The Days of Telly meme...
Day 22 - Favorite series finale
Series finales are funny things, I think. You can't really judge them the way you can normal episodes, because there's so much emotion bound up in them. And really small things can make a series finale a disappointment. Like Buffy, for example. I didn't find the Buffy series finale empowering at all - I thought the idea of imbuing all these little girls all over the world with Slayer powers, without them even knowing what they were, was dangerous and irresponsible. Plus, they killed Anya.
Or The X-Files finale. I was still pissed they'd killed the Lone Gunman, and the revelation that Cancer Man was still alive was just ridiculous. The X-Files had got so lost in its own mythology I'd almost stopped caring, to be honest, and I'd certainly stopped watching regularly when David Duchovny left. And as for Without A Trace, don't even get me started. What a pile of shit that was.
My favourite series finale, then, would have to be either Battlestar Galactica or Lost. I was actually surprised by how moved I was by the Lost finale. I really enjoyed the show, but I didn't love it, you know? And yet I thought it was a perfect ending. They didn't answer everything, but they didn't need to. It didn't matter. We watch these shows for the characters, not the mysteries, or at least I do - and as far as the characters went, it was perfect.
And Battlestar Galactica...oh. Oh, I sobbed. I've never cried so much in life at a TV show. Never ever. I'm not saying there aren't things I would change - Kara and Lee's ending, for one - but I think it was a perfect way to end the show. It felt like an ending, and a lot of series finales don't feel that way. They set up the finale so you can see where the characters are going next, even if you're not going to be following them - and they sort of did that with BSG, but it still really felt like the end. Kara and Lee, Adama and Roslin - oh God, when Laura died I was tears streaming, snotty nose, heaving hitching sobs, crying uncontrollably.
With the BSG finale I think I was expecting full-on death and destruction and misery and woe, because damn, was this show bleak. And when we didn't get it it was so much of a relief and yet so sad as well. You were expecting sound and fury, and it was just a quiet ending, and so much more powerful for that. And then the final shots, with Head!Six and Head!Baltar and Ron reading National Geographic and it was our Earth and everything that has happened before can happen again, and oh I just laughed and cried. It was wonderful.
Days of Telly Meme:
Day 01 - A show that should never have been cancelled
Day 02 - A show that you wish more people were watching
Day 03 - Your favorite new show (aired this TV season)
Day 04 - Your favorite show ever
Day 05 - A show you hate
Day 06 - Favorite episode of your favorite TV show
Day 07 - Least favorite episode of your favorite TV show
Day 08 - A show everyone should watch
Day 09 - Best scene ever
Day 10 - A show you thought you wouldn't like but ended up loving
Day 11 - A show that disappointed you
Day 12 - An episode you've watched more than 5 times
Day 13 - Favorite childhood show
Day 14 - Favorite male character
Day 15 - Favorite female character
Day 16 - Your guilty pleasure show
Day 17 - Favorite mini series
Day 18 - Favorite title sequence
Day 19 - Best TV show cast
Day 20 - Favorite kiss
Day 21 - Favorite ship
Day 22 - Favorite series finale
Day 23 - Most annoying character
Day 24 - Best quote
Day 25 - A show you plan on watching (old or new)
Day 26 - OMG WTF? Season finale
Day 27 - Best pilot episode
Day 28 - First TV show obsession
Day 29 - Current TV show obsession
Day 30 - Saddest character death
Series finales are funny things, I think. You can't really judge them the way you can normal episodes, because there's so much emotion bound up in them. And really small things can make a series finale a disappointment. Like Buffy, for example. I didn't find the Buffy series finale empowering at all - I thought the idea of imbuing all these little girls all over the world with Slayer powers, without them even knowing what they were, was dangerous and irresponsible. Plus, they killed Anya.
Or The X-Files finale. I was still pissed they'd killed the Lone Gunman, and the revelation that Cancer Man was still alive was just ridiculous. The X-Files had got so lost in its own mythology I'd almost stopped caring, to be honest, and I'd certainly stopped watching regularly when David Duchovny left. And as for Without A Trace, don't even get me started. What a pile of shit that was.
My favourite series finale, then, would have to be either Battlestar Galactica or Lost. I was actually surprised by how moved I was by the Lost finale. I really enjoyed the show, but I didn't love it, you know? And yet I thought it was a perfect ending. They didn't answer everything, but they didn't need to. It didn't matter. We watch these shows for the characters, not the mysteries, or at least I do - and as far as the characters went, it was perfect.
And Battlestar Galactica...oh. Oh, I sobbed. I've never cried so much in life at a TV show. Never ever. I'm not saying there aren't things I would change - Kara and Lee's ending, for one - but I think it was a perfect way to end the show. It felt like an ending, and a lot of series finales don't feel that way. They set up the finale so you can see where the characters are going next, even if you're not going to be following them - and they sort of did that with BSG, but it still really felt like the end. Kara and Lee, Adama and Roslin - oh God, when Laura died I was tears streaming, snotty nose, heaving hitching sobs, crying uncontrollably.
With the BSG finale I think I was expecting full-on death and destruction and misery and woe, because damn, was this show bleak. And when we didn't get it it was so much of a relief and yet so sad as well. You were expecting sound and fury, and it was just a quiet ending, and so much more powerful for that. And then the final shots, with Head!Six and Head!Baltar and Ron reading National Geographic and it was our Earth and everything that has happened before can happen again, and oh I just laughed and cried. It was wonderful.
Days of Telly Meme:
Day 01 - A show that should never have been cancelled
Day 02 - A show that you wish more people were watching
Day 03 - Your favorite new show (aired this TV season)
Day 04 - Your favorite show ever
Day 05 - A show you hate
Day 06 - Favorite episode of your favorite TV show
Day 07 - Least favorite episode of your favorite TV show
Day 08 - A show everyone should watch
Day 09 - Best scene ever
Day 10 - A show you thought you wouldn't like but ended up loving
Day 11 - A show that disappointed you
Day 12 - An episode you've watched more than 5 times
Day 13 - Favorite childhood show
Day 14 - Favorite male character
Day 15 - Favorite female character
Day 16 - Your guilty pleasure show
Day 17 - Favorite mini series
Day 18 - Favorite title sequence
Day 19 - Best TV show cast
Day 20 - Favorite kiss
Day 21 - Favorite ship
Day 22 - Favorite series finale
Day 23 - Most annoying character
Day 24 - Best quote
Day 25 - A show you plan on watching (old or new)
Day 26 - OMG WTF? Season finale
Day 27 - Best pilot episode
Day 28 - First TV show obsession
Day 29 - Current TV show obsession
Day 30 - Saddest character death