SIX Season 1 Episode 8 Review: End Game
Lisa Babick
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Thank you SIX for gutting me.
I wish there was a higher ranking than a five star to give to SIX Season 1 Episode 8. This episode deserves more. The entire cast deserves more. Rip deserves more.
I'm so glad that the series was picked up for a second season. What happened to Rip...someone on the team needs to avenge.
This season did not end the way I wanted it to end. Sure, Rip and the girls were saved, but I wanted Rip to ride off into the sunset with Na'omi.
Wouldn't they have made a great couple? Didn't Rip deserve some sort of happiness after all he'd been through?
He knew he had to be held accountable for what he did to Michael's brother, but would he really have suffered severe consequences for his actions? Michael's brother was not innocent. Armed or not.
The guy was a traitor to his country and had Rip not killed him, he probably would have killed innocent lives himself.
But there's also a deeper question here which I think I might've delved into before. Did Michael's brother really deserve to die?
Should he have been taken prisoner instead? Would that have been the right thing to do?
How do you even know what the right thing to do is in these types of situations?
Did Rip really step over the line? Where is and what is the line anyway?
Rip was right all along. Muttaqi was responsible for everything Rip said he was even at the time he was scoffed at by Bear.
Rip has been around the bush. He saw lots more than his teammates had at the time. Now Caulder and Bear understand better because they've seen more.
The lines are not always black and white. There's lots of blur.
I started off this season hating -- absolutely hating -- Rip. I thought he was the worst person on the planet. I saw no point to him. And maybe he saw no point to himself.
He was a glorified security guard who ended up finding himself in a sticky situation. He could have just done nothing. Let whatever happened happen.
Instead, he decided to act. He decided to do whatever he could to protect Na'omi and the girls. He had lost everything. His wife. His team. Himself.
But he quit feeling sorry for himself and became the man he was when he first became a SEAL. He became a hero.
After it was all over, it was obvious he didn't see himself as one.
He wasn't interested in the party for him, no matter how tempted he was by the idea of Jackie's guacamole.
He wasn't interested in the guy who shook his hand and wanted to pay for his meal.
Saving Na'omi and the girls redeemed him, but in his mind he was guilty. He was not the hero everyone thought he was. At least that's what he thought.
Some people might say he had it coming to him when the girl shot and killed him. What goes around comes around.
But is that line of thinking the right way to think as an American?
I'm not gung ho about war and all it involves. I was taken aback when Rip killed Michael's brother. But I also didn't know the whole story.
Now that I do, there's still no clear feeling. Part of me is glad Rip did what he did for the reasons I pointed out above. - that Michael and his brother would have killed innocent people. The other part of me says how would Rip have known this?
But if you look at it logically, why were Michael and his brother where they were? It certainly wasn't because they were touring the country or were volunteers for a good cause.
It really makes you think about things that are going on in our own country right now. How far is too far to protect our country?
We saw the influence Michael had with the girl. How many more are there like her? How do we protect ourselves from those types of situations?
Should Rip have killed Michael when he killed his brother? Hindsight says yes, but where does it end? And can we really stop any of it anyway?
Despite all the questions and reasonings for and against Rip's actions in Afghanistan, he did not deserve to die the way he did.
He didn't deserve to die at all. He deserved a second chance.
Instead, it was ripped from him by Michael. And now the rest of the team and their families are in danger.
What was supposed to be a happy homecoming, just turned deadly. The terror has followed them home.
What will happen once they find Rip's body? What will they do when they see the video the girl posted online? How will they protect their families?
I was so happy to see that it was Jackie who decided that Buddha couldn't possibly live a domestic life like she wanted. Granted, he wasn't too thrilled about the mother-in-law moving in, but he also understood that Jackie needed her own life, and she needed help to do it.
Even though he didn't show it, he probably breathed a huge sigh of relief that he wasn't being forced to leave the SEALs. His team is as much a part of him as his family is.
Caulder made up with his daughter which was great.
Bear and Lena have a lot to work through. Even though he claims he's ready to have a child, I don't think he is. He certainly won't be in that frame of mind once he learns about Rip. Out of everyone, he's the one that going to go all hog wild trying to revenge for Rip's death.
It's a good thing Lena took Gloria's advice. She's not going to be able to deal with Bear after this. Bear is going to become someone completely different.
Think about it. You go on a mission to save a guy's life only to bring him home and he's murdered by the very people who you just saved him from. That's going to mess with your mind.
Even at the end of this review, my heart is still broken about Rip (the over of Neil Young's "Hey Hey My My" didn't help.) And yes, I'm still wishing he would've ended up with Na'omi.
Even though it took me a little while to warm up to the show, I have really come to love all the players and stories of the series. I like being able to see the two lives the SEALs have to live.
Most of all, I really like the way the series makes me think about right and wrong and all the in-betweens when it comes to war and all it involves.
What did you guys think of the season finale and the series overall? Hit the comments and share your thoughts! If you missed anything, you can watch SIX online right here via TV Fanatic!
