Final Approach (Wings)

"Final Approach" is the double-length finale of the eight-season-long TV show Wings, which ran from 1990 to 1997. The plot is very much a sequel to the first episode, with the Hackett's finding $1,000 lined in the suitcase they found a picture of themselves in the first episode. The rest of the episode concerns them going on another chase to find the rest of the money and what to do with it.

Series finale

NBC aired the final episode of the show on May 21, 1997. The episode's plot was a callback to the first episode of the series, in which Joe and Brian are left a suitcase by their father containing a picture of the two as boys and a note reading, "You're rich". In the finale, the brothers discover that not only does the lining of the suitcase contain money, but it sets them off on a treasure hunt which ends up making them $250,000 richer. They argue over what to do with the money; Joe wants to put it into the airline while Brian wants to use the money to retire and move away. Joe's resolve to stay on Nantucket is further tested by the news that Helen has been offered an opportunity to go to Vienna to study music.

In the final moments of the episode, Brian offers to run the airline for one year while Joe and Helen are in Europe. With Joe's portion of the money, they retire the mortgage on their first airplane, acquire a second airplane, and purchase access to more airline routes, thus doubling the airline's size and rebuffing Roy's desire to "tear down [the] lemonade stand of a business", as Joe had initially agreed to sell him Sandpiper Air. Helen leaves her lunch counter, while Casey, having told off everyone on the island, has nowhere to work and no means of supporting herself. Helen steers her toward her old lunch counter, a fate Casey cannot believe, to which Helen says she felt the same way at first. The final scene shows Joe flying Helen to Boston so they can get a connecting flight to Vienna. The series ends with a long shot of the terminal with Antonio and Casey walking over to the lunch counter, Casey tying on her apron and serving him, and Brian, Roy and Fay returning to their respective checking counters, Fay announcing the boarding of the next flight. The credits roll over a montage of the series.

Cast

• Tim Daly as Joe Hackett
• Steven Weber as Brian Hackett
• Crystal Bernard as Helen Chappel-Hackett
• David Schramm as Roy Biggins
• Rebecca Schull as Fay Cochran
• Tony Shalhoub as Antonio Scarpacci
• Amy Yasbeck as Casey Chappel
• Thomas Haden Church, who played Lowell, declined to appear in the episode but did appear at the tapings, probably in the audience.

References

• "Final Approach: Part 1" at the Internet Movie Database
• "Final Approach: Part 2" at the Internet Movie Database
• Wings at epguides.com