"Why wasn't that the Season Finale?!"

[Lord Garth]

I've noticed several times in Star Trek that the penultimate episode of a season is better than the actual Season Finale. More times than I realized. Which makes me wonder, "If they had a strong episode here, why couldn't they have ended on that note?" Or at least of have had the episodes swap places.

Seasons where I think the penultimate episode was better:

TOS Season 1: "The City on the Edge of Forever"
TOS Season 3: "All Our Yesterdays"
TNG Season 1: "Conspiracy"
TNG Season 2: "Peak Performance"
TNG Season 5: "The Inner Light"
DS9 Season 1: "Duet"
VOY Season 1-ish: "Projections" (it was the penultimate episode filmed in S1, but it was held over for S2)
ENT Season 4: "Terra Prime"

That's a lot.

 

[Bad Thoughts]

In two of those cases, All Our Yesterdays and Terra Prime, the executive producers exercised their prerogatives to write the last episode.

Both Inner Light and Duet were character pieces that lacked scope. Despite their quality, they don't have the stuff that make for a finally. With regard to Duet, it wasn't immediately clear how much impact the episode would have. Indeed, Haris Yulin slowed the production down and Nana Visitor feared it was going to be a disaster.

 

[Tim Thomason]

I think Game of Thrones had a similar idea, which was pretty much place your strongest episode near the end (but not at the end), so word of mouth and audience interest can propel people to the finale for higher ratings. The Amazing Episode won't get the highest ratings, at least not upon first viewing, because people won't know how amazing it is, but once word-of-mouth gets out, interest is piqued for the finale, and the ratings get higher than they could before.

TNG learned (and pretty much taught the entire industry) that cliffhangers could be a thing and maintain audience interest over the summer, for maximum value.

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

"Duet" is an amazing episode that really plays to the strengths of the show and has some great development for Kira who is the representation of Bajor for the show, and this episode shows the journey the Bajorans need to take: beginning so full of rage and fury, but showing the tiredness and damage that front hides, before admitting all they did in response to the Occupation and the need to forgive and try to move on in order to heal. It's one helluva ride in less than 50 minutes.

But "In the Hands of the Prophets" just sets up so much more of what the show is, the mess that is the local politics and religion and all the baggage all that brings, plus it gives us one of the franchises best antagonists. This is an episode the results of which impact on so much and there is just so much to sink your teeth into, it's a better end to the first season for the scope of what it can (and does) bring to the show.

 

[Qonundrum]

In two of those cases, All Our Yesterdays and Terra Prime, the executive producers exercised their prerogatives to write the last episode.

Both Inner Light and Duet were character pieces that lacked scope. Despite their quality, they don't have the stuff that make for a finally. With regard to Duet, it wasn't immediately clear how much impact the episode would have. Indeed, Haris Yulin slowed the production down and Nana Visitor feared it was going to be a disaster.

That's 100% true. The ultimate classics and ultimate clunkers have one thing in common: At the time of filming, nobody's really sure how the whole of the filmed and produced episode will be received and perceived... which is where the fun begins.

Which beings up the other funky fresh point: Do a lot of people in agreement really mean it's the bestest or worstest ever? What might people be looking for in a story? Or, indeed, what might people be on, because some of these stories get talked about over yonder in the "controversial Trek opinions" thread. One story may be perceived as being the best ever, despite a couple plot points that could derail the entire thing for others and for completely other and/or unintentional reasons that didn't get resolved or noticed at the time of said filming.

Of course, I adore what "The Way to Eden" could have been so take what I said with a grain full of salt. Or a truck's load of it.

 

[Shamrock Holmes]

ENT Season 4: "Terra Prime"

In some ways, it is the finale of the show, because the show's arc of Humans bringing together Vulcans, Andorians and others does come to an end by the end of the episode. IAMD and TATV are more like extra-long proto-Short Treks that aren't really an essential part of the series.

 

[Bad Thoughts]

But "In the Hands of the Prophets" just sets up so much more of what the show is, the mess that is the local politics and religion and all the baggage all that brings, plus it gives us one of the franchises best antagonists. This is an episode the results of which impact on so much and there is just so much to sink your teeth into, it's a better end to the first season for the scope of what it can (and does) bring to the show.

With only a few exceptions, every season of Star Trek ended with knowledge of whether or not it had been renewed for the next season. To that end, those finales were crafted to bridge over from one season to the next, even if they were not cliffhangers. Shades of Gray really came about because of extenuating circumstances, so I really don't think it should count. All of TOS' finales were filmed without knowledge of cancellation; they were, more or less, reflective of what Roddenberry wanted rather than in light of continuing the series. The one that is harded to explain is Voyager season 1. Jetrel is obviously better than Learning Curve, but that episode wasn't intended to be the season finale at all.

To that end, don't season finales need to be big? Perhaps not big explosions, but at least big ideas? Shouldn't they involve the whole cast? Shouldn't they look forward to the next season?

If there are example that I think demonstrate this point, I would point to Body Parts and Broken Link, the final two episodes of ds9 season 4. They are similar stories in that the central crisis evolves from medical issues to questions about taking responsibility. In both episodes, the central character is being judged by his people. Garak is in both episodes. There is a similar tone in both. I would argue that Body Parts is stronger, buoyed by Shimerman's acting. It is the episode in which the Ferengi ethos feels most alive and vital. Broken Link, on the other hand, gives more characters more to do. It slots into one of the series overarching narratives. It features a major transformation for one of the main characters. And it has a surprise reveal. It also has all the excitment of meditating goo. Can the two be swapped for one another?

 

[JirinPanthosa]

A couple of those cases were just matters of ending on a two parter. Others are cases of wanting to end on an episode that touches more on the show’s central premise.

 

[Shawnster]

TOS should be excluded from the list. During it's day there was no focus on such a thing as a strong season-ending episode. TOS production order is different than air date order, so the season ending episodes were never planned on being season ending episodes. They didn't know which order they would be aired in.

The idea of strong season ending episodes simply doesn't appear (to my knowledge) to be a thing in 60s television. The trend of ending the season on a high note, or even a cliffhanger, didn't come about until much later. Even in TNG, the idea of ending on a cliffhanger didn't start until Season 3.

 

[FederationHistorian]

“The Dogs of War” would have made a good season finale if DS9 had an eighth season.

“Two Days and Two Nights” and “Bounty” from ENT would have been acceptable season finales in S1 and S2 respectively in the Roddenberry era.

 

[Vger23]

TNG “Conspiracy” is the biggest offender in the franchise.

 

[Lord Garth]

TOS should be excluded from the list. During it's day there was no focus on such a thing as a strong season-ending episode. TOS production order is different than air date order, so the season ending episodes were never planned on being season ending episodes. They didn't know which order they would be aired in.

Theoretically true, but not in practice. "Operation -- Annihilate!", "Assignment: Earth", and "Turnabout Intruder" were the last episodes produced of their respective seasons and the last aired.

In a performance, in entertainment, you always want to start strong and finish strong. NBC started with "The Man Trap" because they thought it best represented the Strange New Worlds aspect of TOS out of the first batch of episodes available. It best fit, in their mind, what they imagined Star Trek to be. They started off the second and third seasons with "Amok Time" and "Spock's Brain" because they wanted the Season Premieres to be Big Spock Episodes. Even though I think "The Enterprise Incident" would've been a far better choice to start the third season with, since it's also Spock-Centric, I can see their line of thinking.

For the season finales, I think they just ran out of episodes and aired the last one left. And I think someone making those episodes should've taken that into account. If said episode is going to potentially be the last episode before summer, and is the one that could leave a last impression on you for months, I think they'd want to make the best batch of episodes possible, in case that ended up being the one.

 

[Trek Survivor]

VOY Season 1-ish: "Projections" (it was the penultimate episode filmed in S1, but it was held over for S2)

Actually, it was "Twisted" that was the penultimate filmed episode of Voyager season 1. Here in the UK, we got the hold over episodes released in their "correct" season 1 order - Projections, Elogium, Twisted and The 37s (a better season finale than Learning Curve!)

 

[F. King Daniel]

DSC: "What's Past is Prologue" should have been the season one finale. The actual finale was limp.

 

[Oddish]

"Terra Prime" could have been the perfect finale, with some modifications. As it was, it would have been better than the one we got. Even Jonathan Frakes, who turns up everywhere (six Trek series and counting) admitted that he probably shouldn't have been there.

 

[JonnyQuest037]

TNG learned (and pretty much taught the entire industry) that cliffhangers could be a thing and maintain audience interest over the summer, for maximum value.

You're about 10 years off.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Who_shot_J.R.?#Legacy

 

[Oddish]

I remember that, even though I was only about 10 years old, and didn't watch the show. Never knew who JR was, or who shot him, or why I should care. But I remember the catchphrase.

 

[JonnyQuest037]

I remember that, even though I was only about 10 years old, and didn't watch the show. Never knew who JR was, or who shot him, or why I should care. But I remember the catchphrase.

I was just 7 years old, and I remember it, too.

 

[Oddish]

I also remember the adventures of Johnny Quest. Johnny, Dr. Quest, Race, Hadji, and the ever-adorable Bandit.

 

[thribs]

The Inner Light? Code of Honor is better than that garbage