\n\t[This story contains MAJOR spoilers from the Love Story finale, \u201cSearch and Recovery\u201d.]<\/p>\n
\n\tAfter seven weeks of \u201990s nostalgia and an intimate look at America\u2019s ultimate power couple \u2014 John F. Kennedy Jr.<\/a> and Carolyn Bessette Kennedy \u2014 Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette<\/a> concluded Thursday night. And it was an emotional watch, to say the least.<\/p>\n \n\tCreated by Connor Hines<\/a> and executive produced by Ryan Murphy<\/a>, the anthology series picks up shortly after last week\u2019s episode<\/a>, when John (Paul Anthony Kelly<\/a>) left for the night. Set during the final weekend of their lives, the episode reveals that he didn\u2019t return after leaving Carolyn (Sarah Pidgeon<\/a>) during that explosive argument<\/a>. Still, the two attempt to repair their relationship, visiting a marriage counselor who suggests they spend time apart.<\/p>\n \n\tAfter leaving the session, they head to a dive bar and reminisce about the passion and excitement of their early relationship \u2014 before it was strained by relentless media attention<\/a>, and before Carolyn, in particular, struggled to adjust to such a drastic change in lifestyle.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cIf only we knew then how good we had it,\u201d Carolyn tells John.<\/p>\n \n\tThough they try to stay apart, neither can follow through. Both turn to family for support \u2014 John confides in his sister Caroline (Grace Gummer), while Carolyn leans on her sister Lauren Bessette (Sydney Lemmon)<\/a> \u2014 and each is encouraged to fight for the relationship.<\/p>\n \n\tThey do. Carolyn even makes a rare public appearance to support John at an event for George magazine. The two also recreate their first date at an Indian restaurant, where Carolyn finally explains what her \u201csign above her head\u201d means, which she referenced in the pilot: \u201cPlease handle with care, not as tough as she looks.\u201d In a rare moment of vulnerability, she opens up about why she kept her guard up early on \u2014 and John realizes she is his priority.<\/p>\n \n\tAbout 20 minutes into the episode, it\u2019s now July 16, 1999 \u2014 the day John, Carolyn, and Lauren died from a plane crash while en route to attend a Kennedy family wedding in Martha\u2019s Vineyard. The series also opened with this day. Hines previously told The Hollywood Reporter<\/a> why it was important to begin there, before shifting back seven years. <\/p>\n \n\t\u201cWe wanted to contrast the Carolyn everybody knows from images<\/a> with that very bleached blonde hair; very straight aesthetic. It\u2019s very recognizable. We cut back in time to show who Carolyn was before everybody got to meet her. Somebody who had a different sense of style and more bohemian hair,\u201d he said. \u201cThere was a whole person before the world got to know her who was living in a studio apartment in the East Village, throwing clothes on and running off to work. To see where she was towards the end of her life, and then cut back to the beginning of a woman just moving through New York like everybody else anonymously was really important and effective for telling the rest of the story.\u201d <\/p>\n \n\tCarolyn initially hesitates to attend the wedding in Martha\u2019s Vineyard, but ultimately chooses to go to be with him. John also makes a call to check on the weather, which was reportedly hazy<\/a> and he allegedly became disoriented. <\/p>\n \n\tIn their final moments, the three are shown on the plane as the weather worsens, and John\u2019s expression says it all \u2014 a quiet, haunting suggestion that he understands what\u2019s coming. Carolyn, seated beside him in the cockpit, senses it too, picking up on his unease. \u201cI want to sit with you,\u201d she says, and the two share a knowing look as he remains visibly shaken, realizing there\u2019s nothing he can do to change the situation.<\/p>\n \n\tCarolyn stays calm, as does Lauren in the back. \u201cIt\u2019s OK, just breathe,\u201d she tells him, trying to steady his panic. The camera then zooms in on a red light flashing across John\u2019s face \u2014 the engine failure warning \u2014 before the screen cuts to black.<\/p>\n \n\tWhat follows is the world\u2019s reaction. Police officers show up to Caroline\u2019s home to tell her and her husband, Edwin Schlossberg (Ben Shenkman), that John\u2019s plane has been reported missing. A call in the middle of the night wakes up Carolyn and Lauren\u2019s mother, Ann Messina Freeman (Constance Zimmer), with the news. Newsstands across New York City show a meticulously replicated New York Daily News cover that reads: \u201cLOST.\u201d <\/p>\n \n\tAs the Kennedys gather, former President Bill Clinton, called Senator\u00a0Ted Kennedy (Donal Logue) and it\u2019s clear what the conversation means, without it being said: they\u2019ve been found, not not alive. <\/p>\n \n\tGummer then delivers a heartbreaking performance as Caroline, crying and screaming at Ed, unable to rationalize that John is gone. \u201cPlease don\u2019t do this to me, I can\u2019t do it again,\u201d she says sobbing into his arms. She has already lost her mother, Jackie Kennedy Onassis (Naomi Watts) to cancer, as portrayed earlier in the season<\/a>, along with her father, former President John F. Kennedy who was assassinated, and several other members of the Kennedy family. <\/p>\n \n\tTo access the aftermath of the deadly crash, Ann and Ed meet. He outlines burial plans for John and Carolyn, repeatedly only naming them, prompting her to respond: \u201cYou keep saying \u2018Carolyn.\u2019 May I remind you that I had not one, but two daughters on board that plane that he crashed.\u201d <\/p>\n \n\tAhead of the series<\/a> premiere, Hines and executive producer, Brad Simpson told THR<\/a> that it was always important to honor Lauren as well: \u201cWe want to remind people that Carolyn\u2019s mom lost two daughters that day.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tAnn then goes to their Tribeca loft, where Caroline also appears. The two sit down and have a touching conversation, acknowledging their grief and regret. Caroline recalls a near-death experience from her teenage years. <\/p>\n \n\t\u201cThe only thing I really gleaned from that experience was that there is no rhyme or reason as to why some of us get to stay here a little longer,\u201d she says. \u201cAll we know, is that time doesn\u2019t belong to us. Nothing is promised.\u201d <\/p>\n \n\tAnn expresses remorse that Carolyn was struggling so much with the exacerbated media attention toward the end of her life. <\/p>\n \n\t\u201cShe said she didn\u2019t recognize who she had become. And now that person will be immortalized forever,\u201d Ann says crying. \u201cI only wish she had lived long enough to be remembered for something else.\u201d <\/p>\n \n\tThe two grieve together and begin to consider how to move forward \u2014 together. <\/p>\n \n\tCaroline leaves John and Carolyn\u2019s apartment \u2014 which was always hounded by paparazzi \u2014 in a moving scene, as those gathered to pay tribute, and photographers, allow her to pass without intrusion. <\/p>\n \n\tThe last moments of the finale show Ethel Kennedy (Jessica Harper) offering words of strength to Caroline, followed by a funeral for the three. There, includes returning cameos from John\u2019s cousin Anthony Radzwill (Erich Bergen), Carolyn\u2019s former boss and fashion designer Calvin Klein (Alessandro Nivola)<\/a>, John\u2019s former business partner Michael Berman (Michael Nathanson). Ann delivers a reading at the service, intercut with scenes of her and Caroline scattering their ashes into the Ocean. <\/p>\n \n\tThe episode ends with Ann reading, \u201cDo not stand by my grave and cry. I am not there. I did not die\u201d alongside a final clip of John and Carolyn on the beach \u2014 a reminder that despite the couple\u2019s most challenging moments, their story was indeed a love story. <\/p>\n \n\t***<\/p>\n