Review of the Season Finale of "Hot in Cleveland"

The hit original series Hot in Cleveland certainly went out with a bang this week, as we discovered that Elka has been secretly hiding her dead husband's stolen goods, Joy has a son that she put up for adoption, Melanie told her boyfriend that she loves him, and Victoria finally wins the Emmy for daytime leading lady. This was certainly one of the funniest episodes of this season and, with its cliffhanger ending, a definite good lead-in to the upcoming second season.

Of course the strongest moment in the series came when the four female friends told Elka of their lasting friendship for one another, drawing yet another parallel between this female-centered sitcom and its feminist foremother The Golden Girls. This particularly powerful emotional moment helped audiences to see just how strong the bonds between women can be, and this is particularly noteworthy given the lack of attention that female friendships have been receiving in popular television since Sex and the City went off the air.

As always, the fine actresses who portray the women of the series were in top form, especially the inimitable Betty White. With her razor sharp wisecracks and irreverent attitude, she is as irascible yet as loveable as Sophia was in The Golden Girls. Although it still remains uncertain whether she will appear in the second season of the series, the ending of this episode, in which she is sent to prison for hiding her husband's stolen goods, suggests that she will appear again. If the producers of this show have any sense (and as long as the grand dame herself doesn't have any objections, of course,) this great woman will continue to be a series regular.

Perhaps most importantly, this final episode of the first season allowed us to see some more of the emotional depths of these characters, drawing us into their ongoing dilemmas and issues with their personal identities. Most interesting was Joy's discussion of her son, and it remains to be seen whether she will re-establish a connection with him after so many years.

In fact, it was only Victoria's personal plotline that received any sort of closure, due to the fact that it was announced that she had indeed won the Emmy (although her archenemy accepted it on her behalf.) This was a typical move for a season finale (at least these days,) in which several cliffhangers are left unresolved and the audience is left wondering what is going to happen. It's a fitting way to end the first season of this engagingly funny new series.

So, what do we have to look forward to in the next season? Well, hopefully more of the funny yet simple humor that we have been treated to in this first season. That's the beauty of this show; it doesn't try to do too much or take on too many things. Instead, it provides gentle comedy, while also slipping in the subversive message of women's empowerment through their friendship with one another. Let's hope that they can keep it up for another season.