BWW Recap: In the Beginning, There was INTRUDERS; Finale Answers Questions!

Friends, today is a sad day. INTRUDERS, the creepy, paranormal series that reminds other shows in the genre that sophisticated writing and directing actually meshes really well with blood and gore, comes to an end. But if we've learned anything from tonight's episode, it's that "In the end, there is no end." (Thanks for that wisdom, Richard.) So instead of wondering how we're going to fill our Saturday nights, let's have faith that there will be a season two (there better be a season two), take a walk down memory lane, and reminisce about tonight's season finale.

INTRUDERS seems to like the idea of a walk down memory lane, too. We start off the episode in 1931 Queens, New York at the height of the jazz craze. Bix is back on stage, improvising with the best and dedicating his performance to his swell gal Rose, but things aren't all fun and games for the talented youngster. Despite his efforts, alcoholism gets the best of poor Bix and he soon dies in his apartment, with Rose by his side the entire time. But you didn't think Rose would let him go without ensuring their togetherness in the future, did you? Before he passes, Rose grabs the mouthpiece from his cornet, holds it in front of his face, and holds open his eye to make sure he gets a good look at it. Now, Bix can come back. Now, it's okay for him to die.

Back to the present. After calling the police to report Gary's suicide, Jack enters the unofficial Qui Reverti headquarters to find that Crane's pretty bad day has gotten even worse. He patches up Crane, weasels information out of him, and makes his way down the newly discovered hidden staircase. He follows two Shepherds down the hall (while they discuss the latest plans to murder our good friend Richard), and Marcus follows him. It's like a little parade. Marcus starts having flashbacks. Turns out he was buried alive down here by Rose and The Gang all those years ago. When he snaps out of the flashback, we see a glimpse of...is that Madison? Can she still be in there, after all this time? We'll have to wait and see.

Meanwhile, Detective Blanchard and his crew tend to Meadow (and calm down Madison's still-panicked parents) at the local hospital when the call comes in about Gary. Blanchard remembers that Meadow says that's where her dad was stabbed, and he slowly puts the pieces of the puzzle together. Surely it's only a matter of time before Blanchard's good friend Jack reveals his involvement in this.

What Blanchard doesn't know is that Jack is just as confused as he is. He's trying to hide from the Shepherds while tailing them when he finds himself in a massive library. Every book has a nine on the cover, just like Marcus's and the books he found in Amy's desk. He examines a few and finds out that Nicola Tesla and Ronald Reagan were members of Qui Reverti. Naturally. What angers him even more is the drawer room full of peoples' triggers. He does what any logical person would do in this situation: he destroys them. His smash fest is interrupted, however, by Marcus, who is busy in the next room chiseling away at the bricks behind which his old, decrepit body lies. They fill each other in on their situations, and Marcus makes it clear he wants Rose dead. When Jack refuses to help, Marcus slashes Jack's arm (he seems to be a fan of slashing people) and runs.

Suddenly, the whole situation turns into some kind of twisted upstairs-downstairs kind of situation. Blanchard and his police force survey the crime scene and conduct a by-the-books investigation of Gary's suicide on the streets outside the building while Jack spies on the Rose-helmed Qui Reverti as they complete Cranfield's burial ceremony (the one that started oh so long ago at his mansion).

And now the fun begins. Richard realizes what Rose has planned for him. Jack sneaks away and sets fire to the Qui Reverti return books. Richard notices the smoke, alerts his fellow Reverti members, and the ceremony comes to a screeching halt. Outside, Blanchard notices the smoke billowing out of the basement and calls for backup. Qui Reverti members scramble to safety, and finally our whole gang comes together.

Jack, Rose, Richard, and Marcus, all in one room, like one big, dysfunctional, psychopathic, reincarnated family. And it's perfect. Marcus runs up behind Rose, Jack warns Amy (stop, he still thinks she's Amy!), Rose yells to Richard, Richard points guns (two of them!) at Jack and Marcus, Rose leaves with Richard, Richard shoots at Jack, they leave, Marcus disappears, and Jack is left in a room that is filling with thick smoke - quickly. It all happens so quickly that if you blink, you'll miss something important.

Back on street level, Marcus climbs out of a vent and pauses to catch his breath. That pause, that one little moment where he lets his guard down - that moment is his undoing. It is that moment when Madison's parents, brought to the scene by Blanchard because someone reported seeing Madison on the premises, recognize their daughter and call for her. Hearing her name for the first time in who knows how long allows Madison to regain control of the body that is rightfully hers. She runs to her parents. At the same time, Jack stumbles out of the building's front door (and Blanchard internally rejoices - he was right!), and Richard and Rose sneak out of the building in an alley behind Madison. Rose doesn't know Madison is still inside. She simply wants Marcus dead, and is determine to finish that problem and move on with her life. She demands that Richard shoot Marcus, and shoot Marcus he does - but not before Jack can intervene and pull Madison out of harm's way. Madison isn't in the clear yet, though. She's not breathing, and CPR doesn't seem to be working.

Welcome to the ultimate showdown. We've been waiting for this moment the whole season: Marcus vs. Madison. A true fight for survival. It's a war of words, but more importantly, a war of wills, and in the end, Madison wins, but not before throwing Marcus' favorite phrase back in his face. Nothing made me happier than when Madison looked Marcus square in the eye and said, "What goes around, stays right here." That's you, Marcus. You stay right here. And you die. Take that.

But what about Rose and Bix? Well, it seems like Bix wasn't too keen about coming back to life, after all. When Rose and Richard get back to Le Soleil, Bix's room is cleared out. I'd say poor Rose, but let's be honest, nobody really likes her. She had it coming.

Let's get back to Madison and Jack. Blanchard won't quit until he knows Fox is gone, and Jack isn't about to go into super descriptive detail as to how he knows Marcus is completely dead. Jack, though, wants to be sure himself, and so he goes with Blanchard to visit Madison. She seems to be her old self, and Jack is relieved...but only for a moment. As he's leaving the hospital, a boy in a wheelchair calls Jack over. He says something in Spanish - the same thing that the man who Jack killed when he was in the LAPD (remember those flashbacks?!) said before he died, and he flips Jack off in the same way that that man did. Just when Jack thought all his threats were gone, he gets slapped with another problem.

Jack isn't going to worry about that right now, though. He goes home, straightens everything up, and gets everything back in order. Things seem to be returning to normal. That is, until Richard shows up on his couch a few days later. After exchanging some clever wordplay, Richard slides Jack a box. He opens it, and takes out a quite familiar business card: it looks exactly like the ones Richard gives out to those he's about to shepherd. Jack turns it over...

It's his name on the back. Jack Shepherd. Jack's a Shepherd. As Richard says, he's one of them.

Hang on a second while I pick my jaw up off the floor.

Okay. I'm good now. If we don't get a season two, I'll cry.

In all seriousness, though, this was a perfect season finale in every way. It answered every question, just as it promised to in the early episodes, but still left us hanging on and wanting more. I'd need a few thousand words more to fully discuss the phenomenal acting on the show, and another few thousand to discuss the awesome creative decisions made by the creators. You've done good, INTRUDERS. Thanks for such a great season.

And there better be another equally great season after this. Just saying.

What do you think about the Marcus vs. Madison showdown? And will Jack be a good Shepherd? Do you want a second season, too? Tell us in the comments below or let me know what you think on Twitter. @CourtHenley. Let's chat.

Photo credit: BBC America

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