High School Musical: The Musical: The Series Season 3 Episode 8 "Let It Go" Review: A Fitting End to the Summer of a Lifetime

In case you missed it, here are my reviews of each episode in season 3.

Last week, we got a bit of a headscratcher with “Camp Prom.” I won’t bore you with the extent of my criticism. However, my biggest knock against it is that the episode speedran character development because those characters wouldn’t necessarily have time to make up in the finale.

This week, High School Musical: The Musical: The Series wraps its third season with a proper sendoff (well, until next year) as summer comes to a close and our Wildcats have to travel back from Camp Shallow Lake in California to East High in Salt Lake City, Utah.

One big part of why the finale works so well is the runtime. “Let It Go” is 51 minutes long and 45 minutes without credits, making it the longest episode of the series to date. As one might expect, this extended runtime gives the show ample time to showcase more of the musical than in the past and set up what viewers can expect from season four.

At many points, this finale episode feels like two episodes worth of story. I won’t spoil the second story for those who haven’t watched the finale yet, so I’ll simply say that if showrunner Tim Federle wanted to end the show with the season 3 finale, there is an argument to be made that the ending makes for an easy exit point for the series. But, of course, the series has been renewed for a fourth season (it’s filming in Salt Lake City), so that’s not happening, at least not yet.

Speaking of Federle, the showrunner and creator of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series once again pens the season finale. There’s not much I can say here other than he knocks it out of the park again. Each finale has this sense of impending doom and screeching to a halt that any theater kid will recognize from months of hard work distilled into a couple of hours. Beyond that, Federle’s second story takes a break from the drama to provide the excellent meta-commentary and jokes for which the series is known.

If I had to give Federle any advice for the season 4 premiere episode, I ask that the episode fill in some of the gaps left unanswered in the finale. For example, will EJ go to St. Louis, or will he stay in Salt Lake? Another theme I’d love to see explored is the aftermath of Frozen: The Musical: The Documentary dropping on Disney+ (please release the footage on Disney+!) on our Wildcats.

While I’m on the subject of our Wildcats, let’s talk about the fantastic performances in this finale. My favorite performances are Matt Cornett, Sofia Wylie, Joshua Bassett, and Corbin Bleu.

Of these, Cornett is the underdog. He only gets a few scenes here and there, but he makes his presence known in a scene with Meg Donnelly and his overall downer demeanor. I wish EJ the happiest next season, as he’s probably bordering on depression from all that’s happened to him.

If you stop to think about it, EJ got dumped by Nini for her ex-boyfriend, Ricky, in season one, and finally finds love in Gina during season two, only to be tormented by his father’s expectations for the entire series so far. Cornett’s performance is by far the best of the episode.

Wylie also gives a superb performance that’s a different take on Cornett’s tortured performance. At this point, Gina has worked through a ton of her insecurities. She’s got a place to live and finally fought for what she wants. So, why is Gina tortured? Well, she broke EJ’s heart, and that hurt both parties. Both sides of the relationship wanted to make things work, but EJ was too distracted to notice the strain he was putting on their relationship. So now, Gina is back to square one, at least in her love life, hence her performance here.

What makes her performance so great in an episode with so many great performances is how subtly she plays her heartache and uncertainty. Wylie isn’t exploding at her friends over her heartache - instead, she shares concerned glances with EJ, hoping he might be okay. Anyone who’s broken up with someone knows this feeling - the blind hope that even though both people experienced tremendous pain in the process of the breakup, they’ll understand your decision and learn from it so they may be the right person for someone else.

Bassett, by contrast, his performance is much showier. Essentially, his pain has been boiling under the surface all season long, and now Ricky has to let all those issues come to the surface, as much as he wants to push them down and ignore those feelings. Ricky is one of my favorite characters on the show, so it’s hurt to see him go through this. In addition, his mom and dad split up, so love is like poison in his veins. Despite all this, all anyone wants is love, so it’s nice to see Bassett truly unload all of these feelings in one colossal scene that I won’t spoil for you.

As a recurring guest star, Bleu finally has some lovely moments with the cast that deserves mention. Again, you’ll get no spoilers from me, but after the series used Lucas Grabeel in season one, it seems like Federle has come to realize that it’s time for the original High School Musical actors to have a much more meaningful role in the series. So, I’m glad to see Bleu kind of step up to the plate and offer some meaningful advice to our Wildcats. Hopefully, we’ll see him in season four!

A supersized finale means more room for music! Here, we get an instrumental version of “Shallow Lake,” a cover of Camp Rock’s “This Is Me” by the cast of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, Frozen: The Musical songs “Let It Go” by Dara Reneé, “In Summer” by Frankie A. Rodrigeuz, “Kristoff’s Lullaby” by Joshua Bassett, a reprise of “Born To Be Brave,” and a cover of “Everyday” from High School Musical 2 by the cast of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series.

These songs are all great - the only exception being the reprise of “Born To Be Brave,” but I didn’t like that song to begin with. A quick note is that the reprise and the instrumental version of “Shallow Lake” are not on the official soundtrack or available separately, which I found pretty odd. However, if I had to pick a favorite song, it would be “Kristoff’s Lullaby”. The song so perfectly encapsulates the feelings Ricky has been having all season long and is a nice and quiet ballad that perfectly sets the mood for what’s to come in season four.

As for the other songs, a close second would be “In Summer.” Rodriguez has a beautiful voice, and I’m so glad he got to show it off here. More than that, he’s got a playful side to him that hasn’t been seen much this season, outside of “Fabulous” and the episode “The Real Campers of Shallow Lake,” but even then, this is Carlos dialed up to 11, and I hope he gets more opportunities to show that side of him in season four.

Likewise, my third pick would be Dara Reneé’s rendition of “Let It Go.” Neither Kourtney nor Dara has had a moment where she’s been given as big of a spotlight as she has received here, despite being one of the series’ main characters. Dara kills this solo song, and I hope that with a character exiting the series, the writers’ room (as well as music supervisor Gabriel Mann) makes room for her to have as many songs as our other Wildcats share more of the spotlight.

After that, the two cast songs are tied for the bottom rung. I love both of these songs, but both come out of nowhere. On top of that, neither make thematic sense. One is about being yourself, and the other is about making the memories you spent a season (literally, in this context) last forever. Moreover, these songs fill space that could have been used to directly tie into where the series is heading for season four. It’s not too big of a deal that it’s a detriment to the episode and makes for songs that are good on a soundtrack but not much else.

So, those are my thoughts on High School Musical: The Musical: The Series’ season three finale. Overall, I believe this season and finale serve as a much-needed course correction from the horrific second season. Bring on season four!

★★★★★

Seasons one through three of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series are available to stream on Disney+, as well as two specials and a sing-along version of the first season.

If you’d like to listen to me watch the episode, click below to buy the audio commentary!

Until next time!

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