FacebookTwitter
Hatrack River Forum   
my profile login | search | faq | forum home

  next oldest topic   next newest topic
» Hatrack River Forum » Active Forums » Books, Films, Food and Culture » Final Episodes

   
Author Topic: Final Episodes
Bella Bee
Member
Member # 7027

 - posted      Profile for Bella Bee   Email Bella Bee         Edit/Delete Post 
Yesterday, completely by chance, I finally managed to catch the last episode of 'Due South' (does anyone else remember that show?), which I had never managed to see the first time around. I was really impressed by the way it managed to include all the most important elements of the show and resolve most of the major plot lines.

So I got to thinking about the shows that ended in a way that seemed to me to be perfect, and how this was achieved. It seemed to me that often the endings I have found most satisfying have been those which totally dismantle the set-up of the show - endings like those on Buffy and Deep Space 9, where you get the impression that whatever happens to the characters next will be completely different from anything that you've seen before. Somehow, it seems to make it more bearable that the show's ending, because you know that now nothing could ever be the same anyway...

Thoughts? Examples?

Posts: 1528 | Registered: Nov 2004  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
The Pixiest
Member
Member # 1863

 - posted      Profile for The Pixiest   Email The Pixiest         Edit/Delete Post 
I didn't like either of those finales as much as I would have if they hadn't destroyed the premis of the show.

I like seeing the moments of transition AND the way the characters react to them. Nothing is the same anymore, yet life goes on.. to have more moments of transition.

I'm thinking mostly of Buffy here. I won't spoil it, though I'm sure most of you have seen it... so I guess I should end my post here...

Pix

Posts: 7085 | Registered: Apr 2001  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Wowbagger the Infinitely Prolonged
Member
Member # 7476

 - posted      Profile for Wowbagger the Infinitely Prolonged   Email Wowbagger the Infinitely Prolonged         Edit/Delete Post 
My favorite endings are sitcoms because nearly everyone one ends with the people on the show moving away....
Posts: 796 | Registered: Mar 2005  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Bella Bee
Member
Member # 7027

 - posted      Profile for Bella Bee   Email Bella Bee         Edit/Delete Post 
...or not going to live in Paris after all. That seems to be a favourite.
Posts: 1528 | Registered: Nov 2004  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Heffaji
Member
Member # 3669

 - posted      Profile for Heffaji   Email Heffaji         Edit/Delete Post 
The ending to the Mighty Max cartoon. I remember being so amazed that a cartoon would go out in that sort of fashion back then.
Posts: 291 | Registered: Jun 2002  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Baron Samedi
Member
Member # 9175

 - posted      Profile for Baron Samedi           Edit/Delete Post 
Freaks and Geeks has probably my favorite series ending of all time. Gives me chills just thinking about it. Firefly and The Black Adder are close runners-up.
Posts: 563 | Registered: Feb 2006  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Baron Samedi
Member
Member # 9175

 - posted      Profile for Baron Samedi           Edit/Delete Post 
Oh, and I can't forget Seinfeld. Wait... did you say best? Never mind.
Posts: 563 | Registered: Feb 2006  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
katdog42
Member
Member # 4773

 - posted      Profile for katdog42   Email katdog42         Edit/Delete Post 
I love the final episode of MASH and I have to agree that I really liked the ending of DS9 as well. It was byfar my favorite Star Trek series and though it had weak moments in the middle, I think it began and ended better than any of the others (though TNG ended quite well, also).
Posts: 340 | Registered: Mar 2003  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
SteveRogers
Member
Member # 7130

 - posted      Profile for SteveRogers           Edit/Delete Post 
If we're giving out the award for the cheesiest series finale, I'd give it to Friends.
Posts: 6026 | Registered: Dec 2004  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Taalcon
Member
Member # 839

 - posted      Profile for Taalcon   Email Taalcon         Edit/Delete Post 
Six Feet Under had perhaps the best, and most appropriate Final Episode Ever.

Carnivale's second season finale was nearly equally amazing, even though it's a tragedy that it ended up being what it wasn't intended to be: the Series Finale.

Posts: 2689 | Registered: Apr 2000  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
SteveRogers
Member
Member # 7130

 - posted      Profile for SteveRogers           Edit/Delete Post 
I liked the SEASON finale for the second season of Arrested Development.
Posts: 6026 | Registered: Dec 2004  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Mabus
Member
Member # 6320

 - posted      Profile for Mabus   Email Mabus         Edit/Delete Post 
I can't say I liked the ending of DS9. Well...I liked parts of it. But the scene where Sisko suddenly gets up, abruptly "understanding" that he's supposed to run off to the Fire Caves where he has no reason to believe anything important is happening--I didn't buy that.

I also didn't find Kai Winn's betrayal particularly convincing; it's the same old "religious conservatives are really nasty, repressed hypocrites" canard. But then, in fairness, I didn't see enough of her episodes to be sure of her character.

Posts: 1114 | Registered: Mar 2004  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
breyerchic04
Member
Member # 6423

 - posted      Profile for breyerchic04   Email breyerchic04         Edit/Delete Post 
Wasn't MASH the first series to have a real true finale?
Posts: 5362 | Registered: Apr 2004  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Architraz Warden
Member
Member # 4285

 - posted      Profile for Architraz Warden   Email Architraz Warden         Edit/Delete Post 
Babylon 5. Twice. Both season four and season five have interesting endings, and both were made as series finales (four being a bit more light-hearted about it). The last two or three episodes of Season five were the best part of the season, by far.

Not the final episode, but the last line in one of the episodes in the closing arc of Babylon 5:

Delenn: "It occurs to me I have never walked the length of this place end to end."
Sheridan: "Well, Delenn, it's five miles long."
Delenn: "I know. Coming?"
Sheridan: "*Now?*"
Delenn: "Now is all we have."

Posts: 1368 | Registered: Sep 2002  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Dan_raven
Member
Member # 3383

 - posted      Profile for Dan_raven   Email Dan_raven         Edit/Delete Post 
I'm sorry. The best final episode ever--"The Newhart Show." OK, most of the finale was lame, but the last 2 minutes are classic. The character wakes up in bed with the wife from his previous show, and says "I've had the strangest dream..."
Posts: 11895 | Registered: Apr 2002  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
katdog42
Member
Member # 4773

 - posted      Profile for katdog42   Email katdog42         Edit/Delete Post 
"Newhart" and also "St. Elsewhere" take the cake, in my opinion, for good endings with a little twist.
Posts: 340 | Registered: Mar 2003  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Teshi
Member
Member # 5024

 - posted      Profile for Teshi   Email Teshi         Edit/Delete Post 
I have a phobia of the end of TV shows. I usually 'read the last page' and spoil it for myself because otherwise I cannot watch the rest of the show. So far I've done it for Buffy, Blakes 7, Star Trek: TNG and MASH. I pull up the plot of the last episode or so and read it through because I'm too much of a wuss to see the rest of the show without knowing what happens. I think (actually, I know) I have plot emotional issues, heh.

None of those episodes I have actually seen, except perhaps TNG ('All good things...') which I think I watched by mistake one day.

Like I said, I have a phobia of the end of TV shows. Hee hee. But you say the Buffy finale is good? Perhaps when I get there I will survive it, then. I already know what happens, but I can't trust Joss Whedon after what he did in Serenity.

Posts: 8473 | Registered: Apr 2003  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Amanecer
Member
Member # 4068

 - posted      Profile for Amanecer   Email Amanecer         Edit/Delete Post 
I think that the ending of Season 5 for Buffy is the ultimate Final Episode. I'm glad it went on because season 6 rocked, but the ending in 7 wasn't nearly as satisfying as 5.

I really loved the ending of Roswell. It was sappy but that fit with the series. I love it when writers know that their show is going to end and give it a proper conclusion. I hate it when they leave the show at a cliffhanger with the hope that it'll get picked up again.

Posts: 1947 | Registered: Aug 2002  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
The Pixiest
Member
Member # 1863

 - posted      Profile for The Pixiest   Email The Pixiest         Edit/Delete Post 
The Blake's 7 finale was amazing simply because...

BLAKE'S 7 SPOILER
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Evil wins and they all die. (cept avon and villa, but you have to read a book to find that out.) You have to have a show do that every once in a while. You need a sad ending to make the happy endings mean something.

Pix

Posts: 7085 | Registered: Apr 2001  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Lyrhawn
Member
Member # 7039

 - posted      Profile for Lyrhawn   Email Lyrhawn         Edit/Delete Post 
quote:
Originally posted by Mabus:
I can't say I liked the ending of DS9. Well...I liked parts of it. But the scene where Sisko suddenly gets up, abruptly "understanding" that he's supposed to run off to the Fire Caves where he has no reason to believe anything important is happening--I didn't buy that.

I also didn't find Kai Winn's betrayal particularly convincing; it's the same old "religious conservatives are really nasty, repressed hypocrites" canard. But then, in fairness, I didn't see enough of her episodes to be sure of her character.

Nah. He went to the Fire Caves because of a divine inspiration from the Prophets. If you accepted every previous instance of Prophet sharing ( [Wink] ), then why wouldn't you accept their final intervention?

So far as Kai Winn goes, it's not that surprising. She never really believed that Sisko, an outsider, was the real emmissary until the very end of the show. Yet time and and time again, this human proved he had more faith than she, her people's kai, had. He was a better servent of the prophet, and they NEVER spoke to her, no matter how much she wanted it.

If you had seen all the previous episodes that featured her, you'd know that she was a very jealous character full of animosity. She hated the fact that the Prohpets spoke to Sisko and not her, she was jealous of it too. And she was both jealous of and hated the fact that time and again, Sisko proved he was willing to make the ultimate sacrifice, the last full measure of devotion you might almost say, for the cause of the Prophets where she was weak and could not go through with it. It was this jealousy, and this hatred, that caused her to turn from the Prophets. The Pah Wraiths were easier, they demanded less in the way of devotion from her, and they were easily accessible. Quite frankly, I'm surprised we didn't see her rear her ugly head sooner.

Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
theresa51282
Member
Member # 8037

 - posted      Profile for theresa51282   Email theresa51282         Edit/Delete Post 
I loved the series finale of Buffy. I thought it really wrapped things up well. I just hated Spoiler Spoiler Spoiler
Z*****
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*

Anya had to die. I wished I could have seen her and Xander happy in the end. I loved them as a couple.

Posts: 416 | Registered: May 2005  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
   

   Close Topic   Feature Topic   Move Topic   Delete Topic next oldest topic   next newest topic
 - Printer-friendly view of this topic
Hop To:


Contact Us | Hatrack River Home Page

Copyright © 2008 Hatrack River Enterprises Inc. All rights reserved.
Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.


Powered by Infopop Corporation
UBB.classic™ 6.7.2