Blaine broadcasts his plan to purge Wausau of Revivers and the truth, at last, comes out.

The final episode of a show like this always feels a little rushed, but if you time it right, then that pace turns into urgency. Revival times it right. The first half hour here is a frantic sprint through the final clash with Blaine and it gives some overlooked characters some long, long overdue material to chew on. Andy McQueen’s Ibrahim finally slots into place in a show where he’s often felt overlooked, his faith as a Muslim and his training as a scientist combining with his compassion as a doctor to give him what the town needs: the truth.

That truth is devastating in its simplicity. The Revivers have been separated from their souls and those souls are unable to move on. It’s a beautiful, stark idea and it’s one the show digs in on even as Blaine takes drastic action to find the truth. Shooting Wayne makes perfect sense and gives Blaine and Wayne both a moment of dramatic catharsis. Blaine sees everything he wanted and can’t accept it. Wayne sees everything he’s wasted slip away and, at last, remembers being a parent trumps being a sheriff. It’s a nice moment, and one that throws the show sideways into some nice emotional introspection even as General Cale kicks the door in. Cale really is a wasted opportunity, and I wish Konima Parkinson-Jones got more to do.

But Cale is arguably one of only two weak spots in the entire show. The actual payoff here is really nicely handled, as Peter Millard’s Lester Majack is revealed to be much more than the town’s designated eccentric geriatric aerobicist. Lester wanting to live forever makes perfect sense. Lester being so blinded by his fear that he can overlook murder and corruption doubly so. The evil that unleashed the Wausau miracle both painfully banal and painfully human.

The other weak spot is, arguably, the ending. I say ‘arguably’ because while the show definitively ties off almost every plot, its final moments dig even further into the case and reveal the third level of villain behind it all. One that ties together Lester’s fear, Blaine’s need to believe in something more and the town’s wilful ignorance of mortality. It’s a very, very gutsy play that sets up a second season we may very well never get and that’s frustrating. But it also functions as a definitive ending that allows us to extrapolate what could happen. It’s satisfying, but perhaps not as satisfying as others will want.

Verdict: That being said, Revival ends very, very strongly. It’s been a good show that’s frequently been great and I’d love to see it return. But if it doesn’t, this is as good an ending as we could hope for. 9/10

Alasdair Stuart