Diamonds are Forever, Hannah Montana is not

Where to start... Yesterday the Hannah Montana Forever Series Finale aired and obviously I tuned in. It was another 1-hour long special, Luckily no Jackson/Rico/Sienna "chorus" intermissions... Now the premise of the episode was that Miley and Lilly are finally going to college, but Miley gets a movie offer in Paris, France... not Paris, Texas; that she can't refuse. A Spielberg flick starring Tom Cruise.

Tom Cruise?? Since when he's socially relevant to today's tweens? I think that maybe Brad Pitt, Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom (who is referenced a lot of times in the show) or Hell Spielberg's golden boy and former Disney Channel star Shia LaBeouf are more relevant than the wacky Couch Jumper.

Be Warned that there will be Spoilers...

In Typical Hannah Montana style, Miley does not tell Lilly about the movie and cranks up the Mega Bitchyness factor so she can do the movie. Plan backfires and Lilly gets pissed off at Miley.

Since this is Disney, they magically make up and decide to go to Paris... Seems too simple, right? Let's add Oliver to the mix... (Remember him? The third part of the Miley, Lilly, Oliver Trio? The one who became part of a band and went on tour for the S3 season Finale? Lilly's boyfriend? The dude who is played by Mitchell Musso?) He mentions to Lilly that it's cool for her to go to Paris this time with Miley, cause it's a great experience. But what is she going to do if Miley gets another offer, and another one after that? Lilly decides to stay and go to college... (Smart move!) In the end it appears that Miley rejects the offer (after staying a few days in Paris) and decides to go to college with Lilly. The end... There was a small subplot with Jackson, but it was the highlight of the show, so I won't Spoil that. (Feeling bad about his GF having a better job than him... Job hunting, Physical comedy + Jason Earles... usual stuff)

Now the Rant:

First the Good:

Jason Earles: While his sub-plot is minimal, his comedic timing is top notch as always. Now there's one scene in particular where I could feel the emotions that Jackson was feeling at the time.

Emily Osment: Half of the Conflict is her character, Lilly. This season they've tried very hard to make Lilly something more than "Miley's Sidekick". Hopefully this is part of some Crazy ploy to promote Emily Osment.

The Bad:

Miley Stewart: Yes the rant is about the character, not the Actress... (I've ranted enough about Ms. Cyrus...) While most of the characters had some growth in this season (her included) the writers regressed Miley to a near-Season 1 Miley with the childish actions she took with this forced conflict.

The Writing:

Before I'm pelted with microphones and Hannah wigs, hear me out. The episode had nice moments, BUT the conflict seemed forced. The idea of Friendship above all is great, but it felt forced and tacked on... (with the whole Miley/Lilly conflict.) Also the happy ending with Miley and Lilly together WITHOUT skipping a year of college felt forced.

Now my thoughts on the whole season:

Pre-Unmasking:

Nothing new here, same old, same old.

Post Unmasking:

Wasted Potential. Using the Flashback filler episode before the Ending... (90-minute Hannah Ending Spectacular Special?) The very little reaction to the reveal on the Miley side (Except the episode where Mammaw felt left behind because of the reveal.) I'm ignoring that this is Miley's second HUGE Unmasking... which made the TV reveal a lot less poignant.

I suppose this is the last Time I use the Hannah Montana tag... Hopefully Miley will give me more fuel for ranting...