If you think of TV shows like food, some are as sweet and insubstantial as cotton candy, some are comforting like a delicious burger, and … some are overcooked and unseasoned. If HBO Max’s The Flight Attendant was food, it would be a gourmet prix fixe eight-course tasting menu, the kind that where the cook needs to use tweezers to delicately place a rose petal on top of caviar or something. This show was so meticulous, finely crafted, and wildly entertaining that I can’t think of a better descriptor than gourmet television.
Spoiler warning for season one from here on out!
The Flight Attendant wrapped up season one with the same emotion, humor, and suspense that has defined the entire show. Now on the same side, Cassie (Kaley Cuoco) and Miranda (Michelle Gomez) attempted to trap and thwart Felix (Colin Woodell), who had both murdered a lot of people and pretended to be a nice actor to sleep with Cassie and manipulate her.
Cassie ended up in Rome, mostly alone, looking for a gun and forced to finally confront the dark bits of her past that had chased her all season and drove her alcoholism. The woman who has been drinking tiny bottles of vodka all season lined them up on a picturesque wall in Rome, and finally gave her wounded inner child (I mean this quite literally) the permission to be okay and to not run. Late Cassie also lovingly bid farewell to the memory of Alex (Michiel Huisman) that had followed her for the entire season in her mind.
The scenes in Cassie’s head are what have really made this series so special, allowing series creator Steve Yockey to bring in surreal imagery and to also show his background in the theater. Every moment in Cassie’s head with her and Alex was like a play where we slowly unpacked Cassie’s trauma in the most surprising and entertaining ways and it was so bittersweet to see Cassie closes up shop in her brain later in the episode because it meant she had grown, but it also meant things were over.
But before that Cassie had to deal with Felix. Miranda took out the big boss, Victor (go Miranda!) but murderous and terrifying Felix was determined to kill Cassie and finish the job. But as everyone does, he underestimated Cassie’s will to live and ability to survive. She managed to stab and shoot him as he attempted to kill her in her Rome hotel room, and then Shane (Griffin Matthews) burst in with more shots because, oh, he works for the CIA and was shadowing Megan (Rosie Perez) as she spied for the North Koreans.
If there’s one thing I wanted from this season that I didn’t quite get, it was more about and from Megan. Rosie Perez was fantastic this season and I had hoped that the Megan plot would tie into things a bit more. Similarly, I wanted to see more about Annie (Zosia Mamet) and her shady law firm. But maybe both of those characters will be explored more in season two.
And … yes! Season two is happening! And I could not be more excited! I need more Miranda. I need more of Annie and Megan. I need to see Cassie trying to work for the CIA, I need Kim at The FBI to get more chances to eviscerate her privileged bro partner. I need all of it. Finding an emotional story for season two may be hard, given that Cassie finished a pretty big character arc of growth, and the season ended on a beautifully hopeful note for her that I loved. But why can’t season two get into someone else’s head? Make Megan the titular Flight Attendant next season, or take us inside Annie’s mind, because I’m sure it’s amazing! Whatever happens, I trust Steve Yockey and company to continue to delight us.
I can’t say enough how much I loved this series. It was such a wonderful mix of fun, thrills, and emotion, all anchored by a truly incredible performance by Kaley Cuoco, who I hope gets some serious awards love for the amazing work she did as Cassie. This is a show I can’t wait to rewatch and savor again, but I also hope this wasn’t the last we saw of this crew.
(image: HBO Max)
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