Firefly Lane Season 1 ending is dissatisfying and anti-climactic

We have got to end this trend of season finale cliffhangers unless you’re a few seasons into a super popular show or you know you’re getting renewed in advance. What happened to closure? Firefly Lane Season 1 failed to get that memo since this frustrating season-ender left far too many loose ends for my liking and delivered the most anti-climactic answer to the season-long mystery of “who’s funeral is everyone attending in the future?”

And no. The show hasn’t been renewed yet. But sometimes, writers and executive producers intentionally add cliffhangers to encourage networks and streamers to bring them back. Instead, more showrunners should plan on only having one season to tell the story, leaving enough room for future development in the finale should they get renewed, while simultaneously providing closure.

Firefly Lane does not prepare fans for the possibility that this show will be one and done so we better pray Netflix orders another season.

Caution: The following article contains spoilers for Firefly Lane Season 1, Episode 10.

Before we get to the most significant questions posed by the finale, let’s rehash some of the other sub-plots because a lot happens in this episode. Sean finally comes out to Julia, and she immediately leaves him, we don’t get any clues as to what his next move is. At The Girlfriend Hour, Tully has to face the misogynistic lech that previously assaulted her in the 1980s again as he takes control of her show and figure out what’s going to happen with Max.

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Tully ends up quitting her job because she doesn’t want to deal with Wilson, and who can blame her? She promises Kate that whatever she does next will be better than ever — because Kate will be by her side as a producer (also did anyone else find some of the parallels between Wilson’s proposed Brooks/Tully pairing similar to The Ugly Truth?).

As for Max and Tully, Max offers to get his marriage to Tully annulled. He’s been burned by her one too many times.

Tully apologizes to him for all the terrible things she said in Episode 9 and asks if they can give their relationship a new beginning. If Max decides he wants to try again, Tully tells him to meet her at the gazebo, where they eloped the next day. Max doesn’t show. For now, it looks like they’re really over for good this time. 

Now let’s get into the biggest questions presented and answered (or left unanswered) by the series.

Firefly Lane Season 1, Episode 10: Who’s funeral was it? 

BUD!? The writers spent this entire season building up a funeral for BUD? Bud, Kate’s dad, who has virtually no screentime and no character development until a few rushed scenes in the finale? It honestly felt like a slap in the face.

Yes, I’m glad the show didn’t fall for the lazy “bury your gays” trope with Sean like I expected, but seriously, all that build-up for Bud’s funeral feels like a ridiculous, anti-climactic letdown. And since this is the only real “answer” we get in the finale, it’s doubly disappointing.

I mean no, we don’t get legitimate closure on Max and Tully,  we don’t know what will happen to Johnny, and we don’t know why Kate and Tully aren’t friends anymore — but Bud’s dead. The show hardly even explored the extramarital affair storyline between Kate’s parents. So you’ll have to excuse me if I don’t harbor any real intense emotions toward either of them.

Firefly Lane Season 1, Episode 10: What happened between Kate and Tully?

I’m so angry that Firefly Lane left the friendship between Kate and Tully unresolved. This entire show hinges on their relationship. It’s the most important part of the series. Yet we don’t get any real clue as to why these two lifelong best friends have a falling out to the point where Kate never wants to see Tully again? Did the writers not have time to figure out what caused the rift beforehand?

We needed more context to this fight. We didn’t even necessarily need to see a reconciliation between them, but we definitely needed to have an idea of why the Firefly Lane girls suddenly aren’t talking anymore. Leaving viewers completely in the dark on this feels like a poor decision.

Firefly Lane Season 1, Episode 10: Is Johnny dead?

Johnny and Kate finally get together in the past, and in the future, Kate bails on Travis to spend a romantic night with Johnny before he leaves for Iraq. After Johnny leaves, Kate finally admits to Tully that she’s still in love with Johnny. Tully responds with a resounding, “Duh.” But Johnny might not make it back to his family in one piece.

The last we see of him, he’s in a war zone, triggering a landmine. His fate is left up in the air. As far as cliffhangers go, this would be a nasty one on its own, but paired with the Tully/Kate fallout and everything else, it feels like too much.

Firefly Lane Season 1, Episode 10: Final Thoughts

Combined with the lack of resolution and the open-ended finale used as a ploy to get a Season 2, the whole Wilson King (Martin Donovan) storyline left a bad taste in my mouth. I feel like the writers could have done a better job with the arc if they hadn’t crammed it into the final two episodes and given the storyline more time to breathe.

It just felt like unnecessary melodrama added onto all of the other drama the characters were already dealing with, adding in more plotlines to wrap up when they should have been focusing on giving fans closure to the arcs that were already present throughout the season.

I’m sure there are plenty of fans who loved this finale. I’m happy people enjoyed it. But I’ve grown weary of our obsession to tease sequels instead of finding ways to organically tell a cohesive story in one film or one season without counting on continuations. More seasons would be great, but why can’t each season tell a complete chapter without all the messy open endings? It feels lazy.

I grew attached to these characters and the show as a whole, so I think my attachment is what has made me feel so dissatisfied with Episode 10. It didn’t give us the payoff we deserved. Instead, the final hour just felt like a giant hook for Season 2 rather than a satisfying conclusion.

When all is said and done, though, I’ll definitely be back for more, so hurry up and renew it Netflix! I need to know what happened to the Firefly Lane girls.

What did you think about the Firefly Lane Season 1 finale? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

The first season of Firefly Lane is now streaming on Netflix.