Credit: Netflix

For a minute there, it felt like Sullivan’s Crossing was finally going to give Maggie Sullivan a bit of a break. After spending most of season four of the show stuck between the life she had built with Cal and the one Liam came barging back into with all his unfinished business, the finale looked like it was finally going to put the whole thing to bed. Then… knock, knock. Literally.

If you’d spent the whole season of Sullivan’s Crossing gasping every time Liam and Maggie had another one of those deep little chats, trust us, you weren’t the only one. Him rocking back up wasn’t just another ex fancying another go. The fellow turned up carrying loads of baggage. Let’s see; we had a marriage that technically never ended with plenty of unanswered questions, and a past Maggie thought she’d already left behind.

Of course, that leaves Cal in an impossible spot, doesn’t it? He loves Maggie to bits, but he also knows she hasn’t made peace with everything that’s gone before. And season four just keeps going to that right up until the very last episode, where it finally feels like everyone is singing from the same hymn sheet.

Then when Cal finally gets down on one knee, Maggie’s just about to answer… and who turns up at the front door? Tracy. With a social worker, no less. Just like that, the proposal’s left hanging there.

So, does Maggie choose Cal? And what’s the deal with Tracy?

Let’s not waste any time and get to the big one, because that’s why you’re here. Does Maggie actually pick Cal over Liam? Well… the show never lets her come out and say the words, but it doesn’t really leave you guessing either.

Most of the season is about Liam coming back and making Maggie open a chapter of her life she thought she had slammed shut years ago. At first, everyone reckons he just walked out on her without a second thought. Then the truth comes out.

Turns out their annulment never actually went through, and Liam finally explains why he disappeared. Suddenly, everything Maggie thought she knew gets turned on its head. She isn’t just dealing with some ex who legged it… She is facing someone she never really understood in the first place.

That’s why she ends up kissing Liam halfway through the season and all. It isn’t because she has stopped loving Cal. It’s more that old feelings have got a funny habit of popping back up when someone finally tells you the truth. Is it messy? Of course it is. Is it believable? Yeah… probably.

Cal, though, isn’t having any of it. Instead of pretending everything is sound and sweeping it under the rug, he ends things and tells Maggie she is going to have to figure this one out on her own. For the first time in ages, she is forced to stop sitting around hoping everything will sort itself out and actually decide what she wants.

The real turning point comes when Maggie risks her own career to help Ben and Tracy. That’s when Cal sees the woman he fell in love with again. So he decides to take one last gamble… and pops the question. Only because this is Sullivan’s Crossing, nothing can ever be that simple.

Before Maggie even gets a chance to answer, Tracy rocks up at Cal’s place with a social worker, and that’s it. Proposal interrupted. End scene. But it doesn’t really feel like the interruption is there to make us think Maggie has changed her mind. If anything, the show has already answered the whole love triangle by then. Liam heads off; Cal decides he is not giving up without one last fight, and Maggie’s heart seems pretty well sorted.

The real cliffhanger is Tracy. Why has she turned up with a social worker? Is she looking for somewhere safe to stay? Did something serious happen? And if Cal and Maggie are about to start planning a future together, how’s all this going to change things? These are the questions the finale wants us all chewing over till season five arrives.

So nah, by the end, it isn’t really about whether Maggie loves Cal or Liam anymore. Season four has already settled that. The proposal is just the perfect place to slam on the brakes. Typical Sullivan’s Crossing, that, isn’t it?