Final Episodes

I watch a lot of TV, so sometimes I have to do a run to wiki or imdb to figure out what is showing what week and when and add them into my calendar -- not so much to watch at that time, but so I remember to watch it later. I was doing this yesterday and discovered that Numb3rs had been cut down to 16 episodes and the finale was Friday night. Shocking enough to find myself suddenly at the end of a season, more shocking to realize the show was probably about to end (one of the actors, Rob Morrow, is leaving the show for a pilot, and since his character is one of the two main characters, its unlikely the show can manage without him).

It got me thinking though -- what makes a good series finale -- and how can you screw it up royally. Is there a way to make just a mediocre ending, or will these finales huge and momentous. Its one of the dangers of the TV format that I think is a major issue -- these are characters that you've watched for however many seasons (hopefully many) and you love them and are rooting for them and want the stories to keep going -- and yet, at some point, there is an end. Letting go is important, but keeping in tone with the show is also important. How do you manage to make a good finale episode?

Of course, spoilers will be rampant and present. If you want to avoid being spoiled for the following shows I would suggest that you don't read this one: Battlestar Galactica, Veronica Mars, Firefly, Studio Sixty on the Sunset Strip and Friends.

Let's start with the poorer finale episodes. These are the episodes that when I watched them, I felt like the show was slightly off balance -- there was something wrong in the writing. Often, the stories were annoying at best, and just wrong for the kind of show at worst.

Battlestar Galactica is currently one of my favorite shows, I will admit to that right off the bat, however, its finale was weaker then some of the other episodes from a writing perspective. Lets ignore the screaming voice in my head that says that there is not way in hell that making the characters in BSG our ancestors could be possible, and edge around the huge amount of fridge logic that apparently made its way into this episode. There are two major concerns that occur to me right off the bat -- the flashbacks, and the characterization.

Lets start with the flashbacks. Who puts flashbacks into a finale? It feels like a clip show to be honest. Lets be honest is there any information about the characters that we found out from the flashbacks that is necessary to close out their stories? Lee and Kara had chemistry when they first met? WELL DUH. We knew that from watching the goddamned show. Bill Adama loves his ship. REALLY I COULDN'T TELL! Baltar has daddy issues. At this point I don't even know what to do with Baltar's character and how much it has been fucked over. Rosalin's family died in a car crash? I mean, I actually found this flashback compelling, but it didn't add to her character in the slightest.

We're watching a finale. We don't need NEW information about these characters. We know them well. We know their intentions, the way they move, what they are supposed to do. Instead of giving more of them to us, to remind us what we're going to be loosing, we get information that's been recycled through the season. To be honest, it feels like they had a two hour episode to write, stared at it, and thought they didn't have enough story to stretch out over the two hours.

This would have been fine in a different show -- but BSG has been consistently well written in the form of a space drama since day one (with a few exceptions) -- and this finale sells it out. And its because the show was written well that the character changes are so obvious. The people that most bothered me were Baltar, Caprica Six and Kara.

Baltar's character started pissing me off completely when he started being Jesus (I once saw an icon that said "On the next Battlestar Galactica, Bill uses the glare of death, Lee gets emo and is on the verge of tears and Guis pretends to be Jesus. Again." and was super amused by it). But I'll be fair, it was within his character's capabilities. The switching sides was what bothered me. I couldn't figure out why he did it. To prove Lee wrong? When has that ever been an incentive for him? It seems that the writers were just like "Eh, he's been annoying, so let's redeem him!"

Caprica Six. Ah Tricia Helfer, you're so pretty and a good actor, why was it decided to just have you wander off with Baltar at the end? I was all right with the whole Tigh subplot of him having sex with her (all right being the key word, I was not exactly happy with it) and then the baby that she lost because Tigh didn't love her? I don't understand in the slightest. Caprica Six was in love with Baltar, not Tigh, and the whole story seemed weird, but don't just forget it. That failing the characters.

Lastly -- Kara. End of season 3 I knew she was coming back, because, well, I read ahead, so I was curious how it was going to work, what with her having died and all. The convoluted "Angels walk among us" idea though was not an appropriate way to end the series. Messages from a "God" figure whether he likes the name or not, plays far too into the origin of BSG (based on Mormon mythology? I really don't know but apparently) then into creating a space drama.

The failing of BSG was not looking at itself properly and seeing the many threads they had tugged at and realizing the important ones. Yes, Kara had to be explained, Hera had to be saved, and something had to happen to either save Galactica or find somewhere to settle down (like many shows with characters in the title, its difficult to have a show called Battlestar Galactica without the Battlestar in attendance in an episode), but you have to do it within the flavor of the show, rising the characters out of the muddied waters that have been created, and instead of getting that, the writers kept them in the mud -- the desire to wrap everything up neatly failing in more ways then one.

The problems in BSG are ones that they had time to anticipate, and perhaps that's what is so disappointing for me. They knew they were coming to an end -- and they failed at using that information to their advantage. This is not the problem for Veronica Mars however.

The problem of Veronica Mars is understandable. Not knowing about a fourth season, you have to leave it open ended enough to move forward, but still tie up a majority of the threads. What happens when you do this? Well, you end up with an episode that gets oddly distributed. The episode feels like a normal episode -- we get the mystery, we get the characters, as if nothing is different about this episode. Usually in a finale, this is a good thing, but when its too normal, you end up feeling this empty ache at the end of an episode -- Is this all I'm getting to end out this show?

I will give it to VM though, it wasn't the writers' fault in this case. Like, Firefly.

Oh Firefly, how I miss you. We're looking just at the TV show and going to avoid Serenity as the real conclusion to the show. From the stand point of not knowing that there was going to be a motion picture, lets look at the episode Objects in Space which was Joss Whedon's choice of the end of the season, if not the actual end of the show.

Firefly's own host of issues to do with broadcast make this episode feel sort of odd when watching it was the finale. I didn't find it to be a bad finale, but I didn't find it to be a particularly amazing finale. In terms of what it did well -- it created a story that felt like it closed out the show well -- River becoming a part of the group. Its what a good finale does -- creating a story within the scope of the show that ties up loose ends. What it doesn't do, however, is tie up enough of the ends.

Objects in Space is a show about River Tam, its not about the crew, its not about Mal, its about River, who, while I enjoy her character, is not the heart and soul of the show. The heart and soul is the interaction between characters, and this episode introduces a new character and cuts off the others. We are therefore left in a world that is populated by River and Early, with perhaps a bit of Simon. I felt like each of the characters had maybe one scene in this episode, even though they had more. For a finale, you want to be able to see the closing out of each character's story line and instead this episode delivered a single character show. Its why, despite the merits of creating a somewhat satisfying episode for a season finale, it is placed in the middle of these finale episodes.
Similarly, Studio Sixty on the Sunset Strip lands in the middle of finale episodes, though higher up then Firefly. I don't know whether this is something that Aaron Sorkin does since after season five of The West Wing I stopped watching to be honest, but oh the drama of this four part finale. Tom's brother and Jordan's baby being the most intense bits, but there's also something going on with Simon and Jack and of course everyone is running around, smashing things, getting upset, praying, or making fun of people for praying, flirting outrageously, and trying to comfort one another.

Here again we are presented with flashbacks -- but unlike in BSG, s60's add to the plot. We see Matt and Danny's fall from grace, see what happened to them, and why them coming back is so painful. I know I said we shouldn't get more information about the characters, but rather close out plot lines, but in this case we get both. The theater is their home, and we can see it in the flashbacks, and the horrible way they lose it, and how they have no regained it. This is a delicate balance that Aaron Sorkin walks, but its done well, and therefore it works. The flashbacks enhance the story in a way that the BSG flashbacks did not.

A negative of this show that is easier to articulate, though this might be a personal preference, is the fact that Matt's main responsibility in the present seems to be wandering around keeping people from doing much. After the drug addiction storyline, I wanted to see something happen with it. I wanted to know what was going to happen or see some sort of withdrawal. Yes, there was a lot of action to get through, but there were FOUR HOURS to get into Matt's problems, and instead we just brush the surface.

On a positive side though, most of the nagging questions of the short lived show are answered. Matt and Harriet end up together. Jordan already had the adoption papers in her bag, and was always going to marry Danny, the baby is fine, Tom's brother is rescued, Simon doesn't lose his job. We get everything we really need from the finale, and the story still feels like it's supposed to exist within the mythos of the series.

If you're looking at these examples and wondering if there's any finale that I like, I will assure you that thus far, I haven't brought up good finales. Friends and Buffy the Vampire Slayer are the two best, writing wise, finale episodes I have seen. Let's start with Buffy.

What Buffy accomplishes is huge -- bringing to a conclusion seven years of consistently good television (your opinion may vary, but writing wise, the show stayed up there, even if the concepts and ideas went a little crazy) while still remaining true to the concept and giving a good ending to the characters who are so important to us.

You can see it in the moment when the four main characters (Giles will always been a main character for me) gather together in the place where it all began, and don't talk about the terrible battle that is to come, but rather talk about what they will do after. For a show that has been about relationships and characters for quite a lot of its run, this felt like a good place to leave the characters. Then we got an awesome battle, heroic sacrifice, mad dash towards the end, and that perfect shot, of the almost smile on Buffy's face.

Chosen ties up all the loose ends for the important characters -- Anya and Spike are dead, Willow, consumed by her magic a season before, becomes a force of good, Xander remains his own, silly self, who will defend them to the end, and Buffy is no longer the Chosen one, no longer alone. It feels neat, while not contrived, and that is what all shows should strive for.

The other advantage that Buffy has going for it is that this episode doesn't break from the norm of what you would expect from an episode. Its a monster, major battle, final feeling sort of episode. Angel even appears briefly to round out a cast that was split four seasons ago. We get the end and it walks that delicate balance between feeling too much like just another episode and being a special episode gracefully and well.

The best episode, in my opinion, that is a finale is The Last One from Friends.

A half hour sitcom has certain things that must happen in order for an episode to be considered good and the biggest one is laughs. In writing an episode that would make millions cry (I was among them) how do you make it funny? Whose story lines need to be focused on and what relationships need to be explored. Obviously for Friends the biggest question was: will Ross and Rachel get together -- but there are other relationships that need closure. Monica and Chandler's baby needs to be born, Chandler and Joey need to have a story line. Rachel is leaving for Paris. And, as usual, Pheobe needs to be just a little bit weird.

The solution to this last was to have Pheobe sing-narrating for a little bit. One way to get laughs, yet still within her character and still adding to the plot (a bit). Joey and Chandler get their conclusion with the Chick and Duck story line. The baby(ies) are born and Monica is finally a mother. And of course Ross and Rachel get together.

The final shot of the show is the main set piece, the girl's apartment, empty and the keys. Its just a sweet, and beautiful way to end the show and remind us that the whole premise is to make us laugh, make us cry, and watch these six people interact.

Well, its been two days writing this and its late now, so I have no witty way to end this. Some finales are good, some finales are not, but the most important thing is how you feel at the end. How do you feel after watching a finale?