Chesapeake Shores Season 6: A Beautiful Good-Bye

Tonight the Hallmark Channel aired the final episode for Chesapeake Shores Season 6. And, it's not just the end of the season, but it's also the end of the series. Here's a review of the final season and a look back on the family drama that has been a staple at Hallmark for the past six years.

Chesapeake Shores Season 1-5

Chesapeake Shores is the story of the O'Brien family. This tight-knit Irish family includes four generations of O'Briens who live along the shore in Baltimore. The matriarch of the family, Nell O'Brien, is played by Diane Ladd. She was in the first few seasons of the show, but her health kept her from being part of the last few seasons. I have to say that the 35 episodes she was in were some of my favorites. Yes, her Irish accent had a funny way of coming and going, but I didn't care. It was nice to see an extended family on TV.

Treat Williams and Barbara Niven play Mick and Megan O'Brien. They are parents to Abby, Jess, Bree, Kevin, and Connor. Siblings who grew up leaning on each other after their parents divorced and their mother left home. The scars left by that childhood “trauma” are woven into the first couple of seasons of Chesapeake Shores. Each episode and each season sees the family healing and overcoming those years.

Chesapeake Shores Love Stories

Although Chesapeake Shores is a family drama and much of it stems around the family relationships and dynamics. There are of course love interests for each of the siblings. Some of the siblings, like Bree, have gone through more changes than others. However, they've all had some sort of love interest over the years. One of the most memorable is the romance between Abby (played by Meghan Ory) and Trace Riley (played by Jesse Metcalfe).

Chesapeake Shores Season 6 [SPOILER ALERT]

As Chesapeake Shores Season 6 comes to an end this evening, I'm anxious to see how the story ends for the O'Brien family. There are a lot of things to wrap up and I can't imagine them doing it in just one hour. It almost seems like the Hallmark Channel is setting itself up for a spin-off, although I haven't heard that anything is in the works.

If you haven't watched Chesapeake Shores Season 6 yet you should stop here as I don't want to ruin anything for you. I won't get into a lot of the specifics, but in discussing the final season it's hard not to give some of it away.

The Pros and Cons of Season 6

When I look at season 6 for Chesapeake Shores I really have to take a step back and look at where I began. You see, I was late to jump on the Chesapeake Shores bandwagon. My sister has watched it from the beginning and always tried to get me to watch. I think since I missed the first few seasons I thought I had missed the boat. But, this summer I was able to watch seasons 1-5 on demand and I finished just in time for the start of season 6.

Chesapeake Shores Season 6 has so much of the charm that I like from the earlier seasons. One thing that I really like about this family drama is that the siblings get along and are all supportive of each other. Now that doesn't mean that they don't fight and issues don't come up. But, in true Hallmark fashion they focus more on the positive and I love that.

The family has gone through a lot of changes over the years. While some of the siblings have settled down and gotten married, others are still looking for the right fit. But the relationship that has gone through the biggest change is that of Mick and Megan's. Their life went in different directions for a while, but ultimately they find their way back to each other.

The charm, heart, and warmth is still present in season 6. However, there were some darker moments this year and some unexpected storylines. And this leads me to my con for Chesapeake Shores Season 6.

To me the final season for a show is an opportunity for the writers to wrap-up storylines. We want to see if relationships will continue and if there will be that happily ever after that we all crave. However, season 6 of Chesapeake Shores brought in a lot of new and complicated plots. I think it was all too much to tackle in just 10 short episodes. It would have been different if this was on network TV with 22+ episodes in a season. But with only 10 episodes I think they bit off more than they could chew.

Heading into the last episode for Chesapeake Shores Season 6 I didn't think it was possible for them to tie-up all of the loose ends. But, they did. Sure, it felt like they went at warped speed to get there, but they did get there. Where an episode of Chesapeake Shores is usually like going on a stroll with a friend, this final episode felt like more of a sprint to the finish line.

Chesapeake Shores Season 6 Recap

I'm glad that I took my sister's advice and I took a chance on this show. I've enjoyed the journey with the O'Brien family. Although Chesapeake Shores Season 6 was not my favorite, I still enjoyed tuning in every Sunday. I felt like I was walking along with them, enjoying the beautiful setting, and the loving dynamics of a big family.

The final episode brought it all together and gave closure for each of the family members. Viewers were given a clear path for the characters futures and as much as I'd love to see a spin-off or a follow movie, I think this is the end of the road for the O'Briens. So to that I say, “Slán go fóill” – Bye for now.

Hallmark Channel

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