#whew. that was a long one! hope i didn't clog up your dashes too much

[the-eclectic-wonderer]

Okay. Alright. I'm okay. I've screamed enough. I've taken a few deep breaths.

Some final comments under the cut.

First of all I would like to say that aaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-

Okay, I really am done screaming now.

I knew this would be the best (long) episode in the show, but man. This was the best episode by far (so far, at least). And not just because my darling wife Dorothy that I know and love was back (did you see her?? did you see how beautiful she was??? she was so pretty wasn't she??????), but...

Yeah, okay, it's because of that. Listen -- The Golden Girls worked for a reason, and that reason is the special balance between the four main characters (and actresses). Sure, Roland and Chuy are fun additions to the cast, but in the way Stan and Miles and all the regulars on Golden Girls were: they're secondary characters that work well with the Girls from a comedic point of view, characters that are great to bounce jokes off of, characters that can be used to introduce some original conflicts and plot points in fun ways, but ultimately what keeps the show together is the core relationship between the four Girls, and Dorothy's presence in this one highlights how much that core has weakened without her.

I believe Betty White once referred to the Golden Palace as 'a table with only three legs', and I've thought she was right from the very beginning of Golden Palace, but it just hadn't hit me how right she was until now. The difference is just... incredible. I've enjoyed all the moments between the Girls in the show so far, but with Dorothy there, they all just work and shine so much better. It's a completely different atmosphere. It really did feel just like 'old times'. The show is mostly fun without Dorothy, and of course Rue and Betty and Estelle are all exceptional, but once you bring Bea back into the mix it jumps from 'a funny sitcom' to magic. There's no way around it.

With that out of the way... man. This episode hurt me deeply and healed me at the same time. The Girls are so happy to be back together, and yet they're so mad and hurt because of Dorothy's marriage, and I just... I've screamed about this plenty during my live thread, but it was just unfair to separate them like this. Rationally there was no other solution -- Bea wanted to stop doing the show, and the other Girls wanted to go on, so they had to find a way to write Dorothy out of the story -- but in-universe separating them was just... cruel.

Look at how overjoyed Dorothy is to be back with her family!! Look at the way Rose and Blanche ran to her as soon as she arrived! Look at how excited Sophia was to see her Dorothy! I just can't, for the life of me, believe that Dorothy is happier over in Atlanta. I want her to be! I think she deserves to have a great life! But I just... can't.

And that makes me even more mad about the final minute or so. I think that maybe, just maybe, there was a component of 'they can't bear to say goodbye to each other again, so they don't really do it' -- and if there was, I can appreciate that -- but it seemed like the intent was to show that Blanche, Rose, and Sophia have moved on with their life and they don't need Dorothy anymore, and I just... I can't accept that. For one, because they told her they still need her barely half an episode before; and, most importantly, because they've just told her that they want her there. And, I don't know, I feel like that deserved to be properly shown on screen, instead of just sending her off with the most heartbreaking sadness in her eyes.

Apart from this note, though, it was a very good episode. I'm heartbroken at the idea that this was Dorothy's final appearance as a character, but it had to happen at some point -- and I'll go back to rewatch Golden Girls and see her in action faster than you can say cheesecake, so, you know, she's never really gone. I'll just have to believe in my heart that she eventually realized her mistake and came back to her family, where she belongs.

Ok. I have procrastinated as long as decency allows, but it's time. It's time for me to watch Dorothy's final appearance on screen.

Join me as I wear my mourning garb and press play on Seems Like Old Times, part 1 and 2!