Loveday Writing

The job of a season finale is to wrap up the season’s story arcs and establish new ones for the second season (if there is one). I felt that this episode did a great job.

The episode kicks off with both Magda and Angela struggling to have their clothing choices being taken seriously by Mrs. Ambrose and Nadia respectively. When Mrs. Ambrose shows Magda her final selections, Magda tells her she trusts her judgement, with Mrs. Ambrose countering that she needs her approval as Chief Buyer. Magda tells her that she won’t for long as her position has been advertised and she won’t be applying. Mrs. Ambrose tells her that while their approaches are different, she finds Magda’s ideas stimulating, surprising Magda with her sudden kindness.

When Mrs. Ambrose leaves Magda’s office, her, Elias, and Adam are shocked to see Mr. MacKenzie return. Meanwhile, Angela’s mother arrives from Beirut, and Stefan tells Magda that he has an offer for his business.

Elsewhere, Fay finds Rudi on the beach by himself, with his feet in the ocean, he reveals that Hexham won’t be signing with Janosi Transport. At the uni, Richard tells Lisa that he was offered a cadetship at the Sydney Morning Herald and they specifically mentioned the bikini wars article. He tells her that he told them about her work for it and that they should think of the two of them as a package deal, and the Herald want her to work for them as well, but only in an assistant role.

When Lisa and Richard arrive at The Beat, Lisa questions why Angela would still date George after everything Fay told her about him. This leads to George admitting to having sex with Christina. Angela immediately dumps him, and Lisa and Angela make up that night.

The next morning, Dorothy tells Lisa that she’s proud of her “Dress for Sex-Cess” article. When Elias criticises her and says who would hire her, she tell Dorothy about her job at the Herald. Dorothy is disappointed when she finds out it’s an assistant job and not a cadetship. Dorothy also reveals that she plans to repay the debts, sell the house, and find a unit closer to the city to live in.

Meanwhile, Magda goes to see Angela and her family. Magda suggests to the Mansour’s that they go into business together, and Angela agrees. Meanwhile, Mrs. Marlow shows up at Goodes early to speak with Fay. Mrs. Marlow reveals she knows about her affair with Mr. Marlow and encourages her to keep up as it could be good for Hexham and Rudi. When Fay comes out of the changing room upset, Mrs. Ambrose covers for her and stands up for Fay to Mrs. Marlow. As Mrs. Marlow leaves, Mrs. Ambrose tells Fay she likes her and has a long future at Goodes if she wants it, and encourages her to tell Rudi the truth.

Meanwhile, George tries to win Angela back at her family’s shop but to no avail. When Lisa tells Rania that Angela kissed George, Rania tells Angela she is coming back to Beirut with her but Angela refuses. When Lisa tries to leave, Rania stops her, and tells her and Angela that while they are talented and have dreams, the world hasn’t changed and men still have the power.

When Mr. Ryder shows Magda the article in the student newspaper, Magda suggests putting in an advertisement of a student discount. Mrs. Ambrose backs her up as they are the demographic that are avoiding Goodes. Mrs. Ambrose also suggests that Magda speak to Cheri about offering Lisa an internship at Lilian Australia.

Meanwhile, Fay tries to come clean to Rudi, but his love for her talks her out of it, instead telling him she wants to have a baby, but wants to go back to work when the children are old enough and he agrees.

The next morning, Dorothy is nervous about her new job at Goodes, but Lisa encourages her. Stefan tells Magda that George has been arrested and the police are threatening to deport him, Magda tells him to pick him up.

Later, Lisa goes to see Richard and tells him that she is not taking the job at the Herald, and they should travel to London and Beirut when his cadetship is finished. However, he tells her that he never plans on leaving Sydney and she could get a job anywhere she wanted, or at a woman’s magazine. When she asks him if that’s how he envisions their future, he says yes, and she breaks up with him by reminding him of what he told her about not being right for each other in the second episode.

Towards the end of the episode, Mrs. Ambrose gives everyone a pep talk, and Angela and her father come with their dresses to be added to the new season collection. Mrs. Ambrose compliments Angela on one of the dresses she brings.

Towards the end of the episode, Goodes hold a fashion show of their new season collection, which includes one of Angela’s dresses. At the end of the show, Mrs. Ambrose asks Magda to join her on the runway to receive the praise she deserves. Angela and her father reveal that they are going back to Beirut together. Mr. Ryder also asks Magda to stay at Goodes as Chief Buyer.

Overall, I felt that this was a solid season finale as the majority of the characters got a happy ending of some kind – Lisa broke up with Richard due to wanting different things out of life, Angela finally had her moment in the spotlight as a fashion designer, Fay broke free of her affair and has found job security and friendship with Mrs. Ambrose, and Magda’s business dreams come true, albeit in a different way.

I also appreciated the growth of Lisa and Angela’s friendship over the course of the season, especially as they made up in this episode, as well as Dorothy’s growth from becoming an unexpected widow with financial troubles, to a confident woman slowly becoming independent through a new job and dreams of her future.

Some story arcs that were set up and could be explored in a second season (if there is one) included Fay agreeing to have a baby, Angela returning from Beirut, Dorothy’s time at Goodes, Magda’s new business venture with Mrs. Ambrose as a likely second-in-command, and Lisa building her career as a strong, confident, single woman. However, I got the vibe that this show is only supposed to be one season long, like an anthology, but I’m hoping I’m wrong.

For the first season as a whole, I felt it did a great job of establishing its premise and characters to its new audience, as well as serving as a decent continuation/sequel of the 2018 film. However, there were a few weaknesses such as the anachronistic soundtrack – if you’re going to set your show in a certain era and go to the trouble of trying to be as accurate as possible with clothing, attitudes, and set design, you should do the same with the show’s soundtrack – as well as the lack of consequences for certain bad behaviour, particularly with Fay and George. I also felt that Elias and Angela’s back story should have been made clearer, and Mrs. Ambrose’s kindness in this episode towards Magda was an abrupt 180 and came completely out of nowhere.

Overall, I enjoyed watching and reviewing Ladies in Black, and I hope it’s renewed for a second season.