Whiskey Cavalier Season Finale Review: Czech Mate (Season 1 Episode 13)
What is hopefully a season-ender as opposed to a series-ender, Whiskey Cavalier Season 1 Episode 13, “Czech Mate,” proves why this show deserves more attention and another season.
The entire season has been a fun ride. This is a show that doesn’t take itself too seriously, and it knows exactly what it is. It’s full-on entertainment and it’s a joy to watch, plain and simple. This finale takes all of that to the next level with several satisfying moments and the chance for more growth.
The finale bookends the season with the return of our villain, Alex Ollerman. What’s great about this is that his return, which happens after he escapes from Will and Frankie earlier on the episode, facilitates the need for the team to pull off a complicated heist.
JOSH HOPKINS, ANA ORITZ, VIR DAS
It’s so well done that it feels like a way to celebrate the show itself, and it’s fun to watch this team work together and to see how their plans play out. Like I said, it’s entertaining television, plain and simple.
There’s a lightness to it and some comedy as well in the way they pull everything off — from Frankie posing as a newscaster to Susan and Frankie faking a fight as a diversion.
But what’s more satisfying are the plans they have in the works to defeat Ollerman, despite the tiny magnets floating around in Ray’s blood.
One of my favorite things about this show has to be all of Jai’s little genius surprises.
And let’s step back to talk about Ray for a second, because we get closure with his character that we don’t get from any other storyline.
Somehow, Ray is a really loveable character despite the fact that he had an affair with his best friend’s girlfriend. But the fact is, he’s been trying to make up for that from the moment the series began, and he’s been doing it in an endearing way.
JOSH HOPKINS
Will’s willingness to forgive him in a moment where Ray thinks he might be about to die is this ultimate act of love. They were best friends, Ray betrayed Will, and Will had a harder time than even most might have with it because he feels his emotions so strongly.
Much of the show’s comedy hinges on Will’s big emotions, but here, it’s more subtle. And it’s so kind. There’s obviously a will they/won’t they love story happening between Will and Frankie, but the relationship between Will and Ray is really important, and for them to get closure before the episode’s end is particularly significant.
Susan has closure with him too, admitting she does actually like him. But thankfully, that closure leads to a happy ending for him, mostly, thanks to the device Jai created.
There’s still a risk, but it’s one Ray is willing to take. It was one thing for the team to go about getting a briefcase, but it’s another for them to allow the start of a war.
The team would have presumably been able to take Ollerman down once and for all earlier in the episode, except that he’s managed to get someone to infiltrate their group: Tina.
MARIKA DOMINCZYK
She’s the kind of villain you love to hate, and it’s perfect storytelling to have her fit in so well with them and develop this relationship with Standish the way she does, while she’s really been working with Alex Ollerman all along.
Poor Standish. He’s learned a lot since we first met him, and not only about being a spy.
It’s true he was the vulnerable one, but this guy is full of surprises, and nothing is more rewarding than seeing him be the one to turn around in that chair and put a bullet in Tina.
TYLER JAMES WILLIAMS, MARIKA DOMINCZYK
We are left with a cliffhanger when it comes to Standish, though. Because as it turns out, Alex isn’t actually dead. Sure, we see him fall from that window of his own accord, but we never actually see a body.
That should have been the first clue, but it’s still shocking to see him grab Standish at the end.
Speaking of cliffhangers, there is one more, and it’s big. It was clear from the beginning of the series that we were going be rooting for Will and Frankie to fall in love. It’s a natural setup, and especially considering their contrasting personalities, it’s one that has to be the driving force of the show.
They started out having trouble working together, but as the season progressed, they not only realized they made a good team, but they started to see the best in one another.
LAUREN COHAN, SCOTT FOLEY
When the two of them are in that final face-off with Ollerman, he makes a point to note that Will has changed Frankie. The fact is, he has. And she’s changed him too. Their partnership has helped both of them evolve as people, and we’ve seen the romance element creeping up slowly too.
It seems that they both get to a place where they can admit they have feelings for one another, and it happens while overlooking Prague and eating a pastry. It’s somehow this sweet, normal moment that the two of them rarely get.
They inch closer to one another. It looks like they might kiss. But… we don’t see what happens next. It’s left open. And that’s the beauty of it. For them to kiss would almost be too easy, too on the nose, and too much of a conclusion. To have it there as a suggestion instead is, for starters, more unique.
If this really is the series finale, it works because it lets us imagine what comes next, and we can assume they wind up together. It’s the kind of moment that leaves us wanting more, which a good finale (whether or a series finale or just a season finale) should do. It’s perfect.
Overall, the finale hits every beat well. Scott Foley’s portrayal of Will is so much fun to watch, Lauren Cohan’s Frankie is constantly surprising, and the cast members have all come together with great chemistry. This is escapist television in its truest form, and I mean that in the best of ways.
ABC has canceled the series, but after an outcry from fans, it looks like there’s a chance they might just reverse that decision (that’s according to TV Line).
Cross your fingers. This is a show that deserves another season. Dear ABC, please make that happen! #SaveWhiskeyCavalier
What did you think of the Whiskey Cavalier finale? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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Ashley Bissette Sumerel
Ashley Bissette Sumerel is a television and film critic living in Wilmington, North Carolina. She is editor-in-chief of Tell-Tale TV as well as Eulalie Magazine. Ashley has also written for outlets such as Rolling Stone, Paste Magazine, and Insider. Ashley has been a member of the Critics Choice Association since 2017 and is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic. In addition to her work as an editor and critic, Ashley teaches Entertainment Journalism, Composition, and Literature at the University of North Carolina Wilmington.