4815162342 Posted September 30, 2013 Share Posted September 30, 2013 In honor of Breaking Bad's series finale taking the country by storm, a thread for discussing what makes for a great series finale, and what makes for a terrible one, along with personal opinions of the best and worst series finales for shows out there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAR Posted September 30, 2013 Share Posted September 30, 2013 I think as long as the story provides some closure, or it moves on to another chapter can make a great series finale. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lordmandeep Posted September 30, 2013 Share Posted September 30, 2013 At first I did not like the Soprano's finale but after watching the entire series Twice. Its an amazing ending, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iceroll Posted September 30, 2013 Share Posted September 30, 2013 Six. Feet. Under. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoolioD1 Posted September 30, 2013 Share Posted September 30, 2013 I think what makes a great finale depends on the nature of your show. It's like what Vince Gilligan was saying on Talking Bad about how an ambiguous Sopranos-esque ending wouldn't have made much sense for BrBad, but it works extremely well for The Sopranos nonetheless. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAR Posted September 30, 2013 Share Posted September 30, 2013 However, if a creator just wants to indulge themselves ala Seinfeld then it doesn't work. Oh and the it's all been a dream worked once and only once, Newhart Arguably still the best finale ever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4815162342 Posted September 30, 2013 Author Share Posted September 30, 2013 I agree Coolio, it depends very much on whether your show is more plot-driven or character-driven. For example Lost started out as a character-driven show, but by Season 3 it had become a plot/mythology-driven show through Season 5, and then Season 6 decided to go back to being a character-driven affair and either gave half-baked answers or didn't bother answering some important burning questions, which is why its series finale is so controversial. For me, the Holy Trinity of series finales is M*A*S*H*, Six Feet Under, and The Wire. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAR Posted September 30, 2013 Share Posted September 30, 2013 I haven't seen the MASH finale in years, but I don't think the show holds up that well. It just comes across a rather preachy, now. Granted when it was on I was a kid so I just watched for things like Klinger dressing up. Or what pranks Hawkeye and BJ would play. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4815162342 Posted September 30, 2013 Author Share Posted September 30, 2013 I haven't seen the MASH finale in years, but I don't think the show holds up that well. It just comes across a rather preachy, now. Granted when it was on I was a kid so I just watched for things like Klinger dressing up. Or what pranks Hawkeye and BJ would play. The show itself sure, but the series finale I thought really did a fantastic job of getting back to the heart of the show. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Community Manager Water Bottle Posted September 30, 2013 Community Manager Share Posted September 30, 2013 Fringe, in my opinion, had an excellent series finale. Just throwing that out there. As for Lost, I actually like it a lot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAR Posted September 30, 2013 Share Posted September 30, 2013 I'll have to seek it out again. One finale I loved was Friday Night Lights. It was a show that was never about football but more about marriage and family. And it was nothing flashy, it just showed that people move from one chapter in their lives to another. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4815162342 Posted September 30, 2013 Author Share Posted September 30, 2013 (edited) Fringe had a very good finale yes, but it was all tied into the not-so-good idea Season 5 revolved around. Anytime the driving plot of a show is to hit a "reset" button, the show loses lots of narrative force. And given that much of Season 4 was the reality resetting around a re-inserted Peter, that was two seasons in a row where the narrative kinda went off the rails. I do give Season 4 credit for bringing back Jared Harris for lots of villainy. Best villain on the show. Edited September 30, 2013 by 4815162342 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAR Posted September 30, 2013 Share Posted September 30, 2013 I have some problems with the Lost finale, but the last five minutes still make me a wreck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4815162342 Posted September 30, 2013 Author Share Posted September 30, 2013 I think what really pissed people off about the Lost finale was that after being told that the purgatory theory was wrong (in that the island was purgatory), the entire Sideways World in Season 6 turned out to be nothing but Purgatory, no actual narrative stakes or anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Community Manager Water Bottle Posted September 30, 2013 Community Manager Share Posted September 30, 2013 Fringe had a very good finale yes, but it was all tied into the not-so-good idea Season 5 revolved around. Anytime the driving plot of a show is to hit a "reset" button, the show loses lots of narrative force. And given that much of Season 4 was the reality resetting around a re-inserted Peter, that was two seasons in a row where the narrative kinda went off the rails. I do give Season 4 credit for bringing back Jared Harris for lots of villainy. Best villain on the show. The fifth season (along with the fourth) was excellent. Whatever the case, the two seasons were ambitious as hell. I think what really pissed people off about the Lost finale was that after being told that the purgatory theory was wrong (in that the island was purgatory), the entire Sideways World in Season 6 turned out to be nothing but Purgatory, no actual narrative stakes or anything. No, what I think pissed most people off is that they were stupid and thought the show was telling them that they were dead from the pilot. My dad and sister still refuse to accept that only the sideways world was purgatory. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoolioD1 Posted September 30, 2013 Share Posted September 30, 2013 I adore the Twin Peaks finale. Well, it wasn't supposed to be a finale and is just kinda "Welp, we're gonna get cancelled so lets be as Lynchian as possible for this last one..." and it's the tits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAR Posted September 30, 2013 Share Posted September 30, 2013 And I was disappointed in the 24 finale, I hope that when the show comes back, Jack Bauer can get a more proper send off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoolioD1 Posted September 30, 2013 Share Posted September 30, 2013 I still stand by the LOST finale. I got up at 4am to watch it because they were showing it in the UK at the same time as in the US and it may have been because of how extremely tired I was but I cried all through that shit. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAR Posted September 30, 2013 Share Posted September 30, 2013 Vincent lying down next to Jack , 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4815162342 Posted September 30, 2013 Author Share Posted September 30, 2013 (edited) The fifth season (along with the fourth) was excellent. Whatever the case, the two seasons were ambitious as hell. No, what I think pissed most people off is that they were stupid and thought the show was telling them that they were dead from the pilot. My dad and sister still refuse to accept that only the sideways world was purgatory. Ambitious yes, but also off the rails and badly focused and planned out in a way that simply disregarded a lot of what the first three seasons built towards. As for Lost, as I said earlier, by the time Season 6 started Lost was all about plot and mythology. What infuriated lots of "non-stupid" people is that a massive chunk of Season 6, the Sideways World, turned out to be utterly irrelevant to any plot or narrative and was just there to show a long, laborious process to characters, even dead ones, getting a happy ending. Season 6 violently changed the kind of show it wanted to be and it did it in a hamfisted fashion. Now the finale delivered in spades when it came to character moments and tearjerker elements, but in terms of a huge part of what the show had come to be about, the finale was the culmination of a season-long indifferent shrug. Edited September 30, 2013 by 4815162342 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
