Coldfire,
What exactly is the point of a storyline for a grand finale if it doesn’t finish the show? It’s the same problem that afflicted the Seinfeld finale.
In both cases, whether sitting around playing poker or locked up in a cell, how can any viewer be convinced that this is truly the end? No more. Game over.
This is usually done by breaking up the old gang, some leave, some stay, some die. It is no longer the same as it was, and it never will be again. In other words, no possible way for another episode in the series to ever be made.
The final episode of a series (especially for a long running series) should also have a Final Moment, a point of no return where the viewer realises the journey can no longer continue. One single poignant scene where the viewer knows “It’s Over”.
In Cheers, the Final Moment comes when Sam’s locking up the bar, a would-be patron comes to the door, and Sam tells him (us) “I’m sorry, we’re closed.”
In MASH, BJ who can’t bring himself to say goodbye to his friend (and us), ends up spelling it out for everybody in big white-washed stones.
In my favourite series finale, and officially voted¹ one of the finest televisual moments ever, Blackadder Goes Forth, Captain Blackadder, who spent the whole season trying to escape the madness of WWI, finally has no choice but to “go over the top”. The cannons fall silent, the troops in the trenches wait for an eternity for the signal to advance into No-Man’s Land where death is almost certain. The show ends with the main characters disappearing in explosions and sounds of gunfire. One of the most anxious & tense moments I’ve ever seen anywhere, let alone in a comedy.
The only way you knew ST:TNG was over, was when the end credits started to roll.
This was why I felt cheated by ST:TNG’s (and Seinfeld’s) weak ending. The way they left it, they could start cranking new episodes out anytime they wanted (which ST has done, with the films). I was a loyal viewer, and the makers didn’t have the guts to say “Goodbye”, let alone wrap the story up into a nice, neat, complete package.
That is why the “who am I/why am I here” storyline was pointless for a final episode. It may well have been fine for a regular episode, but for a Grand Finale, it fizzled.
If the writers had had any balls, they would’ve let Picard’s condition be terminal, and finally allow Riker to assume the throne, as it were. That would’ve been a much more emotional, intriguing end to the series, and a better starting point for the movies, a new Captain, a new journey, a new direction. As they stand now, the films are just more of the same-old-same-old (and if you don’t believe me, read some of the interviews with the creators and stars, even they’re bored with churning out this stuff over and over).
Of course, how silly of me. Apparently, after moving into a new model starship (E, as I recall, comes after D), numerous uniform changes and the occasional promotion,² some form of time warp opens up, returning all the crew members to a default state of existence. Or maybe the films all take place in some alternate universe, that the audience hasn’t been told about?
Must’ve missed the fine print on those promotional posters.
At least Seinfeld isn’t going to be turned into a movie… yet.
¹ In a BBC Online poll.
² All of which can, in no way, be counted as major changes or a new direction.
I think I’ll go and grab one myself.