Lucky Series Finale Review: Welcome to the Deep End

Critic’s Rating: 4.5 / 5.0

4.5

Very occasionally, a television show will line up a sequence of scenes with such precision and artistry that all you can do is marvel in appreciation.

Everything about the first half of the Lucky finale conveyed a narrative greater than the sum of its parts.

From Lucky’s reflection on the path that led her to the final confrontation to juxtaposing Agent Rand and Priscilla’s takedown of their respective bosses, the parallels are seamless, the equivalencies elegant.

Lucky “All Good Things”

While I maintain that Lucky’s name is more ironic than prophetic, there’s something to be said for her skills at making her own luck.

Some credit goes to John. The “con” in con man is for confidence, and he instilled that in his daughter.

Even when she’s stopped buying his line, she knows the value of selling her own. She steps into the meeting with Whittaker with her chin up and nerves of steel.

It’s the definition of a last stand. She either walks away or she doesn’t. As she tells Priscilla, she’s done with running.

Three Queens

Fun fact: Lucky, Agent Rand, and Priscilla are never seen together as a trio. In pairs, they meet multiple times. Rand sees Lucky as a pawn. Priscilla views her as an obstacle.

Both of them underestimate her. Part of that might be her youth. Another factor is her father. But it’s those two things that put her ahead of the game.

She’s young enough to see how relationships blind the participants to their partners’ faults. She knows Priscilla and Rand are both missing the big picture when it comes to Whittaker and Kershaw, respectively.

Because John taught her to see all the angles, Lucky realizes Whittaker’s had a mole in the FBI feeding him intel on Cary’s location and any of the plans the feds had to take him down.

Knowing Rand and Kershaw are listening to her wire — and knowing Whittaker knows they are too — she times the reveal of Kershaw’s allegiance perfectly, trusting Rand will take care of him.

On the ground, she connects the dots for Priscilla. If Whittaker’s had Kershaw in his pocket all this time, he knew about the sting that sent her to prison.

Which means he let her be arrested. He let her go to prison and left her there for years, separated from Cary. Years with her son that she’ll never get back now.

Luck Be A Lady

Lucky really rolled the dice with Priscilla. John warned her on Lucky Season 1 Episode 6, “Wherever You Go, There You Are,” that Priscilla is different when she’s around Whittaker.

She was just as likely to shoot Lucky as she was to turn on Wayne. And for her to turn on Wayne Whittaker, believing she had no backup, was about as different as the very calculated and careful Priscilla could be.

Thank goodness for Dutch. She might’ve told Lucky, “Wherever you go, there you are,” but the truth is that wherever Priscilla goes, there Dutch is.

For a series called Lucky, the key characters work damned hard for their successes.

Lucky, Rand, and Priscilla are consummate survivors, and surviving is an exhausting business when you aren’t willing to back down on your goals.

House Rules

Lucky is meant to be a one-and-done limited series, but the finale leaves many potential on-ramps for follow-ups.

First of all, Priscilla’s just killed Whittaker. His entire empire could be hers for the taking.

Secondly, Agent Rand is NOT content with Whittaker biting it and clearing her house of Kershaw. The $10 million Lucky FedExed to her might help salve the wound a bit, but she’ll take up the hunt for Priscilla again.

Lastly, Lucky might have bid her father farewell, but John Armstrong won’t be gotten rid of that easily.

Family Ties

If there’s one thing we’ve learned about the Armstrongs, it’s that they’re in each other’s heads.

While we’ve always known that John’s voice guides most of Lucky’s decision-making, it isn’t until he plays that teddy bear that we realize how well she understands him.

After all, this isn’t the first time in the series that a man she loves takes off with something important while she sleeps.

With her memory of the drowning con when she was a teen juxtaposed with the Whittaker meeting, we see that she’s connecting her own dots.

Her father’s instinct isn’t one of altruism or paternalism. How many times in the series has someone — Lucky, Priscilla, John himself — commented that he’s never satisfied? He’s always got a play.

As she steels herself to enact one last plan, Lucky finally understands that if she really wants to stop running, to live a normal life, and to be a good person, she has to do it on her own.

So she does.

You Gotta Know When To Hold ‘Em

If we never learn what Priscilla goes on to do, if Agent Rand gives up her pursuit, or which con John plays next, we can be content that Lucky got to sink her toes into beach sand.

We understand that she’s never going to want anything more. She’s escaped. She’s free.

Considering the series as a whole, it’s impressive what they packed into seven episodes. There’s loss, suffering, lies, and death. But there’s also redemption, revelation, and renewal.

It’s not the adaptation that lovers of Marissa Stapley’s novel expected, but it remains true to the heart of the character they love.

Over to you, Fanatics! Here’s your chance to sound off on your favorite moments and the ones that made you scream with frustration.

Rate the series in the poll below and hit our comments with your thoughts on the finale. Let’s talk!