Perhaps this systematic box-ticking is too neat for some tastes, but if nothing else, the show stayed utterly true to its characters; no-one's ending rang false.
Far from sloughing off their appealing personalities in order to fit into the mould of "awards hosts", they stayed utterly true to themselves and were therefore like – as they always are – the best friends you wish you had who happened to be having a really, really fun time in front of a global audience.
There is one face that has remained constant through all this frenetic shapeshifting, one woman who has stayed utterly true to her homely origins and doesn't so much bestride the culinary world as plough tenaciously through it like a tugboat with a jammed rudder.
Am not espousing "The Best-Surprise-Is-No-Surprise" epistemology of certain chains, but rather the qualities that make a stay utterly comfortable, meaningful and unforgettable, so much so that you can check out, but you can never leave.
The moment late in the film when a regretful Coop watches his past self leave his weeping daughter to embark on the mission to save the world, and the desperate message he manages to send through time and space to himself – "Stay" – is utterly heartbreaking.
Instead the Queen stays completely still, utterly opaque, like a small, heavy, disapproving piece of Regency furniture that has been wheeled out of the door, draped in pearls, appointed leader of the universe and quite frankly isn't very happy about any of this.
They seemed to appear on the keyboard out of nowhere and then stayed there, lethargically, utterly unresponsive to any shooing movement I managed to produce while playing.
Where the Gouter hut keeper has to get used to his guests leaving en masse at 3am – with absolutely no desire for a return trip – the Monte Rosa Hutte incites a relaxing, contemplative stay in an utterly extraordinary setting.
But outside of his fame and these bits of connective tissue, the reason Ally stays with Jackson is utterly perplexing.
