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Of course there is a series finale that recently aired that everyone can’t stop talking about for not exactly the right reasons. But I was thinking in light of Killing Eve‘s swan-song, discussions on this site about other disappointing finales and so many shows airing their final seasons this year (Better Call Saul, The Walking Dead, Atlanta, Ozark) what those on this forum think is the greatest series finale? Is there a certain series finale that towers over the rest? What are the ingredients needed to create such a satisfying ending?
Feel free to discuss.
ReplyFYC: Better Call Saul, The English and The Good Fight in all categories including Emily Blunt, Bob Odenkirk, Christine Baranski and Rhea Seehorn.
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The HBO darlings everywhere (The Last of Us, Succession, The White Lotus, Perry Mason, Somebody Somewhere, White House Plumbers, Love & Death);
The Apple gang (Bad Sisters, Slow Horses, Shrinking, Ted Lasso, Black Bird);
Poker Face, The Great, The Bear, Evil (especially Katja Herbers) and The Good Fight.Please! These gays, they're trying to murder me!
I think the series finale I’ve ever felt the most passionate about personally was that of The Leftovers (The Book of Nora). There were so many loose ends that were just tied up in a perfect 72 minutes of television, were not rushed at all in delivery and it carefully tread the line between plot focused and character focused drama (just like The Leftovers did consistently as a show). Not only was there not a single opportunity for a character to act differently for no logical reason but we saw these characters actually evolve in a very realistic and lived in way (in part thanks to Justin Theroux and Carrie Coon’s incredible performances). It’s a finale that I would like to revisit one day but I don’t know if I want to so soon because I still feel the impact from having seen it the first go round?
The Americans comes very close for similar reasons and I think has the best final scene of a finale ever. Mad Men also has a clever final scene (or rather shot) although I don’t think I feel as passionate about it as I do with the former two shows because whilst each character’s arc nicely came to a close, I don’t think I felt as satisfied with any of them as I did with Don and Peggy. I actually think I felt more satisfied with the execution of characters like Betty and Joan’s final storylines in the preceding two episodes (“Lost Horizon” and “The Milk and Honey Route”) because I felt the characters had more breathing room.
The most recent finale I’ve felt was quite strong (although perhaps not one that comes on an “all time great”) level was that of In My Skin. The coming of age trope of an adolescent from a lower socio-economic background or from a marginalised group suddenly have a “fairytale” ending is something that often I find to be quite tiring so it was nice to see its protagonist having a satisfying and “hopeful” ending whilst nothing suddenly felt like it was out of some sort of Disney fairytale. It felt very realistic to show a character embark on a promising future without the world around them suddenly becoming some sort of utopia.
When I try to think of comedies with the finales I thought were the greatest I’m struck by how many multi-camera sitcoms tend to come up. Frasier, Miranda, The IT Crowd… I think what’s drawn me to the conclusions of each of these shows is how reflective they are whilst also how much they look ahead. The IT Crowd‘s finale for example is both a look at how rapidly the world is changing as the internet evolves, a reflection on the show’s history and on how far the principal characters have come in the seven years the show had been on air. Similar thing with both of the other two shows and their eponymous character’s growth over a show spanning period of time in their lives where they’ve had their fair shares of ups and downs. Of humiliations and heartbreaks. Going outside of the multi-cam world I think The Good Place has the most satisfying finale I can think of with perhaps one my favourite final pieces of dialogue on a show ever.
ReplyCopy URLFYC: Better Call Saul, The English and The Good Fight in all categories including Emily Blunt, Bob Odenkirk, Christine Baranski and Rhea Seehorn.
I personally also really liked Downton Abbey’s Series Finale with Dowager Violet finally exclaiming of having passed the baton on to Cora. And with Edith getting the love she had so long deserved, Bates and Anna getting their hope fulfilled through a child, the end of the era of Carson and Thomas being appointed as head Butler, Isobel and Lord Merton leaning Merton isn’t dying and Mary finally having settled.
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The Shield is the answer and it’ll be hard to ever budge that one. All of the bad things that had piled up for these characters since the beginning, everything ‘comes due’, and it just concludes so perfectly. There’s one of the sickest betrayals you’ll ever see, and that’s not even the most harrowing scene..
Couple others that come to mind.. Homeland had a great one recently. That one definitely makes the short list.
The one that nobody ever says, because nobody watched the show, is The Knick. Very good series, but that finale in particular was WOW.
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