It all comes down to this.
After months of touching the darkest parts of themselves and the jarring moments from the last two episodes Aidan, Josh, and Sally go beyond anything they’ve ever done in order to make peace. But every decision has a price and will the onus of their decisions destroy any hopes of a normal life, a life where they try so hard to be human?
As Sally reminisces about how good of a child she was, a crushed Josh is stopped from going to Julia’s wake by his sister Emily. She knows they will blame him and it’s something he doesn’t need, as Josh’s own self-flagellation would give Angel (from ‘Buffy’ fame) a run for his money. For her part, as Sally watches a woman die, she remembers a child’s impatience and how there are times where one needs to try something different. She watches a door open and steps toward it before being interrupted by the woman’s ghost. ‘Something different’ is just what Aidan, hurt and bitter from Suren’s decision, tried to do. He asks her why she went back and her only reason is for him, knowing Mother would never stop until he was dead and her daughter returned to the fold. He refuses to accept that, encouraging her to be strong but she tells Aidan that he is her weakness. It’s a prospect tough to accept, but as Sally’s message hints, you can’t leave this world without a fight.
Sitting in the car with Emily, Josh tries to reconcile Julia’s death as his loathing for the creature inside him intensifies. There’s no way around it; Josh is a glutton for punishment, putting the onus of everyone’s fate on him and the wolf inside. He’s brought out of his funk when several messages come through on his phone. It seems that Norah, working back at the hospital, had an accident during the eclipse, landing her in a hospital bed. She offers sympathy for Julia and tries to dissuade Josh from blaming himself (word association time…Blame: Josh as Water:Fish) The ever evolving hatred he has for his lycanthropic alter ego starts pushing him towards taking Ray’s life. Disturbed by the change, Norah relays the rest of the curse’s implication; running through the bloodlines, by killing Ray it would free not only Josh but anyone turned by him. The prospect of Josh being able to undo the horrible life (in his estimation) he’s burdened Norah with drives his decision and despite promising her not to take the other man’s life, the resolve in his face tells another story.
Sally talks to Aidan about limbo and her desire to free Nick and, quite possibly Danny from what she’s caused. She commiserates with Aidan on his loss of Suren, suggesting their brief romance will make things easier though a quick flashback shows just how devoted Aidan had been to his vampire love, visiting a buried Suren in 1936 only to have Mother mock his sentimentality. He jumps back to the present as Josh comes in. Josh’s earlier resolve comes through when he informs his roomies of his decision to kill Ray. Josh’s resolves lights a fire in his vampire roommate and Aidan offers to help after he takes care of his own bane—Mother. Sally watches the two men solidify the minds to the task and remarks how they are going to “go on two separate killing sprees for women…that is so hot.”
Aidan relays his plan to Henry, who thinks it’s suicide. He tells Aidan about the celebration dinner at the lake house where Suren was buried. A flashback to 1956 has Aidan and Mother at Suren’s grave. Mother believes Suren’s hold over to her humanity is her daughter’s weakness; after sharing diverging thoughts on parenthood, Mother commands Aidan to never return to the grave. Back in the present Aidan tells Henry the right time to strike is when Mother sleeps after feeding and sleeps in the root cellar. Despite his vocal opposition and fear for Aidan’s life (and no doubt, his own), Henry already knows he’ll be there to help his maker.
Sally and Josh discuss the different types of ways for him to kill Ray and the implications of what he’s about to do begins to wear on Josh. His doubts center on how he’s even going to lure Ray into the cabin when Sally comes through with a way to help her roommate. The next scene shows her plan; she ends up possessing Ray’s life to lure him into the trap at the side of the road. She wishes Josh luck and it’s here they both realize, if successful, Josh will never see her again while he’s alive. As he says his goodbyes and prepares for Ray, Sally is revisited by Scott, her reaper side who can only express his joy of having her back in touch with him. Meanwhile, Aidan makes his way through the woods, getting the go-ahead from Henry’s sign, that he can commence with his plan. He makes his way through the root cellar only to be surprised by a battered Henry ensconced on a hook. He apologies to Aidan before two vampires come out of the shadows to hold Aidan down as a very pissed off Mother walks toward him.
Back at the lake house, Suren asks her mother why she dug her up after eighty years. “I missed you,” she says though the words aren’t too convincing to Suren. Mother promises Suren she will see things clearly and sooner than she thinks; a promise that catches Suren’s attention.
Sally walks through the hospital and runs into her mom. Not giving up on her desire to save those from limbo, she asks to be shredded in order to reach limbo and help Nick and the others escape, a prospect her mom refuses. Through her pleas for her mom’s aid, Sally’s bitterness for her own heinous deeds as well as her mom’s is on full display. Norah interrupts the conversation and Sally’s mom uses the opportunity to disappear. The ghost laments at her failures to help people, Josh among those few. Norah catches that and questions Sally who offers the deer-in-headlights look of someone who’s spilled the beans.
Back at the lake house, Mother addresses the Vampire Council and names Suren as her successor. But some things are too good to be true, and it is not without one small hurdle. Two guards bring a battered Aidan into the room and Mother offers Suren a stake. Killing Aidan will earn Suren her birthright as her mother’s successor.
On the werewolf front, when Ray arrives and sees his wife’s car, Josh ambushes him at gun point and ushers him into the woods. There’s no denying the rage Josh has towards his wolf side and he directs his fury towards Ray. Ray tries to reach Josh, telling him their meeting the prior year and the life Josh had with friends and family moved Ray to reconnect with his own family. But his words ring hollow and despite Ray warning Josh he’d become the monster by killing, not the wolf, Josh’s mind is set. He starts to pull the trigger but Norah’s voice distracts him long enough for Ray to get away. He fires an errant shot before chasing Ray into the woods.
At the house, Sally’s mom is waiting for her. She apologies and, in a short time, the amends they make is enough to bring her mom’s door.
Suren realizes the Council is there to watch her fail as she cannot kill Aidan. Despite her mother’s encouragement, Suren drops the stake, apologizing for her weakness. Mother embraces her daughter, accepting the apology before driving the stake into Suren’s heart. Aidan watches helplessly as his lover turns to ash before his eyes. A black rage overcomes him and he attacks Mother, nearly killing her before being dragged away, screaming that Suren was never going to be devoid of her emotions like Mother and she will now have to live with what she’s done.
From here, it’s a back and forth cascade of images as our three protagonists meet their fates.
Though her mom offers Sally her door, faith in her daughter to return and help hers re-appear, Sally cannot take that risk on her mom’s future and, in a stunning act, shreds herself into nothingness. Scott, there the whole time, screams with Sally before they both disappear, leaving her mom alone in the empty house.
Aidan is led through the woods at the lake house and thrown into the same Suren was held in for eighty years. Mother tells him how nothing is worse than the hunger ache he will feel in his prison but a defiant Aidan begs to differ. She will have to live with the knowledge of killing the only person to have ever loved her, and by the look on Mother’s face, Aidan’s words hit their mark.
Shotgun in hand, Josh chases Ray into the woods when the latter takes him by surprise. He’s ready to end things when Norah arrives, pointing her own gun at Ray. Knowing that if Ray kills him, Norah will have no hope at a normal life, Josh begs her to shoot him in order to break the curse. It’s a good old fashioned Mexican stand-off, one that ends in two gunshots as the screen fades to black–the distinct pop of a revolver followed by the baritone sound of the rifle being fired.
We pan to the quiet and empty house, scrolling through every room until the radio cuts on and Sally’s voice comes through the airwaves, asking for Aidan and Josh’s help. Her voice is wrought with desperation and she admits she may have made a big mistake.
Crafting a successful season finale is not easy. One has to answer so many questions and tie up story threads created during the season while, at the same time, upping the ante for the characters and planting seeds of the story arcs for the following season. “It’s My Party…” does this in spades. Prior to the season, it was mentioned that all three characters would have to deal with the darkness within them. Whereas Sally’s addiction was to possession and shredding, Josh temporarily giving into his wolf side only to resolve to take a human life, and Aidan falling back into the blood lust with Suren all three had to be pulled back with help from each other and their own strength. In a way the season finale was about redemption, though said redemption may not be an altruistic sort as hints of vengeance bleed into the decisions, especially for the two men. It doesn’t mean they are wrong, but as they discovered the bleakest parts of themselves, they are led to do the right thing for, quite possibly the wrong reasons. Where will that lead them next year? With Aidan buried alive, Sally alone in the great beyond of Limbo, and Josh possibly dead, we can onlywait and see where they end up. For I know one lesson they’ve all learned; it’s easy to embrace the monster, but being human…it’s a task that takes a lifetime to understand.
