Casual Review: All About You/Finale (Season 4 Episodes 7 and 8)

Casual Season 4 Episodes 7 and 8, “All About You” and “Finale,” brings the series to a close. In the end, Alex, Laura, and Val find happiness in ways they didn’t expect. It may not be perfect, but everyone is in a much better place in their life than they were when the show began.

Alex is the character that shows the most growth throughout the series. He began as a man who believed he could use a website algorithm to find a relationship in which he could find fulfillment and also never be hurt.

Alex: Where do you take someone on a date when you actually care about them? This is all very new to me.

On Season 4 Episode 7, “All About You,” Alex fully commits to Rae and finally risks his heart in a relationship. However, Rae quickly crushes him by crying during the first few minutes of their date. She is in love with Jeff. Alex must sit there stunned and listen as she destroys all hope for their relationship.

Jeff has broken up with Rae after discovering that she slept with Alex and is planning on moving to Austin. Rae still wants to be with Jeff and to move to Austin with him… and take Carrie.

Alex’s whole world crumbles in a matter of minutes.

He doesn’t let it devastate him. He makes the decision that Rae and Carrie are his family, and he loves them even if they cannot be a family in the traditional sense.

Alex’s actions show how much he has truly grown over the course of the show. As Leon reminds us, Alex tried to drive his car into a wall the last time he was rejected by a woman he loved.

Alex discovers romantic love isn’t the only way to find happiness and belonging. There are other kinds of love that are just as valuable.

Of course, this realization doesn’t come easy. He must relocate to Austin to be with Carrie and Rae, meaning he has to move away from Val and Laura.

Alex’s breakdown to Val about his fears of leaving her is raw and powerful. He is so conflicted about what he should do. Val gives him the strength to make the tough choice by telling him that Rae and Carrie are his family now too, and he needs to be with them.

It’s clear in this scene that Alex has found what he has been seeking. He has the family he has wanted since he was a little boy. It may not look the way he thought it would, but his life is filled with love.

Val’s story also ends in a way she would never expect. She’s not in relationship, but she is no longer terrified of being a single woman in her forties.

Thank God she breaks up with John. That man becomes insufferable in the last few episodes of the season. However, Season 1 Val may have stayed with him simply so she wouldn’t be alone.

She is now able to date and enjoy meeting people without the fear of not finding someone to have a serious relationship with. The double date between Val, Alex, and their internet dates is absolutely a blast. It’s an awesome call-back to the earlier seasons. Only this time around, we see them actually having fun on their internet dates.

Like Alex, Val realizes the beauty in the family she has built and discovers that romantic love is not absolutely necessary to be happy. As she reflects on her bond with Alex, Laura, Leon, and Leia, she knows she is loved.

I’m so happy that Leia and Leon work things out. They are yet another example that families come in all shapes and sizes. It does not have to be mom, dad, and children. Also, how cute is Alex the dog?

Laura is able to mature and develop insight. She watched her parents get divorced, and her mom and Alex bounce between relationships during her teenage years. She didn’t have any faith that she was a person capable of being in a real relationship when no one around her was able to be in one.

Her relationship with Tathiana shows her that love is worth putting in the hard work. Relationships are never going to be easy, but she can’t run away at the first sign of trouble.

Laura: Listen, I kinda do this thing where I cycle through people. Like we dance to a song, and when the song ends, I move on. But I really don’t want to do that with you. I want you in my life, and if that’s as a friend… okay, but please don’t be a stranger.

Though her age certainly plays a huge role, Laura is now able to see herself as person worthy of being happy, unlike in the early seasons of the show, when she was an angst-filled teenager determined to self destruct.

Casual Season 4 Episode 8, “Finale,” brings us full circle. We see Val experiencing a funeral dream this time instead of Alex, like in the pilot. I have never laughed so hard during a funeral.

Alex and Val may not have achieved peace with their parents or their upbringing, but now, they know they don’t have to be hindered by it. They both have found ways to have a satisfying family, despite never having one as a child.

When Casual began, Alex, Val, and Laura were lost in their lives and miserable. As we say goodbye to them, they have found their way to contentment in ways no one ever expected.

What did you think of the final two episodes of Casual? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Casual Seasons 1-4 are streaming now on Hulu.

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