Greek: Moving On

Greek:
"Legacy"

This is it. I've been dreading this moment for weeks, but now it's upon us: the series finale of Greek. One last hurrah with our favorite CRU students.

I'll begin with one last Greek play-by-play, and then I'll get all sentimental at the end of the post.

Highlights and my observations:

• Is Rusty wearing the same flannel shirt that Evan was wearing last week? That would be scandalous. (Ok, I've looked into it, and can confirm that it is NOT the same shirt. I guess it would be a little late in the game to open the Rusty-and-Evan-have-a-secret-romance can of worms...)
• Finals already?! Fastest Greek semester ever!
• Evan! Evan's broken hand!
• Evan says "nothing" is up with his broken hand/arm.
• Um, Casey and Evan aren't really going to be able to come up with "what the KTs are going to try to pull" to save their house. It's hard for non-KTs to think like KTs.
• Actually, Evan, Casey Cartwright stops "thinking about her future" on a fairly frequent basis.
• Calvin has picked accounting as his major. He does not sound too convincing though when he says he loves it. Uh oh.
• Aww, Rusty gave Ashleigh a name tag for her new office.
• Dale's second cousin Barry got married last week and he hadn't left the house in five years!
• Dale: "You don't think it's us, do you?"
• LOL at Dale offering a long list of all the "horrible" Matthew McConaughey movies and still never hitting on the one Rebecca was referring to (Ghosts of Girlfriends Past).
• Ha at both Cartwrights accidentally breaking things upon entering the KT house.
• Oh no, Pledge Spidey's dad is Villian X. Suddenly things make sense. I didn't see it coming; I was blinded by my love of Jonathan Silverman as Richard in Weekend at Bernies.
• YEEAAAAAA! It's a good-old KT brainstorming session! These scenes are seriously one of the best parts of Greek.
• Beaver suggests they try a plan based on the plot of Up but attributes it to something he saw on 20/20!
• Rusty: "You can't blame Luke Skywalker for being Darth Vader's son."
  KT: "Spoiler alert!"
• Cappie: "Pledge Spidey, bring me the action figures! And the Barbies! We're going to need them all!"
• Casey calling Evan "Evan Bacon." LOL.
• Heath, Calvin, Beaver and Ashleigh's "tourist" disguises.
• Wow! Dale's even helping too!
• Tour guide: "Have I told you about our house rabbit adoption center?"
• Ha at Casey yelling "Oh!" in surprise upon seeing Cappie in the organic cafe.
• This is epic.
• And now Rebecca is pretending to be Ashleigh. This is a complicated plan.
  
• Ash's big glasses are cute.
• Evan nailed Beaver's balloon scheme on the head!
• Cappie can graduate!
• Casey: "You accidentally graduated?!"
• Casey: "I get it. Go to her!"
• Rebecca: "So, I got an e-mail from Robin. She says we didn't work out because I'm not a lesbian."
• Dale: "Why didn't we ever work out?"
  Laura: "You don't like to sweat?"
• While I'm not totally on board with Laura being the future Mrs. Kettlewell, the kiss was worth it to see Rebecca getting shoved into the cake.
• Oh, poor Rusty's breaking down.
• IT'S WADE!!!!!!!!!!!! Wade's looking cute with his new haircut!
• Katherine! Aw, Katherine's going to share a KT story! And her story is that she lost her virginity in the KT house... Yikes.
• It's Jen K.! Has she been around this whole time?! She says she regrets writing the article. But she's the editor of the CRU paper, so I guess it worked out for her.
• Oh no, Mr. Parks just singled out Casey and Evan to explain why the house should be torn down. How is that their jobs as law students, exactly?
• Come on, Evan, be a nice person! YEA!!! Evan did the right thing! Good for Evan.
• (Why did they want Evan and Casey to speak anyway if they were just going to tear the house down no matter what? No consensus was reached. Why even bother trying to talk the "protesters" into it?)
• Oh, Beaver! Oh, Rusty! Ohh, they're all crying! Oh, KT house...
• Casey: "You're not my geeky little brother who got beat up by a sixth-grader when he was in high school."
  Rusty: "She was an eighth-grader."
• Casey: "You don't need me or anyone else to look out for you anymore. You can take care of yourself."
  Rusty: "I get that from you."
• Casey: "I did the right thing. I got that from you."
• Uh, no, Evan. You and Rebecca didn't work out because you're still in love with Casey. But it's the last episode, so I guess we have to gloss over that fact today.
• Evan punched the wall!!! (because he was sad about losing Rebecca)
• Rusty's rallying the troops! Aww.
• KT brother: "We can't sleep in tents all winter! In case you forgot, this is Ohio!" (Uh, I didn't forget that it was Ohio. Greek's writers forgot that.)
• Ashleigh: "You know, this room is crazy big!"
• Evan: "Hey, Crappie."
• Oops, I don't think Evan meant to inspire Cappie and Casey to run away together. But that's exactly what he did. And he was super cool about it. Evan has been such a do-gooder today! Redeeming himself for semesters of misdeeds in one swoop!
• Awww, Ash and Rusty!
• Ok, everything's going great and all, but I feel like the resolutions are coming at us at a really rapid-fire pace. It's hard for any one moment to sink in, because there's another one coming right on its heels.
• Ha at Cappie doing jumping jacks before orating.
• Professor: "For your finale I just have one question: Why?"
  Cappie: "Because you're lazy."
• Cappie's real name is "Captain John Paul Jones"!
• Calvin and Heath are going to India to help people.
• Cappie: "You are my legacy, Spitter." (This one gets the distinction of being the Sweetest Line of the Night.)
• Aww, even this Rebecca/Casey hug is making me sad. Holy crap!
• OH MY GOD, they're playing Youth Group's "Forever Young" cover from The O.C.! ARE THEY TRYING TO KILL ME?!?
• (How fitting is it though that Greek borrowed a song from the last show whose series finale made me cry like a little girl?)
• Evan hugging Cappie and Casey.
• DALE JUST KISSED CASEY! Ahahahaha! Everyone's reactions were fantastic.
• Cappie: "Dale?"
• I really wish this Casey "Where to?"/Cappie: "Wherever you're going." exchange--THE LAST LINES OF THE WHOLE FREAKING SERIES--hadn't been spoiled in the promo that ABC Family has been showing all week. Knowing exactly what was coming kinda ruined that moment for me.
  

It's hard not to feel sentimental about this finale. It really does seem like an end of an era--not just for Cappie, Casey, Evan, Rusty, Dale, Calvin, Ash, Rebecca, Beaver, Katherine, etc., but also for me. Greek made its debut shortly after my own collegiate experience ended, and over the years it has allowed me to vicariously experience some college moments I missed out on, as I did not participate in the Greek system; was not part of a messy, never-ending love triangle; and did not engage in too many crazy capers. I guess I was rather like Rusty would have been had he not joined Kappa Tau. (Or like Katherine...but not as stern.) So Greek not only taught Rusty to have fun, but allowed me to experience some of the fun I may have missed.

Even putting aside my college nostalgia issues, Greek has meant a lot to me over the years purely because it is fun. I can remember several times when I was sad or frustrated, and watched an episode of Greek that saved the day. In that respect, the show itself has been a great friend to me.

And, speaking of friends, what I will miss most about Greek is its characters, all of whom I view as my friends (even though I know they're not, in fact, real). Over the episodes, I've raved about Greek's ability to make a spectrum of different people all seem very likable. This extends from the top with the main characters--Casey, Rusty, Cappie--on down to the supporting characters who have gotten to stick around because they're so darn lovable--Beaver, Heath, Katherine, etc. Some shows are lucky if they can create one or two good characters who display a unique personality, have interesting layers, resonate emotionally, and inspire love and devotion from viewers. Greek is--sorry--was a show full of them. And they will all be deeply missed.

P.S. It's not too late to make a spin-off featuring Beaver striving to manage his new job as a kindergarten teacher and his blossoming relationship with a certain Type A law/MBA student.

(photos: abcfamily.com)