Reboot Concludes Season 1 With A Regime Change

Reboot concluded season 1 with a reasonably simple finale. Hannah and Gordon are thrown when they realize Hulu is undergoing a regime change. Gordon is not worried, having experienced plenty of them over his career. He tells Hannah not to be concerned, and their show will continue. That is until Gordon realizes the new boss is Tyler Griffin.

Gordon and Tyler’s history includes Tyler changing the original Step Right Up time slot numerous times in one season and Gordon later sleeping with Tyler’s wife. Their bad blood is not helping the current situation, with Tyler unwilling to be professional and let the past go.

Tyler’s threat to remove Timberly from Step Right Up to cast her as the lead in a new series shows the mounting problems between Gordon and Tyler. Hannah determines this will be terrible for their show as Timberly is vital to the show’s following episodes.

However, her claim has a drawback: Timberly has the least screen time of any of the central cast in season 1. Her arrival, meant to shake things up for the returning alums, is relatively short-lived, and then she comes in and out of Reboot’s episodes every once in a while. As a result, her character is never given the development the others receive, which she should have if Hannah wants to make an argument for her.

While Timberly’s fictional counterpart may have a more significant role in Step Right Up’s reboot, Timberly is never shown as often as the rest of her castmates and is not even given a solid storyline in the season finale.

Gordon refuses Tyler’s actions that could end their show, and his response is a series of insults that could leave their series canceled and all their employees without jobs.

Rather than apologize to Tyler as Hannah asks him to, Gordon decides to take one for the team. He quits the show on the condition and understanding that Gordon leaving means Tyler will not mess with the Step Right Up reboot.

It is a bittersweet scenario and one that results in Hannah and Gordon re-visiting their history of Gordon leaving Hannah. While Gordon does not consider himself abandoning Hannah on a personal level, suggesting they will still see each other, he is still leaving Hannah to run the show alone after they built the reboot together.

Meanwhile, when Bree hears during an interview that her ex-husband is getting remarried and having a child, she panics and reveals she and Reed are back together and discussing having children. Of course, it is not true, but a final kick is needed for the episode’s final moments.

Reed proposes to his girlfriend and is happily newly engaged when Bree reveals she believes Reed is the love of her life. It is a moment that recalls their history, how they have grown, and their bonding throughout the first season.

Elsewhere, Clay’s big struggle is over buying his first house, while Zack worries over the state of their show. Clay’s storyline feeds into his sobriety subplot, even if it feels like more of an episodic story. He questions if he is ready for such a step and if it will change him to become unrecognizable. Can he be someone who owns a house? But Clay eventually moves into the home, so it is left hanging if it is a good lifestyle change for Clay.

Reboot’s season 1 finale does not seem to end on any major cliffhangers, with the biggest being the potential fallout of Reed and Bree’s relationship. In addition, Gordon’s future may be up for debate if he is no longer affiliated with Step Right Up, and Hannah’s potential journey as a solo showrunner might be part of a journey as to what would come next.

However, Reboot never explored the actual premiere of the series or how audiences perceived it. Instead, the season 1 finale’s events hanging in the air could result in several different story avenues.