The Deuce - 3x08 "Finish It" - Episode Discussion

I did not expect that hyper-contemporary coda in the last 15 minutes. I wanted to see a super zoom to the present but couldn't envision a way to achieve that yet David Simon did it with aplomb and poignancy. It was the first and only surrealistic leap into magic realism for a show so grounded in gritty authenticity that its effect was uncanny. We waded through 3 seasons of historical context to have the past 30 years' transformation hit us like a brick. The show was always about 42nd street, and the ending cemented that. The characters were just vehicles to show the audience the changes, but at the end of the day Times Square was the core around which our society reflected itself in a post-modern age. I truly didn't expect the magical realism at the end from Simon. The Deuce was always the main character, and we saw it from secondary eyes the whole time. Yet he still gave those characters a respectful moment in the spotlight before curtain call...I'm at a loss for words at the beauty of how it all tied together at the end.

/r/TheDeuceHBO Thread