iGoodbye

"iGoodbye" is the final episode of iCarly, which aired as an hour-long special on November 23, 2012 on Nickelodeon. The episode guest starred David Chisum as Colonel Steven Shay, Spencer and Carly's father.

The episode's premiere airing attracted 6.4 million viewers.^[1] The UK premiere attracted 437,000 viewers, the highest the channel has ever received. The Irish viewings were not counted.^[2]

Plot

Carly is expecting her father, Colonel Shay, to arrive in Seattle to escort her to the Father-Daughter Air Force Dance. She receives an electronic message saying he is unable to come. To comfort her, Spencer asks to take her to the dance, and she accepts. Spencer immediately becomes sick after being sneezed on by Lewbert, the apartment building's doorman, and he is unable to attend the dance. Carly is upset by this development, as this is the last year she will be young enough to attend and had been unable to attend the event with her father for the past four years. Sam convinces Freddie and Gibby to escort Carly to the dance (while Freddie asks if him and Sam want to reunite), but Carly rejects their offer.

Despite his message, Colonel Shay arrives, and escorts Carly to the dance. Afterward, Colonel Shay informs everyone that he has to return to his base in Italy, much to Carly's disappointment as she was looking forward to spending more time with him. Colonel Shay then asks Carly to come with him. She is reluctant to go, but after encouragement from Spencer and her friends (and also Colonel Shay saying there are attractive guys), she decides to go. Carly, Sam, and Freddie head into the studio to film a final webcast where Colonel Shay is presented as a special guest. At the end of the show, Carly and Sam inform their viewers that iCarly will be on a hiatus while Carly is in Italy and (in a nod to viewers of the show) thank their fans for all their support over the years. After the show, Carly packs her things in her room with Spencer, they take the time to say goodbye and Carly thanks Spencer for everything and the siblings share a tearful hug. Up in the studio, Freddie is packing his tech-stuff when Carly stops him by holding his hand and they kiss for the last time before she departs and upon walking out, Freddie raises his hands in triumph.

On the flight to Italy, Carly views a montage of archived iCarly webcasts on her laptop while the cast brings up many memories over the past seasons. The episode ends with Freddie, off-screen, saying his famous closing line on the webshow, "And...we're clear." Sam tries out her brand-new motorcycle for the first time, riding on it happily through the West, leading to the events of Sam & Cat.

Cast

• Miranda Cosgrove as Carly, Spencer's sister and the host of the webshow.
• Jennette McCurdy as Sam, the trouble making best friend of Carly.
• Nathan Kress as Freddie, the techy, geeky neighbour of Carly and Spencer.
• Noah Munck as Gibby, the odd background star of iCarly.
• Jerry Trainor as Spencer, Carly's older brother and an artist.
• David Chisum as Colonel Steven Shay, Carly and Spencer's dad who is in the air force.
• Mary Scheer as Mrs Benson, Freddie's over-protective mother.
• Lisa Lillien as Mrs Benson's friend/voice of flight attendant
• Dan Schneider as Meekalitho, a mechanic who gives Sam a piece that Spencer needs for the motorcycle he is working on.
• Mindy Sterling as Ms Briggs, a teacher at Carly's school.
• Jeremy Rowley as Lewbert, the doorman of Carly's apartment residence.

Response

The AV Club's review found that the finale covered most of the show's usual concerns, about the importance of self-expression, the role of social media in young people's lives, and the background of "war, recession and technology"; although the first half was too slow-moving, it provides closure and the ending where Carly and Sam do one final episode of their webshow is "touching and funny".^[3] Newsday reckoned it was purely for fans, and concentrated heavily on setting up spin-offs for its cast.^[4]

References