Here's how Tim Allen's Last Man Standing ended

Warning: This article contains spoilers about Thursday's series finale of Fox's Last Man Standing.

After nine seasons on the air, Fox's Last Man Standing delivered an emotional goodbye on Thursday night with a little help from Mike Baxter's (Tim Allen) stolen truck.

The classic green machine Mike worked on restoring for a decade served as a metaphor for the 10 years the cast and crew spent together working on the comedy series. But let's start from the beginning.

Last Man Standing kicked off its one-hour, two-episode series finale with "Baxter Boot Camp," an episode that follows Jen as she prepares for a camping trip while trying to stay off Mike's radar because he'll "want to teach me stuff."

Instead, Jen confides in Vanessa (Nancy Travis) to help her learn the ins and outs of camping with a backyard set-up where she prepares for every imaginable challenge one could face out in the woods. Mandy (Molly McCook) helps Vanessa put Jen through the wringer, so there are no surprises in the wild. In hindsight, though, could Mike have been worse than Vanessa and Mandy?

"You thought she'd be less tough on you than me?" Mike asked Jen with a snicker. "Fasten your seatbelt."

The episode never reveals whether Jen and her friends from Hong Kong ever took that camping trip, though nobody would blame her for checking into a hotel far away from the Baxters after all that.

The second half of the hour, titled "Keep on Truckin,'" is the only episode of the series written by Allen. It opens with Mike learning that the original owner of his classic green truck has died, and the decedent's family discovered a box of old documents that include the truck's original bill of sale.

Mike is elated by the news because it's the final piece of a restoration puzzle that he likens to putting the final touches on the Sistine Chapel. As he waits to hear back that his offer to purchase the bill of sale has been accepted, he learns someone else got to it first, much to his dismay.

Lo and behold, it was Joe (Jay Leno) who beat Mike to the punch though his intentions were pure. Joe gifts the original bill of sale to Mike, with the exchange representing a bond of friendship between the two. Well, all was right in Mike's world, even if it only lasted a few hours.

The truck gets stolen and after a brief trip to a chop shop, Chuck (Jonathan Adams) confirms the truck is gone forever. Mike hosts a memorial at his home and invites his friends and family to honor the memory of the truck. Everyone shared stories and anecdotes, though Ryan (Jordan Masterson) was utterly confused about whether this was really about a truck or... a metaphor for the show itself. Mike's youngest daughter Eve (Kaitlyn Dever) even appeared virtually to pay her respects.

"So you think you're going to find another car to work on?" Vanessa asked Mike just before the show wrapped for the last time.

He replied, "I don't know. Maybe? Maybe not. Right now, I just want to enjoy this moment with all of you."

Baxter out.

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