SPOILER ALERT: The following contains spoilers for American Classic Season 1, Episode 7.

American Classic just can’t leave well enough alone. Season 1, Episode 7, “Camelot” introduces a major revelation into the MGM+ series with two episodes to go. It’s certainly exciting and raises the stakes just before opening night, but viewers may have mixed opinions on whether or not the show needed to go there or if it already had enough for a winning finale.

“Camelot” is centered on the fallout from Millersburg voting against the casino, most of which viewers can guess. Boyle repossesses everything that he bought for the city’s production of Our Town, while someone has started a petition to get Kristen recalled as mayor. Richard has to tell the actors that Boyle was funding the whole show, including their paychecks—but this is the perfect Kevin Kline rallying moment. The iconic Tony winner delivers a masterful version of the St. Crispin’s Day speech from Henry V, which leads all of the townsfolk to blurt out how much the play has meant to them. That scene alone should get Kline some awards recognition, on top of all the other reasons his performance as Richard Bean has been a delight.

Of course this is the moment that American Classic has wanted to get its characters to. The folks of Millersburg are coming alive, and Richard is also coming alive again through them. That’s the hero’s journey that’s been clear from the very first episode. What makes “Camelot” quirky is that the show tosses in a couple of curveballs that aren’t strictly needed story-wise, which is an example of how much creator/writers Bob Martin and Michael Hoffman have invested in their characters. Boyle and his girlfriend Nadia could easily disappear from the narrative now that the casino story is completed; he’s taken all his stuff back, and American Classic could go on just focused on Richard rallying everyone to finish Our Town. That’s what the audience is really interested in. But Nadia announces she’s left Boyle and is committed to her new role in the play, and later on a genuinely upset Boyle shows up at Richard’s door trying to win his girlfriend back. What happens with them doesn’t matter to the story, and viewers aren’t inclined to care about Boyle in any way, but it’s interesting that Hoffman and Martin are taking the time to show what happens to them, and to make them a little more human.

It’s Nadia who kickstarts the second-best scene in the episode, revealing that she stole the keys to where Boyle kept all the expensive theater chairs. The sequence of the cast going in to steal all of the chairs back, and proudly walking with them through the city, is both hilarious and charming, It’s like a rally march with chairs instead of signs. Fans get to enjoy so much coming together, including Kristen finally agreeing to join her husband and her daughter in the play.

Perhaps Martin and Hoffman felt they needed a new source of conflict going into the finale without a clear-cut “bad guy” to fight against. Doing a grassroots play to try and save the theater, and the town, is still a pretty big challenge; anyone who’s been in a play knows how much excitement and tension can come out of opening night. But “Camelot” throws in a fourth-act reveal that Richard, not Jon, may be Miranda’s father. It turns out that after a fight with Jon, Kristen went to see Richard in New York and the two slept together. And this is where viewers might be scratching their heads.

It’s definitely dramatic, and certainly not implausible. Kristen and Richard’s past relationship has been brought up time and time again throughout American Classic. But the family dynamics in the show are so genuine and charming, and this threatens to spoil all of them in one fell swoop. It also doesn’t necessarily add anything to the story. There’s already a lot of stuff left for fans to worry about. Richard being offered his “role of a lifetime” in London is an easy challenge to throw down. So is Jon almost telling Kristen that Miranda no longer has a college fund. And, again, the future of the entire town.

How viewers feel about this plot twist is going to depend on how it plays out. If it ruins any of these relationships that the audience loves, then it’s going to feel like drama for drama’s sake. If it’s resolved in a way that makes sense, then it might look better in retrospect. Because ultimately what fans want—and have wanted since the beginning—is for American Classic to end with a successful production of Our Town and new life for Millersburg. Anything less than a happy ending, even if it’s not a flawless one, will feel like a letdown. “Camelot” puts the ship on that course, but it also throws up one big iceberg, too.

American Classic airs Sundays at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT on MGM+. Photo Credit: Courtesy of MGM+.

Article content is (c)2020-2026 Brittany Frederick and may not be excerpted or reproduced without express written permission by the author. Follow me on Twitter at @BFTVTwtr and on Instagram at @BFTVGram. For story pitches, contact me at tvbrittanyf@yahoo.com.