A finale provides the denouement; wrapping up loose ends and closing out the story arc of the season or series. It’s the episode before the finale which provides the cliffhanger or plot twist, usually filled with the most suspense and action that can fit into 60 minutes.
The second to last end of a close curling game often provides greater tension and drama than the final frame. One down with last rock (“hammer”) in the last end is a straightforward path—do everything you can to score two points. No shot for two on your last throw? Try to take one and hope to steal in the extra end.
In the same situation just one end earlier, tactical choices can be complicated and taking the wrong turn could flip a team from heavy favourite to long-shot underdog.
Rachel Homan’s team was in this unenviable position against Silvana Tirinzoni’s Swiss side during the championship final of the Canadian Open. Down 3-2 in the seventh end, Team Homan talked through their choices on skip’s first stone.
They could hit the Tirinzoni stone mostly buried in the back eight-foot rings and roll away from the centre line. They could freeze to the stone, but it would be below the button and Tirinzoni could draw in and sit shot rock, making it probable they would be forced to a single point.
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