But I thought the final episode (double-episode) was extremely good, enough to make me want to go back and rewatch the previous couple of seasons more methodically. While some characters' stories came decisively to an end, there was an overall feeling that life was continuing.
The conclusion of the Mackey story wasn't really a conclusion. This character has avoided justice for how many years - loads anyway - by bargaining and manipulating, and that was a key feature of the storyline. An easy ending would have been that 'this time he ends up getting prosecuted'. Instead, they had him degrade himself in increasingly ugly but successful manoeuvrings to avoid prosecution. He ended up working in a ghastly office, writing boring reports.
I'm like 'Ha ha Mackey, you have ended up in a hell of your own making.'
Then, after a moment's reflection 'Hang on, that's what my life is like'
d'oh!