'Black Monday' Season 2 Finale: Blair's conversion shock therapy scene triggers fans, say it was unnecessary
Spoilers for ‘Black Monday’ Season 2 Episode 10 ‘I Don’t Like Mondays’
The final episode of Showtime’s dark comedy series ‘Black Monday’ Season 2 was unquestionably dark. While in many ways, Mo’s (Don Cheadle) plan worked -- sort of -- it also failed colossally in other departments. But not because of Mo, it was because of Blair (Andrew Rannells).
He chose to use his leverage over Pastor Newell not to get a pardon for Mo, but to advance his political ambitions. As a result, Dawn (Regina Hall), who could not stand to see Mo go to prison, took the fall. She confessed to being the brains behind Black Monday and got sent to prison. Mo was left alone. Keith (Paul Scheer) was now with Larry Lehman (Ken Marino), who left his brother for dead, and Blair took over the same office that Congressman Roger Harris (Tuc Watkins), his now-dead lover, had won in the elections.
While this was plenty dark on its own, the really dark bit was viewers getting a glimpse of the price Blair had to pay for his ambitions -- he had to take conversion therapy where he was electrocuted. And during this, we saw the deepest, most repressed parts of his childhood. Of how his father used to abuse him and how he unsuspectingly killed him.
Fans of the show were definitely not prepared for this ending. One fan of the show wrote on Twitter, “I could get it if Blair was building up tension and being surrounded by so much cruelty, specifically Roger's suicide, that he became the villain. But then I watched the episode and it kinda implied he was evil all along and more upset over Mo etc. f***ing him over in the past which I did not like.”
The fan added in a series of tweets, “I wish instead we still got a Blair breakdown scene, where he was angry and upset and mourning, where he kinda turns against humanity and like, loses the will to do/be good. But Roger's suicide was essentially joked or forgotten [about] and that's really upsetting."
For many fans of the show, the conversion therapy-electroshock treatment scene was a bit too much. A fan wrote, “I highly highly recommend skipping this scene. It is graphic and absolutely harrowing. Even if you aren’t triggered by CT, I would recommend skipping it for your own safety. It’s also unnecessary to the plot for the most part.” Another fan wrote, “Holy f*** those episodes were a lot, I can’t shake the image of Blair being electrocuted from my bones.”
Other than that, however, fans seemed to mostly enjoy the season 2 finale. Several fans called for both Cheadle and Hall to be nominated for Emmys for their performances. And they have been solid performances since the very beginning.
Fans also seemed to love the way Keith and Larry ended up together. The two make a terrible-yet-somehow-adorable couple. Terrible because they are both bad people. Adorable because they make each other happy, and that's undeniable. One fan wrote, "Find me someone who looks at me the same way Larry looks at Keith!".
'Black Monday' is available for viewing on the Showtime website and other affiliated streaming platforms.