After having only seen a random scattering of episodes before, I recently watched all of Babylon 5 in a relatively short period of time.
Nearing the end of season 4 when the Agamemnon is about to ram the defence platform, the thought crossed my mind that with only slight alterations it would have been an absolutely amazing scene to end the series on. You see the look of determination on Sheridan’s face as he gives the order, then cut to outside view with the ship slowly plowing into the platform and the two of them being consumed in fire… Ending credits. Maybe, but just maybe, following with one more episode after that covering the aftermath of the war. Also, Ivanova should have died. The alien healing machine was a ridiculous plot device that should never have been introduced and, once it was, should have been left to fade into obscurity.
But no. Marcus goes and kills himself to save Ivanova - who then leaves the show anyway - and whatsisface comes in and saves Sheridan. Thus we are doomed to the atrocity that was season 5.
This got me thinking about other series and how they ended (or didn’t). Buffy is an obvious candidate - at the very least it should have ended with The Gift, possibly even at the end of season 4 (although I can’t think how to do that well, mostly because I don’t remember much of season 4).
So, who else wants a shot at it? Which series do you think should have had a different ending (or indeed an ending at all if they’re still ongoing), and how would you have ended them?
No, no, no! I thought that the last episode of Babylon 5, Sleeping in Light was a perfect way to end the series. Besides, even if the first half of the final season of Babylon 5 was weak I think that the last half had more than enough good episodes to justify its existence.… and… and… without season six of Buffy we would not have had the musical episode… or Clem!
If we had to end Buffy early, I suppose that the season three finale would have been a great place thematically. However, think of all the great episodes we would have missed (the Body, the Gift, Fool for Love, Conversations with dead people, Hush, etc) Personally, I am glad they kept the series going…
That in mind, I think ending Buffy at season seven is probably the right choice.
Anything would have been better than the absolute abomination that was the end of Beauty and the Beast. The writers should have accepted that the show was over once Linda Hamilton left, and wrote accordingly. I would have done it this way:
Catherine discovers that society as we know it is a fraud; that government is just a facade to cover the machinations of The Powers That Be. Vincent rescues her before she’s been a prisoner more than a few hours, and since it will never be safe for her to show her face in daylight again, she joins Vincent and the other fugitives in the underground community.
Voyager should have had a least one or two “epilog” shows showing what happened to the crew once they returned to the Federation.
The last episode of M.A.S.H. could have done without the whiny “Hawkeye traumatized by the horrors of war” subplot. I’d have had Hawkeye contrive a pointed practical joke on the brass back at headquarters, to express his disgust and anger at the three years of carnage he had to witness.
The Prisoner: I wish they’d played the last episode straight instead of making it a surreal allegory. However I can’t comment too much on it because I don’t know if there was a point to it that’s simply over my head.
Babylon 5: After Sheridan and company told both the Vorlons and the Shadows to take a hike, we would see a Vorlon and a Shadow meeting somewhere:
Vorlon: “It is finished”.
Shadow: “Finally, they got it. Took them long enuogh.”
Vorlon: “The second phase begins”.
Shadow: “The Game continues”.
Ok, this is my vision of how Sienfeld should have ended.
A Gilligan’s Island sort of ending.
Jerry,Kramer,Elaine, and George go on some sort of sea cruise during which (surprise srprise) the boat sinks, possibly due to some of Kramer or Georges Hijinks. (it’s not especially critical that they personally bring it about, only that it happens) The foursome survive and end up on a deserted island and minor silly situations involving food finding and shelter building ensue. At the end of the show we go to each of the characters and see how it affects them.
George- Realizes he never has to deal with his parents, traffic, a job, crowds, or getting a date for the rest of his life. He has found his paradise and is shown sitting under a palm tree in his underwear content at long last.
Kramer-Becomes even jumpier and more paranoid because he’s heard stories about cannibals on islands like this. “Cannibals Jerry! CANNIBALS!” We see him hiding in the bushes, unkempt, with beard stuble,and jumping at every little sound thinking he hears war drums.
Elaine-Realizes that the only men available to her for the rest of her life are Kramer, George, and Jerry, and that she only has a few of her “Today Sponge” contraceptives with her so she is afraid to use them because she can’t afford to have non-sponge-worthy sex anymore.
Jerry-Looks around at George in his underwear, Kramer in his bush, and Elaine agonizing about her sex options and says to himself, “Oh my God I’m stuck with these people…FOREVER.”
-Gilligan’s Island them plays with Sienfeld theme twangyness.
Full House ending with some horrific fatal accident involving the whole Tanner family, Kimmy Gibler, and special guest star Urkel
Three’s Company ending with Jack marrying Janet, and no lame spinoff series
Dukes of Hazzard ending with the boys jumping over the Grand Canyon in their car, amazingly without breaking the shocks or causing any other tangible damage to the General Lee
Charles in Charge ending with Buddy (Willie Aames) in charge of our days and our nights, and our wrongs and our rights
Peter David, the comic book writer, once rewrote the endings to both Quantum Leap and Beauty and the Beast in his column *But I Digress . . . *.
The kicker was that he combined them; Sam leapt into Vincent’s body and was able to deliver Catherine’s baby safely and save her life. After his good deed, he jumped home.
I totally agree with the way 24’s first season ended. On the DVD, the writers make the point that they needed to end the season that way to show that no one was safe. I think they achieved that, and it was a great way to set up season 2.
I would think that any ending was better than the “X-Files” long, protracted death rattles and eventual petering out. I stopped watching not long after the movie came out, so I don’t know how the series actually ended or even remember what state the characters were in when I left it. I’ve tried reading the summaries online, but it’s just a convoluted mess. Maybe there was no good way to end it, after they’d let it get to that state.
It would have been nice for “Deep Space Nine” to have a decent ending, but I was so disgusted at the whole series turning into “Amazing War Stories” in it’s latter seasons that I’m still not quite able to get too riled up over the grossly inadequite finale. (Even the “Thank you, Sisko. But our princess in is another castle!” appearance by the Prophets.)
I wouldn’t have “killed off” Odo, for starters. And probably not Sisko. And I would have killed off Kai Winn several more times.
And, going farther back, I like to think I would have been able to revitalize the series without bringing in Worf. (Sorry, big guy.)
Overall, I think I would have stayed with the “exploration” theme from the early days a bit closer. Probably would have had the war with the Dominion stay “Cold.” Or at least, given a little more credit to Starfleet military development than was shown onscreen.
And no more filming at griffith park. Anything is better than filming there again. An “Alpine Village” backlot set, the access tunnels at the local corporate-sponsored ballpark, the producer’s front yard, ANYTHING.
He died. He was dead the moment he vanished into the Accelerator. What Ziggy was pulling around, and what Al was talking to, was a ghost. Or a soul. Sam’s spirit was saving others, doing good works on Earth presumably to gain entrance into Heaven/Paradise/etc. The show essentially was a religious/SF crossover, making it quite possibly the best example of that genre ever to hit prime time TV in America. (This coming from an avowed atheist, mind you.)
I like Magnum dying – but they brought him back to life for another season & lame ending. Not that all that final season stunk - only the finale. A main character dying was creative & shocking & it being the finale, you know it really could happen.
How about a real ending to Star Trek TOS? Maybe Kirk promoted or the Enterprise returning safely to earth mission complete. I’d love to see a full “five year mission” worth of episodes for that to happen.
I always thought Cheers ending left a bit to be desired. I’d have Sam realize deeper values & find a special person – Shelley Long was around so perhaps I’d pull the trigger on that-- or pull a girl ex Machina (like Magnum). Anything but a “I am my bar/I am married to my bar” ending for that character.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: I can’t imagine a more appropriate and beautiful ending to Quantum Leap than the one they gave us.
I have to assume that people who wanted to Sam to go home at the end want that because they want a “happy” ending. If so, you are missing the point. Sam is told explicitly in the last episode that he can go home whenever he wants to. And yet he chooses not to. Why? Well, we’re never told, but I choose to believe it is because he is happier helping other people.
FWIW, I agree with Derleth to the extent that I think Sam is an angel, and I totally agree with him that “Weird Ernie”/“Al the Bartender” is God.
What bugs me about the ending of Quantum Leap is that if sam could controll when and where he went and decided to keep doing what he was doing why the hell didn’t he swing by and visit Al from time to time? And if he was a ghost why did he replace the people he jumped into instead of just “posessing” them? It would have made a lot more sense than that cheesy “aura” plot device.
As for DS9, yes, the whole war got old really fast.
