Zoo Season Finale Review: Oh, My Darling Clementine (Season 2 Episodes 12 and 13)
No dinosaurs? What a letdown.
After a long and uneventful (and mostly disappointing) Season 2 of Zoo, the season finale, featuring episodes “Pangaea” and “Clementine”, delivers everything that the series has needed all summer: heart and action.
While I could continue to complain about the misuse of Robert Oz, and his even worse demise, I won’t. I’ve said enough on the topic.
The writers of Zoo ruined the show’s most fascinating and mysterious character, and they did nothing to redeem that damage before killing him off. I’m going to imagine that Robert Oz was never alive, and that the events of Season 2 regarding him are erased.
With several false endings, the two-hour finale delivers a number of moments that pull major emotional punches. As the birds are released on Pangaea, and the crew reminisces about Chloe, I admit that my eyes are very misty.
But here’s the thing about having several false endings: viewers need only to look over at the clock, and realize that they’re only 40 minutes into a 2 hour finale event.
As the glass ceiling of happiness shatters for the Zoo Crew, it’s easy to see where this is all headed. It doesn’t make it any less painful, or preempt any of the tears you know will come, but it eases the blow a bit.
It’s clear Mitch will make the ultimate sacrifice. (Sssshhh….I know what you’re thinking, just hang on a second.)
Bookending a season is a classic storytelling device on television. Season 2 began with Abraham making the call to leave without Jamie in order to save everyone, a call that caused Mitch to literally stage a childish sit-in. It makes perfect sense that the season ends with Mitch asking Abraham to leave without him, a call that leaves Jamie devastated.
It’s also fitting for Mitch’s story to end not surrounding Jamie or Allison, or anyone other than his daughter, Clementine.
While mentions of Clem have been few and far between this season, we know that Mitch’s entire purpose was to cure his daughter of her disease. (I could get into Robert Oz creating it, and all that nonsense, but really I don’t want to. It’s contrived and feels like a sloppy way to throw it all together.)
Mitch says it best in the episode; he’s screwed up a lot of things, but saving Clem’s life will be the thing that redeems all of those bad decisions.
And it is.
Why Robert Oz sterilized mankind is beyond me, but it’s a twist that gives Zoo a unique shot in the arm, and a purpose for Season 3. The “last generation” surprise feels right for a series that began as an animal apocalypse, and now allows it to truly FEEL apocalyptic.
That all being said, I’m actually a little disappointed that 11 years into the future Mitch is alive. It makes the sacrifice of that moment, and the arc of the character, feel…cheap.
Mitch has gone from being an animal pathologist to a renowned scientist. Why does the world rely so heavily on him that he can’t just rest? It’s Buffy syndrome.
Jackson’s cured of his mutation, but really, what closure does he have regarding Robert?
Honestly, it doesn’t matter. It’s a reset button. Jackson has the same amount of closure that he had when Zoo began back in 2015. I’m sure that when we find Jackson 11 years later, he’ll still be uncovering new information about Robert. Hell, Robert may even still be alive. No one seems to actually die on this show…except Chloe. Man, I miss Chloe.
Speaking of being alive, did anyone else think Logan still is? Yeah, me either. But when I saw him in the “previously on” promo, I immediately went, “COME ON!”
Seriously. It’s just like looking at the clock. Viewers are smart enough to know what it all means.
I have serious whiplash for the next two hours trying to decide whether Logan is good or bad, but more importantly, I’m frustrated by his ending with Jamie.
Is Mitch’s death supposed to give us free-reign to ‘ship Jamie and Logan? Because I think I am. Mitch and Jamie have become too exhausting, and Logan’s Wolverine speech made me feel for the guy. I hope he’s a part of Jamie’s future, and of Zoo‘s.
My biggest complaint about the finale is this:
WHY TEASE ME WITH PANGAEA AND NOT DELIVER DINOSAURS?
Everyone knows what Pangaea is. I’m sorely disappointed that the writers turned Pangaea into an island named by Oz’s team. Some prehistoric madness would be EXACTLY right for Zoo. We’re living in a Jurassic Park era. Dinosaurs are hip. Use ’em.
The animals are cured, though. That’s what’s most important.
Fighting hybrids is the way to go now.
Will you buy a return ticket for Season 3 of Zoo? Where has Mitch been all these years? Will Jackson be rocking a great scar? How’d Abe become a doctor? Are Jamie and Logan hooked up? Sound off in the comments below!
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Zoo returns for Season 3 in Summer, 2017 on CBS.
Christine Laskodi
Christine is guilty of watching Hart of Dixie more times than the average human will in their lifetime. She's the host of Long Live the Hart: A Hart of Dixie Podcast (available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify!) as well as co-host on The Shipping Room, a podcast devoted to television's greatest relationships. You can find some of her older television reviews at TV Fanatic and IGN. Christine eagerly anticipates every cheesy holiday movie that networks can throw at her, and current favorite shows include The Good Place, The Resident, Shark Tank, and All Rise.