Summary
Amazon series Final Life season 1 is absurdly mental while trying to introduce us to dissimilar characters, but you cannot ignore the bamboozling story.
June 21st, 2019 marks the day that Amazon attempted to compete with Netflix for the Asian market by releasing two Amazon Original series – and just when I thought Tokyo Alice could not be beaten in utmost strangeness, Final Life season 1 or in its native title Fainaru raifu: Ashita, kimi ga kietemo, is perhaps the most bonkers series I’ve seen this year. It makes Abyss look routinely normal.
And do not get me wrong, I am not allergic to unnatural stories surrounding displaced characters, but Amazon series Final Life had me scratching my tired head. The opening episode introduces us to the two lead protagonists, Ryo Kawakubo (Shôta Matsuda) and Song Shi-Won (Taemin) who are eventually teamed up in the Police Department Special Unit. The two actors must be a big deal in Japan, as the Amazon thumbnail description excitedly mentions that the two actors share the same screen at the same time.
But despite the apparent fame surrounding this Amazon series, Final Life throws outrageous plot points at you. The opening episode bands the pair together in the most violent of circumstances, teasing the audience for an adrenaline-pumping series. However, the story slips into flashbacks revealing Ryo burying his brother and Song Shi-Won attending a prestigious US science school.
Now, here’s the part when Amazon series Final Life threw me. During the flashbacks to build the entire premise, you learn that Shi-Won had part of Einstein’s brain inserted in him. This was the kind of second act s**t I was not ready for when I pressed play. It does explain how the character can dodge bullets using his super intelligence, but surely they did not need to wedge nonsense into the story, especially wedged between entirely normal scenes.
Final Life season 1 pits the two characters against many mysteries, while also dealing with their dissimilar paths. Despite the appealing and mad premise to the Amazon series, I would wholeheartedly not recommend.
