# Least satisfying series finales (spoilers likely) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 25, 2006, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-satisfying-series-finales-spoilers-likely/358208 "2006-05-25T17:58:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2006, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-satisfying-series-finales-spoilers-likely/358208/21 "2006-05-25T20:47:33Z")
Put me down for long and agonizing then. Season 4 reeked. The finale, OTOH, was spot on perfect. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2006, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-satisfying-series-finales-spoilers-likely/358208/22 "2006-05-25T20:59:06Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Put me down for long and agonizing then. Season 4 reeked. The finale, OTOH, was spot on perfect. Since I agree the Angel finale rocked (except for needing more horses), I shall put you down for a quick and agonizing death, all right? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2006, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-satisfying-series-finales-spoilers-likely/358208/23 "2006-05-25T21:02:54Z")
Kewl! [sticks tongue out at others] I’m special! ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2006, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-satisfying-series-finales-spoilers-likely/358208/24 "2006-05-25T21:47:20Z")
It really blows my mind that anyone could enjoy those episodes of Angel. Pylea looked interesting compared what was going on then. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2006, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-satisfying-series-finales-spoilers-likely/358208/25 "2006-05-25T22:05:49Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > The ultimate, of course – **The Prisoner**. Just got through watching the series with my best friend last night. We’d been knocking off two episodes a week for the last couple of months. She liked it well enough but kept saying she didn’t get where it was going. I kept telling her “don’t worry, all your questions will be answered.” All her questions weren’t answered. I thought she might hit me. Here’s Cecil’s [column](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_022c.html) on the series with some spoilers about the finale. ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2006, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-satisfying-series-finales-spoilers-likely/358208/26 "2006-05-25T23:23:34Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > The last episode they aired of _Firefly_ just _sucked_ as a series ending. I mean, it’s like they’re trying to start a series going with all the introduction of new characters and plots and things, rather than tidying up loose ends! To be fair, Joss Whedon never really came to terms with _Firefly_’s cancellation and kept lobbying studios / networks / etc. afterwards, at least until _Serenity_ got made (one assumes he’s given up by now), and _Serenity_ itself did provide a satisfying conclusion at the end. I’d agree 100% with the hack job on _The X-Files_, except I refuse to acknowledge the existence of Seasons 8 and 9. ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2006, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-satisfying-series-finales-spoilers-likely/358208/27 "2006-05-26T01:33:58Z")
> [@Kythereia](#): > > To be fair, Joss Whedon never really came to terms with _Firefly_’s cancellation and kept lobbying studios / networks / etc. afterwards, at least until _Serenity_ got made (one assumes he’s given up by now), and _Serenity_ itself did provide a satisfying conclusion at the end. You got a bit whoosed; While _Objects in Space_ may have been the last episode on the DVD, but the last episode that Fox aired was _Serenity_, which was obviously meant to be the _first_ episode. ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2006, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-satisfying-series-finales-spoilers-likely/358208/28 "2006-05-26T01:36:47Z")
I have to wholeheartedly agree with **ArrMatey**. _Quantum Leap_ just spit in the loyal viewers’ faces. I don’t kow why Donald Belisario hated the fans, but that’s the only explanation I can think of for why they’d do that. StG ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2006, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-satisfying-series-finales-spoilers-likely/358208/29 "2006-05-26T02:25:38Z")
> [@Jayn\_Newell](#): > > Before anyone decides to chime in with Enterprise, I’d just like to remind everyone that there never was a series finale. Especially not one involving TNG characters. The show just vanished off the air one day without a finale. No finale was ever made…] Hmm, I actually enjoyed ENT’s series finale. Especially the last scene with Trip and T’Pol. ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2006, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-satisfying-series-finales-spoilers-likely/358208/30 "2006-05-26T02:33:43Z")
Angel;s S4 was probably its strongest season, although it certainly wasn’t new-viewer friendly. But for those of us who had followed the show from the beginning, it was wonderful. I agree that the series finale was also excellent. Twin Peaks had a great finale, IMHO, but there are very few of us who think so. –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2006, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-satisfying-series-finales-spoilers-likely/358208/31 "2006-05-26T03:18:56Z")
> [@ArrMatey!](#): > > _Quantum Leap_ > And I will NEVER like it, no matter what the appologists try to dig out of that terrible, terrible non-ending! Amen. It sucked ass. ---
**Author:** ![ArrMatey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/arrmatey/32/3522_2.png) [@ArrMatey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ArrMatey)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2006, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-satisfying-series-finales-spoilers-likely/358208/32 "2006-05-26T04:30:04Z")
> [@pinkfreud](#): > > I don’t know a single fan of **Carnivàle** who wasn’t outraged by the ending. This was much, much worse than the many TV series that just stop with a lot of loose ends dangling. This made people angry. Dude, I was one of those people… But they got axed. HBO had, at first, asked Knauf to make the series LONGER as the entire story ended up being like 1-2 seasons long. He acquiesced, and then towards the end of season 2, they pulled the rug out from under him. If it’s any comfort, chop off the last 5 minutes of season 2 and it gets much better. Add a deleted scene where Lilah actually sees Lodz’s body, even better. Finally, realize if you like that the first two seasons were, in fact, the ‘intro’ to the real story, which would’ve been, IIRC, 3 more seasons long, and centering mainly on The fact that Sophie was going to give birth to the ‘last’ of the mystically-empowered folks And weep like I did. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2006, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-satisfying-series-finales-spoilers-likely/358208/33 "2006-05-26T04:49:40Z")
> [@Troy McClure SF](#): > > You got a bit whoosed; While _Objects in Space_ may have been the last episode on the DVD, but the last episode that Fox aired was _Serenity_, which was obviously meant to be the _first_ episode. And the light bulb goes on–I admit I only got into _Firefly_ after it came out on DVD, so I got whooshed good. Thanks. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2006, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-satisfying-series-finales-spoilers-likely/358208/34 "2006-05-26T05:15:38Z")
> [@Cliffy](#): > > Angel;s S4 was probably its strongest season, although it certainly wasn’t new-viewer friendly. But for those of us who had followed the show from the beginning, it was wonderful. I watched from the beginning and I thought it kinda sucked rocks ;). Looks like we have a pretty even split :p. In fact I disliked last two seasons of Buffy and season 4 of Angel sufficiently that I burnt out on all things Whedonesque and never watched the final season of Angel at all. It took the release of the Firefly DVDs to lure me back into the fold. - Tamerlane ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2006, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-satisfying-series-finales-spoilers-likely/358208/35 "2006-05-26T05:28:34Z")
I liked the _Quantum Leap_ finale. ---
**Author:** ![H3Knuckles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ba8739/32.png) [@H3Knuckles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/H3Knuckles)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2006, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-satisfying-series-finales-spoilers-likely/358208/36 "2006-05-26T06:04:36Z")
Mine are mostly anime, but to these you can add any sitcom whose ending is a special 1 or 2 hour episode, that then consists of 30+ minutes of clipshow. Look, networks, if the actual finale story is regular length, don’t try to make it a special-length episode, alright. Clipshows are obnoxious as it is. The end of _Kikaider: the Animation_ season 1. No, there was no season 2, why do you ask? 😃 Kikaider, the hero robot who’s pursued the ntire series, goes against his programming and kills Dr. Gil, the mad scientist who turned his robotic “brothers” (made by the same creator as K), and even his “father” (his creator) against him. After the whole season, and the surprisingly frank scene where Kikaider and the lead female (forgot her name) start to make out, and his **promising to return to her** , it’s a real let down how the show ends with the other heroes thinking he died in the explosion that took out Gil’s base, and him just riding away through the forest. Season 2 was garbage, except for the very end, when Kikaider actually sacrifices himself to take out Cyborg-Gil with him, _Trigun_ [SPOILER]I like anime because it will have unorthodox endings, but when the ending seems to fly in the face of what led up to it, it pisses me off. The ambiguous ending bothers me, because it seems like a big cop-out. Like the writers didn’t have the balls to actually pick one of the two most likely outcomes. 1.) Either Vash learned from Nick Wolfwood, and the flashback episode about Rem (his mother-figure); He killes Knives, to save [strikethrough]the world[/strikethrough] mankind, and **honors his promise** to return to Meryl, with whom he’s had a love/hate, will-they/won’t-they thing the entire series, or: 2.) He stays true to his ethos of never, ever, killing anybody, and Knives is merely paralyzed by Vash’s shots. Vash’s throwing away the red coat that covers his space-suit, as well as his response to Knive’s question “Did you enjoy your time with the humans?” indicate that he is going to retreat into the desert to care for Knives while keeping the sociopathic, genocidal, twin away from humanity. I just wish they would have picked one, even if it was the second, which would be bullshit because then they wasted the two-parter leading up to Vash’s confrontation. At least then I’d have closure. Besides, what the hell else are we to make of his promise to remember Rem’s desire for an end to bloodshed, but that he was going to “Take care” of Knives, and find his own way in life?[/SPOILER] Sorry, that one went on kinda LONG. _Samurai Champloo_ Towards the end of the series, the show emphasizes again and again how close towards one another the heroes have become, and how much they rely on one another. It also pretty much wraps up all their own troubled pasts. So why the fuck do they part ways in the end? _Full Metal Alchemist_ [SPOILER]The whole cross-over to our world thing towards the end seemed awkward and ill-concieved to me. I could’ve done without. Too much of a knockoff of _Escaflowne_ and _3x3 Eyes_ if you ask me. The fact that it’s not a major part of the story, but just something that comes out of left-field there is what really bugs me. Also, I was kind of disappointed by their making the Fuhrer-King Bradley out to be not only evil, but a puppet for a behind-the-scenes mastermind; it’s such an over-used and common device in Anime, Manga, and Japanese Videogames that I really wish they’d break themselves of the habit. Even so, the thing that sets me off is the end. I’m sorry, but this is one anime that really **needed** a happy ending, after all the shit the Elric’s live through. I honestly expected the show up to that point to end with Al giving up his psuedo-life so Ed could be made whole again, especially with his constantly emphasising that they would restore Ed as well whenever Ed talked about getting Al’s body back. But even that would have been a let down.[/SPOILER] And one more non-anime one: _Farscape_ Okay, so this one I have to cut slack, it wasn’t meant to be the end of the series, and I never did see the whole miniseries wrap up. But the cliffhanger they ended on was stupid, if for no other reason than that it would be what? the **second time** each of them died and was brought back to life? And what I did see of the miniseries follow-up was **terrible**. but frankly, I most liked the earlier parts of the series, the exploration/journey home stuff. By that last season, with all the bullshit Aren pulled on John about the baby, and the badly bungled Scorpius is a bad guy/now he’s not, the Peace Keepers are the real enemy/Now it’s the Scarans (sp?) attempt at a major plot, I was generally kind of disappointed. ---
**Author:** ![Khan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3ab097/32.png) [@Khan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khan)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2006, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-satisfying-series-finales-spoilers-likely/358208/37 "2006-05-26T08:27:46Z")
I disagree with regards to Champloo, but… At least they didn’t kill anyone off, which is what I was expecting them to do. It seems to me that group cohesion in an anime means that somone’s gonna die. And I’m with you 100% on FMA. I was excited to hear that it was coming out on Cartoon Network, but my friend warned me that it loses strength about halfway through. It had the strongest run of any series I’ve ever seen until episode 30 or so when things start to disintegrate. There are bright spots, but then it fades out. I mean, [spoiler]They put out a friggin’ movie that still fails to resolve anything. If I am to understand what I’ve read about Conqueror of Shambala, Ed and Al are reunited, only in OUR world. It was cool when Ed came out of the house to see the Zeppelin raid set to Beethoven’s Fifth. It would have been an amusing tangent before getting back to the story, but then we get into this absolute bullshit about the Thule Society that culminates in some half-assed nuclear non-proliferation message instead of: 1.) Fixing Ed and Al 2.) Resolving any of the other character relationships, eg Winry, Mustang, etc. 3.) Addressing the Ishbal issue (christ, it got, what? One line of reference in the epilogue?) 4.) Addressing the fate of Amestris in general. They completely changed the focus of the series within the last five episodes, leaving it completely devoid of impact. Just what the hell happened? It’s pathetic.[/spoiler] Gundam Wing was guilty of the same thing. “Total Pacifism.” Please. Of course, the whole series was riddled with pseudo-philosophical dreck, but this absolute swords-into-plowshares thing is really too much. At the end I was thinking about that episode of the Simpsons where Lisa’s vision of world peace comes true and everyone gets rid of their guns leaving them ripe for conquest by Kodos and Kang. THAT is the angle they should have taken with Endless Waltz. When you gut a series, you need to go funny and absurdist, not pretentious. Malcolm in the Middle’s ending also pissed me off. Hal and Lois had a plan all along. Bullshit. Their revealed manipulation was very disturbing. Malcolm’s speech at graduation wasn’t touching, it only showed that Lois had finally BROKEN him. And while the idea of being president as the ultimate use of potential is hopelessly naive, it fits with the series. Unfortunately, the other baggage they included makes it too dark. Also, after five years, you’d think they’d be able to muster an hour of air time. ---
**Author:** ![Dubious\_Weasle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b782af/32.png) [@Dubious\_Weasle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dubious_Weasle)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2006, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-satisfying-series-finales-spoilers-likely/358208/38 "2006-05-26T10:40:19Z")
Put another vote in for Angel’s Season 4 and both of the six and seventh Buffy season finales as well as the series finale. Just painfull to watch. They had some good ideas and they just pissed all over them. ---
**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2006, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-satisfying-series-finales-spoilers-likely/358208/39 "2006-05-26T10:59:01Z")
\*Angel \* is my very favorite series finale, ever. It’s perfect. And I really enjoyed season four, even if it was a “turgid supernatural soap opera.” It also benefits from comparisons to season seven of Buffy, where the writers took everything that made \*Buffy \* great, crammed it into 4 episodes, and left the other seventeen just hanging limply. It really seemed like no one on that show was having \*any \* fun anymore. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2006, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-satisfying-series-finales-spoilers-likely/358208/40 "2006-05-26T12:49:32Z")
> [@Snooooopy](#): > > I liked the _Quantum Leap_ finale. So YOU’RE the one… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-satisfying-series-finales-spoilers-likely/358208.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-satisfying-series-finales-spoilers-likely/358208.md?page=3)