'Mistresses' Season Finale Recap And Review: Dominic Is The Father Of Savi's Baby; Karen Is Held At Gunpoint

Mistresses ended its first season by finally revealing the father of Savannah’s (Alyssa Milano) baby at her birthday celebration gone shockingly wrong in “I Choose You.”

Throughout the season, Mistresses has relied on Savanah’s story line of her crumbling marriage with Harry (Brett Tucker) and her flirtatious, budding romance with her co-worker Dominic (Jason George). In the season finale, however, we finally get intriguing plot conclusions for all of the characters. “I Choose You” opens up with Savi ecstatically finding a beautiful bouquet of flowers on her porch, wishing her a happy birthday…possibly a make-up gift from Harry?

Savi’s sister Joss (Jes Macallan), and friends April (Rochelle Aytes) and Karen (Yunjin Kim) join together at April’s Café to exchange gifts for Savi’s special day. After finding out that none of her friends sent her the flowers, Savi is presented with an all-expense paid girls’ spa retreat at Palm Springs. While talking about their trip, April reveals that she hasn’t spoken to her off-again boyfriend Richard (Cameron Bender), and had an intense make-out session with her ex-husband Paul (Dondre Whitfeld). April doesn’t feel like she’s done something wrong in kissing Paul, and, with all her friends ganging up on her, she feels like they’re being unfair. I mean Savi had an affair on her perfect, Australian husband, Karen prescribed morphine to her married and chronically ill patient/lover, and Joss…well Joss has slept with everyone on the West Coast.

Meanwhile, Karen has started to see her own therapist who, oddly enough, treated her deceased lover’s wife, Elizabeth Grey (Penelope Ann Miller). Sam Grey (Erik Stocklin) told his drunken mother, in the midst of one of her dramatic jealous rants over Karen, that he did, in fact sleep with his father’s mistress. This revelation totally drives Elizabeth off the edge, as if we thought she could go any more insane.

Back at the office Savi runs into Dominic and makes light remarks that he’s the one behind the mysterious birthday bouquet, though he doesn’t seem to have been bothered to get her anything. A phone call from Harry, however, lifts Savi’s spirits as he asks if she’s gotten what he left at the house—not too fast though, he was only talking about the couples’ personal bills.

This episode has a certain, final feeling about it – the end is near. If that is in regards to the series as a whole—as the show has yet to be renewed for a second season – or possibly the end of relationships, I’m not sure, but the episode is quite somber nonetheless.

Thinking that her birthday couldn’t get any more depressing and lonely, Savi calls Joss and insists that they ride off to Palm Spring ASAP for a proper celebration. There, Savi is still trying to find out who sent her the flowers and becomes engrossed in watching a nearby father teach his son how to swim. Realizing she wants this life for herself, Savi rushes from Palm Springs to finally open the results of her paternity test. Joss tries to stall her; she knows that Harry already stolen the results.

Romantic relationships have always been an integral part of Mistresses, but in the finale, the women are finally taking control of their not-so-perfect situations to find much-needed peace. April tells Richard that she’s distanced herself from him because she thought he packed up and left town. Richard in turn tells her that he would never do that and that he’s not like Paul. (Thank goodness because if he was, April should swear off men for life. Seriously.) April and Karen were meant to drive to Palm Springs together, but at the last minute April sets out to have brunch with Paul before they go and they decide to drive separately. April finally breaks it off with Richard—for good, while the devilish manipulator Elizabeth confronts Karen as she leaves her house. At this point, Joss wakes up and finds that Savi has left Palm Springs early in the morning, and calls her to warn her that Harry stole her paternity results. A shocked Savi tries to decipher whether or not Harry knows the truth, and tries to rush back to Palm Springs to talk with Joss when suddenly, out of nowhere, a truck smashes into her car. Did you see it coming? I sure did.

From here on out the episode takes off like a plane on the runway. (Best metaphor ever.) Back at her Café, April and Richard discuss their breakup and, as expected, Richard is crushed that April picks Paul over him. After all, Paul has done—staging his own death, leaving his wife and daughter alone, shacking up with a new woman, and having a son with his mistress – she really wants to be back with him? Since the beginning of the show, April has proven to be the weakest woman there, always making the poorest decisions and never being strong enough to hit Paul where it hurts.

Meanwhile, Sam decides to leave his mother’s house and head to the airport. While looking in his family’s safe for his passport, he sees that a gun has been taken from the case and immediately displays a look of utter horror. Can you guess what Elizabeth is doing with it?

Stupidly enough, and so predictable, Karen hasn’t yet left for Palm Springs. Instead, she’s sitting in her living room with Elizabeth. Elizabeth pretends that she wants to apologize to Karen for the lawsuit she filed against her, as well as placing her psychiatry practice in jeopardy. Karen tries to talk Elizabeth into leaving her home, but of course, Elizabeth opts to stay where she is. While on the road, April comes to a traffic jam where she sees Savi’s totaled car in the distance and soon joins Joss and Harry at the hospital. Frantic and worried, Savi’s loved ones are desperately waiting to hear if she and the baby are alright. Harry, frightened and worried about his wife, calms down a trembling Joss, assures her the baby is ok, and then reveals the season’s most sacred secret. He tells Joss to call Dominic because he’s the father! Ok, so I guess I saw this one coming because Harry and Savannah tried unsuccessfully for years to have a child, but I always wanted that sexy Aussie to be the father.

Cool, calm, and collected, Harry comforts Joss who seems very concerned over his mental state at learning he’s not the father. Just then Dominic shows up, and Harry respectfully tells him where Savi’s hospital room is.
Back at Karen’s, Elizabeth is now holding her husband’s mistress at gunpoint, and Karen tries to find any way to get herself out of the situation. Luckily, everyone’s at the hospital except for Karen, and April starts worrying that something has also happened to her. Karen thinks she can secretly call the police and let them in on what’s happening before Elizabeth snaps, but Elizabeth sees the call and tries to take her upstairs. Someone starts knocking on Karen’s door, but it’s not the police.

Savi is finally stable enough to talk to her family, and Harry lovingly reveals to her that although the baby isn’t his, he chooses Savi. A tearjerker moment since these two have been through so much heartbreak over the season. When Dominic comes in, his admiration and love for Savi shows all over his face, and, for the first time, he tells her that he loves her.

Paul’s baby mama calls April and asks her to have him call his son. Finally, April grows a backbone and sends Paul back to wherever he is hiding before he interrupts her life. April tells Savi and Joss that she ended things with both Richard and Paul. Joss tells Savi that their mother was the one behind the birthday flowers and that she’s on a flight to see her right now. Savi looks touched by her mother’s gesture. Suddenly she loses consciousness and her heart rate goes flat. All hell breaks out in the hospital room trying to revive her, as Joss and April look on in horror.

Sam was the mysterious knock on the door, and, seeing his mother holding Karen at gunpoint, he broke a window in Karen’s house to get him inside. Elizabeth tells Sam that Karen was the person her husband asked for before she killed him. The scenes flash between the doctors trying to revive Savi, and Karen, Sam, and Elizabeth all struggling to gain control of the gun. The last few seconds of the season are met with the sound of gunfire, the image of blood splattering on a beige sofa, and Savi lying motionless in her bed.

OMG. Did Savi die? Did Karen get shot? We may never know the answers to these questions, and ABC would be a group of sick people if they didn’t let us have a conclusion to this shocking finale. All the tension has led up to this season finale, and, although it was quite predictable, I enjoyed it. Throughout the summer, Mistresses was my guilty pleasure and I hope that it comes back for another, better season. ABC has until the end of Sept. to renew the series.