Penultimate episodes have a heavy burden to carry - in a way, they're even more important than the finale because of the groundwork that must be laid. Allegiance needs this foundation more than most shows for two reasons: first, it knows that this is all there is, and there will be no second season (the likelihood of…

There's something about this episode I can't quite put my finger on, except to say that it feels almost paradoxical in nature. A lot of big events happen, a lot of things are lined up for the final two episodes, and yet there's a strangely transitory feel to everything, as though that's all it is - a setup for the…

Of course. God damn it.

Funny how things work out, isn't it?

I'm perfectly fine eating my words in regards to this show. Not all of them, though.

I knew I was right to believe.

Gus Fring and Rome - what could go wrong? All the usual stuff, actually, and a few things besides. To be fair, this is one of Allegiance's better episodes. But that comes at a price - and a tolerance for the issues it still hasn't learned to fix.

I'd tell you to watch it and find out, but I wouldn't wish this thing on anyone.

I commend you just for watching all of them. I didn't survive the first ten minutes of the pilot.

And lives in Room 666.

They went even further. The Chinese guy is bisexual, with an occasional chicken on the side. The black guy can hear him through the wall, despite their apartments being separated by at least three floors.

To paraphrase the former David Sims and his existential crisis that was The Following: "this…gets an F-. It gets a J. It gets a Z for fail."

So it's not to be the end after all. NBC made a smart decision for once and chose to air the remaining episodes on their website. It's a consolation prize at best, but I'll definitely take that over nothing. And if this episode is what we can expect from now on, things are…relatively right with the world again.

I also really loved the one where Jack fought those headhunters from another planet. Fantastic action, some clever humor, and that shot of Jack catching the arrow was…damn.

I think my favorite musical cue was the one they played at the beginning and end of the Demongo episode. But James L. Venable was undoubtedly one of the show's most underrated talents - Jack was a fantastic show, but his score put it over the top, especially in The Tale of X-9 (one of my favorite episodes of anything,…

I'm disappointed too, but personally I found Alex the least interesting part of the show. Having it be just about the other family members might have made it too much like "The Americans," but it would have been less silly.

Now that Allegiance has been cancelled - inevitable, but still sad - there doesn't seem much point discussing it. But I can't not follow through after the last four, so the hell with it.

Or Kevin Williamson threw a hissy-fit.

Especially since she's the only woman in it and gets all the good one-liners:

I thought they did the best they could with what they had. That it burned out so quickly may not harm their careers - it was practically a foregone conclusion - but it certainly won't help them either.