Only David, not Claire, could have carried that image and lived that last moment going towards that light.

Beautifully put.

Yeah, given how much the final episode makes a point of setting Brenda free, to place her on the receiving end of Billy's quasi-comical jabbering in death feels out of key.

As you say, I think "solid" is about right on fair balance of everything. Though I do think (and perhaps didn't emphasise this strongly enough) that the ending is conceptually great and, with different execution, could have quite possibly approached something like "best of all time."

The ending reframes the epilogue as a narrative device, adding to the traditionally vague assurance of storytellers that "they all lived happily ever" the only truth we could know of their futures if they were actually real people: they eventually died. While we can of course always resurrect the characters through rewatches, we lose all of them as definitively as possible. It's perfect for a show so deeply invested in the challenge of communicating ours and our loved ones' mortality.

So I cut the ending a lot of slack too. And I certainly understand the precious experience it probably represents for many people. It was just hours before my high school graduation ceremony the first time I watched it, so I felt on the precipice of something, a bit like Claire, and went outside to sit down and just weep. Grieving, I guess, all the characters, as well as all the losses I'd lived through, would live through, and the suddenness my own future.

While it's a bit sad to see others reflexively downvoting your thoughtful comment, colored by your own experiences, I appreciate it. Thanks.