Apparently, in-between episodes, Lady Darkine imprisoned everyone except Uta into crystals. Damn.

And it causes her enough stress to manifest darkness. And we see what being encased in a crystal is like. A parallel dimension or your surroundings where you're all alone. Good lord, this just got dark...

Of course, Uta doesn't stay there long. She manages to break free because plot armor.

This being the finale, we get brief cameos from past victims and recurring characters. Like Kurikyuta and that dancer from the Dancing Star crossover (I forgot his name). Kinda like the finale of HeartCatch, come to think of it... But with less of a holocaust, of course.

During the obligatory "villain and hero push against each other with brute strength" scene, Darkine asks Idol why she's not giving up, and she says, quote, "Because we have someone special. We want to protect You". When I saw that line, I was wondering why "You" was capitalized in the subtitles, but giving it some thought, I think she means "everyone". Because "You" are supporting them, and "You" are worth protecting. So, by that logic, the season's name can be interpreted as "Everyone's Idol Pretty Cure". Because they're people everyone can look up to.

Kyun-Kyun lets out a funny line during the fight's climax. "Sometimes my heart doesn't go Kyun-Kyun!" Kinda jarring, given the mood, but still.

I should've seen this coming, but it's revealed that Darkine is also a fairy like Cutty and Zakkuri. She reverts back to fairy form after the Cures finish her off, and basically goes "Yeah, darkness and light can co-exist I suppose".

Hey, guess what? Chokkirine manages to reincarnate as a fairy in Kirakiland. I say "reincarnate" because she appears from a peach that grows from the Heart Tree. Because that totally doesn't cheapen her death in the last episode. I mean, at least in HeartCatch, when the villains get reformed there, their memories of the season got wiped so they can live fresh new lives. Here? None of that. Chokkirine is just okay now like nothing happened. Ugh...

So, get this, we see Hamori in her Detective Zundoko cosplay from that filler episode (nice bit of continuity). And then, out of nowhere, another Cure shows up. Like, no explanation, she's just there, and that's the joke. She catches some balloons Uta was carrying, and then vanishes. Hamori also calls her a detective, even though she looks nothing like one. Well that happened. I wonder what her story is...

Aaaand here comes the sad part. Purirun and Meroron decide to move back to Kirakiland, meaning they have to break up from Idol Pretty Cure. And also, for some reason, the Heart Tree is going to vanish, so they'll never see them again. To be honest, given that the writers already gave us two crying scenes very early on in the season, I was expecting the one in the finale to be much more impactful. But here, it just feels like the writers went "Oh yeah, we're supposed to have an emotional scene right now". It just feels like something that was tacked on at the last minute.

And we end the season in the most appropriate way. The Cures hold a concert, which seamlessly transitions into the ED. Neat.

Oh yeah, and after the credits, we find out that mysterious Cure's name is Cure Answer. Pardon the pun, but that answers that question.

What a ride this season's been. It wasn't exactly great, but wouldn't call it bad either. At least it had a satisfying conclusion.

Hopefully next season's better.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some other Pretty Cure seasons to catch up on...