Wonderfalls wrapped a lot of things up in the unaired episodes on the DVD.
Can you spoilerpost the resolution?
It’s been a while, but I believe they came up with some mystical hokum regarding the talking knick-knacks, but the real resolution was regarding the relationships.
Not sure spoilers are needed but the main character and the bartender guy finally get together and she finally gets an idea that all the good deeds she did weren’t just to help other people but to straighten out her shitty life too.
Inara’s health was never a mystery on the show. It was something Joss Whedon said he planned to explore if the show had never been canceled, but aside from a mysterious syringe during a Reaver attack, the mystery of Inara’s health was one of the casualties of the show’s cancellation.
Though Book’s past was explained in a comic. As was the fate of the Hands of Blue, which was another exception you forgot.
Dollhouse ran its course and every mystery was solved. Wonderfalls never had a central mystery. The reason the animals talk was explained in one of the last episodes of the season:
The first example that came to my mind was the extremely underrated TV series, Murder One. A major murder mystery a season with a lot of twists and turns. Ended completely, and was surprising. Great for reviewing.
Similarly, Veronica Mars.
Most movies and books wrap up all their the mysteries by their end. TV shows are different because they can create more of them over the course of the series, and they are often cancelled before the end is reached.
For instance, Jasper fforde’s Shades of Grey seems absolutely nonsensical at first, with many things that seem to come out of nowhere, but it’s all wrapped up by the end (and damn E.L. James – who came later – for making things so confusing that there hasn’t been a sequel).
Key: The Metal Idol
Not sure if this is what you are looking for, but the series “Monk” wrapped up, as we expected, with a final answer to “who killed Trudy (Monk’s wife)?” However, although the mystery was kind of part of the plot arc for a while (in season 2 or 3 IIRC), it wasn’t essential to the story and it wasn’t like viewers were breathless with anticipation waiting to find out the answer.
I thought Stieg Larsson’s “The Girl…” series did a really good job. To me though the second and third books didn’t really feel like conventional mysteries.
I don’t think the “Thing That Happened” was ever explained, although I see on Fforde’s website that there’s supposed to be a prequel out in 2016.
Leverage only really had one conspiracy/mystery, but that was concluded completely by the final episode. We also knew all we’d need to know about the characters’ backstories and had a very good idea of what they’d be doing in the future. Definitely one of the most satisfying conclusions to a fairly long-running series.
It’s funny - Leverage, Monk and L&O: Criminal Intent all ended with a final scene of the leads continuing on with their work, as if the show continues, but we don’t get to see it. Somewhere out there, they are still solving crimes or righting wrongs.
Burn Notice, on the other hand…blaagck!
That actually answers nothing since generally plastic lions cant talk. No matter how hard you listen.
It answers everything. Jaye hears the animals because she does what they ask, so she can hear them. It’s circular, but it’s also the perfect answer. It doesn’t matter whether it’s god, the devil, or Bob… these little guys are talking to her and she listens.
The End.
And the final episode lets us know that she’s going to keep listening and Eric is going to be by her side.
The manga/anime Fullmetal Alchemist (the anime version is Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood).
I don’t generally read manga/watch anime, but enough people told me how amazing FMA was for me to look it up. Holy crap, that was a well-plotted series.
I’d note (as you did, Mahaloth) Babylon 5, which didn’t* quite* pull this off, but came close. One of the difficulties with TV having long-running plot elements like this is that you never know whether you’re going to get another season- if you resolve everything, you’re left with nothing for the next one; if you leave things dangling, you anger fans if you don’t get another one. If you establish a self-contained, limited framework (like B5’s creator did), even if you account for actors leaving/dying/etc. (like B5’s creator did) and maintain enough fluidity in the story to account for network executives butting in (like- shut up! Maybe I will marry him!), then you wind up having tremendous difficulty selling the idea to a studio, and even if you succeed, a hideous amount of stress trying to keep your vision intact. It’s probably somewhat easier with books and movies, but every new media getting franchised into the ground, it won’t stay that way much longer.
Spielberg’s War of the Worlds with Tom Cruise
The son went over the hill to see the aliens fighting. Will he die? How will the sister and Tom deal with the guilt? How does he explain the mother in Boston?
To everyone’s great relief, he shows up in Boston. WHEW!
I could just hear the audience happily sighing in relief.
:rolleyes:
It’s only a single season, not an entire show, but I think the way the various mysteries are wrapped up at the end of season 1 of Veronica Mars is exemplary and totally satisfying.