"California, Here We Come" is the series finale

Series finale

A series finale refers to the last installment of a series with a narrative presented through mediums such as television, film and literature. In many Commonwealth countries, the term final episode is commonly used in regards to a television series...

 of the Martin Lawrence

Martin Lawrence

Martin Fitzgerald Lawrence is an American actor, film director, film producer, screenwriter, and stand up comedian. He came to fame during the 1990s, establishing a Hollywood career as a leading actor, most notably the films Bad Boys, Blue Streak, and Big Momma's House...

 Fox

Fox Broadcasting Company

Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...

 sitcom Martin

Martin (TV series)

Martin is an American sitcom produced by HBO Independent Productions that aired for five seasons, from August 27, 1992 to May 1, 1997 on Fox...

.
The series ran for five seasons from 1992 until 1997. This episode aired on May 1, 1997.

This particular episode marks the return of Tisha Campbell who had been absent for several episodes throughout the season. This is also Martin Lawrence

Martin Lawrence

Martin Fitzgerald Lawrence is an American actor, film director, film producer, screenwriter, and stand up comedian. He came to fame during the 1990s, establishing a Hollywood career as a leading actor, most notably the films Bad Boys, Blue Streak, and Big Momma's House...

's most prominent episode after having minor roles in several episodes, despite being the show's star.

Cast

• Martin Lawrence
  Martin Lawrence
  Martin Fitzgerald Lawrence is an American actor, film director, film producer, screenwriter, and stand up comedian. He came to fame during the 1990s, establishing a Hollywood career as a leading actor, most notably the films Bad Boys, Blue Streak, and Big Momma's House...
  
   as Martin Payne
  Martin Payne (character)
  Martin Payne is a fictional character portrayed by Martin Lawrence on the Fox sitcom Martin. He is loosely based on Lawrence himself.-Biography:...
  
  
• Thomas Mikal Ford
  Thomas Mikal Ford
  Thomas Mikal Ford , known and credited also as Tommy Ford, is an American actor who is best known for his character Tommy Strawn in the sitcom Martin...
  
   as Tommy Strawn
• Carl Anthony Payne II
  Carl Anthony Payne II
  Carl Anthony Payne II is an American actor. He studied at the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, New York and Howard University, Washington DC...
  
   as Cole Brown
• Tichina Arnold
  Tichina Arnold
  Tichina Rolanda Arnold is an American actress and singer. She is best known for having portrayed the roles of Pamela James on the FOX sitcom Martin and the family matriarch Rochelle on the UPN/CW sitcom Everybody Hates Chris....
  
   as Pamela "Pam" James
• Maura McDade as Shanise McGullicuddy (credited as a guest star)

Recurring Cast

• Jeri Gray as Ms. Gerri
• John Wesley as Mr. Jim
• Adrian Tibbs as Lil Dawg
• Sean Lampkin as Nipsey

Special Guests

• Tisha Campbell as Gina Payne (credited as a regular cast member)
• Tommy Hearns as Himself
• Lisa Leslie
  Lisa Leslie
  Lisa Deshaun Leslie-Lockwood is a former American professional women's basketball player in the WNBA. She is a three-time WNBA MVP and a four-time Olympic gold medal winner...
  
   as Herself
• George Clinton
  George Clinton (musician)
  George Clinton is an American singer, songwriter, bandleader, and music producer and the principal architect of P-Funk. He was the mastermind of the bands Parliament and Funkadelic during the 1970s and early 1980s, and launched a solo career in 1981. He has been cited as one of the foremost...
  
   as Himself
• Lou Rawls
  Lou Rawls
  Louis Allen "Lou" Rawls was an American soul, jazz, and blues singer. He was known for his smooth vocal style: Frank Sinatra once said that Rawls had "the classiest singing and silkiest chops in the singing game"...
  
   as Himself

Part One

Martin, Tommy and Cole find out that Martin's show has been picked up by a major television network and will air nationally. The news seems good at first but it turns out Martin will have to move to Los Angeles

Los Ángeles

Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

 where the show will be filmed. Also Gina has been away for a while working in L.A. for her boss, Mr. Whitaker. Meanwhile, Pam flies out to L.A. to visit Gina. It turns out Gina has been promoted and she will be working in L.A. permanently. When they arrive back in Detroit, Gina tries to tell Martin the good news but they miss each other coming in and out. It dons on Pam that she won't be coming to L.A. with Gina. In the meantime, Cole has been trying to propose to Shanise but every time he gets the chance something goes wrong. Throughout the day, Tommy, Cole, Pam and Gina recall past good times with Martin.

Part Two

Cole is still trying to propose to Shanise. But she swallows his engagement ring when he tried to slip it in her meal. Ultimately, he is able to propose and she accepts. Tommy and Cole throw Martin a going-away party at Nipsey's. Their barbershop friends and Nipsey's friends celebrate with him. Martin thanks everyone for their love and support over the years. Nipsey toasts to Martin and wishes him well. In the ending moments of the series, The gang are packing up as the movers prepare to clear out the apartment. Martin and Gina's plane will be leaving soon. Gina is the first to leave as she says goodbye to Tommy, Cole, Pam and Shanise. Pam makes one last insult about Martin and he replies with calling her "Scary Seinfeld". Pam admits that as much as she dislikes him, she hates to see him leave. All these years, Martin was deep down a true friend to Pam. Pam kisses him on the cheek goodbye and exits the apartment. Lastly, Martin assures Tommy and Cole that this isn't the end, only a new beginning. They tell him that things won't be the same without him. As they are about to walk out the door, they sadly take one last look at Martin and walk out the door. Just as Martin is about to leave he takes one last look around the apartment. He has flashbacks of past memories in the apartment from hanging out with the gang to romantic moments with Gina. He writes his signature on the wall of the apartment, sighs "Thank you", turns off the lights and exits out the apartment.

Reception

The finale received generally mixed to positive feedback, from both fans and critics alike. Though some felt that the finale was more of an abrupt ending to the series as no prior storylines lead up to the events of this episode, like most shows often do to wrap up a series. However, the fact that Tisha Campbell and Martin Lawrence didn't physically appear in the same scene due to their feuding was strongly disliked by fans of the show.

Despite this, it was the most watched episode of the season.

Behind the Scenes

In the final scene, the emotions from the actors (especially Martin Lawrence, Thomas Ford, and Carl Anthony Payne II) were genuine as they really were upset about the series coming to a close.

After filming the finale, the cast and crew were very tearful and emotional