Honestly, the series and the characters didn’t deserve this. They tried to do something different, but I feel like it ended up being a a fail.
Yes, the ending (after the trip) is nice. We get to see all the main characters in the restaurant, with a quick wrap up on their stories. We even get a Aey moment, which was one of my favorite parts because it shows that actions have consequences. I also like the callback to the bracelets from Gene’s dad.

I was okay with the abrupt weird beginning when I looked like just a fun bit to tie in with the new novel. The whole supernatural stuff on the beach was a complete mess. If Sib was not aware that something was going on, I’d 100% expect him to be extremely angry. Gene escalated his trick on Sib way too much. Sib’s lie was completely based on love, wanting to create a nice gift and spending time with Gene. While Gene’s only existed to make Sib look like an idiot and admit his lie.

Overall, though Sib is not perfect, and he did lie to Gene, with the help of their friends, this episode makes Gene look bad. Yes, Sib might be too much sometimes (we saw that on the show), but Gene sounds like the bigger problem.

Like so many continuations, this special ends up doing disservice to the characters.