It really deserves one more season.
Don't get me wrong, this was not a bad season. This was a good season and even ended not half badly but because I'm such a fan I desperately want a final 5th season. So we pick up 2 months from last time, and Ken and Christine are gearing up for their wedding while Chip is trying to become more independent while searching for his clown outlet. Basic in plot but when you've known these characters and their personality quirks it becomes something more, something important. I won't spoil the ending but we'll touch on it near the end. I very much enjoyed this season, and unlike Gotham, there wasn't a single episode that struck me into a bad mood, you really need to watch every episode and since each season totals to just shy of 4 hours you can enjoy the series in the span of a week. Everything from Renoir to Moving On is done very well, and this season got a lot of laughs out of me before the end while still having it's moments. There were two scenes in particular that hit me to my core even though in the larger scale they were bit scenes, Christine talks to one of Dale's daughters and has a very poignant and kinda depressing scene where she talks about not losing family photos and to always have something to remember your family by, and it got me! It was such a small bit but it spoke volumes to me. The second was in the very last episode where it's just Chip and Christine having a heart to heart talk with Chip starting to become more independent and ready to lead his life outside of his mother's view. Baskets, especially in the character of Chip, has never been more relatable to me than any other character, he's ready to start a new chapter of his life and yet has problems coping with it, has a dream he wishes to pursue but can only do it in the meantime, it's difficult to fully explain but I see much of myself in Chip which made me enjoy the show even more and made me want to see him succeed. Now I'm not saying my love for Christine and Martha has diminished, Christine's wedding genuinely got me all misty eyed and her relationship with Ken is precious. Plus Martha gets some more screentime and I have to put it on record I would be fine if Martha and Chip became a couple and I'd be fine if they didn't, they have such a strange dynamic but you can see it work with the right kind of eyes and yes I was practically howling with laughter when Martha gets this confidence boost or maybe it was confidence booze but she was a riot this season! It's such a shame this show got cancelled because now we gotta talk about the ending and I'm very mixed on it. It doesn't feel like a series finale, and I'm not entirely sure how events took place whether they were filming and they learned it would be the last season so they had to tie up loose ends where they could, or if this was their last hurrah and they knew it before production started. I'd say the first option because it does feel like just another season finale, that they would keep going after this and maybe wrap the story up next season. Yet at the same time I can see it as a finale, it's a very open ended finale but it still works. The fan in me is screaming for a true final season and simultaneously I'm fine seeing it end here. I see it more as the ending of a chapter and you want to turn the page and keep reading on but you sadly have to stop for now. I sincerely hope Baskets can come back in some way and it's really affected me. It's been a few weeks since all this started but, I was in a really bad very dark place before I watched Baskets and it's been one of the worst places I've been in my life. Like, negative thoughts, wanting to self-harm kind of places. And I just watched this show on an absolute whim, I have no real idea what made me start the show, but it helped tremendously. It lifted my spirits and gave me something to look forward to, and that's why I was so bummed out that it was only four seasons, cause the show has meant a lot to me and it really sucks to see it end now, I'm not going to get all schmultzy and say this show saved my life or anything like that but it helped me get past that time, to get out of that dark place and want to see what comes next. No show or even film has been able to really do such a thing, so it makes it that more special and I wanted to spread the word about it so other people could watch it and be entertained by it. I absolutely hate going out this month on such a bittersweet note before the festivities begin next month but there was something there in this show that was worth watching, worth talking about, and most important worth sharing. I definitely have to recommend Baskets, and give it a 9/10. It only gets a nine because my heart wants that 5th season.
I'll see you next month.