We arrive now at the end, the final episode of the Dekalog, my last week of writing about this one-of-a-kind piece of cinema. When I began this series, I had a sense that the Dekalog began to trail off after episode 6, that the series was heavily front loaded.

But I’ve found, to my delight, that my close-viewing process works wonders on the later episodes, that there is depth to these pieces that can be lost when viewing them purely as stories and plots. Even episode 8, clearly the worst in the series, includes some remarkable scenes that makes it worth seeing.

I bring up episode 8 because it’s a bridge to the finale. Remember that odd character who kept talking to Zofia about his stamps? Also remember the comment she made to Elżbieta, that he speaks of his stamps as if they were children or grandchildren? Well, it turns out that this elderly gentleman actually has children. And he has now passed away.

Those children are two brothers, Artur and Jerzy. Artur is the frontman for a metal/punk/noise band that opens the episode with a scream song about breaking all 10 commandments. It’s both self reference and a sign that an era is passing. Of all the Dekalog episodes, this is the one that most clearly demonstrates how the eastern bloc is no more. Western music has found its way east — and capitalist values are racing quickly behind them.

Jerzy has shown up at Artur’s concert to give him the sad news that their father has died. We never see or hear him say this, we just jump from the show to the funeral. And what a strange funeral it is — with a eulogy given by what I assume is a fellow stamp collecting enthusiast who notes that he devoted his life to collecting, even at the expense of his family. Such a nice thing to hear at a funeral you’re paying for.

We next see a team of goldfish floating dead in a fish tank — another symbol of the old man’s neglect. The brothers arrive at the apartment and have to go through a comically complex series of locks just to enter — then a deafening alarm inside. The apartment is a dump, so you wonder why all the security? But then the brothers get to the metal case in the center of the apartment, and it becomes apparent — he left behind a very extensive and valuable stamp collection.

Given the rapid currency devaluation happening across eastern europe in the late 80s, the stamps were probably an extraordinarily good investment, as their value rose in both real and nominal terms. While Jerzy is checking around, he finds that his father collected more than stamps — he kept newspaper clippings of his son’s Artur’s musical career, he was apparently proud of him.

Someone comes to the door while the brothers are trying to put everything in order. It’s someone who the old man owed money — 220,000 Zloty. Jerzy had assumed that the stamp collection is probably worth about twice that, but this is not a good sign — and the creditor is clearly trying to play an angle as well, wondering if he could take the money he’s owed in stamps. Jerzy wisely tells him that he will get him the money instead within five days.

Jerzy notes to Artur that there is probably much more to come from other creditors, so perhaps they may need to sell of the collection to pay all of the bills.

So, we have set up the premise of the final episode (the only comedy in the series) — brothers who know nothing about stamps and have no real interest in learning about them have now been thrust into the stamp trade by necessity. Hijinks ensue.