The Nothing Trivial finale certainly threw a few challenges at pub quiz team Sex On A Stick, but ultimately they stuck with happy endings for everyone.
And that was a pleasing way to wrap things up, even if it made for a relatively corny, occasionally eye-rolling, sentimental last hurrah.
We've come to expect a bit of sentimentality from bubbly teacher Emma (Debbie Newby-Ward). So it was great to see her pour an orange juice on the head of Mac's ex-wife Jo (poor Katherine Kennard really drew the short straw playing Jo, who everyone loves to hate), and give new husband Brian (Blair Strang) a solid pep talk when he was a feeling a bit lost in all the domesticity of his life.
But seeing Catherine get a bit soppy and tearful wasn't quite as appealing - I'd grown to enjoy her intelligent, confident, and occasionally mischievous ways.
Thankfully she got it together for the final scenes, and beat rival Jo in the quiz final to end them all, despite her brain function not being quite 100 per cent (who knew Jo was so good at quiz questions by the way?).
And of course we had Michelle (Nicole Whippy) to keep up the ballsy attitude in her stead. Her "double deal-breaker" with high-powered businessman fiance Richard (Richard Knowles), and their ensuing reconciliation was a little predictable, but it was a pleasure to see Barnie Duncan back on screen as Michelle's wily ex-husband - their storyline provided some good laughs, particularly the moment when Michelle arrived at his house to break off their business deal, only to find he'd been conning her all along.
Of course they needed to address how Brian would cope with a third child, financially and emotionally, and the storyline involving his business expansion and taking a troubled teen under his wing, along with Noah (Mac's formerly wayward son), was a nice exploration of his past and present.
Plus it helped to shift the attention away from Mac, after he'd been front and centre throughout the first third, with puffy eyes, under harsh hospital lighting, enduring endless beeping noises at Catherine's bedside.
His French may have been appalling - he'd been reading a tourist book to the Francophile Catherine as she lay in a coma - but Shane Cortese certainly held our attention with an affecting performance of a man struggling under the strain of nearly losing a loved one. He once again came out looking like the character most likely to receive love letters.
Sure there were a few questions left dangling - will Catherine ever return to full health? Has her daughter Celeste come home for good? What happened to Jo's baby with the gardener?
What happened to Brian's first child Sonny Bill? And why oh why would Jo end up marrying smarmy quiz competitor - and equally disliked - Cory (Will Hall)?
But all in all, an entertaining - if somewhat overdue - night in.
It's sad Nothing Trivial is done - the acting was always some of the best on local television, and the writing was smart - but at least it didn't end with a tragic car accident.
Nobody died.
And the fans who effectively revived the show for this curtain call got a chance to say their goodbyes to Sex On A Stick. Stupid name for a great team, that.
TV Review
What: Nothing Trivial finale
Where and when: Last night, 8.30pm, TV One
Reviewer: Lydia Jenkin.
