# TV series that ended oddly. Have you changed your mind about these final episodes over time? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 13, 2013, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-ended-oddly-have-you-changed-your-mind-about-these-final-episodes-over-time/663430 "2013-07-13T22:14:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2013, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-ended-oddly-have-you-changed-your-mind-about-these-final-episodes-over-time/663430/21 "2013-07-14T13:08:39Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Given that a lot of “geek” series can continue in comics and novels these days, and even some non-geek series(like Monk), I just hope they don’t kill Dexter off unless it’s a brilliant ending to the story. If they just do it because they have to that would suck. If they can’t think of a perfect way to end his story, they should let the comic book writers and novelists continue it, as has happened with Jericho, Buffy/Angel, Star Trek, and Smallville. Meh. They’re comic book and fanfic writers - they can always bring him back from the dead. They’re good at that kind of thing. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2013, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-ended-oddly-have-you-changed-your-mind-about-these-final-episodes-over-time/663430/22 "2013-07-14T13:19:38Z")
Comedies get a lot more leeway with me than with dramas with a multi-episode or series-length story arc. The latter is a novel, so the ending is important. For a lot of these series, I lost interest because the last season or two was sub-par and didn’t directly experience the problematic endings—Buffy, Smallville, Quantum Leap, Newhart Sopranos —I’m satisfied that I know what happened in that scene, so it doesn’t bother me any more. Tony Soprano was killed. That’s why the screen goes blank when we are in his point-of-view Seinfeld —I still think the last few episodes were crappy, but since it was an episodic comedy and not a novelistic drama, it doesn’t really bother me any more. Battlestar Galactica — I still hate the ending. St. Elsewhere —I hate the ending, but it’s an old wound, not a fresh one. Twin Peaks —The whole last season was a mess, so I guess I can’t really hold a grudge against the unresolved cliffhanger. Sledge Hammer —At some point you gotta live your life, I suppose. Never watched Lost, Babylon 5, X-Files ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2013, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-ended-oddly-have-you-changed-your-mind-about-these-final-episodes-over-time/663430/23 "2013-07-14T13:26:58Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > Sopranos —I’m satisfied that I know what happened in that scene, so it doesn’t bother me any more. Tony Soprano was killed. That’s why the screen goes blank when we are in his point-of-view I’ve since reached the conclusion that the show ended like it did because it doesn’t matter whether Tony lived or died. Everything redeemable in him had been burned away over the past decade, and all that was left was an empty, shallow, soulless monster. Whether or not his body was killed by the guy in the jacket was irrelevant; the man inside was already dead. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2013, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-ended-oddly-have-you-changed-your-mind-about-these-final-episodes-over-time/663430/24 "2013-07-14T13:28:33Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > Seinfeld —I still think the last few episodes were crappy, but since it was an episodic comedy and not a novelistic drama, it doesn’t really bother me any more. I’ll argue with anyone about the quality of the last season. The only sure clunkers are “The Butter Shave,” “The Strong Box,” “The Frogger,” “The Puerto Rican Day.” The season even has a few classics in “The Strike” (which includes Festivus) and “The Dealership.” > **[Seinfeld season 9](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seinfeld_%28season_9%29)** > > The ninth and final season of Seinfeld began airing on September 25, 1997, and concluded on May 14, 1998 on NBC. > Seinfeld was produced by Castle Rock Entertainment and aired on NBC in the United States. The executive producers were Jerry Seinfeld (showrunner), George Shapiro, Howard West, Alex Berg, and for the final episode Larry David, with Tom Gammill and Max Pross as supervising producers. Bruce Kirschbaum was the executive consultant. This season was directed by Andy Ackerman. > The series... ---
**Author:** ![Orr\_G](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ee59a6/32.png) [@Orr\_G](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orr_G)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2013, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-ended-oddly-have-you-changed-your-mind-about-these-final-episodes-over-time/663430/25 "2013-07-14T14:05:50Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > JJ Abrams left the show very early, before the first season ended. Yes, his involvement was minimal after the first season, although he did stay on as executive producer and has a writing credit for an episode or two. I’m happy to continue to include him in my vitriol against the creators of the show for several reasons, however. He was ultimately responsible as the show’s creator and executive producer. He’s said things in interviews at the time of the show that pissed me right off. He continues to work closely with Lindelof, and continues to say shit in interviews that pisses me off in ways that are consistent with how I feel about him as a storyteller and destroyer of our culture. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2013, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-ended-oddly-have-you-changed-your-mind-about-these-final-episodes-over-time/663430/26 "2013-07-14T14:25:29Z")
> [@Orr\_G](#): > > Yes, his involvement was minimal after the first season, although he did stay on as executive producer and has a writing credit for an episode or two. I’m happy to continue to include him in my vitriol against the creators of the show for several reasons, however. He was ultimately responsible as the show’s creator and executive producer. He’s said things in interviews at the time of the show that pissed me right off. He continues to work closely with Lindelof, and continues to say shit in interviews that pisses me off in ways that are consistent with how I feel about him as a storyteller and destroyer of our culture. Destroyer of our culture? Damn man, that’s harsh, and possibly a bit supervillainy. I hope you’re not secretly The Joker in disguise. ---
**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:** [July 14, 2013, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-ended-oddly-have-you-changed-your-mind-about-these-final-episodes-over-time/663430/27 "2013-07-14T15:27:39Z")
Super villian or not, I am in total agreement. If Abrams has _anything_ to do with it, I won’t watch it. Period. As for _Lost_…if the show was always about the characters, then the mysteries were irrelevant from the very beginning and never should have been there. But they were not only there, but were hyped as THE key part of the show. So to just toss everything into the dumpster meant that the shows producers, writers, etc. thought the viewers were meaningless trash as well. For that they must pay, unto the 4th generation. ---
**Author:** ![SirRay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@SirRay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SirRay)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2013, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-ended-oddly-have-you-changed-your-mind-about-these-final-episodes-over-time/663430/28 "2013-07-14T15:57:47Z")
> [@Orr\_G](#): > > The Prisoner - I totally dug the bizarre, surreal, story-breaking ending. It was like, totally groovy, Man. Blast Off! Interestingly, there was no need to really ret-con that ending away in the follow-up '80s graphic novel [Shattered Visage](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shattered_Visage) (which Patrick McGoohan “didn’t hate”, which I guess is high praise from him) - in the novel the entire “Fall-Out” episode was a staged, hallucinogenic trip for Number Six (as, when you come to think of it, were several other earlier episode). This time, as the novel indicates, Number Six fell for it. The Village is liberated by outside forces, hence the panic, shooting, and evacuation of the village shown toward the end of “Fall-Out”. A bit less surreal if you go that path. Now, the part with Number Six driving with the Butler and Number Two in a lorry from Wales into London at the end, well, yeah, I think the novel had to ret-con that away. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2013, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-ended-oddly-have-you-changed-your-mind-about-these-final-episodes-over-time/663430/29 "2013-07-14T16:08:32Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > JJ Abrams left the show very early, before the first season ended. JJ Abrams directed the pilot and that was essentially his only contribution to the show Executive Producer credit notwithstanding. As for my answer to the question, BSG’s ending just ruined the show for me. I didn’t mind the part of them losing technology or the fact that they were our ancestors since those are things I guessed would be the ending from the first episode (although I had convinced myself the twist would be that Cylons were our distant ancestors not the Humans). What grated is Ronald Moore was very smugly critical of Star Trek (which he worked on) regarding how they would use hand waving science to write themselves out of a jam when he did the the exact same thing except in his case it was gods and angels. If you subtracted all the Starbuck nonsense form the finale, I think my opinion of the whole series would be very different. ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2013, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-ended-oddly-have-you-changed-your-mind-about-these-final-episodes-over-time/663430/30 "2013-07-14T16:33:26Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > I’ll argue with anyone about the quality of the last season. The only sure clunkers are “The Butter Shave,” “The Strong Box,” “The Frogger,” “The Puerto Rican Day.” The season even has a few classics in “The Strike” (which includes Festivus) and “The Dealership.” > > [Seinfeld season 9 - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seinfeld_%28season_9%29) No way the Frogger is a clunker. The others you mentioned, sure. But this is probably one of my top 10 favorite episodes of the entire series. How can you not love an episode that ends with George playing a real life video game? ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2013, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-ended-oddly-have-you-changed-your-mind-about-these-final-episodes-over-time/663430/31 "2013-07-14T16:44:35Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > I heard this theory a few years ago, and I think it actually makes a ton of sense. Some fans wish Seinfeld ended with the trial as it was, but at the very end, the judge reveals himself to be Satan and the group is being judged for Heaven versus Hell. I think that would have been a pretty great end actually and made more sense than the real trial. I thought Newman would end up being Satan-he even tells Jerry earlier in the ep. that one day very soon he will reveal himself in “all his glory”-but nothing like that ever happened. [The Seinfeld gang are in their cell] [A door opens up the hall, they slowly turn their heads in that direction] [A deep voice echoes down the hall] Newman: Hello everybody-enjoying our “stay”, are we? [The cast stares in shocked disbelief-Kramer averts his eyes] Elaine: Oh my God… George: I don’t believe it… Jerry: I knew. Deep down, somehow, I always knew… [Cut to a manically laughing Newman, revealed in all of his devilish glory] [Fade to credits] ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2013, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-ended-oddly-have-you-changed-your-mind-about-these-final-episodes-over-time/663430/32 "2013-07-14T16:49:29Z")
> [@RikWriter](#): > > I still feel incredibly cheated by Lost. I have no desire to ever watch any of the show again because of how it ended. I also feel cheated by the end of Quantum Leap. I didn’t-if I was in Sam’s position, with the power that he had, I’d make the exact same choice that he did. ---
**Author:** ![Frazzled](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frazzled/32/3368_2.png) [@Frazzled](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frazzled)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2013, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-ended-oddly-have-you-changed-your-mind-about-these-final-episodes-over-time/663430/33 "2013-07-14T17:06:09Z")
I loved the ending of the Soprano’s then and I still like it now. I think every major death of a character in the last few episodes showed how Tony’s execution would occur, and the reactions of those he was with. If the screen going to black was Tony’s death it’s not hard to imagine what happened and what happens next because it’s all right there in the previous episodes and our own knowledge of the characters. I thought it was brilliant. I wrote a post a few months ago about BSG that didn’t get any responses but I’ll say it again. I’m believe that the Virtual Reality in Caprica and the technology to “resurrect” people so they could live in a virtual simulation for eternity is key to BSG. I think that what we have is a simulation of a long dead race that repeats over and over and over again. No need for Gods and Angels in this one, just a simulation starting over, this time rearranging who plays what part. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2013, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-ended-oddly-have-you-changed-your-mind-about-these-final-episodes-over-time/663430/34 "2013-07-14T18:00:20Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > I’ll argue with anyone about the quality of the last season. The only sure clunkers are “The Butter Shave,” “The Strong Box,” “The Frogger,” “The Puerto Rican Day.” The season even has a few classics in “The Strike” (which includes Festivus) and “The Dealership.” > > [Seinfeld season 9 - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seinfeld_%28season_9%29) By “the last few episodes,” I was specifically thinking of the clip shows and the two-part finale. I will say that overall, the final season was weak. Most of the episodes have some major flaws, although most of them still have a precious moment somewhere in there. At the moment, the only ones I will say I really dislike are “The Dealership” and the backwards episode (“The Betrayal”). Generally speaking, I absolutely hated the turn that the George Costanza character took throughout the entire season. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2013, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-ended-oddly-have-you-changed-your-mind-about-these-final-episodes-over-time/663430/35 "2013-07-14T19:33:45Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > By “the last few episodes,” I was specifically thinking of the clip shows and the two-part finale. I will say that overall, the final season was weak. Most of the episodes have some major flaws, although most of them still have a precious moment somewhere in there. At the moment, the only ones I will say I really dislike are “The Dealership” and the backwards episode (“The Betrayal”). Generally speaking, I absolutely hated the turn that the George Costanza character took throughout the entire season. The Finale was double length, not two parts. It’s not right to consider it “the last few” all by itself. And the clip show isn’t even a real episode. It just existed to pad out the night to give NBC two hours of Seinfeld finale stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2013, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-ended-oddly-have-you-changed-your-mind-about-these-final-episodes-over-time/663430/36 "2013-07-14T19:36:45Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > The Finale was double length, not two parts. It’s not right to consider it “the last few” all by itself. And the clip show isn’t even a real episode. It just existed to pad out the night to give NBC two hours of Seinfeld finale stuff. You’re going to nitpick this? Seriously? Why not address my actual opinion once you understand it, rather than focusing on the verbiage “the last few”? ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2013, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-ended-oddly-have-you-changed-your-mind-about-these-final-episodes-over-time/663430/37 "2013-07-14T19:42:30Z")
Thinking of the _Seinfeld_ finale reminded me of the _Xena_ finale – not an obvious connection, but when Jerry calls his parents to tell them his show’s been picked up by NBC his dad says he doesn’t watch TV anymore except for _Xena_. Anyway, time has not changed my opinion about the _Xena_ finale. I still think it was awful. I’d been a big fan of the show early on, although it jumped the shark for me in season four and I’d mostly stopped watching during the last two seasons. But my whole family gathered around the TV at my mother’s house for the two-part finale…and I don’t think any of us have felt the same way about the show since. I’ve never even bought the DVDs of the early seasons or anything. The _Xena_ finale was so bad that the brutal death of the heroine wasn’t even the worst part. I’d say the worst part was that it seemed like a totally unrelated film script had been slightly revised to include Xena and Gabrielle. The plot, setting, supporting characters, rules for the way the supernatural operated, etc., had virtually nothing to do with anything that had happened previously on the show. Had this been a midseason episode (that didn’t end in Xena’s permanent death) that would have been okay, although even then it would have seemed like a retread of season three two-parter _The Debt_ with added ghosts. As things were, the finale struck me as being created by people who didn’t care about the show or the fans, and as a nasty little bonus decided the throw in a “moral” that ran counter to the basic premise of the show. Instead of continuing to try to redeem herself through good deeds, Xena finally had to die for her sins…even though the specific incident in question was something from her past that had never been previously mentioned and that turned out to have been largely accidental. In retrospect I wonder if someone high up was deliberately trying to kill the franchise. Xena had recovered from death and near death multiple times before, but in the finale went out of its way to make it clear that she was really and truly dead this time and darn well going to stay that way. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2013, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-ended-oddly-have-you-changed-your-mind-about-these-final-episodes-over-time/663430/38 "2013-07-14T19:48:48Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > You’re going to nitpick this? Seriously? Why not address my actual opinion once you understand it, rather than focusing on the verbiage “the last few”? Did you miss this: I’ll argue with anyone about the quality of the last season. The only sure clunkers are “The Butter Shave,” “The Strong Box,” “The Frogger,” “The Puerto Rican Day.” The season even has a few classics in “The Strike” (which includes Festivus) and “The Dealership.” We disagree completely and you’re the one that’s nitpicking. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2013, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-ended-oddly-have-you-changed-your-mind-about-these-final-episodes-over-time/663430/39 "2013-07-14T20:01:30Z")
Of course I didn’t miss it. I responded directly. Once I explained what I meant by “the last few,” it was time to move on from that particular wording and address the specifics of my evaluation of the final season. I’m offering one more chance ti move on. To sum. Most of the episodes had their moments but over all they had major flaws, especially in the characterization of George. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2013, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-ended-oddly-have-you-changed-your-mind-about-these-final-episodes-over-time/663430/40 "2013-07-14T21:33:13Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > I didn’t-if I was in Sam’s position, with the power that he had, I’d make the exact same choice that he did. And abandon your wife without even saying goodbye? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-ended-oddly-have-you-changed-your-mind-about-these-final-episodes-over-time/663430.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-ended-oddly-have-you-changed-your-mind-about-these-final-episodes-over-time/663430.md?page=3)