Mathagam Part 2 Finale Review: Finally concluding the first season’s chapter, or so we think, the Tamil crime thriller series made a comeback on October 19 with its final two episodes. Starring Atharvaa Murali as ACP Ashwath Rathnakumar and Manikandan K as Padalam Sekar, aka the Whale, in lead roles, the series has been directed by Prasath Murugesan with cinematography by Edwin Sakay and action choreography by Dhilip Subbarayan.
The series also stars Gautham Vasudev Menon as Thiru, Dilnaz Irani as Commissioner Sayanthika, Dhivyadharshini aka DD as Safia, Ilavarasu as Veeravaal Nallangkiri and others. The Hotstar Specials series first introduced its characters in the premier five episodes, releasing on August 18, 2023, who then came back in Part 2’s action in episodes 6 and 7 on October 12, 2023. With a runtime ranging of 32 and 40 minutes respectively, the last two episodes of the show are now streaming on Disney+ Hotstar in several languages, including Telugu, Hindi, Malayalam, Gujarati, Marathi, Kannada and Bengali.
Mathagam Final Episodes Review Contains Mild Spoilers
Mathagam Part 2 Finale Review
Mathagam Episode 8 picks up from where the former entries left us. Sekar tries his all to get his hands on the bag of money again and traps hostages in a bomb-laden room. Ashwath, on the other side, does what he can to break through the traps set in his way to get to Sekar. However, regardless of what he tries, he always seems to be a step behind, which further becomes the ground for speculation that there must be a mole in their midst.
One of the statements that has been constant in all of our reviews for this show since the beginning is that the shallow character sketches for the people written into the show rarely make for a poised and grounded storytelling. The lack of depth in these characters, especially Ashwath, completely ruins the tone of the show that ostensibly delivers hollow larger-than-life morals and the idea that a thin line blurry differentiating criminals from police is never pithily executed. Despite the heavy human intentions of the series, it fails to grasp our attention after a point and the same redundant action sequences continue to occupy the screen time in hopes of building a captivating climax, which in reality never quite delivers.
Atharvaa’s Ashwath is presented as a bland caricature of the ideal image of what we expect a police officer to be, yet his familial ties with his wife and child are pushed back as a second thought. There are certain moments in the finale when his wife reaches out to him during his duty hours, and they’re possibly some of the most insincere interventions in the plot because of how forced they seem to be.
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Constant attempts are made to bring up the grey zone where criminals are also portrayed as like-minded human beings with feelings, yet it all fails to hit the mark owing to how artificial and feigned these breaks appear to be. Thereafter, even the ultimate revelation regarding the mole in the police force isn’t brought on as satisfying disclosure. In a way, the audiences are previously informed who this person is, which, in the end, cushions the impact that should’ve felt like a major blow.
Dilnaz Irani’s Commissioner Sayanthika is positioned as the ever-present voice of reason trying to counsel Ashwath throughout the season. Yet her character’s portrayal is also put on as a one-dimensional interference. Even though we agree with everything she says, after a point, her attempts to put off reckless action infuriatingly slow everything down, when originally they too were meant to make something meaningful out of doing the dirty work.
The other subplot about Ilavarasu’s Veeravaal Nallangkiri and all the corrupt happenings around his name are as good as forgotten. Left behind as an afterthought amidst the unfolding proactive chase between Sekar and Aswath, the series rarely shines any light on this matter; rather uses it a ploy to simply reiterate Jambuk Sait’s existence within the narrative.
In the end, Mathagam Episode 9 also ends with yet another cliffhanger, which by this time has become a regular way to end the series or not. So far, we’ve had to revisit this series thrice, just to be done with its first season, and each time the particular last episode of the day has left us with unanswered questions.
However, now, coming back to the Part 2 finale, which again concludes on an open-ended note in hopes to pursue an even bigger loose end in the form of a more vicious antagonist, it’s quite likely that your interest in the show may have started fading away due to the several irregular comebacks. Therefore, the intermittent episodic premiere format has also proved to be a painful watch.
Mathagam Part 2 Final Episodes: Final Thoughts
With the full focus on finishing the full-paced cat-and-mouse chase, the Mathagam Hotstar series barely adds any fuel to the individual characters involved in the action. Even after (what seems like a long run) 9 episodes, we, as viewers, can hardly claim to know much about the characters that were first introduced to us in August. The series has surely pressed the pedal hard in terms of building up the dark tone and fervour of the plot and themes involved, however, with a lacking insight into how and why these characters function in a certain way, your interest in them may also start to dwindle soon.
Even when watching as fans of the cast members involved in this project, the series may not surprise or please you as much as you would’ve liked it to. When the storyline or the dialogues tend to push for a motivating perspective, it all falls flat and feels like an overdose of exactly what went wrong. Despite all the weapons being pulled out, and the overt action-packed drive of the plot, Mathagam stands back as all talk and no substance.
Mathagam Season 1 is now streaming on Disney+ Hotstar. Read our Mathagam Part 2 Review for episodes 6 and 7 here.
Also read: Mathagam Review: An Intriguing Crime Thriller Series Ruined By Poor Pace