An ode to the end of an era, For those Canadians out there Corner Gas has concluded. I must say that I really enjoyed the show over the years and was proud to watch something made in Canada that didn’t stink. Our food and wine pairing is going to be very simple this week. I am pairing Corner Gas (any episode really) with Chili Cheese Dogs and Chateau des Charmes Gamay Noir.
Gamay Noir is a lighter style red with fresh fruit characters and a medium body. This will match wonderfully with our Chili Cheese Dogs which have a bit of weight to them due to the Chili. The mild spiciness of the Chili compliments the fruitiness of our Gamay Noir. I use Gamay Noir as that middle-of-the-week-we’re-having-pizza-again go to wine, it’s easy drinking and the alcohol is usually just a tad lower so if you have a few glasses you won’t go to work with a hangover. Ok back to the episode of Corner Gas…. I was excited to see how they would choose to end this witty, much loved and believable sitcom. I loved the characters from the show; they were all people you could visualize in your life somehow.
Caution: Spoilers ahead!
I grew up in small town Ontario and could well picture all of these people living there but it wasn’t too hokey Canadian where we play ourselves a bit dumb, it was just honest. Personally when a series ends I want to feel satisfied with the end or wanting to see a movie to explain the intricacies left behind. This left me in neither state sadly. The writers cleverly had Brent jet off every Wednesday night leaving Wanda watching the store and Wanda of course grew quite curious as to where he was heading off to.
Brent’s parents begin to worry about his whereabouts and enlist the local police, Davis and Karen, to help solve the case. As next Wednesday approaches Davis and Karen tail Brent to the big city to see exactly what he’s up to. Little do they realize that Lacey, Wanda and Hank have also followed Brent. They end up at a comedy club where shockingly Brent is doing stand up comedy! To give a little background Brent is played by himself, Brent Butt, who was formerly a stand up comedian who hit it big on TV. From there I think that the episode went downhill with everyone fretting over what Brent would do once he was out touring and doing comedy full time.
In the end Brent declares that there is no place he would rather be than Dog River and that though comedy is fun it doesn’t pay too well. And so the show ends. I did see a glimmer of hope when the credits were rolling and they stopped at each character to give a brief insight into life after Corner Gas but again I was disappointed by what they chose to write. Luckily there is some Gamay Noir and Chili Cheese Dogs to perk up this end of an era in Canadian TV history. I just wish the show had of ended with their best episode instead of a mediocre one that was full of irony and small jokes.
