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‘Agent X’s’ final two episodes, “Penultimatum” and “Fidelity,” sent the show out on its biggest, baddest note. Now what could possibly come next?

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Agent X‘s last missions, then the show left being completely true to itself: a property-breaking, wisecracking, wait-how-the-heck-did-that-happen good time. “Penultimatum” saw John Case (Jeff Hephner, perfect to the end) reluctantly working for former mentor Ray Marks (Andrew Howard) because Ray had kidnapped Pamela Richardson (Carolyn Stotesbery). Now, if you didn’t think Pamela was going to get abducted, you haven’t watched enough TV. A hero’s love interest is almost always imperiled, especially when in the previous episode the bad guy specifically mentions her as a weakness.

This is possibly the oldest plot setup in the book. But it’s execution that really matters, and

carried it off by throwing everything but the kitchen sink in John’s way. Whether it was wrecking a bookstore or having to once again contend with Olga (Olga Fonda), the show gave him enough to deal with that the journey was entertaining even if you could guess at its end result.

After all, it would be a buzzkill to the entire show if John broke bad. So at the literal last minute, his ex-boss Malcolm Millar (Gerald McRaney) and his predecessor/father Mike (Fred Dryer, returning from “Truth, Lies and Consequences”) were able to save Pamela, enabling John to save the day. The chemistry between veterans McRaney and Dryer was fantastic, including throwing in a

, perhaps we should pitch a Malcolm and Mike spin-off.

(I have one bone to pick with “Penultimatum,” and it’s more of a personal one. The President spends his first scene complaining about being confined to a wheelchair post-shooting. Being that I grew up in a wheelchair and fought to get out of it, then had both my legs broken and had to do it again, there’s something that just ticked me off about seeing him roll over so easily. Come on, dude!)

The finale “Fidelity” hit an unintentional nerve by setting up a hostage situation in Paris, starting with a teaser in which one of Ray’s co-conspirators is implied to have shot his own wife. It’s not an easy episode to watch, but it’s exactly the kind of big thing that one expects from a season finale.

If the show had been getting gritty before, “Fidelity” is pure theater; grand, dramatic and somewhat ironic considering it takes place in a performance venue. Adding some spark to the episode is the guest appearance by

star Costa Ronin, who plays the Russian Prime Minister with all of the smarminess Oleg Burov would hate.

But what really makes it work is what was intriguing about this show from the start: the unlikely team-up between Olga and John, who once again gets himself beaten up in the name of national security. One of the best scenes in the episode is when he’s shot by a gun going off during Olga’s struggle with one of Ray’s thugs. It shows that

isn’t afraid to handicap its hero, and that he’s smart enough to adapt.

“Fidelity” also gives us what we really want, which is a final showdown between John and Ray that culminates in John having to put his mentor down – and having to deal with the emotional impact of that. Between that and Malcolm finally telling him the truth about his recruitment (though not the

truth), there would’ve been a lot of fertile ground for Season Two just inside John Case’s head.

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So what could be next? If there’s any chance of resurrecting

, now would be the time to give it a shot. While these two episodes proved that sometimes the show reaches (question the plausibility of Volker’s plan if you must), at least it’s reaching because it wants to go big. A show that’s willing to throw everything at the wall is infinitely better than one that plays it safe.

The last thing we see of John shouldn’t be him headed into an ambulance – but if it is, we know he went out saving the day by every means possible, which is exactly how he (and this show) should be remembered.

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