Best season finales

[Lindley]

Light spoilers only (please keep it that way).....

What are some of the best season finale episodes ever? I'm not talking about the best episodes that happen to be season finales; I'm asking for which ones do the best job of culminating the prior season, wrapping up everything it was about in 1 or 2 hours.

Better if they're not series finales, probably, since those often are trying to wrap up even more, and may lose focus on the immediately previous year. But series finales aren't disqualified either, if they're good enough in the right way.

Naturally someone's going to bring up Z'Ha'Dum (B5 season 3) pretty quickly, and that one is strong.

Still, upon reflection, I think Becoming 1+2 (Buffy season 2) beat out even that. I honestly don't think I've seen a better wrap-up to a season arc on any show. It's powerful, it hits all the story points, and it has all the right character moments.

What are some others?

 

[sidious618]

I'm going to exclude series finales even though they technicaly are season finales.

Babylon 5's Za'ha'dum, as you mentioned, is particularly strong and very emotional. One of the best finales ever although Babylon 5's best episodes were usually not the finales which really goes against the norm (which is why I love that show).

All of BSG's finales are fantastic with Crossroads just edging out Kobol as the best.

The Wire always has excellent wrap ups and I'll mention Final Grades as one of their best although the others were great, too.

The X-Files usually came through barring "Talitha Cumi" and, to a lesser extent "Biogenesis." Both were good episodes but their cliffhangers were less than the normal X-Files standard. My favorite is "Anasazi" but "The Erlenymeyer Flask" comes a close second.

House's No Reason is my favorite episode of that show so obviously that one gets on the list.

NCIS' season one finale "Revielle" was a great wrap up. "Hiatus, Part Two" is absolutely fantastic and one of my favorite episodes of the whole show. Actually, barring the season four finale, they were all really cool.

The Sopranos' Whitecaps can never be forgotten nor can All Due Respect.

This list is getting rather long.

What else?

Oh, Doctor Who's first two finales (of the new series) made me cry with the emotional impact they brought.

LOST's Live Together; Die Alone is that shows best finale although all of them are rather good. That said, this show, too has many of its best episodes during the season.

The Shield's finales, barring may be the sixth although I did like it, were spectacular in terms of wrapping things up and opening new doors. Special mention goes to the fifth season finale.

The West Wing's Two Cathedrals is the best episode of the show, let alone the best finale.

And that's all I can think of at the moment. Hell, are there any shows left?

 

[Agent Richard07]

Lost's season four finale comes to mind. The big stuff that was set up at the beginning of the season was addressed to my satisfaction.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

All four seasons of Farscape.

Season 1: "Family Ties:" D'argo and John are left hanging in space, running out of air with no sign of Aeryn (who is caught up against other Prowlers) while Moya is forced to Starburst away.

Season 2: "Die Me, Dichotmy:" Aeryn is dead, Scorpius makes a surprise visit, and leaves John on the operating table to go completely insane.

Season 3: "Dog with Two Bones:" Aeryn leaves in her Prowler and John finds himself left floating in his module after a mysterious wormhole has gobbled up Moya.

Season 4: "Bad Timing:" Aeryn and John finally find happiness only to be crystilized into tiny bits. D'argo's scream says it all.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

DS9 - "Call to Arms."

Lost - "Through the Lookingglass" and "There's No Place Like Home."

Dexter's S1 finale (and for all I know, S2...just haven't gotten there yet).

Farscape - "Die Me, Dichotomy" and "Bad Timing" (which would have made a lousy series finale! I still haven't quite recovered from thinking that's what it was.)

 

[Neroon]

My personal favorite, to nobody's suprise, is Babylon 5's season 3 finale "Z'ha'dum". The sheer consequences of what happened on screen, the performances rendered, the cataclysmic conclusion... and Andreas Katsulas' utterly wrenching epilogue combine for a most powerful effect. The only drawback it has isn't even the show's fault. THe "braintrust" at PTEN decided to hold back the last couple of episodes from season until right before season 4 was to begin. Really smart move there guys. Leave it to the traditional timeframe between seasons and you have tension and angst matching about any out there.

On a sci-fi board you will always hear "Beast of both Worlds, Part 1" mentioned when this question is brought up. And well it should be, because I can rememebr the torture we went through that summer between TNG's season 3 & 4!

Emh, thank you for mentioning those Farscape finales! Superb entries each and every one!

 

[The Nth Doctor]

I just realized this is in the TV & Media forum and not Science-Fiction & Fantasy forum, so I have to add the first four finales of The West Wing:

Season 1: "What Kind of Day Has it Been:" "Who's been shot?!" 'Nuff said.

Season 2: "Two Cathedrals:" After cursing at God in Latin in the National Cathedral and being visited by a vision of the dearly departed Mrs. Landingham, Bartlet leaves everyone wondering if he's going to run for re-election despite the recent public revelation of his multisclerosis. "Watch this," Leo says.

Season 3: "Posse Comitatus:" Bartlet is forced to make the terrible decision: Whether or not to assassinate a foreign diplomat who is a known terrorist.

Season 4: "Twenty-Five:" After Bartlet's worse nightmare (foreshadowed in season 1) has come true and Zoe has been kidnapped, Bartlet uses the 25th Amendment to step down as the President of the United States and hands it over to a Republican.

"Two Cathedrals" is not only one of the best season finales ever, it's one of the finest hours of television ever.

 

[Aragorn]

Season four of Enterprise.

Wait, what do you mean the Peter Weller arc wasn't the finale?


Season two of NCIS. Someone's going to die! Oh no! Oh, wait, the character that got shot was wearing a vest, so everything's okay. Oops, guess that character's head probably isn't bulletproof, huh?

 

[Paxil]

I would count the last episode of BSG.

 

[captcalhoun]

"Tears of the Prophets" DS9 S6

"Army of Ghosts"/"Doomsday" Doctor Who S2

"The Stolen Earth"/"Journey's End" Doctor Who S4

"Graduation Day" parts 1 and 2 BTVS S3

 

[Angel4576]

I'd agree that The Becoming is a very, very strong conclusion to Buffy's second season.

Personally, I prefer Z'ha'dum, which is an outstanding hour of television by any standard. I'm also quite partial to The Fall of Night as well.

My personal favourite though, as someone else has already mentioned, The West Wing's Two Cathedrals. THE best hour of television I've seen, period, with the possible exception of Sleeping in Light, but we're discounting that one in this discussion

 

[D Man]

"Casino Night" from The Office season 2 was terrific, and IMO the perfect end to my favorite season of that show. Other than that, my favorites are the standards that have already been mentioned, "Z'ha'dum," "The Fall of Night," any of Lost's finales (my top pick would be "Exodus,") and of course BOBW.

 

[Orac Zen]

Blakes 7, season 3: "Terminal". Turned everything upside down.

Farscape: All of them, especially "Die Me, Dichotomy" and "Dog With Two Bones".

Babylon 5: "Z'Ha'Dum".

TNG: "Best of Both Worlds", part 1.

Six Feet Under: All of them.

They're the ones that spring immediately to mind.

 

[Jim Steele]

Anyone who says Journey's End gets a punch in the face.


...metaphorically, of course.

 

[Jax]

^ Every season finale of Nu Who have had many things going for them (more good than bad)...

However the ones which stick out are...

Babylon 5: Z'Ha'Dum and Sleeping in Light

TNG: Best of Both Worlds, Redemption and All Good Things

Angel - Never Fade Away

Buffy - Becoming & The Gift

BSG - S1, S2 & S3...Plus am going to cheat and say the current mid season finale

SG-1 - Camelot

ENT - The Expanse and Shockwave

Farscape - Bad Timing

DS9 - Call To Arms, Tears of a Prophet and What You Leave Behind

House -

What the hell I could go on and on, season finales are wonderful things

 

[captcalhoun]

Anyone who says Journey's End gets a punch in the face.


...metaphorically, of course.

consider yourself metaphorically kicked in the nadgers in return

 

[Gaius Baltar]

Buffy - the gift
BSG - season 1,2,3
SG1 - Lost city
STTNG - Best of both worlds part 1
Atlantis - The siege part 2
DS9 - Tears of the prophet, What you leave behind, Call to arms
Angel - Not fade away (at least the comics have finally resolved this cliff-hanger)
Firefly - The Message (because of the funeral scene at the end)

 

[Jim Steele]

Sleeping In Light is eternally one of my favourites. In fact, every season finale of Babylon 5 was solid gold. I'm also quite partial to Doctor Who's Army of Ghosts and Doomsday.

DS9's What You Leave Behind and TNG's Best of Both Worlds are both 7 shades of awesome. Ach, there are so many others.

 

[Starbreaker]

Lost S1, S2 Finale
Dexter S2 Finale
Weeds S3 Finale
Curb Your Enthusiasm S6 Finale

 

[Mistral]

I'd take B5's Deconstruction of Falling Stars. While not a fan fave it sums stuff up pretty good and left me sitting there with my mouth open, babbling, "Whoa, wow,-" and other, equally expressive yet nonsensical sounds. That being said-I remember when the word "Fire!" came out of Riker's mouth-and I had to wait all summer to see if it worked. That was in my mind, in the back of my head, all summer-and any show that can keep me thinking about it that long is great.