Okay, so. The finale. It took me a while to digest everything and turn my thoughts into coherent sentences. Also, this is long. Like an essay. Literally. If you read till the end, bless you.
I have mixed feelings, and they’re tugging at each other. Part of me wants to scream but another part of me is like, there’s more to this. This is me trying to make sense of the whole thing without my heart shattering. So you’ll definitely get glimpses of each side during this essay.
First, here’s a scene I imagine happening after the series finale ends:
It fades back in. And we’re in Steve’s house. We don’t know how much time has passed. Keys rattle, and the front door is pushed open.
Offscreen, we hear, “you better not have forgotten the malasadas.”
It’s a little raspy, a little slow, a little croaky, but so unmistakably Danny’s voice.
A chuckle. And then, comes the reply, equally raspy, “right here, Danno. Come and get them.”
“And you better have bought a lot. Clara is coming over in a bit. You know how much she loves malasadas. And no, you come out here, the breeze is nice,” Danny replies.
And Steve goes. And sits in his chair next to Danny as they look out into the water. He opens the box and Danny grabs a malasada.
They’re home.
Fade to black. Roll credits.
In my opinion, the ending was supposed to be about McDanno. And as much as we did get so much McDanno in the finale, I’m talking specifically about the last thing we see on the screen. And I’m not talking about them becoming canon. The chances of that happening were slim to none.
I’m talking about their friendship, their partnership, their bond. I’m talking about the two men who put their lives on the line for each other, time and time again, without hesitation; the two men who traveled to the ends of the earth for each other. That is what the ending should have ended with.
From the full-blown panic Steve was in when Danny was being followed. Steve's only priority is saving Danny’s life. The person you care about most in the world. Steve holding Danny on the way to the hospital. Steve constantly reassuring Danny that he’s right there, to hold on. Steve holding Danny’s hand. He thought he was going to lose Danny and it broke him.
(Also, All For One playing during the scene where Steve sits next to Danny’s hospital bed and holds his hand? Yes, I cried.)
I knew the Catherine part was coming, from the moment she was brought up, I knew what was going to happen. I just didn’t want the Catherine scene to be the final scene of the series.
Because the truth is, while Catherine kept ducking in and out of Steve’s life, the one constant thing in Steve’s life was Danny. And they didn’t do that justice.
And I think that’s what I’m mad about most. I knew the chances of canon McDanno were slim to none (even though the first half of the episode was screaming McDanno, as should have the entire episode been and a part of me was like, hold on...maybe...because 95% of the episode? McDanno.)
All throughout season ten, we were constantly shown how important Steve and Danny are to each other, that they can’t live without each other. It truly was a love letter to each other and to McDanno fans. We know the love is there, but I wanted to see Steve choosing Danny. Yes, we got a heart to heart, some of their classic banter in there, I love you’s and a powerful hug, which I am grateful for and will always cherish…but I wanted the last scene of the series, to be of Steve and Danny.
And it breaks my heart, because at the end of the day, Steve left Danny. After everything.
Hawaii. Danny moved 4,948 miles away from his home to be close to his daughter. He hated Hawaii. But then he met Steve and Steve chose Danny. Then he slowly began to love the Island. Until the Island was home. Until Steve was home. Danny was alone in the beginning and what hurts so much, is even after ten years, the last time we see Danny, is him, sitting on his best friend’s private beach, alone. It breaks my heart.
And I want to say that Danny hops on a plane and goes to Jersey to Steve but I wanted Steve to pick Danny. I wish Steve had realized that going away isn’t always the answer. That healing can happen with the people you love. Should happen with the people you love. Because that is what the show is about. How to save and be saved at the same time. Heal, and be healed.
My hopes are for a Steve and Catherine friendship. I have a few issues with how Catherine treated Steve, and how she hurt him. And for me, it seems out of character for Steve to just dive back into a relationship with her, after everything they’ve been through in the past. Especially after clearly saying how much Catherine is like Doris. And how he’s done with Doris. Because if Steve is just repeating history, I feel like during those final two minutes, the writers went, Steve’s character development? Don’t know him.
I get needing time away. I get that there’s so much history and pain for Steve in Hawaii. And I wholeheartedly agree that Steve needs a break. I just have a little problem with the timing.
Danny is recovering. Plain and simple. While yes, Danny doesn’t need Steve to hold his hand and hover during his recovery. But he nearly died and Steve nearly lost his mind at that thought. And yet, a mere week later, Steve just leaves.
And just like Steve needs to heal, Danny needs to heal, too. It’s been a hell of a year for both of them. Danny’s been through so much too, and the person who helps him through it and who Danny leans on, has left. And I hate how they undermined Danny’s hurt, his pain, they put him through hell and then take away his number one support system. I think Danny needed to get away, too. And with the whole “if you’re out, I’m out” thing that’s been going on between Steve and Danny, I doubt Danny will remain in Five-0 without Steve.
Whether anything comes out of Steve and Catherine, it doesn’t change the fact that Danny was left behind. And that just angers me so much. I just had hoped that Steve would have chosen Danny, just like Danny has been choosing Steve time and time again for a decade.
Steve says Catherine was the one who got away. Because, yes, she got away. And when he tells Cole that he’s good, I believe him. I think he accepted it long ago, that maybe it would have worked out. But it didn’t. And I think Steve deserved some closure, and that’s why Catherine showed up at the end.
The first time I watched the episode and the ending, I thought, “yeah, why did I expect anything different...” but then after really thinking about it, I realized nothing is set in stone. And I started thinking, maybe Catherine is there to support Steve, maybe this will lead to them mending their relationship and becoming friends. Because I honestly pray and hope Steve’s development isn’t gone. He’s lost, he needs to find himself again. The few times we’ve seen Catherine since she left the show was either because she needed Steve’s help or he needed hers. Maybe it’s still just that. And it’s just purely that. A friend helping a friend.
And I suspect Steve couldn’t do that with Danny because it’s all still so fresh, and it’s eating at Steve. Danny almost died. Because of something Steve had. And it shook Steve to his core. He almost lost the person he cares about most in this world, and it would have been his fault.
Catherine’s last words were, are you ready? And I think they meant, are you ready to heal?
I don’t mind a Steve and Catherine friendship, just not a romantic relationship. She can help Steve with his PTSD, they can talk and get closure. Maybe that hand holding was Steve saying, thank you for being here. Thank you for helping. That hand holding felt more like holding hands in support, rather than romance. I think if it were romance, he would have intertwined their fingers together. He tells her how much he appreciated her help and that she will always mean a lot to him but they’re history. They had their shot. It didn’t work out. Romantically, at least. And maybe they’re better as friends.
Steve has his face in his hands, and he’s terrified. The look in his eyes during the entire episode speaks of fear, worry, concern, pain, guilt. When Danny wakes up, Steve lets out a long, shaky breath. He was holding his breath. Literally. Then Steve says, “she used you to get to me, she almost killed you...” and that realization, it flipped something in Steve. He couldn’t handle history repeating itself.
So I’m going to believe that that’s the reason Steve left, because otherwise, I see his leaving as out of character. He needs to heal away from Hawaii, away from seeing Danny’s battered body and knowing he was indirectly the reason for that. So he heals. And he returns to Hawaii, to Danny. And they continue healing together.
Maybe, after receiving the miss you already text from Danny, and if Steve wasn’t getting off the plane, maybe he could have texted back, “me too, Danno. But I’ll be back.” (But, come on, the way Steve looked back at Danny sitting on the beach, the look of longing already in Steve’s eyes…yeah, I thought he was getting off that plane.)
Bottom line is, I hope Steve and Catherine rebuild their relationship as friends. And maybe Steve could start rebuilding his trust towards Catherine, too. I think that would be good for him, to heal that part. Because I know how much they mean to each other. And honestly, I think there’s so much romantic history, and just history, good and bad, maybe even too much, for them to move past on the romantic side.
When Danny woke up in the hospital, he said, “you can’t get rid of me that easily.” Even after being kidnapped, beaten and shot, Danny is never leaving Steve.
So I hope Steve returns to Danny, and to their beach, and they do grow old together. As husbands or platonic life partners, either way, I hope they end up sitting side by side watching sunsets. I’m praying they both get the happy ending they so deserve.
My true ending to the show is Danny’s final dream in 8.10. Steve and Danny have grown old together, Danny’s granddaughter had called and Steve forgot to tell Danny. And Danny saying he wouldn’t change anything about his life, there is not a single thing he would change. If he had to do it again, he’d do it the same way. That’s my ending.
