Looking for Alaska Review: The End of Days
Meaghan Frey
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Is there life after death, or even life after Culver Creek?
The core four were facing those questions during Looking for Alaska Season 1 Episode 5 and Looking For Alaska Season 1 Episode 6 after the ultimate prank, has unforeseen consequences.
Read our review as we discuss the changes that are in the air at Culver Creek.
If Alaska thought that the worst thing that was going to come out of the reveal she is the rat, was that the whole student body would give her the cold shoulder, she was sadly mistaken.
The Weekday Warriors once again crossed a line that should have never gotten crossed.
The Weekday Warriors, having been friends with Alaska in the past, as we learned during a flashback to when she and the Colonel met for the first time, obviously know about her Life’s Library.
They knew that by sticking a hose through her window and flooding her room, they were destroying her most prized possessions.
The thing about the Weekday Warriors, though, is they don’t care.
Since the whole school, with very few exceptions, follow the “snitches get stiches” rule, they know there are no real consequences for their actions. They can act without impunity.
Thank god their prank snapped the Colonel back to his senses. The core four are better together than they are apart.
Watching the Colonel sit with a watchful eye on Alaska’s room was a sweet moment after an hour of wanting to knock some sense into him.
Even though the right thing would have been to warn Alaska that something was about to happen, this was the Colonel’s way of reaching a compromise.
He could still stand his ground on not wanting to talk to her, while also looking out for her like a true friend should.
Pudge wasn’t going to give in so easily.
I can’t say that I blame Pudge for wanting to pretend like Alaska didn’t exist. Pudge is nursing a broken heart, and when your heart is broken, sometimes you want that person to disappear.
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Pudge was doing his best to put on a brave face, but dragging Lara back into his mess wasn’t fair.
Lara may not be Alaska, but she deserves more than to be someone’s second choice and that was what she was to Pudge.
I’m not rushing, I’m realizing. I’ve been chasing after Alaska and maybe this whole time the girl I was supposed to be with was right in front of me. Maybe everything that’s happened has lead me to this moment, to this dance.
Pudge
No matter how much Pudge tried to hide it, there was no denying that just because he was heartbroken, doesn’t mean that he wasn’t still hopelessly in love with Alaska.
No amount of cookie eating contests, marathon make-out sessions or blow jobs could hide that truth.
You can’t say that Lara didn’t try. It takes a lot of guts to go to the girl that you know your boyfriend is in love with and ask for tips on oral sex.
It takes even more guts to constantly put yourself in situations where the two of them will be brought together.
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Lara played it cool around Alaska, but her passive-aggressive comments and actions made her insecurities about her light up like a Christmas tree.
The fact of the matter is, Lara should have cut her losses the second that Pudge went outside to comfort Alaska at the barn.
While it is understandable that Pudge would want to be there for her after she just confessed to the room that she watched her mother die and that her father blames her for it, two other people in the room could have been the ones to do it.
After all, the Colonel and Takumi had already forgiven Alaska for what she did. Pudge was just starting to come around to the idea. It would have made way more sense for them to be the ones.
The Colonel forgiving Alaska in some ways seemed to give her the permission she needed to go after Pudge again.
While we all know why Alaska cut things off with Pudge the way she did, it doesn’t excuse her actions. Pudge deserved an explanation that she didn’t give him.
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It was as if Alaska didn’t think she could walk away on her own, so she needed to hurt him so that he would be the one to do it. If she had told him she was doing it for his own good, he would have tried to stop her. She took away that possibility.
It was interesting to see Alaska use the same tactic as Pudge when he low key rejected her by friend-zoning her. Going back to Jake wouldn’t have been the right option, so thank god Fiona keeps being in the wrong place at the right time.
Alaska: I was afraid of what you’d think when you knew the truth. Now you know. You’re still here. Why are you still here?
Pudge: Because I’m your friend.
Alaska: Cool. Friend.
Can we please take a moment to appreciate Fiona as a character? For someone who has barely been in the show, the writers have made me love her.
She is very much attuned to people’s emotions. The fact that she could almost feel through the phone that it was Alaska didn’t feel cheap. It felt true to who she is.
In a different world, she and Alaska could have been great friends. But Alaska needs her to be the obstacle in the way of her and Jake. It gives her an excuse not to want to be with him that isn’t the fact that she is in love with Pudge.
The Colonel’s potential expulsion from Culver Creek may have been a huge blow to the core four, but at least if it served no other purpose, it finally allowed Pudge and Alaska to give in to their feelings.
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How devastating for Pudge that he had never played truth or dare before! What a sheltered existence he led before coming to the Creek.
It felt like a very Alaska thing to do, to make Pudge confess his feelings first. Alaska isn’t stupid. She knew that Pudge wanted to kiss her that night, otherwise, why assault him?
Making him say it gives her the power, though. It puts the ball back in her court, right where she likes it.
Alaska has had little control of her life. She couldn’t control that her mom died, despite what her dad thinks. She couldn’t control that her dad blames her. She couldn’t control that she didn’t grow up wealthy.
Having had such little control, she takes it where she can. The flirty air about her allows her to make people fall for her while keeping them at arm’s length until she wants something more.
It may not be fair but you can’t fault her for it. It helps her get through the day.
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Maybe that is what got to her about Pudge. Guys like the Colonel and Takumi let her push them away while Pudge kept pushing back.
It’s just too bad that we will never get to see what really could have become of them.
Pudge: Don’t go.
Alaska: To be continued.
If you read the book, it is no surprise to you that Alaska was the one to drive off in a car on that fateful night that we saw at the start of the series. That doesn’t soften the blow though.
It was so hard not to scream at the TV as Pudge and the Colonel enabled her. Couldn’t they see that she was too drunk to drive? Couldn’t they see she was too distraught?
Alaska always gets her way, though. If maybe only this once she didn’t.
How will the remaining core four move on after such a devastating loss?
Pudge will never get his “to be continued.”
The Colonel will never get to take back all of his harsh words he spewed to her in their final real conversation with each other.
The Colonel turning around and blaming Alaska for his impending expulsion was unfair, and it was far from his finest moment. Alaska never asked the Colonel to help her get revenge. He offered.
It isn't Alaska's fault that the world isn't fair and that the Colonel is the only one who has to face the consequence of all their actions. We live in an unfair world with many tragedies.
Alaska didn't make the world this way. She is just another person suffering at the hands of it.
Now the Colonel has to live with that moment forever.
It just goes to show you: You never know what moment will be your last with someone. You have to show the people you love how you feel every day because each moment could be the last.
Other thoughts:
-Stand out music moments: Pretty much all of Episode 5 was filled with insane throwback music moments that filled my 2005 teenage heart with such joy.
Who knew that “Macarena” could ever be made cool? The Beginners version absolutely kills it. Playing as the backdrop to the gang’s mischief felt more perfect than could have been imagined.
Mating Ritual ft. Lizzy Land “An Honest Mistake” did the job of conveying Alaska’s regret at letting Pudge go on Thanksgiving, without her having to say anything. It playing over her laying there, eyes wide open, listening to Pudge and Lara was enough.
-Favorite Throwback: The Eagle requesting “Macarena” and the whole dance eventually jumping in takes the cake. The Macarena was a staple at dances back in the day. No matter how dorky it felt in the moment, you were obligated to join in.
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The Weekday Warriors threatening legal action against the Colonel was a spectacular show of privilege if I’ve ever seen one. As the Colonel said, the crime was victimless as their parents made sure it got fixed.
Threatening to sue the Colonel was completely out of line.
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That swan has a serious hard-on for Pudge. It went out of its way to attack the poor guy.
- “Cause no one can catch the mother fuckin’ fox.” Takumi’s greatest moment.
Are you ready for what’s to come next TV Fanatics? Drop your thoughts on Episodes 5 and 6 below!
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Meaghan Frey was a staff writer for TV Fanatic. She retired in September 2020.
