The release ofNetflix’s newest sitcom,Running Point, has been a great thing for comedyand romance fans.The series follows Isla Gordon (Kate Hudson), a woman from a wealthy family who owns Los Angeles' basketball team, the Waves. Her brother, Cam (Justin Theroux), is the president of the team, and Isla has been working for him since he brought her in at a time when she was feeling especially lost in her career. When Cam is forced to step down, he chooses Isla as his successor, and she spends the season working very hard to prove herself.
Isla tries to get the Waves to have a great season while also dealing with how this career change affects her relationship with her fiancé, Lev (Max Greenfield). She and her brothers also adjust to the news that their dad had another child, Jackie (Fabrizio Guido), who is now a part of their lives and work. Additionally, someone on the inside has been leaking information that threatens the team and Isla. The Season 1 finale, “Game Seven,” sees all of these storylines come to a head and more, leaving many open threads forSeason 2.
The Gordon Siblings Reach Out to Jackie in ‘Running Point’s Season 1 Finale
Although Isla and Ness (Scott MacArthur) accept Jackie as their brother early on, he is made to feel like an outsider throughout the season. Sandy (Drew Tarver) obviously dislikes Jackie and doesn’t even properly thank him forhis advice to win back Charlie(Scott Evans). And although Cam is still in rehab, he has no interest in getting to know Jackie. Even the well-meaning Isla and Ness have been failing him. Isla only sees Jackie as her assistant and is always having him do extra work instead of trying to get to know him better. Ness loves the idea of Jackie but doesn’t make an effort to have real moments with him like he does with Isla and Sandy.
On Jackie’s mom’s birthday, he finally hits his breaking point after Isla asks him to leave during a family meeting. His siblings talk to Sofía (Marissa Reyes) and realize how Jackie has been feeling for a while. They go and find him at the restaurant that he goes to every year for his mom’s birthday, andthey apologize and promise to do betteras his siblings.From there, Isla, Ness, Sandy, and Jackie are a united front for the rest of the episode, and he even sits with them at the Waves’ big game.
The Waves Lose the Big Game – Barely – in ‘Running Point’s Season 1 Finale
It is a huge moment for Isla when the Waves finally make it tothe Playoffs, and Jay (Jay Ellis) agrees to stay and win the season for them before his move to Boston to be with his kids. After a full season of Isla, Jay, and the players all putting in the work, the game goes very well. Even with Travis (Chet Hanks) in rehab, everyone plays their best, and Dyson (Uche Agada) lands his free throws using the “granny method” after Marcus (Toby Sandeman) made it okay for him to use the underhand throw on the court.
For a moment, it looks like The Waves have won the game, but thenthe other team makes an impossible shot at the last moment. It’s a heartbreaking scene, as Isla has to grapple with the fact that she and the rest of the team did everything right and still lost. This hits her hard, and she declines to go out for drinks afterward with her brothers. Instead, Isla sits in the stadium and processes the loss, which she feels is a personal failure.
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“Life is unfair…”
‘Running Point’s Season 1 Finale Sets Up a Romance for Isla and Jay
For most ofRunning PointSeason 1, Isla is engaged to Lev. Although they are committed to each other, it has been a long engagement. They are happy enough as a couple, and they certainly care about each other, but after Isla gets the job, the cracks start to show in their relationship. A fight between Isla and her siblings ruins their engagement party, and then she misses Lev’s award ceremony and speech while taking Travis to rehab.
Isla really tries with Lev, but she just doesn’t care enough about him, and Lev sees this, so he ends things with her. After a month apart, Isla tries to win Lev back when she sees that he is moving to Minnesota, but he’s hesitant to get back together with her. As of the end of Season 1, Isla still does not seem to be fully ready to let Lev go. However, at the end of the season,Running Pointisbuilding up to a slow-burn romancebetween Isla and Jay.
There has always beenstrong chemistry between Isla and Jay.They have a good friendship and working relationship, and throughout the season, he supports her with whatever obstacles come her way as the Waves’ president. When Jay gets in trouble for punching his ex-wife’s (Rebecca Rittenhouse) new boyfriend (Ryan Caltagirone) after he learns that they’re moving his kids across the country, Isla helps him. While talking after the game in the Season 1 finale, Isla tells Jay that she hates Boston for getting him, and then he kisses her. They leave things off on an awkward note, and there are still the matters of him moving and her still being confused about her feelings for Lev, but it is likely that these two will eventually get together.
‘Running Point’ Sets Up a Season 2 Sibling Rivalry
Throughout the season, Cam is the one person who believes that Isla can do this job. He chooses her to replace him and defends her when Sandy and Ness try to stage a coup. When someone working on The Waves has been leaking information, Isla tries to find out, but she can’t. Finally, it’s revealed that Cam is the leak, althoughhis betrayalis not yet made public information.Cam has been secretly rooting for Isla to fail this whole time,and she has no idea.
Cam buys his way out of rehab early, and then Isla returns to the office the next day to find him confidently sitting at her desk. It’s a gut punch when Isla decides to pick herself up from the loss, only to find Cam in her office and ready to tear her down. It’s also a smart move onRunning Point’s part, now that Isla has found her footing with the Waves, to bring Cam in as an antagonist forthe second season.
