After loving the series and being saddened by its cancellation, this finale was horribly disappointing. If I'd seen this first, I'd have never watched the series.
Jodi Balfour, whose character had been so much fun to watch in the series, seems nearly lost here. Gladys has been unsuccessfully transformed from a rebellious, strong upper-class young woman with a tremendous moral compass into a spy, in part, responsible for saving Canada's war effort and winning WWII.
Meg Tilley's Lorna Corbett, whose transformation toward the end of the second season from pragmatic, strong, steady (and quietly caring) matron went beyond the emotionalism of the end of the series losing all pragmatism and most of her strength and steadiness in the film. For me, part of what made her character compelling in the series was her silent nobility. In the film, if she'd blubbered 'for my girls' one more time, I'd have turned it off.
Other characters made less wild transformations. Though I was having a hard time rooting for Kate and Betty, whose happiness meant something to me in the series.
I can't tell you why I loved the series as much as I did--though I'm sure that the intelligent portrayal of women as strong equals helped. I'm not sure why the finale fell into a flat sea of mediocrity, but from my perspective it did. As a fan of the series, I'm still very glad I saw it. If you're about to, maybe you won't be as disappointed as I was if you go into it with lower expectations.
