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Best and worst TV series finales, and where does GoT rank? *Spoilers*


SansaJonRule

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2 hours ago, SansaJonRule said:

Season 6 was the one I skipped and just read the episode summaries online (I watched it on Netflix). I hated the flash sideways crap.

So, I've seen at least 3 people list Black Sails as a favorite. It's a show I've considered watching. Is the whole series really good?

As others have already posted, s1 is the weakest season, but the others are all very strong with s2 being fantastic. A prequel of sorts to Treasure Island. Great characters and very interesting storyline that matured as it progressed. Great finale that doesn't spell it out for the viewer. One of my favorite series.

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I loved the way GOT finished. We saw things come full circle, things that were set up years ago that we missed or forgot about. Was it perfect, of course not. I would have liked to see some things different but that's my issue.

One of the biggest things I missed was Arya telling us, on screen, exactly what she was going to do.

LADY CRANE: Where will you go? 
ARYA: Essos is east and Westeros is west.
But what's west of Westeros? 
LADY CRANE: I don't know.
ARYA: Nobody does.
That's where all the maps stop.
The edge of the world, maybe.
I'd like to see that.

 

It's the little things like this from two seasons ago that I like. The exact shadow of a dragon flying of KL from Brans vision, 7 seasons later there it is.

I guess I will read more of this and then rank some finales.

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Ok, had to read this and remember some.

Liked - Breaking Bad, GOT, Big Bang Theory, MASH(saw this entire series in reruns), Friends, Leftovers, The Wire. I wanna add Cheers, I think it ended with Sam turning out the lights and walking up the stairs one last time (I was young then too)

Disliked - Dexter, fuck you for doing that, and the last season or two while I am at it. The Sopranos, I am simple minded, just show me what happens!  And Lost. Well I quit watching after S3 or so and am glad I did after hearing it just kept getting worse. I loved it in S1-2 for it's mysteries and wierdness, but damn at some point explain them. I still may go back and watch it at some point.

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13 minutes ago, Darth Richard II said:

Big Bang Theory? *barf*

It was fine. It wasn't earth shattering. It wasn't revolutionary. It was a sitcom that lasted 12 years going out on it's often terms.  One can debate the longevity of the show, but it delivered on many points. I didn't like all of it, but it was a show that did fine at the end. 

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As I read through this thread I'm somewhat surprised at the amount of series finales I've seen and forgotten even if I had a bad or good reaction to them.  I mean I hated the finale to HIMYM when I saw it but the hate has been somewhat dulled by endless watching of reruns of all the other episodes which I somewhat enjoyed.  So I wasn't even remembering it as a contender when first starting this thread.  But then I read this thread and am reminded of how much I hated it.  So thanks all for reminding me of that...not.  On the other hand this thread has reminded me of how much great the finale of The Americans was, which I also had forgotten.

So what do I remember?  Well I remember being pretty satisfied with the finale of Alias.  The last season was pretty weak but the last episode and what happens to everyone was pretty satisfying and its up there for me.  Similarly I remember Fringe having a pretty great finale.  It probably ties with the finale of Person of Interest which had about the best finale I could have hoped for for that show.

The finale that is burned in my mind for being my least favorite ever and that I actually remember is Lost.  I hated that so much that unfortunately it looks like I'm never going to forget it.

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Loved: The Wire, Mad Men, Breaking Bad, Community. The Wire's last season is its worst, but damn does that finale wrap it up well. Mad Men's has that perfect twist at the end. And Breaking Bad is an example of a crowd pleasing finale done well. Community's is really the perfect ending for that show, and also it's funniest episode in years. Angel stayed true to its characters and voice with a bleak ending.

Liked: Game of Thrones; it has its silly moments, and the pacing is rushed, but it does a great job wrapping things up while staying true to it's characters and themes. Rome was pretty similar. Seinfeld: It's not the funniest episode, but it's pretty, pretty good. Same with 30 Rock. 

Medium: Lost. Some of the on island stuff is great, including Jack's ending and Hurley. What bothers me most about this ending is the inane "flash sideways, which turned out to be a way to waste all of our time, tell us things we already knew about the characters, and give us an unearned happy ending. Another beef I have is not with "unanswered mysteries" but how many narrative dead ends the show has, even in its final season (the Temple). Fringe wasn't great, but I was entertained. Same with Buffy. Deadwood's last episode was decent but anti-climactic.

Bad: BSG. There's just so much I dislike about the finale, which relied way too much on "God did it" and reduced the show to some strange Luddite messaging. And some of the twists are as implausible as they come.

In the context of Game of Thrones, what this tells me is that coming up with and filming a satisfying ending for an expansive show with a huge cast is hard as hell. Out of all the shows of that type with endings I love, only the Wire really makes the cut; and that's the best show of all time. The final season and episode of GOT has its flaws, but I'm impressed with how much worked.

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5 hours ago, mcbigski said:

As for GoT was the one good scene LC Brienne and the White Book?  Cause that rang true.



No, though I'll give you that that wasn't terrible (though she shut the book too damn fast!!!), it was the bickering in the last council scene that was the only moment that reminded me of the strong dialogue of earlier seasons.

The rest of the dialogue was so ham-fisted it was untrue.

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5 hours ago, mcbigski said:

As for GoT was the one good scene LC Brienne and the White Book?  Cause that rang true.

I thought the first 20ish minutes were pretty good.  

Spoiler

After Dany's death, it becomes a convoluted mess and the whole Bran being elected king thing just doesn't play well because it wasn't even remotely earned since he hasn't interacted with 90% of the council that chooses him.  They all just kind of shrug and go with it.  They really should have made him integral to winning the war against the Others (not just bait), and most of the characters on the council should have been forced to get involved in that war, leading to Bran winning their respect with his invaluable knowledge.  

It would have been perfect if, at some key point in the Battle of Winterfell (I think we can all agree the Others shouldn't have been defeated midway through the final season), Bran steals control of the Night King's dragon and uses it to buy time for the survivors to retreat south.  Suddenly, he plays a huge part and him getting elected king is less out of fucking nowhere.

I do think the end montage was quite good as well, with the only problem being how rushed the last two seasons were to get to that point.  The endings of the primary surviving characters were cheapened because they didn't take the proper time to set them up, but the montage itself still worked for me.  

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6 hours ago, john said:

Like, what’s all this pick a king and he’ll decide what happens to the traitor.

Actually, I think that was the only fair and sensible way to handle it. Dany's supporters want him executed, Dany's opposition wants him pardoned and freed. The deed was done there in Kings Landing, so it falls under the king's jurisdiction and his punishment ended up being a compromise between the two (Tyrion's as well). And if you recall, that suggestion was made before Bran was chosen as king. (Bran, who no longer considers himself a Stark because he is the Three Eyed Raven. His loyalty is to the realm, not any one house or faction.)

I also liked that neither Tyrion nor Jon got off scott free. They both were basically given life sentences. I know a lot of people will say they got off too easy, but they were both prepared to pay the price for what they did because they knew it was the right thing to do for the future of Westeros. Similar to Jaime when he killed the Mad King. Although he wasn't legally punished, he had to endure a life sentence of being the "Kingslayer" for something he did for the good of the realm.

I loved it when Tyrion threw away his Hand badge, all the while never taking his eyes off Dany. Peter Dinklage is such a great actor, and he's got very expressive, cool looking eyes. He can say so much with just his eyes.

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1 hour ago, briantw said:

I thought the first 20ish minutes were pretty good.  

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 They really should have made him integral to winning the war against the Others (not just bait), and most of the characters on the council should have been forced to get involved in that war, leading to Bran winning their respect with his invaluable knowledge.  

It would have been perfect if, at some key point in the Battle of Winterfell (I think we can all agree the Others shouldn't have been defeated midway through the final season), Bran steals control of the Night King's dragon and uses it to buy time for the survivors to retreat south.  Suddenly, he plays a huge part and him getting elected king is less out of fucking nowhere.

I do think the end montage was quite good as well, with the only problem being how rushed the last two seasons were to get to that point.  The endings of the primary surviving characters were cheapened because they didn't take the proper time to set them up, but the montage itself still worked for me.  

I see where you're coming from regarding Bran's role in the Battle of Winterfell, but I disagree. Bran's invaluable knowledge was that the NK would be coming for him personally and he therefore needed to be the bait to lure the NK where they had a better chance of killing him.

Regarding him warging into Viseryion, I think that would have opened up a whole new can of worms. One, there is no precedence for a 3ER warging into an undead creature. The undead are the NK's domain. Secondly, if he did, then everyone would have wondered why he didn't do it sooner and prevent the NK using Viseryion to destroy The Wall.

The ending montage was great, especially considering how rushed the last two seasons were. I hate it when they leave you wondering what happened to everyone. Best part was John being greeted by Ghost.

I wonder if we will hear Martin's opinion of the final season?

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I just did a quick search, and half the article titles say yes, and half say no. I didn't open any of them to see which are most recent and from what source. Hopefully he's too busy finishing the books to watch tv!!!!!!!!!!!

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2 hours ago, briantw said:

I thought the first 20ish minutes were pretty good.  

I do think the end montage was quite good as well, with the only problem being how rushed the last two seasons were to get to that point.  The endings of the primary surviving characters were cheapened because they didn't take the proper time to set them up, but the montage itself still worked for me.  

Leaving in spoilers to be safe

Spoiler

By the ending montage I assume you mean the Starks and Jon?

Sansa has been telegraphed since last season that she would be Queen in the North.

Jon, well we all knew he would be miserable wherever he ended up, but yeah, sending him to the wall was a bit unexpected but not shocking.

Arya literally told us in season 6 that she was going to sail West of Westeros when she was healing and talking the the actress.

Their endings didn't seem rushed to me.

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4 minutes ago, dbunting said:

Jon, well we all knew he would be miserable wherever he ended up

If you think about it, Jon has been dealt a bad hand in life since the day he was born. He was destined to be miserable. But he was happy to see Ghost at least!

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