Dispatches from Elsewhere: The Boy

April 28, 2020 4:45 PM - Season 1, Episode 10

A final mystery is solved. (Season Finale)

AV Club - Dispatches From Elsewhere says goodbye in the wildest, most meta way possible

EW - Jason Segel explains that surreal and personal Dispatches From Elsewhere finale

posted by oh yeah! (10 comments total)

I watched the finale last night, and, it didn't really do it for me. I'm not completely averse to self-insertion/going meta; I was a fan of The OA after all, and if they'd gotten renewed for another season Brit Marling was probably going to be pulling a similar stunt. But I found it pretty off-putting here -- I was invested in Simone/Peter, so for the show to erase Peter and want me to care about Jason instead just pulled me out of things. Sure, Jason Segal is a real person, and I suppose I should be more affected by him putting his real vulnerabilities on display, but, Peter was more real to me, so I wish they had found a different way to accomplish their intentions.
posted by oh yeah! at 4:45 AM on April 29, 2020 [5 favorites]

The finale really clicked with me, especially Boy's story. But, in a way that I can't entirely explain, the finale made the rest of the show click into place for me. It's just something that my head "gets" now, but can't really explain. Kind of the way a piece of art might click with you, but you can't exactly explain why. It just makes sense to you.

Honestly, I'm not sure I would have enjoyed a more traditional "tie up the loose ends" finale. I'm also not sure I would have stayed with the show if it had started out making it clear that it was going to be a metaphorical romp through Jason Segal's therapy. I'm pretty comfortable with how it ended. I might have had Boy pop in and out more often throughout the run, even if as a sort-of easter egg in the background, but that's a tiny thing. Overall, I'm glad I watched this. I just hope they don't do a second series. I'm not sure how they could, though.
posted by Thorzdad at 5:46 AM on April 29, 2020 [1 favorite]

In thinking more about why things clicked for me, all I can offer is, if you've been in therapy for quite awhile (like me) the ending evoked a huge "Ohhhhhh! Duh!" response inside me, when thinking over the whole of the show in the light of the finale.
posted by Thorzdad at 6:49 AM on April 29, 2020

I wanted to love it but kind of hated it. It felt so indulgent. I had said in an earlier post about DfE that I liked how Jason Segal had taken a back seat and let the other actors have the spotlight (which worked out well for everyone) but it really was alllll about Jason Segal all along and honestly, I would have passed on the show entirely had I known that.
posted by the webmistress at 12:21 PM on April 29, 2020 [3 favorites]

Ugh, this didn't work for me at all. Navel gazing overdose.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 2:09 PM on May 7, 2020 [1 favorite]

The main things I got out of this show: a) I would watch Eve Lindley read the phone book; and b) I can always watch more Sally Field.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 2:21 PM on May 7, 2020 [1 favorite]

So having watched the show as a trans lesbian immigrant, this final episode pissed me off royally.

But hey, we should give straight cis white dude more credit. He's Trying to Become a Better Person(tm)!

All the rest of us mouthpieces should be glad to be of service. Oh, and sleep with him if we're hot enough.
posted by tigrrrlily at 6:09 PM on June 25, 2021

I should probably add that I'm bi, though about to enter a marriage with a woman. I guess all you need to know is this finale DISGUSTED ME ENOUGH TO OUTRIGHT IDENTIFY AS A LESBIAN without thinking much about it.
posted by tigrrrlily at 6:42 PM on June 25, 2021 [1 favorite]

I saw an article about the new Jason Segel movie Windfall and was surprised to find that I am still mad about this ending.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 9:47 AM on April 4, 2022

You know that phrase we use for great endings "stuck the landing"?

This show blew the landing, broke its ankle in a compound fracture, and knocked over some lights into a banner, starting a fire that burned down the set.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 8:20 AM on August 2, 2023