The Near-Perfect Series Finale

[svenden]

I'm a die-hard Niner, will be to the end of my days. And I think What You Leave Behind is one of the best series finales I've ever seen (Star Trek or not). But there is one thing that always really ticks me off when I watch it, and I'm curious if I'm the only one.

At the end, after Sisko has joined the Prophets, he comes to Kassidy in a vision to explain what happened and at least give her some comfort. I have no objection with this, I love Kassidy and their whole story arc together. But what about Jake???? The Ben/Jake relationship was so fundamental in grounding this entire series, and so fundamental to the character of Ben Sisko. It just blows my mind to this day that he doesn't do the same for Jake -- or better yet, bring them into a shared vision of some kind.

It bothers me so much that I've basically decided that he did come to Jake in a vision, we just didn't see it. It's the only way I can sleep at night.

 

[dub]

Agreed about being one of the best series finales ever, Trek or not! Great point about Jake. Perhaps the decision had something to do with the important final scene. Jake seemed so sad and alone at the end. I think his mood there would be more optimistic if he saw has dad in a vision, which would have made a much different impact. Hard to say whether or not it would have been a better ending that way. To me, I think they got it right. But you make a great point.

 

[Tosk]

I also love WYLB, and think it's the strongest Trek finale...but it does have some problems that annoy me. Dukat and Winn spending weeks (?) in the tunnels even though only hours seem to pass for them, some lazy shot choices for the memories montage, and the unfortunate need for so many re-used shots for the battles. (The ships I get, but that shot of Garak on Cardassia masquerading as a radom Cardie on an exploding ship? Ugh!)

Ben not visiting Jake bothers me as a viewer (in that I don't get to see it), but it's not as though the show says he never will.

 

[kkt]

I agree, the best way to make sense of Sisko not visiting Jake is assuming he did during a time that wasn't shown on the air. I'm curious also what his relationship with Kasidy and his future half-sibling will be.

Still a great finale episode.

 

[Bad Thoughts]

I believe it is not much of a weakness. First, the notion that Sisko would promise to return to Cassidy was something that came up at the last minute, and it was related to Sisko being the father of the unborn child. Sisko would not have had the same responsibility to Jake, who was an adult. Second, that means the goodbye scene would have been at least partially written at the last minute (though it is not certain how much). I would give the writers leeway under those circumstances.

If Jake had his own goodbye (or shared Cassidy's), I think it would have undermined the emotional power of the final scene. Jake would have told Sisko what he meant to him, and vice-versa. Instead, we have a powerful image, devoid of words, but carrying all the meaning of the relationship they had built up for the entire series. Changing too many scenes may have greatly changed the tenor of the ending.

ETA: ISB talks about Sisko's last scene as a compromise, how Brooks was dissatisfied with the notion that Sisko was leaving a women a single mother. However, he says that there is a lot of ambiguity in what goes on. And in ISB's mind, Sisko is really dead.

 

[dub]

^really? I thought I remembered ISB saying his idea was Sisko became a "god?"

 

[Bad Thoughts]

^really? I thought I remembered ISB saying his idea was Sisko became a "god?"

Those aren't mutually exclusive. If you want the full recounting, hunt down his interview on Chase Mastersons podcast

 

[Dukhat]

I also had a problem with the tacked-on, out-of-nowhere rushed encounter between Sisko and Dukat, in an otherwise great finale. (I didn't like the reuse of stock footage either, but I hate stock footage no matter when it's used.) When the surgically altered Dukat lost his sight, I thought that would have been a far more fitting ending for the character: reduced from the leader of the Cardassian occupation to a blind Bajoran-looking beggar on the street. But no, they had to go and heal him right away.

 

[Terok Nor]

A couple of things I didn't like about the finale :

Sisko telling Kasidy he'd be back "maybe tomorrow, maybe a year from now". There was no need for that. It took some of the impact away from Sisko's sacrifice if we know he could return in an instant. For all we know he came back the minute the series ended. I'd have preferred it if he told her he didn't know if he could ever return. I also had more investment in the Ben/Jake relationship than I did in the Ben/Kasidy one but I understand why Kasidy was chosen instead of Jake. The final scene of the series was worth it.

The other issue I had is with the Dukat/Winn storyline. I loved them together but I think their storyline should have been wrapped sooner. It felt like it was being dragged out to the finale when the Dominion War had long since overshadowed the Prophets storyline. Again, I understood why it was kept for the finale but it didn't feel as important as what had gone on in the finale before it.

Still a great finale. Nothing is perfect.

 

[Stevil2001]

When the surgically altered Dukat lost his sight, I thought that would have been a far more fitting ending for the character: reduced from the leader of the Cardassian occupation to a blind Bajoran-looking beggar on the street. But no, they had to go and heal him right away.

Oh man, that would have been great.

 

[iMike]

I think we're just supposed to assume that Ben has said goodbye to Jake, I think they chose to show him saying goodbye to Kassidy because she was pregnant with his child.

My biggest gripe with the finale was the montage scenes - they were supposed to recap seven years and nothing with Jadzia? C'mon, that was lame. Unless there was some kind of gag order on using Terry Farrell's image (which I doubt because the actress herself has said she was open to appearing in a reduced capacity), it cheapened that, I felt.

 

[Bad Thoughts]

My biggest gripe with the finale was the montage scenes - they were supposed to recap seven years and nothing with Jadzia? C'mon, that was lame. Unless there was some kind of gag order on using Terry Farrell's image (which I doubt because the actress herself has said she was open to appearing in a reduced capacity), it cheapened that, I felt.

Farrell did throw a fit, and the issue became problematic.

 

[CrazyMatt]

I will repeat what I posted on another board:

"What You Leave Behind" is a very good finale, but it suffers from poor pacing in spots. Quite frankly, it is not as good a finale as "All Good Things...."

 

[TheAlmanac]

My biggest gripe with the finale was the montage scenes - they were supposed to recap seven years and nothing with Jadzia? C'mon, that was lame. Unless there was some kind of gag order on using Terry Farrell's image (which I doubt because the actress herself has said she was open to appearing in a reduced capacity), it cheapened that, I felt.

Farrell did throw a fit, and the issue became problematic.

Although I know the behind-the-scenes reason, this issue really destroys WYLB for me--Worf met Jadzia, married Jadzia, and watched Jadzia die on DS9, but she doesn't come up in his memories of the station?

That, the weakness of the Dukat/Winn material, and the aforementioned reuse of stock footage in the battle scenes keep me from enjoying a finale I was really looking forward to at the time.

I feel "All Good Things..." is (by far) the strongest Star Trek series finale.

 

[Bad Thoughts]

My biggest gripe with the finale was the montage scenes - they were supposed to recap seven years and nothing with Jadzia? C'mon, that was lame. Unless there was some kind of gag order on using Terry Farrell's image (which I doubt because the actress herself has said she was open to appearing in a reduced capacity), it cheapened that, I felt.

Farrell did throw a fit, and the issue became problematic.

Although I know the behind-the-scenes reason, this issue really destroys WYLB for me--Worf met Jadzia, married Jadzia, and watched Jadzia die on DS9, but she doesn't come up in his memories of the station?

Well, there were many Jadzia Dax moments that were best forgotten (thanks in part to Ms. Farrell herself).

 

[svenden]

I agree that it would have been ideal to have Jadzia present somehow in the montages. But I understand that legally (or whatever) that might not have been possible. I guess it doesn't bother me because I believe they would have included her if they were allowed to. Whereas my original gripe about Ben not coming to Jake in the vision was a choice by the writers that I disagree with.

Regarding the pacing, I didn't mind that so much. They had to wrap up the Dominion War arc before they could wrap up Sisko's Emissary arc. And, just like for TNG and All Good Things, that Emissary arc is really the one that opens and closes the series. So it seemed fitting to do it that way.

But the criticism is a fair one. AGT is a more cohesive, coherant story, whereas there are really two big stories going on in WYLB, and that's obviously going to be more challenging from a pacing perspective.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

I think the end of the war was executed brilliantly but the fire caves thing was not well executed. That arc was a little over the top and meandered more in the realm of fantasy than scifi. Plus there's the small problem of the couple of hours Dukat and Winn spent in the fire caves taking the same amount of time as the entire final battle.

 

[kkt]

Story is that DS9 used an image of Terry Farrell without permission earlier in season 7 , and relations between the producers and Farrell further deteriorated to the point where they couldn't reach an agreement about the finale. A shame, and the reason I wouldn't describe the finale as 'near-perfect', just very good.

I don't mind reuse of the battle scenes. I personally don't care much about space battles, and use those moments to go refill my drink.

 

[Tosk]

Story is that DS9 used an image of Terry Farrell without permission earlier in season 7

I believe it was the re-use of audio that was the sticking point. Not 100% on that though.

 

[Stevil2001]

All the DS9 Companion says on this is that they were "unable to use" clips of Terry Farrell.