Addicted's finale traced the recoveries of a couple brought together and ripped apart by shared heroin and cocaine addictions. Annie and Mike have lost their reasons to live and will die together, unless Kristina has something to say about it....

Telling their story to Kristina in their plea for help audition tape, Annie and Mike detail the lives they used to have, the things they used to do, and the love they used to share. Drug use has cost Mike visitation with his son, and have ended Annie's art career early. All they have are their yesterdays—times when they didn't have each other. Meeting in recovery, there was no chance for the two to build memories with each other. Their courtship would have been high and hazy; their "fun times" only full of blood and needles. Warning: graphic intravenous drug use ahoy.

After they get the mess cleaned up and head to treatment, it's tough times for the lovesick junkies. Neither is fully ready for recovery; detox has left them shaken and hollow. They're off the stuff, but they have no idea who they are without it. Empty, they feel even more lost without each other—the attraction that originally drove them to desperation.

uneasy treatments

Luckily, Kristina Wandzilak, Ice Queen of My Heart, knows the feeling of overwhelming nihilism all too well. Throughout the season she's shown that all the crazy crackheads and attitudinal alkies need are harsh truths and real hopes. Wrapping both up in a ridiculously adorable package (yellow baby galoshes!) is Little Mikey, Mike's son, who visits his father on a field trip to the local alcohol-free aquarium. For Annie, the realization of her priorities and identity comes from within and manifests of canvas. Her artwork is her proof of self and self-worth, as the responsibilities of fatherhood redefine Mike's purpose.

kids & art

Once completely dependent on each other for every aspect of their depressing lives (one might say they were addicted), Annie and Mike realize that there are more important things than love and drugs and "each other": selfishness. Responsible selfishness would dictate that everyone look after him or herself above all, that everyone be the best self they can be. It's the affirmation of self that makes Annie and Mike's reunion breakup wholly positive.

reunion separation

That confidence and celebration of self is the code Kristina Wandzilak lives by. Her final smile is an unusual indulgence for her, but it represents the absolute glee of fulfillment. Earlier, she spoke about Annie taking her "rightful place as a sober woman making a difference to other women", a place Kristina herself holds. Her pride may come off as bitchiness, but she's right, as always. Valuing her own life too much to waste it, and making it her life's mission to teach others how to do the same, she can't help but smile when the lesson starts to take.