>>17253504There, the match called upon Onita as much as it did a Spaghetti Western, that sense of anticipation (the wrapping with tape, Mariah's determination mixed with fear, Toni's old timey bareknuckled boxer stiff upper lip, the first few ducked shots) leading to deathmatch paymatch of Mariah getting punched in the face and the glass strewn across the mat (which did a great job rationalizing some of the finisher kickouts).
Everything led back to the hall of mirrors carnival set piece burned in our memories, the top of the entrance where Mariah betrayed Toni. Here, Toni did whip Mariah with the belt, a final act of symmetrical revenge, but once again showed just an inch of merciful hesitation with shoe in hand. Unlike in London, however, it was brief, fleeting, and when Mariah tried to take advantage of it like the unredeemable villain that she was, she brought forth her own final comeuppance.
It was a masterpiece not just for the violence, not just for the over the top excess, not just for all the references, but for its own restraint. Everything mattered. Everything was done with care. Everything created an effect. Instead of forcing any number of contrived sequences to cascade on top of one another, it gathered all of the narrative opportunities of the last year and managed to deliver upon the full storytelling potential of each and every one. The cart didn't drive the horse. Nothing was done simply for the sake of doing it. At every point, the characters drove the action. As I said, it was theatrical and not just cinematic; full of gif-worthy images, but never meant simply to create them; a payoff worthy of the build, and a bloody classic of a finale to join the canon on the Permanent Tapes.
