# Worst final episodes **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 31, 2016, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-final-episodes/764562 "2016-08-31T14:11:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Richard\_John\_Marcej](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Richard\_John\_Marcej](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_John_Marcej)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2016, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-final-episodes/764562/61 "2016-09-01T16:31:14Z")
> [@ISiddiqui](#): > > Eh? Mad Men is on my list of one of the best final episodes. > > Then again, I kind of like Seinfeld’s finale. But I also saw it as the creators being somewhat horrified that people were idolizing the characters (and I know plenty of people who did back in the 90s) when they were the most self-centered, shallowest group of people ever. The finale was, in part I think, to hammer home, these aren’t good people (kind of like what the creators of the Sopranos had to do with Tony in the last season)! Exactly. I’m so tired of hearing people trash the Seinfeld finale. I sometimes wonder if people really understand what they’re watching. Larry David’s always had a dark, sarcastic type of humor and Jerry’s always said what a fan he was of the old \*\*Abbot & Costello \*\*sitcom which basically was about a bunch of self centered jerks tormenting Lou. I recall people saying that Jerry & Elaine should have gotten married or some other “happy” finale. Seriously??? ---
**Author:** ![Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/face_intentionally_left_blank/32/288_2.png) [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2016, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-final-episodes/764562/62 "2016-09-01T16:59:44Z")
This is a contest for third place, as Lost’s finale takes First and Second. The whole last season of Deadwood was pretty meh, IIRC. Didn’t the last scene of the last episode consist of Al Swearengen cleaning blood off the floor, bitterly complaining about having to tell one of his employees that someone Al killed had died quickly and easily? “. . .wants me to tell him a pretty story. . .” or somesuch. I though that was a great, powerful scene. Nearly everything else about the season sucked, though. > [@Czarcasm](#): > > [Maybe this will tie up a couple of those _Lost_ loose ends for you.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kH0P-CA7ntE) Awesome. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2016, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-final-episodes/764562/63 "2016-09-01T17:07:53Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > “God” told him that everything up to that point had essentially been training, and he was now ready to take on the (much more difficult) real work. And, gave him the option of going home, or going on. He either continues to fix lives and history, or died trying. Yeah, I understand that, and nothing you said makes him less of a selfish prick. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2016, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-final-episodes/764562/64 "2016-09-01T17:30:16Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > At least in the final episode, the baby/chicken thing wasn’t tied to something from Hawkeye’s past. On the other hand, as was noted in a recent thread, the “he smothered a baby while hiding from the bad guys” trope has been done to death (so to speak). :mad: ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2016, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-final-episodes/764562/65 "2016-09-01T17:43:55Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > At least in the final episode, the baby/chicken thing wasn’t tied to something from Hawkeye’s past. Crababble Cove must’ve been a nightmarish hellhole. Well, it WAS just up the road from Cabot Cove, home to a notorious serial killer. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2016, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-final-episodes/764562/66 "2016-09-01T18:00:45Z")
> [@Chihuahua](#): > > _Friends._ > > Probably not a popular opinion, but my big issue is that it was extremely risk-averse. Amen. They simply blew it. By having Rachel remain in New York City, there’s no real closure; Ross remains immature and selfish, and their relationship is going to continue to fail. The solution, really, was quite simple; Ross should have bought a ticket and gone to France to support Rachel’s career. That would have demonstrated his growth and his genuine love for Rachel as a person, not a possession. The friends would have been forever separated, which is how life goes, and serves as a metaphor for growth, maturity, and change. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2016, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-final-episodes/764562/67 "2016-09-01T18:02:07Z")
> [@Cartoonacy](#): > > Put 20 _Star Trek_ fans in a room, and get 50 different opinions about which episodes are the best and worst. I think the majority of fans would pick _City on the Edge of Forever_ or _The Trouble With Tribbles_ as the best episode, but I have a friend who thinks _The Omega Glory_ was the best, a co-worker who puts _The Tholian Web_ at the top of the list, my wife favors _The Ultimate Computer_, and I have a soft spot for _I, Mudd_ and _The Changeling_. I know several people who think _A Piece of the Action_ is tops, but I consider it pretty average. For me _The Lights of Zetar_ and _The Alternative Factor_ are at the bottom of the barrel, but another friend of mine agrees with you that _Turnabout Intruder_ is unwatchable. And do you know what I say to those people? “Bonk. Bonk. On the head.” ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2016, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-final-episodes/764562/68 "2016-09-01T18:10:12Z")
> [@RikWriter](#): > > Yeah, I understand that, and nothing you said makes him less of a selfish prick. To whom? Are you saying soldiers who turn back to a fight and may die are selfish pricks to their families? ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2016, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-final-episodes/764562/69 "2016-09-01T19:02:04Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > To whom? > > Are you saying soldiers who turn back to a fight and may die are selfish pricks to their families? Dude, he was given a chance to do one leap for himself, to correct a wrong before he went off to spend eternity helping others. He chose Al over his wife. ---
**Author:** ![magnusblitz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@magnusblitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magnusblitz)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2016, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-final-episodes/764562/70 "2016-09-01T19:14:08Z")
I’ll nominate _Last Resort_. Part of it was time constraints - the producers clearly thought they were going to get another season, only to be told this was going to be it… but they also said they had enough time to re-write things and wrap it up. Well, the first three-fourths of the episode proceeded like normal, and then everything wrapped up extremely quickly in the last 10 minutes. Bunch of people die, bang bang, roll credits. On the other hand, the episode was titled “Controlled Flight into Terrain” which is basically code-speak for “flew the plane into a mountain you didn’t even know was there” so… I suppose they did the best they could. > [@PrimalEnvy](#): > > Transformers: Animated. Practically ruined the series for me. Oh, why is that? I don’t remember anyone disliking it… just broken up about a certain character death? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2016, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-final-episodes/764562/71 "2016-09-01T19:18:06Z")
> [@RikWriter](#): > > Dude, he was given a chance to do one leap for himself, to correct a wrong before he went off to spend eternity helping others. He chose Al over his wife. Did he remember he had a wife? ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2016, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-final-episodes/764562/72 "2016-09-01T19:25:21Z")
> [@RikWriter](#): > > Dude, he was given a chance to do one leap for himself, to correct a wrong before he went off to spend eternity helping others. He chose Al over his wife. And he fixed a grievous “mistake” in Al’s life after the guy had spent five years following him through time and trouble. What did his wife need? A hello? A goodbye? What would a one-time visit change about his continuing to leap? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2016, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-final-episodes/764562/73 "2016-09-01T19:38:34Z")
After all those corrections, did he even still _have_ a wife? ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2016, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-final-episodes/764562/74 "2016-09-01T19:51:49Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Did he remember he had a wife? No, he didn’t. His Swiss cheese memory made him forget her again and his wife wouldn’t let Al remind him about her because she was afraid it would affect his leaping and he couldn’t continue to help others. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2016, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-final-episodes/764562/75 "2016-09-01T19:54:02Z")
> [@Richard\_John\_Marcej](#): > > Exactly. I’m so tired of hearing people trash the Seinfeld finale. I sometimes wonder if people really understand what they’re watching. Larry David’s always had a dark, sarcastic type of humor and Jerry’s always said what a fan he was of the old \*\*Abbot & Costello \*\*sitcom which basically was about a bunch of self centered jerks tormenting Lou. I recall people saying that Jerry & Elaine should have gotten married or some other “happy” finale. Seriously??? I remember distinctly people saying stuff like “I’m a Kramer”, “I’m like Elaine”, “You are soo like George” - and I was like, REALLY?! You do know these people are horrible human beings? That’s part of the joke - these are people who are talking these unwritten social rules that we abide by day by day to the extreme. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2016, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-final-episodes/764562/76 "2016-09-01T20:24:36Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > No, he didn’t. His Swiss cheese memory made him forget her again and his wife wouldn’t let Al remind him about her because she was afraid it would affect his leaping and he couldn’t continue to help others. Translation: the actress wasn’t available after the pilot. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2016, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-final-episodes/764562/77 "2016-09-01T20:44:44Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Translation: the actress wasn’t available after the pilot. 😃 Not to spoil the joke, but it’s more retcon-y than that: IIRC, Sam doesn’t realize he has a wife until an episode in the fourth season, when he arrives home; and, IIRC, he forgets her again by the end of that same episode, since he heads out on another leap: half-convinced that, now, the process will work better. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2016, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-final-episodes/764562/78 "2016-09-01T21:00:39Z")
I believe I read somewhere that part of the reason for the “swiss cheese” memory was the fact that Sam kept changing his own history and the history of his friends and family, and the only one who actually knew things were changing(because he was in that special chamber when it happened) was Al. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2016, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-final-episodes/764562/79 "2016-09-01T21:06:29Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > I believe I read somewhere that part of the reason for the “swiss cheese” memory was the fact that Sam kept changing his own history and the history of his friends and family, and the only one who actually knew things were changing(because he was in that special chamber when it happened) was Al. As I recall, in one early episode, Al witnessed a change while it happened - he was in a hearing that a Senator was holding about the funding for Sam’s project, and just as the Senator was going to order funding cut, Sam’s change kicked in, replacing the Senator with someone else. Al also remembered an alternate history in which Lee Harvey Oswald killed both JFK and Jackie (or at least that’s what he told Sam). ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2016, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-final-episodes/764562/80 "2016-09-01T21:10:22Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Not to spoil the joke, but it’s more retcon-y than that: IIRC, Sam doesn’t realize he has a wife until an episode in the fourth season, when he arrives home; and, IIRC, he forgets her again by the end of that same episode, since he heads out on another leap: half-convinced that, now, the process will work better. Ouch. I only saw about a quarter of the episodes and keep wanting to watch the series through (or at least skim the better episodes again), but the family thinks it’s just too old and boring. Oh, well. (I don’t watch TV and movies alone, so.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-final-episodes/764562.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-final-episodes/764562.md?page=5)