With the upcoming December 13th finale of the first season of Sullivan’s Crossing, this weekend is the perfect time to catch up with the show and reflect on the journeys of our favorite characters. There was a lot of reflection going on amidst the ensemble in “Can’t Help Falling,” the ninth and penultimate episode of the year. Characters struggling with fear and guilt, with an overall theme of reconciling the past to move forward with the future.
Maggie begins the episode with her thoughts on Cal and, naturally, the kiss they shared in the previous episode. Her logical, one might say clinical, side takes over as she chalks up what happened to her emotional state after what had happened with Andrew. While true, she’s not allowing herself to believe that she could have feelings for Cal. She fears too much being like her mother, who also fell for a man she met during a summer in Sullivan’s Crossing. She tells Sydney “Look what that led to”, referring to the pain and heartache. What that led to was her. She sees that as a bad thing, convinced for so much of her life that she is the problem, that there’s something wrong with her.
Jackson’s fall causes Maggie to confront her past as he suffers a similar type of head injury to the boy from the first episode that lost his life. Her journey in Sullivan’s Crossing has allowed her to reconnect with her empathy and really see people. Here she sees a boy she knows, she sees his parents, and she reflects back on how she treated the mother of her previous young patient. She’s afraid that she’s not doing enough to help Jackson because of her guilt that maybe she didn’t do enough to help the Markiff boy and she’s afraid to give up any control because no matter how much things are not in her control, she will still feel at fault. What Maggie doesn’t realize how important she is, how much good she has brought to the world. In particular, had she not come to Sullivan’s Crossing, Roy would have continued to suffer, Frank would probably not still be alive, and neither would Jackson.
That reconnection with her empathy allowed Maggie to also reflect on how she had treated Lola in the past and the two had a lovely scene where for the first time they understood each other and can hopefully move forward on better terms. Maggie also came to understand how Mrs. Markiff felt to lose her son and that will be interesting to see what happens when she faces Mrs. Markiff again at the trial, where she will perhaps no longer see her as an opponent, but a person.
Sully saw his daughter in a new light in as well. All these years he has held such a resentment of the life Maggie had in Boston, not able to see any good in what that upbringing had to offer. Not truly seeing who she was and what she had accomplished. The experience of her saving Jackson did that for him. He’s been holding onto the past for so long, hoping the Maggie that was taken from him would return to her true home. She’s a grown woman now, however, and I think he finally recognizes that and is possibly ready to let her go. They’re in a better place now. I told you I would be an emotional wreck when she finally called him “Dad!”
Watching Tom and Connie’s pain was extremely emotional as well. To see them come together as parents, reconciling the arguments they’ve had and pledging support to one another in the future for the sake of their son was heartwarming.
There’s a countdown for our main characters heading into the finale. Maggie’s trial, Cal’s leaving date, and Sully’s foreclosure notice. They’ve all come a long way in their journey towards healing. Where will their paths take them next?
Written by John Callaghan and directed by Jerry Ciccoritti, the team brought to the screen an intense hour of television. And for Sullivan’s Crossing, that is saying something. I was in tears a majority of the episode, even during my second viewing to write the review. Morgan Kohan delivered one of her best performances to date. I personally get faint at the sight of a paper cut and had to keep my eyes closed during the drilling scene. That calm nature she had during the crisis was perfectly juxtaposed with the nervous anxiety once there wasn’t anything else she could do when control had been taken from her. Morgan is one of those actors that has extremely emotive eyes and with Maggie, who is so reserved and guarded with her emotions, that is where so much of that character is found. The community characters of Tom (Hugh Thompson) and Connie (Lauren Hammersley) truly shined playing the role of parents in the midst of a situation where they were helpless.
I will say, that as a member of the LGBTQ+ community, with the kiss that I was personally waiting for more than the kiss between Maggie and Cal, I was disheartened when that didn’t happen. Jackson and Kaleb’s burgeoning romance has been a storyline I have wanted so much more from. When you grow up as not being part of the norm, you look for that representation of yourself wherever you can find. To have them get so close to that kiss to then have one of them fall of a cliff? I applaud what the show has been doing so far, mirroring the welcoming nature of Sullivan’s Crossing and being more diverse and inclusive. Kisses being interrupted by dramatic events is nothing new, yet when the couple, and myself, is LGBTQ+ I can’t help view that through a different lens. They could have kissed and THEN had Jackson fall off the cliff is all I’m saying. Here’s hoping with Jackson on the mend that he and Kaleb get the kiss that they deserve!
I give the episode 7 out of 10 pine trees.