the basement but it's very high up and covered with wire. The only way someone could have seen her was if they were crouching outside the house looking through it, not running away and stopping to look back from a distance like Kate stated. Considering how much this was investigated and how many reporters did exposés on this it's impossible to believe no one would have noticed this huge problem with Kate's story.
The second is it's unclear why Kate seemed to be so sure that Jeanette saw her. Her claim is she only lied about the eye contact because she was 100% certain that the person saw her but how could she possibly have felt 100% certain without eye contact? Is she just that much of a narcissist that she believes people can tell exactly who she is in the middle of the night in a dark room with mostly closed curtains? Why would it not ever cross her mind that Jeanette assumed she was someone else or that someone's first instinct seeing a woman standing freely in a living room wouldn't be kidnapping?
Another plot hole was how this became such a huge story and seemingly no talk show made any effort to get Jeanette's side of it. I could see them all not believing her, but not attempting to capitalize on the opportunity to get the accused girl in front of their camera and hopefully get caught lying on television for ratings? That's just not how people in show biz work. They would have tried to bury her worse than Britney.
Finally, the snow globe. There was no reason why Jeanette would have given it to Mallory and there was no reason why Mallory should have been packing in the last scene. Mallory wasn't present for Kate and Jeanette's conversation so why would she feel she needed to leave town?
There are also still a lot of open plot points and stories that didn't quite come to a resolution. Did Kate know that it was Jeanette's brother who printed her chat and not Ashley? Did Ashley ever confront Jeanette's brother? Did Jamie really "ruin Ben's future" with that car accident? The extent/permanence of his injury was never firmly established. Are we expected to assume that his career plan was to go pro and that he had the skill to even do that? I don't think that was ever established either. Also, why are we supposed to accept Mallory as a likeable character now, when all she has done throughout the series is be jealous of the popular girl and bully and peer pressure people into doing what she wants them to do? Also how out of line was Ben for how he treated Vince? When he said Vince calling him was painful the assumption was that Vince had broken his heart but Ben actually basically dumped Vince for caring about him. Holding his hand is definitely something that a straight guy may have done for a friend they were concerned about. I find it hard to believe he was sitting around fuming over that for a year.
All of these unfinished plot points combined with the plot holes gave me the impression that the story wasn't fully fleshed out from beginning to end before some of the episodes were written which you absolutely cannot do with a show like this. Every "I" needs to be dotted and every "T" crossed before pen even touches paper.
All that being said they did ok resolving it after backing themselves into a figurative corner. I personally would have kept the misunderstanding twist and had all girls be fully innocent. Instead I would have had the finale end with a violent confrontation between the three of them ending with a possible death that we would learn more about in season 2. This would have established the narrative that a pile of lies and misunderstandings can turn any innocent girl into a killer.
However, since they wanted at least one girl to be plainly evil the twist at the end was fine. It could have been improved slightly by having the scene where Jeannette hears Kate in the basement play simultaneously with Jeannette's interview on the Marsha Bailey Show. Right after we see Jeanette choose not to let Kate out of the basement, end it with her saying "I forgive you" on camera and looking so happy and popular while the studio audience erupts into applause for her, with the "Creep" song playing of course. But, the ending is fine as is.
I don't know what's going to happen with season 2. I'm not too interested in Jeanette anymore and surprisingly I think this outcome may have been the best for Kate's mental health and closure, even though it's a lie. I'm kind of split on if I want them to move on and establish a whole new story with completely new characters, or shift to some minor characters like Vince or Ashley. I guess I'll have to tune in next season to find out.