Good gracious, this episode which should've been the culmination of the series fell all apart like a shambling horse chart on a rocky road to the White House...
First the good part. The music is atmospheric and great as ever. Costumes and the setpieces are all serviceable, as well as the lighting. The camerawork is not my cup of tea but passable. The biggest praise goes for the acting; especially for Linney and Giamatti, but all the supporting characters are great and even more so when you consider how little they had to work with in terms of the script. They are the only reason that this is not a 1-star review.
Because frankly, the script, the focus and the pacing are all over the place. This episode managed to achieve the seemingly impossible feat of being both incredibly dragging and horribly rushed... The most important 4 years of Adams, the trials and tribulations during his presidency are scrolling by at a breakneck speed, yet the script meanders minutes long on much less important issues that were not set up properly in the earlier episodes. Events like Washington's death is brushed away in a throwaway line - quite a disservice for the man who shaped Adams' career and character, and even more so if it ended up on the cutting room's floor. Adams' most important presidential acts, like raising the residency limit for immigrants to get a citizenship or founding the US Navy are not even mentioned. I honestly learned more from a half-page article about his presidency than from an entire hour long episode from a series that is supposed to be about him! It is really hard to swallow this after the cleverly constructed first four episodes and besmirches the enjoyment of the entire series. Such a pity.
