The Flight Attendant Review: Backwards and Forwards (Season 2 Episode 8)
The Flight Attendant Season 2 Episode 8, “Backwards and Forwards,” delivers predictable reveals that don’t feel compelling or plausible.
The first half of the finale ties up the main puzzle, and (big surprise) Dot was the one who was really behind this season’s puzzle. I wrote in my review of The Flight Attendant Season 2 Episode 6, “Brothers & Sisters,” that it felt like the visuals were guiding the audience to this conclusion.
In terms of narrative structure, this is a good thing because pulling something out of thin air for the sake of a surprise twist isn’t the best practice when it comes to creating a satisfying conclusion. However, the time given to this reveal feels flat and uneven.
As much as Dot’s apartment includes little notes of things mentioned in the first couple of episodes, Dot doesn’t feel like much of a threat.
A part of this is because her motive is never really to give us sufficient reason to believe that she would do these things. We can explain that away by saying that she’s CIA and that she’s been an operative for a while. However, there is such a thing as too much shadow and that’s precisely what this season’s main storyline struggles from.
Dot contrasts sharply with Jenny. The reveal that Jenny has been in contact with Feliks, that her podcast was fake, and that she really wants to kill Cassie feels like it came out of nowhere. However, the breadcrumbs that we get regarding that storyline are much more compelling.
Considering that the show is rooted in identity and self-acceptance, the fact that Jenny started off this season trying to befriend and be like Cassie, the turn this storyline takes is genuinely terrifying.
The supercut of Jenny and Feliks’s relationship is enlightening and feels a lot more compelling than the other breadcrumbs we’ve been following throughout the season.
However, where Jenny’s storyline falls short is in her skill. While Dot has the background and doesn’t feel like a threat, Jenny has little skill for killing and doesn’t seem to really have a plan. In the last half of the episode, Jenny feels more like Cassie’s mirror than anything else, and that makes the actual plot of this story filler for Cassie’s journey.
Personally, I was hungering for a better balance similar to The Flight Attendant Season 1. The way that the first season paced Cassie’s journey with her descent to rock bottom meshed well. In comparison, The Flight Attendant Season 2 felt like it was constantly fighting with itself as to where it wanted to put its focus. The puzzle and mystery served as guideposts, and the rest was all about getting to self-acceptance.
The moments when Cassie confronts herself are some of the best moments of both the season and this episode. Getting to the place where Cassie can finally admit that she’s a flawed human being and has to take the versions of herself from the mind palace with her on her journey is a big moment.
The way it’s portrayed with each of them fritzing out can read like she’s banishing them, but when she finally confronts Jenny it solidifies that she accepts her flaws.
CASSIE: This is who I am. I am a deeply flawed, sad, alcoholic, narcissistic thrill addict. And I don’t like myself very much. But it is who I fucking am, okay? And it is enough for me. It is enough, okay? So you, can fuck off.
By the end of “Backwards and Forwards,” The Flight Attendant gets Cassie in a good place similar to where she was at the end of The Flight Attendant Season 1 Episode 8, “Arrivals and Departures.” She’s on solid footing with the CIA, she’s started making amends with her mom, and she’s even video chatting with Rick and Davey.
It ends on a happy note. Cassie’s future looks bright, but this is where the series would do well to leave her.
Stray Thoughts:
- Max and Ani starting a PI Firm? First, called it! Second, please give me that series. Those two would kill it as PIs.
- And on another Max and Ani note, a small Las Vegas wedding with Elvis feels exactly like it would be their speed. I can’t think of a better ending for those two.
- Megan sitting in the airport reading Normal People by Sally Rooney and then ending up with the alias of Mr. and Mrs. Jones is the perfect example of foreshadowing.
- I am glad Megan got her happy ending, but it also felt anticlimactic. There wasn’t enough time to explore this with the other threads that season had going on and since it didn’t connect, it literally felt like it could have been released as a shorter side series centered on Megan. (Yea, I’m nostalgic for the days of webisodes, so sue me!)
- I need to know if Shane’s boyfriend ever forgave him for not telling him about the CIA! We see him leave but then it’s never mentioned, come on!
- To be honest, I was kind of sad we didn’t get one last wild story from Benda before Cassie left for Max and Ani’s wedding.
What did you think of this episode of The Flight Attendant? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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The Flight Attendant Season 2 is now available to stream on HBO Max.
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Lauren Busser
Lauren Busser is an Associate Editor at Tell-Tale TV. She is a writer of fiction and nonfiction whose work has appeared in Bitch Media, Popshot Quarterly, Brain Mill Press Voices, and The Hartford Courant.