Lights Out -- Series Finale -- "War" -- 4/05/11
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Lights Out -- Series Finale -- "War" -- 4/05/11
By djariya at 2011-01-17
Synopsis:
Spoiler:
This is it. The last episode of the show. Hope it goes out with a bang.
Matt Roush of TV Guide gave it a glowing review:
Even if you checked out early from this compelling boxing drama — and judging by the anemic ratings, most of you did — this week's season/series finale is a bona fide knockout, as Patrick "Lights" Leary (the soulful Holt McCallany) finally goes into the ring for his comeback rematch against the heavier, seemingly invincible "Death Row" Reynolds. As has been the case all season long, it's not always easy to watch. But Lights is a terrific character, certainly the most decent (despite his lapses) hero any FX drama has ever been constructed around. And if you care at all about the state of the contemporary TV drama, you owe it to yourself to see how series creator Warren Leight builds this masterful climax. Stay tuned for Lights' final words, which will haunt you for days.
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Re: Lights Out -- Series Finale -- "War" -- 4/05/11
Promo:
<iframe title="YouTube video player" width="640" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/QCBk7hf73CI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<iframe title="YouTube video player" width="640" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/QCBk7hf73CI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
#3
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Re: Lights Out -- Series Finale -- "War" -- 4/05/11
But Lights is a terrific character, certainly the most decent (despite his lapses) hero any FX drama has ever been constructed around.
In all seriousness though, I really hope Reynolds
#4
DVD Talk Legend
Re: Lights Out -- Series Finale -- "War" -- 4/05/11
Stay tuned for Lights' final words, which will haunt you for days.
Lights is hardly a "hero" worth rooting for.
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Re: Lights Out -- Series Finale -- "War" -- 4/05/11
While I don't agree with the above assessment of Lights, I do agree that the show got a little bogged down in the middle there.
That being said, I didn't enjoy it as much as Terriers or Rubicon, but this would have been a great show to see build up over time.
That being said, I didn't enjoy it as much as Terriers or Rubicon, but this would have been a great show to see build up over time.
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Re: Lights Out -- Series Finale -- "War" -- 4/05/11
Too much soap opera shit in the middle that made things overly dramatic. It started out very The Fighter/Rocky Balboa, but quickly went downhill with all the outside business. If things happened over the course of a couple years and not just leading up to the rematch, maybe, just maybe I could buy it, but too much, too soon made it comically unrealistic.
I hope Lights gets KTFO'd.
I hope Lights gets KTFO'd.
#7
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Re: Lights Out -- Series Finale -- "War" -- 4/05/11
I hope "Lights" gets falcon punched in his weepy vagina, worse than Agent Stahl on SOA.
When i am more interested in Barry K. Ward than the main character, something has gone wrong. And i REALLY wanted to like this show.
When i am more interested in Barry K. Ward than the main character, something has gone wrong. And i REALLY wanted to like this show.
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Re: Lights Out -- Series Finale -- "War" -- 4/05/11
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Re: Lights Out -- Series Finale -- "War" -- 4/05/11
Nice that the ref was real subtle about fixing the fight.
Those last lines will really haunt me for days! (That TV Guide review is just a bit over the top)
Glad it's over, they tried to make Lights a sympathetic hero again, but they just mucked it up too much along the way for me to care.
I did like the choice of CCR for the entrance music
Those last lines will really haunt me for days! (That TV Guide review is just a bit over the top)
Glad it's over, they tried to make Lights a sympathetic hero again, but they just mucked it up too much along the way for me to care.
I did like the choice of CCR for the entrance music
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Re: Lights Out -- Series Finale -- "War" -- 4/05/11
Great show, and great season. The episode before this one was the only bad one in my eyes, but the finale more than made up for it. It's hard to accept that the show is cancelled, and the ride is over. I'll hold out hope for a miracle act of it being revived at the 11th hour by someone, somewhere. Regardless, I'll definitely be copping it as soon as it's available for home release.
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Re: Lights Out -- Series Finale -- "War" -- 4/05/11
I was thinking he was dead as well.
Regardless, it was an entertaining finale and a decent conclusion.
I had always said that previous fight was thrown by Morales.
at Death Row's wife being a total **** in this episode.
Regardless, it was an entertaining finale and a decent conclusion.
I had always said that previous fight was thrown by Morales.
at Death Row's wife being a total **** in this episode.
#16
DVD Talk Ultimate Edition
Re: Lights Out -- Series Finale -- "War" -- 4/05/11
I thought it was a decent conclusion. Still very unclear how Lights beat him--knowing his last win wasn't real, older, smaller, etc. The ending was very well done. May not haunt me for years to come, but it was darn good.
#17
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Re: Lights Out -- Series Finale -- "War" -- 4/05/11
The fight was incredibly awkward, but you could tell those two actors were exchanging some real punches.
Great final scene. I like how it wrapped on a story line introduced earlier in the season (when so many other plot twists were dropped or ignored). Certainly haunting.
Actually felt bad for Death Row. He was supposed to be Lights's foil, but they painted him as being a doting and sensible family man. I was actually rooting for him there at the end. Ultimately, I guess, he ends up "winning" as he's now retired, healthy, has a hot wife, a baby, and his fortune from past wins. Of all the fighters featured on the show, he's the only one who (we can assume) doesn't fall victim to the sport.
Great final scene. I like how it wrapped on a story line introduced earlier in the season (when so many other plot twists were dropped or ignored). Certainly haunting.
Actually felt bad for Death Row. He was supposed to be Lights's foil, but they painted him as being a doting and sensible family man. I was actually rooting for him there at the end. Ultimately, I guess, he ends up "winning" as he's now retired, healthy, has a hot wife, a baby, and his fortune from past wins. Of all the fighters featured on the show, he's the only one who (we can assume) doesn't fall victim to the sport.
#18
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Re: Lights Out -- Series Finale -- "War" -- 4/05/11
I'll at least give them credit for wrapping up the show with a more or less definitive conclusion. The episode was actually alright, but they did too many things wrong earlier in the show for this to really make up for it.
Way too much going on in the first season. Too many subplots and too much drama. I really liked the show when it was just Lights dealing with his family issues and trying to get money to climb out of debt. Throwing in all the underworld stuff just bogged this show down immensely.
I'm okay with Lights "winning," but he really shouldn't have. No way a fighter as accomplished as Reynolds would let the fight get to that situation; I just don't buy it. It's one thing to underestimate your opponent and give them the edge in that regard, but Reynolds is in his prime, no way that first round drained him, and no way Lights comes back from some of those hits.
I thought that when he was knocked out of the ring he was knocked unconscious, and then everything from the moment the reporter said, "You don't quit" until the end of the fight was a dream and that Lights was in a coma or something. Truth be told, I'd have much preferred that ending to the one we got because ultimately, I feel it is what the character and his family deserved.
At least we got confirmation that the Morales fight was fixed, which I think we all suspected anyway. They still mismanaged the hell out of that; and if he only won because the Morales fight was fixed, no way he'd have beat Reynolds; again, no way Reynolds in his prime loses steam after the first round.
Did we really need them to introduce us to all the guys Brennan had recruited? It just seemed shoehorned in there, then we see one of them in Reynolds's corner?
I would really like to hear from the people behind this show just what exactly what was their plan in the long-run. I can't imagine they actually intended for the Reynolds fight to be the season finale, because then it's like, "Where do we go from here?" Obviously the ratings wouldn't have sustained that, but if you had spread some of the stuff out over the course of a few seasons, then I think it would have played much better.
Either way, I'm satisfied in knowing that everyone sort of gets what they deserve. Lights can never fight again and suffers for the rest of his life because of his condition; his family has to learn to survive without him and they all feel responsible for putting so much pressure on him; Johnny likely gets killed at some point for crossing the wrong people because his brother isn't there to protect him; Brennan's boxing league fails without a heavyweight champ; Barry continues to dominate the world of boxing; and most importantly, Reynolds sees what happened to Lights and realizes there is more to live than boxing and lives out the rest of his life with his family, satisfied in the knowledge that he will never be as pathetic and desperate as Lights.
---
And just a bit more about why Reynolds was far more interesting and compelling of a character than Lights:
Reynolds was a far more sympathetic character and one I'd have rather seen a show about. You know the writers lost control of their show when the audience is actually rooting for the "bad guy" to win. I mean, Reynolds's story was just as compelling as Lights's, if not more so. He technically won the fight, but has been living in the shadow of it his whole career; no matter what he has accomplished, that fight always loomed over him, causing people to doubt him and for him to doubt himself. That he finally got another chance to prove himself was the most interesting aspect of the entire show; and even then, if he won, he still wouldn't be satisfied because everyone would know Lights wasn't in his prime. That is just far more interesting from a story point-of-view than what we ended up getting when the show was centered around Lights.
Way too much going on in the first season. Too many subplots and too much drama. I really liked the show when it was just Lights dealing with his family issues and trying to get money to climb out of debt. Throwing in all the underworld stuff just bogged this show down immensely.
I'm okay with Lights "winning," but he really shouldn't have. No way a fighter as accomplished as Reynolds would let the fight get to that situation; I just don't buy it. It's one thing to underestimate your opponent and give them the edge in that regard, but Reynolds is in his prime, no way that first round drained him, and no way Lights comes back from some of those hits.
I thought that when he was knocked out of the ring he was knocked unconscious, and then everything from the moment the reporter said, "You don't quit" until the end of the fight was a dream and that Lights was in a coma or something. Truth be told, I'd have much preferred that ending to the one we got because ultimately, I feel it is what the character and his family deserved.
At least we got confirmation that the Morales fight was fixed, which I think we all suspected anyway. They still mismanaged the hell out of that; and if he only won because the Morales fight was fixed, no way he'd have beat Reynolds; again, no way Reynolds in his prime loses steam after the first round.
Did we really need them to introduce us to all the guys Brennan had recruited? It just seemed shoehorned in there, then we see one of them in Reynolds's corner?
I would really like to hear from the people behind this show just what exactly what was their plan in the long-run. I can't imagine they actually intended for the Reynolds fight to be the season finale, because then it's like, "Where do we go from here?" Obviously the ratings wouldn't have sustained that, but if you had spread some of the stuff out over the course of a few seasons, then I think it would have played much better.
Either way, I'm satisfied in knowing that everyone sort of gets what they deserve. Lights can never fight again and suffers for the rest of his life because of his condition; his family has to learn to survive without him and they all feel responsible for putting so much pressure on him; Johnny likely gets killed at some point for crossing the wrong people because his brother isn't there to protect him; Brennan's boxing league fails without a heavyweight champ; Barry continues to dominate the world of boxing; and most importantly, Reynolds sees what happened to Lights and realizes there is more to live than boxing and lives out the rest of his life with his family, satisfied in the knowledge that he will never be as pathetic and desperate as Lights.
---
And just a bit more about why Reynolds was far more interesting and compelling of a character than Lights:
Reynolds was a far more sympathetic character and one I'd have rather seen a show about. You know the writers lost control of their show when the audience is actually rooting for the "bad guy" to win. I mean, Reynolds's story was just as compelling as Lights's, if not more so. He technically won the fight, but has been living in the shadow of it his whole career; no matter what he has accomplished, that fight always loomed over him, causing people to doubt him and for him to doubt himself. That he finally got another chance to prove himself was the most interesting aspect of the entire show; and even then, if he won, he still wouldn't be satisfied because everyone would know Lights wasn't in his prime. That is just far more interesting from a story point-of-view than what we ended up getting when the show was centered around Lights.
#19
DVD Talk Legend
Re: Lights Out -- Series Finale -- "War" -- 4/05/11
I'll at least give them credit for wrapping up the show with a more or less definitive conclusion. The episode was actually alright, but they did too many things wrong earlier in the show for this to really make up for it.
Way too much going on in the first season. Too many subplots and too much drama. I really liked the show when it was just Lights dealing with his family issues and trying to get money to climb out of debt. Throwing in all the underworld stuff just bogged this show down immensely.
I'm okay with Lights "winning," but he really shouldn't have. No way a fighter as accomplished as Reynolds would let the fight get to that situation; I just don't buy it. It's one thing to underestimate your opponent and give them the edge in that regard, but Reynolds is in his prime, no way that first round drained him, and no way Lights comes back from some of those hits.
I thought that when he was knocked out of the ring he was knocked unconscious, and then everything from the moment the reporter said, "You don't quit" until the end of the fight was a dream and that Lights was in a coma or something. Truth be told, I'd have much preferred that ending to the one we got because ultimately, I feel it is what the character and his family deserved.
At least we got confirmation that the Morales fight was fixed, which I think we all suspected anyway. They still mismanaged the hell out of that; and if he only won because the Morales fight was fixed, no way he'd have beat Reynolds; again, no way Reynolds in his prime loses steam after the first round.
Did we really need them to introduce us to all the guys Brennan had recruited? It just seemed shoehorned in there, then we see one of them in Reynolds's corner?
I would really like to hear from the people behind this show just what exactly what was their plan in the long-run. I can't imagine they actually intended for the Reynolds fight to be the season finale, because then it's like, "Where do we go from here?" Obviously the ratings wouldn't have sustained that, but if you had spread some of the stuff out over the course of a few seasons, then I think it would have played much better.
Either way, I'm satisfied in knowing that everyone sort of gets what they deserve. Lights can never fight again and suffers for the rest of his life because of his condition; his family has to learn to survive without him and they all feel responsible for putting so much pressure on him; Johnny likely gets killed at some point for crossing the wrong people because his brother isn't there to protect him; Brennan's boxing league fails without a heavyweight champ; Barry continues to dominate the world of boxing; and most importantly, Reynolds sees what happened to Lights and realizes there is more to live than boxing and lives out the rest of his life with his family, satisfied in the knowledge that he will never be as pathetic and desperate as Lights.
---
And just a bit more about why Reynolds was far more interesting and compelling of a character than Lights:
Reynolds was a far more sympathetic character and one I'd have rather seen a show about. You know the writers lost control of their show when the audience is actually rooting for the "bad guy" to win. I mean, Reynolds's story was just as compelling as Lights's, if not more so. He technically won the fight, but has been living in the shadow of it his whole career; no matter what he has accomplished, that fight always loomed over him, causing people to doubt him and for him to doubt himself. That he finally got another chance to prove himself was the most interesting aspect of the entire show; and even then, if he won, he still wouldn't be satisfied because everyone would know Lights wasn't in his prime. That is just far more interesting from a story point-of-view than what we ended up getting when the show was centered around Lights.
Way too much going on in the first season. Too many subplots and too much drama. I really liked the show when it was just Lights dealing with his family issues and trying to get money to climb out of debt. Throwing in all the underworld stuff just bogged this show down immensely.
I'm okay with Lights "winning," but he really shouldn't have. No way a fighter as accomplished as Reynolds would let the fight get to that situation; I just don't buy it. It's one thing to underestimate your opponent and give them the edge in that regard, but Reynolds is in his prime, no way that first round drained him, and no way Lights comes back from some of those hits.
I thought that when he was knocked out of the ring he was knocked unconscious, and then everything from the moment the reporter said, "You don't quit" until the end of the fight was a dream and that Lights was in a coma or something. Truth be told, I'd have much preferred that ending to the one we got because ultimately, I feel it is what the character and his family deserved.
At least we got confirmation that the Morales fight was fixed, which I think we all suspected anyway. They still mismanaged the hell out of that; and if he only won because the Morales fight was fixed, no way he'd have beat Reynolds; again, no way Reynolds in his prime loses steam after the first round.
Did we really need them to introduce us to all the guys Brennan had recruited? It just seemed shoehorned in there, then we see one of them in Reynolds's corner?
I would really like to hear from the people behind this show just what exactly what was their plan in the long-run. I can't imagine they actually intended for the Reynolds fight to be the season finale, because then it's like, "Where do we go from here?" Obviously the ratings wouldn't have sustained that, but if you had spread some of the stuff out over the course of a few seasons, then I think it would have played much better.
Either way, I'm satisfied in knowing that everyone sort of gets what they deserve. Lights can never fight again and suffers for the rest of his life because of his condition; his family has to learn to survive without him and they all feel responsible for putting so much pressure on him; Johnny likely gets killed at some point for crossing the wrong people because his brother isn't there to protect him; Brennan's boxing league fails without a heavyweight champ; Barry continues to dominate the world of boxing; and most importantly, Reynolds sees what happened to Lights and realizes there is more to live than boxing and lives out the rest of his life with his family, satisfied in the knowledge that he will never be as pathetic and desperate as Lights.
---
And just a bit more about why Reynolds was far more interesting and compelling of a character than Lights:
Reynolds was a far more sympathetic character and one I'd have rather seen a show about. You know the writers lost control of their show when the audience is actually rooting for the "bad guy" to win. I mean, Reynolds's story was just as compelling as Lights's, if not more so. He technically won the fight, but has been living in the shadow of it his whole career; no matter what he has accomplished, that fight always loomed over him, causing people to doubt him and for him to doubt himself. That he finally got another chance to prove himself was the most interesting aspect of the entire show; and even then, if he won, he still wouldn't be satisfied because everyone would know Lights wasn't in his prime. That is just far more interesting from a story point-of-view than what we ended up getting when the show was centered around Lights.
#20
DVD Talk Limited Edition
Re: Lights Out -- Series Finale -- "War" -- 4/05/11
Did we really need them to introduce us to all the guys Brennan had recruited? It just seemed shoehorned in there, then we see one of them in Reynolds's corner?
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DVD Talk Ultimate Edition
#22
Re: Lights Out -- Series Finale -- "War" -- 4/05/11
Someone fill me in because I simply don't know boxing--are there really white heavyweight boxing champions in this day and age? Or is a show like "Lights Out" another Hollywood fantasy?
Again, I don't follow boxing so I wouldn't know, but based on what I catch here and there in the paper and TV, it seemed that if a boxing show were to be based on either Leary or Reynolds, it would be Reynolds (if they were going for any semblance of realism).
Again, I don't follow boxing so I wouldn't know, but based on what I catch here and there in the paper and TV, it seemed that if a boxing show were to be based on either Leary or Reynolds, it would be Reynolds (if they were going for any semblance of realism).
#23
DVD Talk Ultimate Edition
Re: Lights Out -- Series Finale -- "War" -- 4/05/11
From Wiki:
The Klitschko brothers, Vitali and Wladimir, hold four of the five major titles in the heavyweight division. They are the first brothers to hold versions of the heavyweight championship at the same time.
#24
DVD Talk Gold Edition
Re: Lights Out -- Series Finale -- "War" -- 4/05/11
Someone fill me in because I simply don't know boxing--are there really white heavyweight boxing champions in this day and age? Or is a show like "Lights Out" another Hollywood fantasy?
Again, I don't follow boxing so I wouldn't know, but based on what I catch here and there in the paper and TV, it seemed that if a boxing show were to be based on either Leary or Reynolds, it would be Reynolds (if they were going for any semblance of realism).
Again, I don't follow boxing so I wouldn't know, but based on what I catch here and there in the paper and TV, it seemed that if a boxing show were to be based on either Leary or Reynolds, it would be Reynolds (if they were going for any semblance of realism).
And I assume your username is for the videogame and not the boxer.
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Re: Lights Out -- Series Finale -- "War" -- 4/05/11
Had to be a dream. How else does a guy giving up 20 pounds to a younger, better, fighter in the shape of his life boxing the best he ever has lose to a guy with 2 rounds under his belt in five years past 40?
Ridiculous. This show was a real waste of 13 hours for me.
Ridiculous. This show was a real waste of 13 hours for me.