This review will contain Season 14 spoilers, so beware!
The finale contains two parallel storylines, each thought provoking in their own way.
The more light-hearted of the two features Preston Walters and his 18th birthday, upon which his family and friends are trying – and failing - to surprise him with a birthday party. We follow them all throughout the day, in which Preston realises that maybe other people's expectations of him shouldn’t rule his life, and he should find the things that make him happy.
This may be easier said than done, especially in a world where societal expectations lay heavy on our shoulders, as does the ongoing cost of living crisis, both of which command the way we choose to live our lives.
A recent TikTok trend is proof of this, asking our generation what degree we would choose if money was not an issue – and the results show that most of us are thinking more about future financial stability, rather than what our hearts want.
Waterloo Road encapsulates this feeling perfectly through the struggle of choosing whether or not to sit the entrance exam for Oxford. The episode ends with a nostalgic fire-lit scene, in which Preston and his friends are dancing to music, and laughing without a care in the world, even if for just a few minutes.
The second storyline is much darker, involving the cover up of a murder which implicates both Billy and Headmaster Savage.
Schuey Weaver is the typical ‘bad boy’ who is described as having had a ‘one way ticket to youth offenders for years’. The unwillingness of the faculty to understand his situation is a reflection of most overwhelmed public schools today. His little sister has been taken in by a good family, and has been done right by the system, which is all an older sibling wants for their younger ones.
The conflict of emotions is strong is Schuey, who is being framed for the murder of his only good friend – Brian Osborne.
In the end, the Headmaster and Billy are convinced to turn themselves in by Kim Campbell, the only adult willing to trust and help Schuey through everything he is experiencing.
The finale is a must watch, and with more exciting and new storylines coming with the newest season that is currently filming, I can’t wait to see what they do next!