The kids go back to Fort Nightmare one last time and Anthony gets everything he ever wanted.

Building off the last couple of strong episodes, this finale puts everything and everyone on the table and for the most part it works really well. David Schwimmer and Ana Ortiz and Chrisotpher Paul Richards all come to the fore as Anthony, Jen and Matty’s different perspectives on the damage they’ve sustained works really well, although Jen and Matty could really have used more time together, as could at least a moment of Matty acknowledging his mum’s medical condition. Despite these omissions, the episode does good work here, and with Anthony as a parent too. Schwimmer’s good-natured absent-mindedness has been one of the strongest foundations of the show and this episode questions that to tremendous effect. Anthony has been defined by his trauma not his kids and having Matty call him out on that is the emotional closure he needs.

All of this hits in the first twenty minutes of the episode, so every beat of catharsis is balanced with a growing sense of unease. That unease gets complicated. We’ll start with what works. The ambiguity I was hoping for last episode pays off brilliantly and melds performance with special effects to create a wonderful, gooey, brittle alien design that’s so unsettling to look at. I don’t know if it’s a puppet, CGI or a mixture but I do know I don’t want to be in the same room as it and that’s exactly how it should be.

What’s disappointing is how the episode that finally puts the entire cast on the same page at the same time gives so few of them anything to do, including the wonderfully chitinous aliens. This is the Anthony, Jen and Matty Show and even then Jen is reduced to an action movie stereotype for much of the episode. Having a character tranq-dart an alien and growl ‘I’m a cop, it’s what I do’ at any time is a choice but in 2024 it’s a very, very bad one. Even if Anthony’s ‘I’m a botanist. This is not what I do’ retort is very funny.

This feels like two episodes crammed into one, and every cast member and big idea suffers bar Anthony and Matty. Ramona’s actions, the aliens themselves, the fascinating idea of the kids integrating back into society, Anthony and Matty’s mum and even the ambiguous nature of the aliens is all rushed on and off stage at a dead sprint.  Nothing has any time to breathe aside from Anthony’s catharsis and while that works, it shouldn’t work at the expense of everything else.

Even then, the cast are so good and the plot so heartfelt that it carries you along. But at the last possible moment, the traditional Goosebumps ending of ‘Or is it?’ hits and it deflates almost all the episode’s good will. I get that it’s part of the series, and I get that it’s a tonal choice. But the Anthony/Matty story is so well written, and so well acted and ends so well that this just feels like a cheap gag. A sad trombone after a triumphant, if messy, final note.

Verdict: The Vanishing is a great idea, a great cast and three quarters of a great season. It’s definitely worth the trip but the ending being a weak spot is a twist ending no one saw coming and unfortunately not one I enjoyed. 7/10

Alasdair Stuart