Great endings!

[bundabergdevil]

Breaking Bad is an obvious counter-example. The Sopranos, The Wire and Mad Men also had strong/consistent final seasons.

Agree with all these, with possible exception of The Wire. Its final season was the subject of pretty significant debate, IIRC. Exploring a fifth city institution (the media) was consistent with the show's purpose. It's been a while but I recall falling on the side that the core story was clunkier and more contrived than the other seasons (particularly 1, 3, and 4) and that McNulty's actions were a bridge too far for my read of his character. I'm assuming that the story at the heart of Season 5 is based on real incidents that David Simon observed similar to the rest of the series. My two cents.

Great endings could probably become it's own thread...

[fuse]

Multi-season shows only, or movies too?

[bundabergdevil]

Multi-season shows only, or movies too?

A lot of the broader discussion on good endings has been driven by the comparative satisfaction of Avengers/MCU fans (high satisfaction) versus GoT fans (low satisfaction...so far). So, I'd say multi-seasons shows and movies ---

I'll reiterate my original comments regarding The Wire. Certain elements of Season 5 really threw me off but I will say the final montage to close the series was perfect!

[PackMan97]

Great Endings - Battlestar Galactica (the reboot). All the threads going back to the very first movie come together for one heck of a ride. I've watched the last few episodes a lot more than I have the rest of the series.

Bad Endings - Heroes. Ugh! What could have been the MCU for TV turned awful because the writers didn't know how to kill a bad villian.

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

Great Endings - Battlestar Galactica (the reboot). All the threads going back to the very first movie come together for one heck of a ride. I've watched the last few episodes a lot more than I have the rest of the series.

Bad Endings - Heroes. Ugh! What could have been the MCU for TV turned awful because the writers didn't know how to kill a bad villian.

I honestly could not get past the first few episodes of the second season of Heroes. The first season was near perfect television. Then it went sideways.

As I recall, it was also a victim of thr writers' strike. Can anyone confirm?

[Nick]

It's a divisive topic, but: I really like the last episode of Seinfeld.

[mkirsh]

Is this the thread to talk about Austin Rivers?

My all time favorite is Six Feet Under - perfectly ended the series in a manner that was consistent with the show, wrapped up everyone's story, and was incredibly powerful.

Also loved the Wire, and agree on BSG (though was not a fan of the ghost Kara Thrace thing).


Hall of Shame for me is:
- Lost. Probably not much debate here. Lost was an amazing show in Seasons 1 and 2, and then went all downhill from there. We were always told that the show runners had the ending all mapped out but in reality they just meant the final shot and totally muddled their way there.

- Sopranos. The cut to black actually is a good metaphor for the finale overall - it wasn't so much of an ending as much as the show just stopped. Didn't really wrap up any character arcs, just seemed like David Chase didn't want to tell the story anymore.

- West Wing. Loved this show, but the last few seasons make GOT season 8 (where this started) look like GOT season 1.

- Seinfeld. There was so much pressure to end this show in some amazing fashion that they tried to make a joke out if it, but it didn't work.

[JasonEvans]

M*A*S*H* is about as good an ending as you can do with the war ending and everyone moving on to a life after Korea. And if you find a better final shot for a show than this one, be sure to let me know.

[Udaman]

Fun thread.

JE is correct, there will NEVER be an ending as good as MASH. Ever. The closed the book on fantastic endings not just with that final shot (and the scramble before for Hawkeye to find B.J., but for the story itself. It was 2 hours and was maybe the best 2 hours of MASH ever.

But there have been a ton of swings and misses for finales.

Seinfeld was pretty bad.
Sopranos was pretty frustrating (though some liked the fade to black)
Lost was pretty bad.
Cheers was pretty bad.


I'm not sanguine on GOTs, but hopeful.

By the way, two other endings that I thought were great were Breaking Bad, and of course this one (which would be #1 except for the MASH ending)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmiFeNrggvE

[CameronBlue]

M*A*S*H* is about as good an ending as you can do with the war ending and everyone moving on to a life after Korea. And if you find a better final shot for a show than this one, be sure to let me know.

As a MASH superfan the final episode left me ambivalent. After years of sustained excellence my expectations for the final were likely unrealistic. Through its first 8 or so seasons, MASH effectively balanced its anti-war message with perfectly scripted comedy that accentuated the versatility of the ensemble and enjoyed broad appeal as a result. Some of the funniest performances were turned in by guest stars in cameos--Edward Winter, Alan Arbus, Pat Morita. But over the last few years the preachiness angle began to dominate in the eyes of some critics. As a superfan I didn't mind in the least but I felt that Hawkeye's plotline in the final was indulgent and contrived. Winchester's was incredibly indulgent as well but poignantly delivered by Stiers and saved the show IMO. The other storylines were mostly forgettable.

[bjornolf]

The movie, Serenity, that ended Firefly did a great job IMHO.
Justified had a solid ending.
Longmire had a good ending.

[CrazyNotCrazie]

Mrs. Crazy and I were huge fans of How I Met Your Mother. Given the nature of the show, a lot was riding on the finale, and it was going to have a hard time living up to expectations. We, like many others, kept track of all of the plot twists to make sure the story was consistent and leading up to an accurate ending. Overall, it was quite the let down, particularly since they had the first woman he married die young, which was too morbid.

I was also a huge Seinfeld fan and was generally underwhelmed by the finale. It made me feel bad about myself for laughing at all of their jokes and in some ways identifying with different aspects of the characters.

[bjornolf]

Mrs. Crazy and I were huge fans of How I Met Your Mother. Given the nature of the show, a lot was riding on the finale, and it was going to have a hard time living up to expectations. We, like many others, kept track of all of the plot twists to make sure the story was consistent and leading up to an accurate ending. Overall, it was quite the let down, particularly since they had the first woman he married die young, which was too morbid.

I was also a huge Seinfeld fan and was generally underwhelmed by the finale. It made me feel bad about myself for laughing at all of their jokes and in some ways identifying with different aspects of the characters.

My wife hated the ending to HIMYM so much she won’t even watch reruns. She really liked that show, but it is dead to her now.

[Kdogg]

Mrs. Crazy and I were huge fans of How I Met Your Mother. Given the nature of the show, a lot was riding on the finale, and it was going to have a hard time living up to expectations. We, like many others, kept track of all of the plot twists to make sure the story was consistent and leading up to an accurate ending. Overall, it was quite the let down, particularly since they had the first woman he married die young, which was too morbid.

They released an alternate ending because of the backlash. It gives the proper happy ending. Also I don’t think the mother died too young. There was that scene with her and Tracy returned to the venue as older adults.

In the same vein, Chuck had an uncharacteristically cold ending.

They are not as popular but some of the SYFY channel shows have had very satisfying endings like Battlestar and more recently 12 Monkeys.

[bjornolf]

They released an alternate ending because of the backlash. It gives the proper happy ending. Also I don’t think the mother died too young. There was that scene with her and Tracy returned to the venue as older adults.

In the same vein, Chuck had an uncharacteristically cold ending.

They are not as popular but some of the SYFY channel shows have had very satisfying endings like Battlestar and more recently 12 Monkeys.

I liked Chuck, but not the ending. Loved Alias, until it got all weird at the end.

[JasonEvans]

The movie, Serenity, that ended Firefly did a great job IMHO.

I never watched Firefly (pick your jaw up off the floor) so I came in to Serenity completely cold with no previous knowledge of the characters. I still think Serenity is one of the best sci-fi movies of the past 20 years.

[Udaman]

I never watched Firefly (pick your jaw up off the floor) so I came in to Serenity completely cold with no previous knowledge of the characters. I still think Serenity is one of the best sci-fi movies of the past 20 years.

Same here. Had never seen a single Firefly episode...and thoroughly enjoyed the movie. Definitely one of the best sci fi movies of last 20 years (up there with Edge of Tomorrow and Ex Machina).

Sopranos was frustrating for me because they wimped out. Does the ending mean that Tony was killed, or not? Some argue both ways. To do an ending where it's up to the viewer to decide what happens (life or death), to me, is a cop out. Show him die. Show him live. But don't do both.

I kind of like How I Met Your Mother's finale. Also greatly enjoyed that entire run. After Season 3, I thought it was in trouble, and then the last two seasons were consistently outstanding. My kids have now watched them all and really liked them.

And yes, Season 1 of Heroes was great television. Season 2 was dreadful.

Buffy also had an OK finale (that show needs a reboot!). And I actually really liked the ending to Star Trek Next Generation. Mainly because it brought back Q.

[mkirsh]

Same here. Had never seen a single Firefly episode...and thoroughly enjoyed the movie. Definitely one of the best sci fi movies of last 20 years (up there with Edge of Tomorrow and Ex Machina).

Sopranos was frustrating for me because they wimped out. Does the ending mean that Tony was killed, or not? Some argue both ways. To do an ending where it's up to the viewer to decide what happens (life or death), to me, is a cop out. Show him die. Show him live. But don't do both.

I kind of like How I Met Your Mother's finale. Also greatly enjoyed that entire run. After Season 3, I thought it was in trouble, and then the last two seasons were consistently outstanding. My kids have now watched them all and really liked them.

And yes, Season 1 of Heroes was great television. Season 2 was dreadful.

Buffy also had an OK finale (that show needs a reboot!). And I actually really liked the ending to Star Trek Next Generation. Mainly because it brought back Q.

I think ambiguity can be ok if it's well done - see Inception, where we don't know if it was a dream or not, but we know that is the question we are supposed to ask. The Soprano's, to me at least, didn't set the table much for us to have the debate - it just stopped, played a Journey song that didn't have any connection to what was going on, and then fan theories about a guy in a members only jacket popped up weeks and months later. I get that people in the "Tony got shot" camp say that he could get popped at any time and never see it coming and that, plus the callback to death being black nothingness, is the genius of the scene, but as the viewer I would have liked the threat of death to be a little more present - have more people looking at him in the restaurant, show the guy in the jacket creeping towards the table more, etc before the cut. Maybe it was just too subtle for me. It's admittedly a fine line, and in the eye of the beholder, but I loved Inception and felt highly let down by the Sopranos.

[El_Diablo]

Sopranos was frustrating for me because they wimped out. Does the ending mean that Tony was killed, or not? Some argue both ways. To do an ending where it's up to the viewer to decide what happens (life or death), to me, is a cop out. Show him die. Show him live. But don't do both.

I think ambiguity can be ok if it's well done - see Inception, where we don't know if it was a dream or not, but we know that is the question we are supposed to ask. The Soprano's, to me at least, didn't set the table much for us to have the debate - it just stopped, played a Journey song that didn't have any connection to what was going on, and then fan theories about a guy in a members only jacket popped up weeks and months later. I get that people in the "Tony got shot" camp say that he could get popped at any time and never see it coming and that, plus the callback to death being black nothingness, is the genius of the scene, but as the viewer I would have liked the threat of death to be a little more present - have more people looking at him in the restaurant, show the guy in the jacket creeping towards the table more, etc before the cut. Maybe it was just too subtle for me. It's admittedly a fine line, and in the eye of the beholder, but I loved Inception and felt highly let down by the Sopranos.

You two should definitely check out the link bundabergdevil posted above. Part I, Section A, breaks down the scene very thoroughly and makes the case very convincingly that everything was subtly (yet deliberately) crafted to indicate that Tony was killed by the guy in the Members Only jacket coming out of the bathroom, and that the ten seconds of silence/blackness was Tony's final POV. It's not an invitation for the viewer to decide what happened; it's saying he's dead.

[mkirsh]

You two should definitely check out the link bundabergdevil posted above. Part I, Section A, breaks down the scene very thoroughly and makes the case very convincingly that everything was subtly (yet deliberately) crafted to indicate that Tony was killed by the guy in the Members Only jacket coming out of the bathroom, and that the ten seconds of silence/blackness was Tony's final POV. It's not an invitation for the viewer to decide what happened; it's saying he's dead.

Don't get me wrong, I loved the show, and I definitely went through that analysis a few years back. I guess it comes back to my point of too much subtlety - I feel that if you need a film degree and hundreds of hours to decipher the finale then maybe it was too subtle and nuanced for even the highly engaged viewer, and therefore doesn't connect with the audience in a way consistent with the quality of the rest of the show. Obviously this is a matter of opinion so I respect other's views, but this is how I felt at the conclusion of a show where I watched every episode from the beginning. And to your point that he's dead with no room for other interpretations, Chase has steadfastly refused to give the answer (even rejecting the idea that everything is coded on the screen). Here is an interesting article on his comments from January of this year, with select quotes below:

https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood...s-is-tony-dead

He also batted away the idea that the episode contains hidden hints that might illuminate what really happened, calling the finale “no Da Vinci Code.

...

Months later, Chase was back at it again, telling USA Today as he promoted his new film, Not Fade Away, “People still ask me what happened [in the final scene]. They don’t ask me if Tony is alive or dead. But I know that’s where it’s going. My answer is, if I was going to tell you that I would have told you.”

“If he didn’t die that night he’s going to die very soon,” Chase said. “And the problem is the same: there are the number of minutes in life and they go like this,” he added, making a ticking sound. “They’re gone. And you don’t know when it’s coming. That’s all I wanted to say.”