A good buildup to a series finale

[Joe Washington]

Watching one of the last few episodes of House last night made me wonder what makes a good buildup to a series finale. What do you think it is? Is it the subtle goodbyes to characters and places of the show before the major goodbyes in the final episode? Is it the escalation of dramatic tension and answers to long-plaguing questions?

 

[Angel4576]

I used to think that the best finales were the culmination of an escalating web of converging plotlines.

Frankly though, the best finale I've ever seen is Babylon 5's. Most of the dramatic tension had been drawn by the few episodes beforehand, and many Character journeys reached their natural conclusion beforehand. The finale was essentially an extended chilled out bittersweet goodbye to the principle players that we'd spent 5 years with.

I literally don't think that there's a single aspect of Sleeping in Light that I don't love.

 

[RoJoHen]

I used to think that the best finales were the culmination of an escalating web of converging plotlines.

Frankly though, the best finale I've ever seen is Babylon 5's. Most of the dramatic tension had been drawn by the few episodes beforehand, and many Character journeys reached their natural conclusion beforehand. The finale was essentially an extended chilled out bittersweet goodbye to the principle players that we'd spent 5 years with.

I literally don't think that there's a single aspect of Sleeping in Light that I don't love.

Yeah, I think more shows need to embrace the "epilogue" format for their finales.

 

[Angel4576]

Epilogue vs Denouement

Depends on the series in question I guess, but there should be room for both of those formats to work.

 

[shivkala]

Babylon 5 immediately came to mind as the perfect way to end a series. Compare that with Deep Space Nine, which despite a lead-up to the finale, still found a way to cram the resolution of two long-standing plotlines into one episode, while still giving the crew enough time to go their own ways.

Honestly, I'm a little bored of the cliched finales where everyone ends up going their own way. With the exception of high school and college, how often has a chapter in your life come to a close where you and everyone you were friend with all left the same job, moved away, etc. all at the same time. I understand the feeling that we need to have closure on each character, but we rarely get that closure in real life. In a way, I wouldn't mind a show ending with the understanding that "our" time with the characters is over, but their lives still go on. I wouldn't even mind if the main character moved on, but the others stayed behind. It's more realistic for one person to leave and others to stay at a job than for a whole group to leave.

For example, I think Scrubs followed that, in it's first ABC finale (JD leaving Sacred Heart). Even though Kelso had already left his job, he was still around, and really only JD was leaving. The continuation as "Scrubs [Med School]" undermined this a little, but even then, Cox and Turk still worked together, they found a role for Kelso, Elliot was still working, though pregnant, JD popped in for a(n overstated) visit. Though their work location had changed, their world still went on and most of them were still together, with a few exceptions.

 

[startrekwatcher]

For me the only show I watched that ended well was DS9--what made it work was the wrapping up of threads, a willingness to shake things up that really hammered home this is the end mixed with a bit of sentimentality with episodes like TMOTTH and Badda Bing Badda Bang where you get the feeling that this is the last time we will ever see these characters together.

Most other shows have long since jumped the shark by the time the final season arrives and by then the original cast has been replaced, the writers have run out of ideas and/or the writing has declined--The X-Files, Melrose Place, Dallas, Roseanne, Seinfeld, LOST, Desperate Housewives, The Sopranos, Smallville. Then there are shows that have a weak final season but somehow manage to pull off a great series finale separate and apart from thefinal season as a standalone piece-nBSG, TNG.

 

[Forbin]

House should end with Princeton Plainfield blowing up as the various doctors drive away toward the Parkway in shuttle buses?

 

[23skidoo]

If the writers know a series is reaching its end, I like to see a slow build-up to the finale. I don't like final episodes that feel like a laundry list of "what do we need to cover". If there's a longstanding subplot thread that isn't crucial to the main storyline - say, a supporting character's romance, or a final appearance by a popular - but not top-of-the-line - villain, I'm quite happy for that to be resolved 10 episodes before the end

It's all about pacing. Of course, if a series is cancelled without warning, they can't pace it properly - Farscape comes to mind, because although they did have a finale of sorts, and there was a build up to it, the producers had been assured of a 5th season so they left things open that they would have closed had they known; certainly the finale would have turned out differently. But if a show has an established end date - whether one decided at the start of a season like Chuck and House, or even decided upon years in advance like Lost - then they should, in theory, be able to pace things so you don't end up with 42 minutes of laundry list in the final episode with barely enough room for a goodbye before the lights suddenly go out.

Alex

 

[Forbin]

I can tell the way NOT to do it is the way Voyager did it.