Eff It Let’s Go. Let’s Kill The Show.
This is it. Deathember 13, 2021… One last newscast to save the show. Will Paul DaFoe and The Fakist news team rise to the challenge, or is the death of fake news inevitable? All that, plus the identity of the zombie icepick killer revealed, in the tenth chapter of The Fakist: One Last Day, a standalone story set in the world of The Fakist.
I don’t think Paul DaFoe, the title character of The Fakist, is a good person. Furthermore, I don’t think he can be.
Paul learned a lot over the past three seasons. He’s empathetic, more motivated, and less of a trust fund brat. He has his “Fakist Fam,” the co-workers he’s betrayed, apologized to, been betrayed by, and forgiven. For being such a jerk, Paul has a lot. More than he deserves, for sure.
In this episode, the first of our two-part series finale, he makes a bold, dumb choice… One that could kill The Fakist for good.
You’ll hear Paul wax poetic about why he makes his bold choice. He’ll blame the bad guys. He’ll say he’s doing it to protect his Fakist Fam. He’ll offer several compelling reasons, but they’re all lies The Fakist is telling himself. He does what he does in the episode because, despite any reason he gives, he’s not happy being a side character in anybody else’s story. He’s selfish. He’s privileged. He’s the kid who would take his ball and go home when you blocked his shot.
I think Paul is irredeemable, especially after what he does in this episode. You might think that, since I play him, I see him as the hero of the story. I don’t. If anything, he’s the real villain, the type of person who uses charisma and attention to manipulate those around him into doing what he wants. The real hero of the story is Rebecca Johnson’s LeAnn Snyder, but I’ll talk about her more in the wrap-up.
The Fakist is the biggest dramatic project I’ve ever worked on. I felt a lot of pressure writing the finale. This is my first time “closing out” a fictional universe, so I wanted to answer every question, honor my favorite parts of the first two seasons, and give every character who deserved it a happy ending. If I’m ending the world, I might as well not leave anything on the table.
Hence, these last two episodes are double-stuffed. More plot! More jokes! Every weird little thing I’ve introduced throughout the season comes together in wonderful and unexpected ways. BIG REVEALS! DRAMATIC TURNS! TIME BELTS! PORTALS! Oh, and an actual episode of The Fakist newscast, mostly.
I hope you enjoy It’s The End Of The World (Part 1). Check out the final episode Friday!