'Run' Finale Review: Billy and Ruby's very flawed love story comes to an unexpected devastating end
'Run' ended on a note that left us stumped over why Ruby (Merritt Wever) decided to do what she did. After convincing Billy (Domhnall Gleeson) to not call in Fiona's (Archie Panjabi) death and coming clean about the circumstances, both Ruby and Billy tried to catch the train that they were supposed to be on originally. Fiona's death was an accident claims Billy and Ruby has no other way of confirming if Billy pushed Fiona to her death, or if he tried to stop her from jumping.
However, this did not exactly stop Ruby from feeling attracted to Billy. In fact, she had no qualms about manipulating Billy with her mixed signals. Some of the things that she had said made it seem as if she would considering leaving Lawrence for Billy. In episode 7, which also happens to be the season finale, Ruby had in fact promised Billy that she will tell Lawrence that their relationship is over. It seemed as if Ruby and Billy's love story will have a happy ending, but Ruby ends up seeing the video that Billy had shot to get a book deal.
The same video that Fiona had blackmailed him with, which saw him speak about how he would send his ex-girlfriend a message which will start off a pact that the two had signed when they were in college. This video shakes Ruby up enough to end up calling in the cops and giving her statement about Fiona's death. Detective Cloud, who has been investigating Fiona's death even boards the train midway to apprehend Billy, but he escapes. Not because he wanted to run away from the charges that he would face, but because he did not want Ruby to leave him because of a misunderstanding.
Despite death itself, Fiona still managed to cause Ruby and Billy to end up on different sides and what is really disturbing is that Ruby seems to have fallen for it. One video, for which she sought no explanation, got her to give up on all the promises that she had made. Was her trust in Billy really that fragile? As we see Billy deal with the ups and downs of Ruby's emotions, it becomes clear that Billy is self-aware.
He had always known that this cross country trip from Grand Central was just a break for Ruby who wanted to quell the need for excitement in her dreary life with her husband and two kids. He had accepted that Ruby would leave him at the end of the trip the moment he came across the family picture on her phone and he was ready to accept her choice too. However, it was Ruby who promised more and she took it all away without a moment's notice.
What really is devastating is not the fact that they had to part at the end. It is the fact that until the very end, all that Ruby voices about her thoughts is that Billy is an as*****. She knew that from the beginning, so her statement doesn't really dig deep into why she chose to renege on her promise. Billy says that the video is not what she thinks it is, when he tells her that he will deal with the police and the oncoming investigation all by himself and will also accept her leaving him in return for her accepting her feelings for him. Ruby doesn't say a word and walks away and that is what is devastating.
The question of why is what you would be left with as the ending plays out. It cannot have just been the video, can it?
PS: We also finally learned Phoebe Waller-Bridge's character's name. The taxidermist is Laurel and her relationship with Detective Cloud is something that needs its own story.