"Final Goodbyes" (Episode 2.10)

"Final Goodbyes" is the tenth and final episode of Series 2 and the 19th episode overall.

This episode primarily focuses everyone dealing with Chris Miles's death and Cassie Ainsworth's disappearance while also questioning their futures now that they graduated from Roundview.

Plot
It's the day of A-level results, and also of Chris's funeral. The gang have made a pact not to look at their grades til after they've said goodbye to Chris. Anwar, despite being reassured by his mother that if he can't get into University he can work with his father, peeks at his grades, and is greatly dismayed. Sid, meanwhile, is in an awkward truce with Tony, as well as being depressed over Chris' death and Cassie's dissapearance. Maxxie and his boyfriend James are making plans to head for London after the funeral. Michelle is doing everything she can to comfort Jal, who is not only grieving over her boyfriend's death, but also recently had her abortion. They go to the zoo, and Michelle- who knew Chris the longest- describes how she met him there for the first time, and they discuss the things about him they will remember.

Meanwhile, Sid returns to his home to discover an unmarked New York postcard adressed to him, giving him a clue as to where Cassie is; contrary to Tony's suggestions, he is making no effort to forget her. Before he has time to ponder the postcard, a man in an immaculate suit arrives at the door. It is Graham Miles, Chris' estranged father. He tells Sid that he doesn't want his sons' "Junkie friends who brought him down" at the funeral. Despite being outraged, Sid reluctantly agrees. Tony and Sid then decide to steal Chris' coffin in order to say a proper goodbye to their friend, only to be chased by Chris' father. They escape through the city and make it back to Chris' flat where Maxxie and James are waiting, but when Jal arrives with Michelle she is furious at their lack of respect and orders them to return it, which they do (covertly).

Sketch arrives at Anwar's house and attempts to manipulate him. She points out that each of his friends have played on and honed a particular skill, and they have all made plans around it for their future. As Anwar has not made similar plans and is plagued by insecurity over his poor grades, she convinces him that his friends will eventually drift away and forget him entirely. Nonetheless, he resolves to attend the funeral, and is the most elegantly dressed one there.

Later, the friends watch from the hill looking down on the funeral and say their last goodbyes to their friend. Jal gives a moving, if unorthodox, eulogy that drowns out the presiding priest and moves Chris' father, as well as all the friends, to tears:
 * I've been thinking about what Chris would have wanted me to say today. The advice he'd give me, which'd be something like, 'Know what, babe? Fuck it. These guys know all about me. Tell them about someone else.' So I thought I'd tell you about a hero of Chris's: a man called Captain Joe Kittinger. In 1960, climbing into a foil balloon, Captain Joe ascended 32 kilometers into the stratosphere. And then, armed only with a parachute, he jumped out. He fell for four minutes and thirty-six seconds, reaching seven hundred and forty miles per hour before opening his parachute five kilometers above the Earth. It had never been done before, and it's never been done since. He did it just because he could. And that's why Chris loved him - because the thing about Chris was, he said yes. He said yes to everything. He loved everyone. And he was the bravest boy - man - I knew. And that was - he flung himself out of a foil balloon every day. Because he could. Because he was. And that's why - and that's why we, we loved him."—Jal

it is concluded by the launching of several pink fireworks, something Chris would have loved.

After the funeral, the friends sit down nearby around a bonfire to open their A Level Results. Anwar, who was startled by how soon the others were planning to leave Bristol, takes off just as they begin. Tony recieved three A's and a B and is therefore off to Cardiff University; Sid a B and two C's; Maxxie a B and an E; Jal two A's and a C, good enough for her music college; Michelle two A's and a B, which will get her into York; and Anwar, to the shock of the entire group, two E's and a U, explaining why he left early.

Anwar, feeling miserable, returns home to find Sketch waiting for him. He confirms that she was right, and his friends all had plans that he could not be a part of. Sketch urges them to start working on strengthening their own relationship, or at least doing something fun, but Anwar feels a need to at least say goodbye to Maxxie, his best friend.

Meanwhile, Jal sits in front of Chris's much-decorated grave in the pouring rain; she is approached by his father, who also stayed behind. They begin a moving conversation, in which Graham begins to understand how Jal helped bring stability into Chris's life towards the end and apologises for not inviting her to the funeral in the first place.

Maxxie and James are waiting anxiously at a bus stop when Anwar arrives to say goodbye. On an impulse, Maxxie, inspired by their late friend Chris, suggests that Anwar come to London with them and 'have a laugh' although they do not have much planned financially. When James confirms that the idea sounds fun to him, Anwar, despite his initial reservations, joins them on the bus to London. As it pulls away, Sketch is seen at the stop watching it, looking shocked and in despair.

Tony and Michelle, meanwhile, drop Sid off unexpectedly at Bristol airport. Tony, knowing his best friend never gave up on Casse, gives him a passport and a ticket to New York and tells him he will find her. Tony and Sid have a tearful farewell and forgive each other for everything that has happened between them over the past couple of months. In a last suggestion, Tony urges Sid to get rid of his beanie hat, as it "makes you look retarded".

Michelle and Tony drive back to a parking lot and pause, considering how and whether they will continue their relationship at separate Universities; Tony even admits that he does not feel ready for this chapter of his life to close. Reflecting on their relationship, however, they both agree that they have had some wonderful times and that it was worth it.

Sid arrives in New York, searching for Cassie by means of a photograph he is carrying; he is last shown standing outside (presumably about to look inside) the cafe where she is working. The episode ends with Effy in Tony's bed, smiling suggestively at the camera and hinting at her role as the primary character in the next series.

Music Featured "Final Goodbyes"
Note: The music tracks listed below only refer to the music featured in the episode's initial airing. Many of the music tracks featured in this episode have been substituted for alternative tracks either for the BBC America airing or for both the US and UK home media release of Series 2.

The Toes – Chrome Radio Rocks

Gravenhurst – See My Friends

Blondie – Heart of Glass

Elliott Smith – Between The Bars

Charlie Parr – Track 4

Boccherini - Minuetto

Girls Aloud – Sound of the Underground

The Everydays - Untitled

Britney Spears – Oops I Did It Again

Mascagni – Raging Bull Theme Tune

Tom Middleton – Sea of Glass

The White Stripes – Seven Nation Army

Micah P Hinson – Wasted Away

Modern Lovers – Modern World

Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Maps

Tom McRae – I Ain’t Scared of Lightning

MGMT – Time to Pretend

Sleep Station — Land and Come for us