The Series Finale: Just Some of Sir Griffin's Thoughts

In 2013 two of my favorite shows will reach their conclusion; Fringe will air its final episode in January and Breaking Bad will finish its run sometime in the summer. I always come to a series finale with some trepidation knowing that I have been burned in the past by some bad finales, but also with a bit of optimism since I have also seen some fantastic finales. How either of these shows will end is anyone’s guess, but all I ask for is an ending that is satisfying so I am not left to wonder or interpret on my own what really happened.

Now the first episode of the first half of this season of Breaking Bad began with a flash-forward to Walter ordering breakfast (but not eating it, what a waste) in a Denny's on his 52nd birthday. Walt is using an alias and has a New Hampshire driver’s license. He meets with Lawson in the restroom and is given the keys to a car that has an arsenal in the trunk. The final episode ended with Hank sitting on a toilet in Walt’s house and finally putting it all together that Walt is the meth manufacturer he has been looking for all along. I am expecting a bang up conclusion.

As far as Fringe goes I am expecting a conclusion that is a little happier and maybe a tad more predictable. I

am guessing that Walter will finally put everything together, stop The Observers and then get everyone back to 2015 when The Observers first took over. Only this time little Etta will continue to play happily in that park as opposed to the destruction and separation that kept her away from her parents for 20 years. That may be a little bland and maybe too candy corn, but I am ready and willing to be surprised by the writers.

All of this got me to thinking about the finales that I loved and the ones that I did not. Often times a show just ends with no real conclusion. I’m not a big fan of that. When you are ending a show you have to go all out. And yes, that includes good shows, bad shows, stupid shows and ones that are complete cornpone. So today I am going to offer you a few of the ones, both good and bad, that stood out for me. Please keep in mind that I am not putting these in any order as that is for you to decide.

Newhart – This may be the greatest finale of all time and it is certainly one of my favorites. I remember when I was watching it and thinking how ridiculous for the entire town, except for the inn owned by Dick & Joanna, to be purchased by a Japanese tycoon and turned into a giant golf course. But after Dick gets hit with the golf ball and wakes up as Bob Hartley with Emily on the old Bob Newhart Show I quickly realized how brilliant it was. It still makes me laugh.

M*A*S*H* - There has long been a debate on this one, but I liked it. Yes it was somewhat corny and a bit schmaltzy, but how did you expect it to end? At first I had a problem with the whole Hawkeye being away from everyone else for much of the finale, but over the years I got over it. Still one of my favorites.

St. Elsewhere – Again a controversial ending, but once again it was something I thought was so cool that I just went with it. Some complain that it was just another “it’s just a dream” conclusion, but in actuality it should be interpreted as all being in the imagination of the autistic kid as he looked into his snow globe. After this first aired I have never seen it again so I may be the only one who liked the ending.

Battlestar Galactica – After a brilliant run with some minor missteps along the way, this show ended with a thud. In an overblown and way too long finale we had a great battle followed by them landing on earth, destroying all their technology and becoming the beginnings of the human race. More points lost for the dull story of Commander Adama flying off with the dying president, burying her (after she died of course) and living alone on a mountain. Ugh!

Seinfeld – From one of my all-time favorite comedies comes one of my biggest disappointments. I found the whole trial to be rather unfunny and then tossing them in jail at the end was just dumb. I prefer to forget that this ever happened and like to think of the show within a show on Curb Your Enthusiasm as to be the true Seinfeld finale.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer – While I thought the episode was fairly solid overall I certainly would not call it one of my favorites. The Hellmouth is destroyed (technically it still exists. I know this because I work there) Sunnydale collapses into the crater and is gone for good and Dawn asks what they are going to do next. Well I wanted to know that as well, but all we got was a smirk from Buffy. I still wish they had done some sort of “five years later” reunion.

Angel – I loved this show and in some ways I think it even surpassed Buffy in its quality. Like Buffy, the

finale was good, but not great. While I understood the idea that Angel would always have to fight and that he would never be done battling evil I could have easily enjoyed at least one more season of seeing him do what he did best. I did not like seeing Wesley killed off either.

Firefly- Had no finale because it was canceled way too soon. Damn it I am still pissed about that after 10 years. I suppose it did have its conclusion via the big screen adaptation called Serenity, but I can’t count that. Sorry.

Like Firefly there have been way too many shows canceled before they could play out to a satisfying conclusion: Threshold, Flash Forward, Terra Nova and Invasion just to name a few. And, of course, there have been more than a few shows that ended with just a normal episode like Everybody Loves Raymond. But all shows must end at some point (except 60 minutes. That thing will be on forever) and whatever way the writers deal with it we must accept. So my friends, do you have any favorites or much hated finales you’d like to share? Feel free.