Because... Love

I've been very hard on the show the entire post-break season, and they deserved it for many reasons, most notably their sudden Prozac- injected mood that permeated the series once the series creator left, the lack of Muppet trademark irreverence and zaniness, as well as the abandoning of storyline overabundance per show in favor of a more focused, 90's sitcom flavored, emptier type of storytelling. This episode still had many of those issues, but whatever they lacked in those aforementioned departments was made up for in a huge influx of Muppet nostalgia. Every television series' season finale is always expected to be bigger and better and more exciting than their regular episodes, and The Muppets' season (hopefully just season) farewell definitely lived up to that requirement. There was an extra layer of excitement, urgency and bravado that was felt in the story, the set, and the welcomed classic acts. Its job was to wrap up the ongoing arc without being too conclusive and that was done very well. Still, the puns are all but gone. The only joke I really enjoyed was, when Piggy kept accusing Kermit of waffling, the Swedish Chef would show up offering waffles, with the third and final waffle gag of the set being the cutest.

I would have given the show an 8.5, but a Mahna Mahna appearance will always force any grade up to a 10. So cheap! That trick only works once per series though!