And maybe most importantly, I really want to make the case for why these characters and their world are so important to me. Yes, it’s a show where a guy in a butterfly suit occasionally feeds prostitutes to polar bears, but I think the character development has been amazing. Brock has grown. Hank and Dean have grown. Doc, despite his best efforts, has grown. Sometimes change comes quickly and for a specific reason – look at 21’s transformation between Seasons Three and Four. But sometimes it’s gradual and almost impossible to notice. The Brock Samson of Season One was heroic, but largely amoral. In the Season Four finale, though, he turned out to be an idealist – a guy who valued honor and justice. It happened so gradually and subtly that I didn’t notice as it was happening, and that’s what made that episode so powerful. See, those last scenes of the finale were among TV’s best moments of last year. Brock watches the love of his life plummet off a cliff (by her own choice) and then races back to save his friends. When the motorcycle gives out, he hits the ground running without any loss of momentum, and he knows that it’s 12:01 and it’s too late, but he runs anyway, and it is amazing. It’s badass and beautiful at the same time, and there’s really no way for me to explain why I have such a strong reaction to this scene to somebody who doesn’t know Brock.
