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Managing editor & film and television critic with a Bachelor's of Arts in English Literature with a Writing Minor from the University of Guam. Currently in graduate school completing a Master's in English Literature.
As one character says, “The effect is undeniable”. Scenes from a Marriage concludes on a surely hopeful note. The final episode of Hagai Levi’s HBO miniseries is titled “Scene V: In the Middle of the Night, in a Dark House, Somewhere in the World”. Hagai Levi serves as the director of the episode as well as the co-writer alongside executive producer Amy Herzog.
In this review, I will be discussing the Scenes from a Marriage finale. There will not be spoilers present, as the title of this article suggests. Nonetheless, please read ahead at your own discretion.
Plot Summary
Following last week’s episode, Jonathan (Oscar Isaac) and Mira (Jessica Chastain) meet up for a surprise in the aftermath of their separation. The former married couple reflects on past secret sexual rendezvous and affairs and looks forward to whatever the future awaits them.
Tovah Feldshuh appears as Jonathan’s mother, while Daniella Rabbani plays Jane. Michael Aloni makes his on-screen debut as Paulie.
Maury Ginsberg, Susan Pourfar, Lily Jane, and Michael Glasner also make appearances in this finale.
Discussion
With a near-56 minute runtime, the conclusion to this “marriage” may not seem satisfying at first. The pacing is all too brisk, and I find the protagonists breezing through their dialogue about this and that. I would have liked several more minutes of screentime to flesh out what else would need to be said. (On the other hand, that doesn’t seem so necessary.) It plays out as more of an epilogue to the story if anything. However, if you’ve invested all your time into these characters’ lives as I have, I would suggest watching it a second time.
Levi and Herzog allow a succinct amount of teleplay pages for the characters to breathe and not be at each other’s throats. For a good 10 minutes, we even get to see Jonathan and Mira interact with other people. This does indeed deliver on something I wrote about – during “Scene III” – in regards to the miniseries involving other characters. Although they’re only fleeting figures in this final scene of the marriage, they do hold some weight of their own.
Additionally, I admire the mix of Andrij Parekh’s cinematography and the Galperines’ musical scoring. Helping comprise the narrative, it frames itself as some sort of gift to viewers who’ve stayed this long. Short, sweet, and symbolic of love’s strength and longevity, it shows the memories that are meant to last. Not only that, but we also get several songs for the soundtrack of this show to get in a little spice.
Performances and Character Developments
We get to see a side of Jonathan and Mira that we probably haven’t seen since the first episode. Even then, at this point, it’s as if they’ve both climbed a colossal skyscraper or mountain and are looking down over the edge. I refer, of course, to how far they have come as individual human beings – and more or less as a couple. They have definitely grown in their Eigenwelt and Mitwelt dimensions, that is, in mind and in close social circles. For example, we see that Mira is learning to care more about others and doesn’t berate Jonathan on his conducting psychoanalyses. However, this time, I can assure you that he cuts down on that.
Compared to their self-commentary in “Scene I”, I believe they’re more honest about themselves now that they’ve evolved and transformed. In fact, this is actually something that Jonathan’s mother tells him at the beginning of this episode. Jonathan now accepts the type of person he’s become, i.e. someone who isn’t perfect and doesn’t try to be.
I should also note that Paulie finally makes a physical appearance in this episode. I hate him; the character, not the actor, whom I do not know at all but does well enough in the role.
Final Thoughts
What I love the most about these characters in this final scene is their conversation on what they define as love. It’s this part in their conversations made in this episode that is worth sticking around for. To simplify it, I will describe it in one sentence.
The love between two certain and specific human beings in this world is different, rare, and oftentimes stressful and traumatic.
Let me explain: If you are unable to subscribe to this dream as they have, then you are missing out on quite an experience. I know what Jonathan and Mira are going through; it’s all too familiar to me. As much as I would want to hate somebody like Mira in my life, I can not. I mean this in the definition of “can” as in “the power to do or work or perform a task at hand”. I do not have it in me to truly feel this emotion toward another person.
Scenes from a Marriage may have lasted five weeks for viewers. However, as viewers peeking through Jonathan and Mira’s lives as a married-then-separated couple, we got to endure years of heartbreak, hell, and healing. If I have learned anything personal about this series, it’s this: loving isn’t easy. You’ll encounter days of self-harm, self-hatred, emptiness, and more, but if you can go through all that for just moments of bliss, you will be all right. It’s like the old saying goes, “‘Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.”
Scenes from a Marriage is on HBO!
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Managing editor & film and television critic with a Bachelor's of Arts in English Literature with a Writing Minor from the University of Guam. Currently in graduate school completing a Master's in English Literature.
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