It really says something when there’s a character who dies and you start to tear up. Okay, maybe not so surprising if they’re likable. It’s a good thing that the character is one of my favorites. I’ve said in the previous review that I listened to the entire series, but did so in a non-linear fashion. It sort of colored my perception of the series. That being said, I didn’t really know Joe all that well. All I knew was that he was a geek and that made him relatable to me—and I’m sure many others too. I suppose this is the reason why Joe had his own little arc before this one. You needed more time to invest in the character and that little “Historia” arc did just the trick.

There’s a couple things I didn’t like about this ending and both of them happen moments from each other. One is how Legion is defeated. The other is the whole kissing scene between Tom and Phil. Legion is defeated by Tom Davies (Stephanie’s brother) and it felt like how Catwoman killing Bane felt in The Dark Knight Rises to a lot of people. The protagonist should defeat the antagonist. It’s storytelling 101. When you have a side character come in, it’s about as close to Deus Ex Machina as you can get. At least that’s how I view it. Everything was set up, but then didn’t pay off.

Let me say, first off, that it wasn’t the kissing that bothered me. In fact if people want proof that there’s a gay gene, then they should study my family. No, what really got to me was the necessity of it. It didn’t fit the story and bordered on melodrama. It was like all the gay characters could do was kiss. It comes off just as bad as having a gay character portrayed in a stereotypical sitcom kind of way. It goes back to the whole stereotype that all gay people think about is sex. Obviously this isn’t true. I’m not saying the writers are making fun of the gay community. I just feel that it could have gone better in practice and not just theory.