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The end of the season, that is. This episode marked the season finale, and despite the reservations I had before watching it.... I actually quite enjoyed it.
First of all, the title of this episode is just a painful reminder of what could have been. There was no wedding. The only reference to a wedding was Ally seeing a wedding dress in the dress boutique. But that's okay. I still see a wedding in Ms. McBeal's future..... as long as a certain Mr. Paul is the groom :-)
David E. Kelley should have changed the title of this episode to "Songs That Make You Cry". The show was filled with wonderful songs, some old, some new. I'll mention each one as the review goes on...
Well, Ally's hallucinating again. That darn baby is back. When she tries to whack it with a tennis racket, it turns into a dragon. Sheesh, our Ally sure does have a vivid imagination, doesn't she? The next day at the office, a much more pleasant hallucination appears.... in the form of.....
Billy Thomas
Ah, it was so nice to see Billy again. When he died last season, I cried like a baby. I didn't want him popping up as a ghost all the time, but since he hasn't been seen all season long, it was a very nice surprise. And it seemed fitting. Ally and Billy have always had a special connection and it was nice to see that it was still there. It was almost comforting when Billy told Ally that she had a happy life ahead of her. I almost expected Ally to ask Billy how Larry was doing. But instead, she just thanked him. They had a very sweet scene together and I was happy about it.
Now, let's talk about Larry. You know, the guy who broke Ally's heart (not to mention the hearts of countless fans across the world?) I had a glimmer of hope that he would appear in this episode somehow, but alas, that wasn't meant to be. But the show did start off amazingly with the "Previously on Ally McBeal..." scenes -- it opened with Ally and Larry's first kiss. From then on, Larry's presence was very much in the air. The wonderful thing about this episode is how it mostly focused on Ally McBeal. Not on any of the supporting characters, but on the title character herself. We needed to see Ally on-screen for most of the episode. We needed to know how she was feeling after last episode's breakup. And I thought DEK did a great job in showing that. Obviously, she's heartbroken.... but they made it clear that Ally still believes in love and knows she can love again. Now, the selfish part of me didn't really like that statement because the thought of her with anybody else.... I just don't like it. After Larry Paul, how could there be anybody else? I guess we'll just have to tune in next season to see what happens.
But Ally was dealing with all of this with calmness, understanding, and maturity. It was nice to see.
Of course, that's not to say that her life is roses and sunshine. Simple things can remind her of Larry. At the bar, she hears the song "For Once In My Life" -- that lovely song that played right after her first kiss with Larry. Natuarlly, she gets emotional. This song also played after Larry came back to her from Detroit.
Detroit. Yup, that's where Larry is. Coretta tells Ally that Larry moved back to Detroit. Not to be with Jamie (God forbid!!). But to be closer to his son. That's fine. That's what I expected him to do, anyway. But was anyone else hoping that Coretta and Ally could've sat down and had a cup of coffee? Then Coretta could have told Ally all about Larry's planned proposal. I really wish Ally could've known about that.
At home, Ally is sitting at the piano and staring into space. Her roommate and best friend Renee sits down next to her. I've always loved Renee. She's been a great and caring friend to Ally throughout these last four years. Ally asks Renee to play that song they used to sing together. It's called "Goodnight My Someone". I remember them singing this together during the first season. It's nice that DEK can remember the roots of this show and still incoroporate them into present episodes.
Ally's dad pays her a visit. Her dad is played by James Naughton (who I love -- I'm a big fan of his Broadway work). He's sitting at the piano at the bar. Of course, this reminds Ally of the time when she and Larry were there in the past. Ally tells her dad that Larry didn't really do anything wrong, but her dad says that Larry just picked up and left. That isn't exactly a "noble" thing to do. But Ally defends Larry and explains that he was in a lot of pain. They begin singing "Dulcinea" together. This is another song that was previously heard on the show, also sung by father & daughter. I really love past references. Ally flashes back to when she was a little girl. She always does that when her parents are around. After they sing, Ally's dad tells her that it's okay to cry all day if she has too. It's even all right to cry during the night. Ally says she's fine. But is she really?
I haven't mentioned yet that Ally actually works in this episode. She represents a high school boy named Malcolm. It's prom season and his date decided to go to the prom with another boy. Poor Malcolm. But it does seem like a silly thing to sue over. And so, they don't win the case. But Ally saves the day and offers to go to the prom with him -- on the condition that he sings a song when he's there. Apparently, Malcolm has an amazing voice but has never sang solo in public before. He finally agrees.
We later see Ally all dressed up in her prom dress. She looks very pretty! I wish they would let Ally wear her hair up like she had it when she was in her office. It looked really nice. But of course, Ally doesn't think so and rips the flower off from her hair so it's down again. LOL. Well, what can you do?
At the prom, Malcolm gets nervous and doesn't want to sing but Ally convinces him that he has to. So he gets up on stage in front of the whole senior class and sings a beautiful song called "You're Still You". And WOW!!! What a voice this guy has!! The actor's name is Josh Groban and I'm glad he had the opportunity to get on Ally McBeal and show the world just how talented he is. The song itself -- the lyrics -- are hauntingly beautiful. Click HERE to read the lyrics. Ally's face as Malcolm was singing was so touching and poignant. Ally was thinking of Larry. Maybe Calista was even thinking of Robert. It was a nice touch when everybody else in the room disappeared and Ally appeared to be standing there alone. It was a beautiful scene.
After the prom, Ally walks Malcolm home. He thanks her for helping him. She reminds him that he'll find somebody to love one day. And she'll do the same. Until then, they have to keep remembering that song -- "Goodnight My Someone". As they part, Ally walks home alone as we hear the song play. Fade to black.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, concludes the fourth season of Ally McBeal. Flash back to the very first scene of the season: it was Ally and Brian at the bar. He gave her a ring and asked her to move in with him. Now think about the last scene of the season: Ally walking home alone. Knowing only that, you'd think that Ally hasn't made much progress. But we know that during the course of the season, a man named Larry entered Ally's life. They say everything happens for a reason, and maybe the reason why Larry came into her life was to make her a better person -- more mature, more understanding.... this episode confirmed that.
Considering the editing and rewrites I'm sure must have been done to this episode, I thought it came off beautifully done. Much better than the last episode. The whole Ally/Larry story was handled with sensitivity. We got to see Ally deal with her loss and we got to mourn right along with her. Calista Flockhart did a WONDERFUL job. She is so talented and gives us hilarious, heartfelt performances week after week. Sometimes I think many people take her for granted. But seeing an episode like this reminds us that she is one of the most talented actresses working in the biz today.
And Larry..... oh, Larry..... look at what you've done to me all season long! Look at what you've done to all of us!! Even though the curtain has gone down on his character for now, it won't make me forget about what a wonderful character he has been all season long. He was witty, romantic, vulnerable, understanding, and a smart@ss. And we all fell head over heels in love with him. How can we go on??
Well, no matter what happens in the future, it won't change the fact that Robert Downey, Jr. has made the 4th season of Ally McBeal the most magical television season of my life. He made me actually look forward to Mondays! LOL. I couldn't wait for the weekend to be over with just so I could see him and Calista work their magic together. You don't see this kind of chemistry every day. It's a once in a lifetime kind of thing and I'm happy I got to witness it.
So what will the future hold? I don't know. I guess we'll have to tune in next season to find out. Let me just say that it's been a lot of fun writing these episode reviews and I thank everyone who has e-mailed me and given me kind words about this little webpage of mine. I have heard from people all around the world -- England, Australia, Canada, Scotland, Italy, the Philippines, France, Sweden, Ireland etc. -- it just goes to show that the love story between Ally & Larry is universal. We all want to believe that this type of love really does exist. And I'm sure it does. The lucky ones find it.
If you've made it this far, thank you for reading! Now it's time to enjoy the re-runs and re-live the magic all over again. Keep positive thoughts, have faith, have hope..... and never forget the magic that Ally & Larry have shared with us.
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