Kate: "Just remember one thing. I can be a real bitch."

Carrying on with the wonder I felt while watching the Broadway Musical version of Disney's THE LION KING in Chicago, let's talk about the theme of the show's opening tune "The Circle of Life." The idea really makes sense whether one follows Christianity, Hinduism, or the Native American Church. We are born, we live, we die and new life is born. That new life stands on the shoulders of those who have gone before in order to see the future. My dear doggie, Sarah, died last week. It hurt, but as time passes I can see the circle of life working in our intertwined lives. Television series live the circle of life day in and day out. One series ends and a new one begins. The lucky viewers are the ones who get to see a conclusion to the story they have been watching. I recall the sadness of the cast and viewers who watched DR. QUINN MEDICINE WOMAN when the series was abruptly ended without a finale. This apparently last episode of TARZAN gave us the circle of life in a series. The plot in which John has been accused of Jane's first boyfriend's death intensified with assault on Richard and the rallying of legal forces to help John. After the making of this episode, the cast and crew were notified that production was being suspended. To their credit, and that of the WB Network, instead of letting the story go unresolved they created a sped up ending to explain the end to the viewers. The quickie ending explains that John is freed and assumed "not guilty" in Michael's death. This evolves at a trial in which a nurse receptionist who is not on Richard's payroll testifies that Donald had stopped his medication at the time of Michael's death so he could have been hallucinating at the time he saw Michael fall from the building. This means Donald Ingram, Richard's star witness, is an unreliable witness and his testimony cannot be accepted. So, quickly, the circle of episode life returns to the beginning with Tarzan meeting Jane anew. It was fun seeing all except one of the main characters in the courtroom – Tarzan/John Clayton, Jane Porter, Kate Clayton, Richard Clayton, Sam Sullivan and Donald Ingram. Only Nicki Porter was missing.

As actors and characters, Lucy Lawless and Sarah Wayne Callies came full circle. We saw a bit of the "Xena" fury many fans enjoyed in Ms. Lawless when she told Richard "I can be a real bitch" as she rallies judges to her/John's side. Ms. Callies has grown so much as an actress in the last couple of episodes; I know that I will happily watch any series/movie she is in in the future.

The sexual tension between John and Jane was so thick one could cut it with a knife in this episode. We watch John's shirt ripped open on a few occasions while Jane is captured and imprisoned. She sacrifices herself to save him and he risks all to save her as we see original badguy Gregory Creel's forecast for the future -- that Tarzan cannot be imprisoned because he would die in prison -- actualize at Richard's mansion.

Mitch Pileggi's character Richard Clayton was far more interesting in this episode. Rather than living in a sleek world of wealth and glamour, he had to live close to reality as he tried to hide from Tarzan who hunted and attacked him. In the opening chapters of Edgar Rice Burrough's first Tarzan book TARZAN: KING OF THE APES, Mr. Burroughs explains that the name "Tarzan" was given by his adoptive mother ape to the orphaned boy because it meant "White Ape" (i.e., no dark fur to cover his bare, white skin). In "The End of the Beginning," the viewers were allowed to see the extreme depths of ape-like behavior John learned while being raised by primates in the jungles of the Republic of Congo -- the behavior that made him into Tarzan the hunter.

Miguel Nunez, Jr.'s "Sam Sullivan" has become the fun comedic relief (in a serious sort of way). His taunting of Jane while she sat in a cell was actually cute. Mr. Nunez will definitely be a player in the future.

The people trying to push for a letter writing campaign to keep TARZAN on the air write emphatically at the Lucy Lawless mailing list Flawless. Their comments are quite entertaining. I do not know if the series will return, but if it doesn't, I would like to thank the producers and the WB for the stories we have seen. I wish the cast and crew well in the future.

I give "The Beginning of the End" 10 out of a possible 10 skyscraper jungles and 5 out of 5 gold shields for a moving story with a conclusion and splendid performances. Thanks Guys!!!

Taram (TVtome.com)