Last week another terrific cable drama, The Shield, took its final bow in a series finale that still has fans talking. The talk is mostly about the last three minutes, which featured Vic Mackey's silent contemplation of the life he now leads after losing his friends, family and, some say, his freedom. Right before the screen went dark we saw Vic stride out of the cubicle that is now his home -- unsure of what his fate would be from now on.
Some fans of the series were unhappy with this ending, saying that there was no closure to the life that Vic had led over the last seven seasons. Some hearken the ending to the now-famous series finale of The Sopranos, which featured several seconds of nothingness before the credits rolled. This concept of not giving finality to a series finale is a new one for viewers to grasp onto. But, when you look at it further, it makes complete sense. Why should the lives of our favorite characters come to a complete ending when our own lives don't?
Well, in most cases our lives don't end until we die. And, even then, many believe that we continue on a different plane of existence. If anything, when one chapter of our life ends a new one usually begins, sometimes for better and sometimes for worse. it's just that when this happens in our life it isn't followed by credits and a closing theme (at least mine isn't). We just move along the path of life as best as we can.
This is why the current crop of series finales that we've seen on The Shield or The Sopranos works better in many cases than those that tie everything up in a neat little bow. Like us, the lives of our beloved characters continue in some way (though, in the case of The Sopranos, those continuations may have been short-lived). What goes on after the credits roll is up to interpretation. The result: the viewer gets a sense that these characters are just as real as we are.
Everybody Love Raymond is a good example of this type of movement. Rather than have a series finale that changed the circumstances of the show's characters, the creators of the program decided to end the show with a typical day at the Barone household. No one died, no one left. It was just a scene of a family that, despite all their bickering, loved and cared for each other. While nothing earth-shattering occurred it left most viewers with a feeling of satisfaction. Star Trek: The Next Generation was another good example. Though the ongoing story between Picard and Q seemed to have come full circle, the very last scene implied that there were many more adventures for the crew of the Enterprise.
Oh, there are exceptions to this case. For example, the series finales for M*A*S*H, The West Wing and Star Trek: Voyager, to name a few, had logical endings that tied up as many loose ends as possible. Yet, looking into these further, there was still a sense of non-finality for the characters in these programs. Though the stories ended, there was an open-endedness as to what their lives would be after Korea, the White House and the Alpha Quadrant. With the characters on Voyager, their adventures continued in other forms. For the characters on West Wing and most of the characters on M*A*S*H, their futures were left up to peoples imaginations.
The open-ended finale will not work for some shows. When Lost comes to an end I'm sure there will be a riot at the show's production studios if there isn't some closure to the adventures of the castaways. Same thing for shows like Chuck or Life. Whenever those shows end (and, here's hoping it's not too soon) people will look for something near complete closure because the circumstances of the characters demand it.
While some viewers may not like it, the open-ended series finale is probably here to stay. Not only does it give viewers a sense of real-life to the characters, but it also leaves open potential TV, cinematical, or direct-to-DVD releases that carry on the story. It will have to be used carefully, though. Overindulgence of this finale method could lead to dissatisfaction from a wide range of viewers. And, with television struggling as it is, it needs all the help it can get.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
12-01-2008 @ 5:13PM
gottacook said...
My favorite series finale has to be that of The Prisoner, that exceedingly nutty episode (written by P. McGoohan) titled "Fall Out." It transcends the categories described here in that it resolves the story while raising all sorts of new questions, as well as placing our hero (in the very last scene) exactly where he began, behind the wheel of his Lotus 7. For me this episode is a pure distillation of 1967-ness (which I do remember somewhat from actual experience). I suspect the finale of Lost will resemble it somehow.
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12-01-2008 @ 5:56PM
Bill said...
What was so open ended about the Shield? The strike team spent the whole series trying to score some extra cash, take care of their families, and stay out of jail. Shane ate his gun, Ronnie went to jail, Vic lost everything that matters to him and is basically imprisoned in a cubicle. For the other characters, Tina isn't a rookie anymore, that lawsuit was settled, Dutch caught his serial killer (who I can still only think of as Beaver), Claudette got some amount of punishment delivered to Vic, Corrine got away from Vic, Aceveda's on his way to being mayor. What more do you want? Danni and Julien are the only ones who didn't get clear closure, but their stories had kind of faded into the background this season anyway.
In the Sopranos, it seemed like business as usual for Tony and his family until the cut to black.
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12-01-2008 @ 6:57PM
StillBash said...
I second this. "The Shield" ended pretty "final". There's nothing more left to tell so I don't really understand why this should be an "Open ending".
All people were asking for is Vic to get punished. That's just it. They simply don't get that sitting in that cubicle with a suit and a tie having to deliver three reports a week and no power over something so basic as the AC (!) must be like hell for Vic.
To be honest I imagined that this was the sort of ending we would get for this show and I think many people who demand something else simply don't really get what "The Shield" was all about.
I mean seriously. In a show that is virtually about nothing else than there's no black or white and that everything is nothing but about a million shades of grey, why do people feel unsatisfied when, in the end, they get just that as the resolution.
The question you have to ask is not "Why do series finales have to be so final" but rather "Why do people need some sort of resolution at the end of a series?".
A resolution, that's what people demand. Justice. Or even just poetic justice.
12-01-2008 @ 5:57PM
csttar63 said...
you have to remember that sometimes tying things up and lessen the value of syndication and other ancillary sources of revenue. for instance, the original "FUGITIVE" was not picked up in syndication because the one common thread in the whole show had been solved; that is the identity of the one-armed man. killing off characters or having some life-changing event happen, can affect the viewing of reruns, especially if you see a future doomed character who is happy and beloved in the beginning. it's a little like knowing the time and method of your own demise.
i shutter to think of it. being open to interpetation is good. a last thought, most movie ending love connections would be a bummer if we saw what really happens, which is get divorced or the man cheats.
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12-01-2008 @ 6:12PM
Elf said...
Well, at least Vic Mackey didn't wake up next to Suzanne Pleshette. (Yes, I know she's dead but someone had to make the joke, right?)
There is of course no simple answer. Each show is different. Some require closure to be satisfying and others don't. And it's really up to the creators if they want to leave things open-ended, in case there's a chance they could return to the characters some time in the future, or if they want to wrap things up permanently and move in to something new. I'm usualy willing to trust the creators' judgement as to how they want to bring things to a close.
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12-01-2008 @ 7:58PM
C C said...
One of my favorite passages in literature is the last paragraph of the Chronicles of Narnia (in The Last Battle): "And for us, this is the end of all the stories....But for them, it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page." I can't help but believe that C.S. Lewis's words influenced the endings to both The Sopranos and The Shield, as well as the epilogue in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
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12-01-2008 @ 8:43PM
Modwild said...
One of my all time favorite finales, Six Feet Under, was about as final as you can get. I loved it. But I also love ambiguous endings, as the let you continue the fantasy and use your imagination. We don't do that much any more.
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12-03-2008 @ 3:31PM
khamel said...
i LOVE the six feet under finale. It aired a few months after my father passed and I've probably seen it 10 times since and tear up every time. So good. Maybe its online to watch now ...
12-01-2008 @ 8:45PM
ldybrdcstr said...
There are the times then TPTB get the ending right, the fans demand more, and the series has another season with a less satisfying ending.
I, of course, speak of USA Network's La Femme Nikita. The Season 4 ending is so much better than the ultimate series finale.
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12-01-2008 @ 8:54PM
Bill said...
I may be late to the party with this but I wonder if anybody as read this essay about the finale of The Sopranos.
It's a brilliant piece of writing and only proves that David Chase is a genius.
http://masterofsopranos.wordpress.com/the-sopranos-definitive-explanation-of-the-end/
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12-02-2008 @ 2:09AM
dtpollitt said...
THE WIRE ended pretty open-ended, but that's how everything in THE WIRE goes. It just starts over, and the institution wins.
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12-02-2008 @ 9:35AM
Janus said...
as for great endings to tv shows i heard somewhere there was a tv show that ended by having all of its characters blown up in a plane or something..anyone know the name of the show cause its really bugging me that i dont remember it
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12-02-2008 @ 9:42AM
Jimmy said...
The finale of The Sopranos was a total cop-out -- utter crap. To compare it and The Shield is a disservice to Shawn Ryan and his show's brilliant cast and crew. My only complaint is that it had to end at all.
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12-02-2008 @ 6:06PM
Harold Love said...
Just my opinion but there wasn't very much wrong with The Sopranos or The Shield finales. They can't do it all.
12-02-2008 @ 9:57AM
seph said...
I wish after the finale to M*A*S*H the exploits of the characters were left to our imagination but unfortunately there was "After-M*A*S*H".
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12-02-2008 @ 11:39AM
theJohnnyspot said...
Or how about NO ending and yes I am STILL talking about "Pushing Daisies," "Eli Stone" and "DSM!" If i could erase ABC off my cable package I would!
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12-02-2008 @ 12:01PM
lleon596 said...
Despite being long time fan of this show, I must admit the 7th season is very disappointing with many plot holes in it.
I can live with whatever (open/closed) ending but what happened here is just complete turning of main character from being smart and loyal to some gutless dumb.
IMO
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12-02-2008 @ 2:27PM
Thom said...
...Or you could have the best of both worlds. ;)
Buffy which "ended" on the WB with Season 5 resulted in a pretty final event (and it was not 100 percent certain it would be picked up by another station). Then on UPN its final end was rather open ended...leading to the comic series and whatnot.
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12-02-2008 @ 4:05PM
Mike Doran said...
Boy, do you guys make me feel like an old, old, really old man... at age 58. I actually go back long enough ago to remember when series didn't have finales. The war shows of the '60s, like Combat and 12 O'clock High went off with their wars still going on, even as the shows had a longer duration than the actual event. The Westerns didn't know from "closure" - the cowboys just kept ridin' on indefinitely. THe cops kept on busting the crooks, the doctors kept on treating their patients, the lawyers kept going to court... the world just went on, business as usual. The closest to a finale was the last original Perry Mason. Check it out and see what I mean.
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12-04-2008 @ 9:05AM
Adam said...
Best final episode I have ever seen was Angel. No real closure (except for a few characters), but it was just so great to see a great siege followed by the characters walking into the inevitable battle as the credits roll.
It left you satisfied, but still wishing you could see more.
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