Warning! The following contains spoilers for the series finale of The Haves And The Have Nots. Read at your own risk!
Tyler Perry's The Haves And The Have Nots took its final bow recently, and man, what an jolt of a conclusion it was. Key characters died throughout the whole finale, but few moments were as tense as the ones that closed it all out. Hanna arrived at Jim Cryer's house to find him in the bathroom, but damned sure didn't know the enormity of what she would be finding next.
Hanna learned that Jim had drowned Candace in the tub, which resulted in a massive brawl between Hanna and Jim that went through his mansion and out into the driveway. The series ended with Hanna unleashing a blood-curdling scream as she successfully drove away, leaving Jim flopped over on the concrete. It was worthy of a standing ovation from Dynasty and every other soapy primetime drama from the '80s and '90s. In the Haves And The Have Nots reunion special that aired on OWN, Hanna portrayer Crystal R. Fox explained her touching reasoning for Hanna's emotional scream and what she was feeling in that jarring final scene.
But that scream, for me, was for her, my child. She doesn’t know about Benny yet. But I knew about that and it was like, my baby is gone. So that scream was for all moms and parents who understand what that is.
As Crystal R. Fox touched upon, it may not have been fully apparent to all viewers that Hanna wasn't even aware yet that her son Benny had been gunned down during that fateful night as well. Of course, it was more than traumatizing enough to see her daughter Candace face down in the bathtub, only to have to fight for her own life in the aftermath, culminating in such a visceral breakdown. And even though Hanna was seemingly out of danger in those moments, the suggestion is that things probably only got worse from there, both emotionally and safety-wise.
Assuming those goons that helped drag Candace up to the bathroom for Cryer don't come after Hanna shortly after Jim collected himself in the driveway, her further attempts to escape would only lead her to the knowledge that Benny was dead as well. Not a lot of good times ahead. But while it was quite a sad ending, those final minutes were on par with everything else, considering just about every notable character was murdered by the end of this bloodbath of a finale.
Hopefully, Crystal R. Fox's insight on the final scene, as well as other moments from the reunion special, added some context for fans of The Haves And The Have Nots. While some viewers were undoubtedly thrilled by the action-packed ending to the long-running series, quite a few fans seemingly felt scorned by the Tyler Perry series. For some, it seemed like the "kill everyone" ending was a less thoughtful way to tie up the various loose ends that were set up before the ending, rather than trying to address them all in full. Perhaps in time, even the naysayers will warm up to the ending, or else Tyler Perry may just find a way to bring the series back in the future. Surely there's someone left alive to keep things running. Or maybe it becomes a zombie show.
Tyler Perry's The Haves And The Have Nots is over at OWN. Those looking for a new series are in luck because we have a huge list of upcoming shows that are ripe for anyone unsure of what to watch to check out.
