Aw, you guys! I was doing OK with the (probably) final episode of Lipstick Jungle [1] — until they went and hit me with a montage! Seeing the ladies in all their stages of friendship (happily toasting and tearfully consoling each other) made me realize just how much I'll miss this show.

But if it's gone, it went out with an episode that answered many of the questions I've had: Will Joe and Victory actually get married? Is Shane gone for good? To talk about it, just .

• First of all, Victory's parents are adorable. And very Midwestern. And not used to Joe at all. At the same time, Joe isn't used to people being put off by his grand gestures. So he just keeps trying to wine and dine them with private visits to museums ("they're burning all these lights just for us?") and fancy dinners (but Victory's mom would rather eat her leftovers from the plane).
• So it's all pretty much a disaster, to the point that Victory's dad won't give a toast at the engagement party and Joe suggests maybe just not getting married at all.
• Nico, meanwhile, apparently spent New Year's Eve with Griffin — and, in typical Griffin fashion, he immediately wants her to sign a letter saying they have a relationship outside the office. I know he's a by-the-books guy, but that still seems a little sudden.
• Shane's gone, and it seems to have made things better between him and Wendy. Maddie isn't seeing that, however, and so she acts out big time — even sneaking out to see that college guy she met at Victory's urging. Hee! Love Maddie.



• This week's silly work plotline (Wendy wants the rights to a story, but Parador wants them too, and Griffin assumes Nico tipped Wendy off) mostly just serves as a way to get Nico over to Wendy's for one of the most honest conversations I've heard in the whole series: She admits she's been in free fall since Charles died.
• It cracks me up that Dahlia and Sal are still together. I imagine the two just going around and stirring up trouble all over town.
• The trouble she stirs up for Nico is that appearance on the Today show where the hosts just want to talk about her cougar tendencies. But Nico handles it with grace and says some sweet things about Kirby, including that the age gap that was supposed to divide them "gave us room to breathe." I loved the reaction shots of Griffin and Kirby both watching.
• I did not, however, love Griffin's actual reaction. I mean, of course Nico could talk openly about Kirby — she'd had months to process the rise and fall of that relationship! She's been with Griffin what, a week?
• Nothing like a toast to make me teary even before the montage.
• Drunk Maddie's back! And she's mad because Wendy isn't being honest with her about splitting up with Shane. Except Wendy's totally not splitting up with Shane, a fact Maddie can only realize after puking into a trash can and then talking to her dad.
• The second Victory told Wendy that Joe was in financial trouble, I knew that would come back to haunt her, and sure enough, Joe's silently livid and tells Victory some things have to be just between them.
• But then! He tells Victory's mom to see if their hometown church can host their wedding!
• Then Kirby shows up at Nico's, and he wants her, and they're maybe going to kiss, until Nico's cell phone rings — and it's Griffin. But she doesn't answer, either; we're just left with that moment.
• And then: montage!

So, that's (most likely) it. Are you happy with the way things wrapped up? Which guy do you think Nico chooses? And which of the series' greatest moments did you wish had been in the montage?

Photos courtesy of NBC [2]