Erin getting time to discover her adult self is way cooler than she gave her credit for gives adult!Erin's final scene so much more punch than if it they'd gone the clone!Erin route, and gives her room to learn that maybe there's more to life than just being the caretaker. Same with Mac finding out she dies, not from some random lady telling her the family moved afterward, but from the older brother she's revered her whole life-and then building on that relationship to help her on this journey of understanding she's always had value. Getting to watch KJ have that quiet mental breakdown (which, in 1988, she absolutely would do finding out at 12 that you're destined to be queer, especially coming from a family that 'cares what everyone else thinks' like hers does, would be incredibly jarring) and then slowly come to terms with what it all means is much more effective on a grounded level. That's great for that medium-but you get SO much more out of that journey onscreen by actively seeing her adult self be relaxed and happy with a girlfriend. KJ in the comics figures out she's gay because she gets some flash-bang images dumped into her head, and one of them is kissing Mac.

I also think this really benefits the girls in terms of character building.

Comic pallet firealpaca tutorial