The Big Door Prize (Season 1 Finale), Episode 10: After taking us through the journeys of the Deerfield residents, the Apple TV+ show ‘The Big Door Prize’ is wrapping up its first season. Its previous episode showed Trina going public about her relationship with Jacob. She also confessed her true Morpho potential result to her parents. Cass felt sorry for her since she held a gala for people to pursue their life’s potential. While she and Dusty came to an understanding about their relationship, Mr. Johnson stayed frustrated over his unsuccessful magic show.
The new episode explores how the Deerfield residents discover things about themselves and about each other during the Deerfest. While Trina takes out her frustration for being called an opportunist, Giorgio finds an unlikely romantic interest. In the end, they are left with more questions than answers about the Morpho machine.
*spoilers ahead*
The Big Door Prize (Season 1 Finale), Episode 10 Recap:
Episode 10: Deerfest: Part Two
The ninth episode ended with Mr. Johnson (Patrick Kerr) trying to break open the Morpho machine. However, he suffers a heart attack. Luckily, a woman finds him right then and calls for medical assistance. Meanwhile, the Deerfield residents have loads of fun at Deerfest.
What happened on Cass and Dusty’s first date?
Their parents join Trina (Djouliet Amara) and Jacob (Sammy Fourlas) at the festival. Trina shares a story of how Dusty (Christ O’Dowd) and Cass (Gabrielle Dennis) started dating. Dusty gets a bit embarrassed since he often shares this story. What happened was Dusty wanted to play Bust-a-Balloon because he wanted to win a stuffed puffin for Cass, who said it was cute.
Since Dusty could not bust a single balloon, he met the kid working at the stand later to buy it. Henceforth, he kept buying those balloons as a tradition. Beau (Aaron Roman Weiner) says that he was the kid who sold the toy to Dusty. He sulks in his sorrow about how he is used to being ignored.
On the other hand, Cass reveals that she said the puffin is cute so that Dusty would not feel bad. So, it becomes another example for him of how he does not know her too well. She said it because she wanted Dusty to like her. He shares how she did not need to do that since he liked her before that.
Beau asks Jacob if he would like to join to ride a mechanical bull with him. He pretends to put on the macho person, but everyone sees through it. So, Trina decides to make a sweet gesture by joining him.
How does Giorgio react to Nat’s flirting?
Meanwhile, Giorgio (Josh Segarra) grills his workers at the pasta stand from the Deerfest. Nat (Mary Holland) meets him and starts flirting. Her daughter, Savannah (Elizabeth Hunter), gets super-embarrassed by that.
However, Giorgio lightens up Savannah’s mood. He says that she need not feel pressured by her Morpho card result to pursue her life’s potential and go to France. He says it because of his own realization that he should not have obsessed over being a hockey superstar for years.
Giorgio asks what Savannah honestly wants to do. She shares her interest in chess, and he supports it. That does not stop Nat from flirting with him. Once Savannah leaves, she insinuates how there are other fish in the sea besides Cass for Giorgio. She proclaims her love for bald men, knowing Giorgio’s well-kept secret all too well. So, he gets smitten by her.
Inspired by Dusty’s story, Trina and Jacob play Ring Toss. He boasts about being exceptionally good at the game and wins it in just his first attempt. Once he wins a soft toy for her, he contemplates whether he will follow in Dusty’s footsteps to do it for 30-something years. She casually notes how she is unsure whether they will be together at the time.
It upsets Jacob. He does not like that Trina proposed getting separated on their first official date. She asks – ‘Is something not valuable if it does not last forever?’ It makes him rethink his judgment and patch up with her right after their first argument.
Why does Cass get angry at the Deerfield residents?
On the other hand, Cass wants to go on a Ferris wheel ride with Dusty. She goes to the counter and asks the woman for a single-ride ticket. Dusty says that they can pay for more. The woman makes a salty remark about how Cass’ family can afford it. She then opens up about feeling cheated paying 100 bucks for Cass’s gala and says how that money means to those like her more than Cass.
Cass does not like the woman’s insinuation. She takes out her anger by talking about the woman’s potential as a tattoo artist. She says how it must have been the woman’s lifelong dream that she never shared with anyone. Cass also talks against the ridiculous claim that she brought a machine to the town so that she could enjoy her time as royalty. She ends up making a scene and gathering a crowd.
How does Cass react to Izzy’s opposition?
While addressing the people against their assumption that she scammed them, Cass notices her mother, Izzy (Crystal Fox). As a mayor, she tries to stop Cass. So, Cass drags her to the Hay Maze in that furious state. Izzy thinks Cass is trying to talk out their differences and take out her rage. Instead, Cass hugs her mother and does not let her leave for a few seconds. Instead of arguing, she rather uses this unexpected gesture.
What do Cass and Dusty decide to do with their lives?
After her hug with Izzy, Cass decides to join Dusty on the Ferris wheel. Dusty jokes about paying the operator to keep them stuck on the top. His joke turns out to be true when the system suddenly stops due to some malfunction. The couple that they met in Rose’s motel – the sexual explorer Hawaii (Emily Topper) and her partner, Glen (Rory Keane), sit in the other stand.
While Hawaii has the time of her life with this thrilling experience, Dusty and Cass contemplate their future. Dusty acknowledges that their lives can go in different directions. Since they haven’t stayed apart for decades, they don’t know the possibilities of living like that. So, he proposes to give it a try and find them out.
Cass mentions how puffin couples are monogamous, who live most of their years apart and still find a way to one another. Dusty says how he does not want them to end up like puffins – possibly hinting at how neither should feel burdened being monogamous.
While being stuck in the hay maze, Izzy receives a call from the woman who helped Mr. Johnson get to the hospital. She shares that he had a heart attack and needed to be hospitalized. Since Izzy’s number was mentioned as the emergency contact, the woman called her. That’s when Izzy realizes that Mr. Johnson also did not have any family and may have felt like a ghost the way she did.
What happens between Rueben and Hana?
At the Bedford bar, Reuben (Damon Gupton) and Hana (Ally Maki) finally express their love for each other. After their first kiss, they start talking about her dump of a bedroom. He finds it eerily empty. She says that she does not want a lot of stuff. But she does not want him to think that she is some rich, spoiled brat looking for minimalism. It is because she spent her life mostly in boarding schools, so she isn’t used to having possessions.
Reuben starts talking about what Dusty said about the Morpho result being an arrow. He calls it, ‘A thing you needed to be told about yourself to get to something else.’ It informed Reuben’s decision to not look at his ‘Father’ result as a call to join the priesthood but as an arrow to question that decision and to rethink what he wants to spend his life. He thinks all of that – his loneliness, addiction, and the Morpho card, led him to Hana. She feels pressured to be a manic pixie dream girl for him.
How does Hana react to Reuben’s confession?
Hana sees it as Reuben wanting her to pity him for this sad story. She says that he is not as alone as he says so, whereas she is. She ends up blurting out that his father-in-law was with him, supporting him, when he found his life’s potential card. ‘How could she know about it if he hadn’t shared this with her?’ he wonders.
How did Hana know details about Rueben’s past?
Hana reveals that she was at the bar with Reuben on the night he found his card in the gutter. She didn’t mention it before since she couldn’t remember him being that depressed person. She was the bartender who had thrown him out because of his extremely drunken state. Even when she realized that he was that man, she did not want to say that since it would have been an awkward conversation. ‘Hey, I was there on the worst night of your life.’ Who would want to say that?
Reuben realizes that Hana is also in another town with a Morpho machine. He wonders why she kept rejecting the validity of its results. They both agree that they had their reasons for hiding these details. Anyhow, she does not want him to keep looking for signs to lead his life in a particular direction.
The Big Door Prize (Season 1 Finale), Episode 10 Ending Explained:
Why does Hana return to Deerfield?
After her conversation with Reuben, Hana decides to drive out of town. But her car ends up slipping on the road, and she ends up taking a swift turn. The arrow literally directs her to the town of Deerfield. Despite having told Reuben not to look for signs, she seems to look at hers as one to return to the town.
Meanwhile, Giorgio comes to the rescue of people stuck in the Ferris wheel. He takes them down one by one while Nat cheers for him. Once he gets down, he proposes to Nat, saying he wants him to be Savannah’s stepdad. They kiss each other and commemorate their newfound interest.
Izzy wants to go meet Mr. Johnson but can’t because of being stuck in the hay maze. While she shouts for help to get out, Beau hears her. He proposes to help even if she does not remember him. He helps her escape and finds a heroic moment for himself.
What does the message inside the Morpho machine mean?
The residents walk back to their homes. That’s when they notice a luminous blue on the street outside the grocery store. They walk in and read a message written inside the Morpho machine – ‘Are you ready for the next stage?’
Suddenly, the theremin starts playing on its own. While they all wonder what is happening, Hana walks in and says that it has happened for the first time – alluding to her previous interactions with the Morpho machine. On her back, we see blue dots – similar to what Dusty had on his lower back.
It is unclear at this point what the connection between these blue dots and the Morpho machine is. But it seems to be a sign of doubt against Morpho’s validity. On the other hand, the message inside the machine hints at something more magical related to this machine.
While we can look at it metaphorically – and conclude it as people being ready for the next chapter of their lives – only further narrative can tell us exactly what the writers mean by it. Let’s hope a second season of The Big Door Prize is greenlit so that we learn about it.
