Dave's Top Five Favourite TV Finales
David R. Smith
Sometimes the weeks just slip away on you, you know? I’d been pretty good about blogging and then all of a sudden two weeks have gone by and I realize I’ve been leaving everything for Shaun. So this is my attempt at fixing that. At least for the time being. Christmas is coming soon and that usually means a complete detachment from the internet for a few days. Although, maybe I’ll be able to write something before then.
But that’s for future Dave to figure out.
Anyway.
A month ago I wrote a list of my least favourite TV finales of all-time with the promise that I would do my list of my favourite TV finales of all time. Well, as I can't think of anything else to write about today, and also because it's been a month, I felt like now was the perfect time.
So away we go.
Oh: Spoiler alert, everywhere. Just... a lot of stuff gets ruined. Be warned.
5) Cheers
I was 9 years old when this show ended (Nearly 10, but still...) and I still vividly remember this ending. I remember Sam walking to that picture, levelling it off and walking into the dark hallway.
Since the show ended, I have seen many episodes of this TV show. It still holds up. It's funny as hell and it sure does have some touching moments.
This final episode had some pretty great moments in it. Without getting too much into a plot summary, here are the key moments: Diane is engaged, Sam pretends to be engaged to Rebecca, Rebecca gets engaged to her actual boyfriend and they elope, Woody gets elected as a councilman and gives Norm a job, Cliff gets promoted, Sam and Diane end up running off together to be with each other (abandoning the bar and Sam's friends), the plane is delayed, they decide to end things amicably, Sam returns and then, well, the show ends.
It was perfect. A wonderful way to end the series.
If anybody is trying to figure out last-minute gifts for me for Christmas, a box set of Cheers wouldn't be a terrible thing. Just sayin.
4) Rescue Me
Okay, so this wasn't the last scene of the series, per se, but it's close enough. The best part about this scene is that it mirrors the opening scene of the series. This leads us to the conclusion that whatever happened over the 7 seasons of this show could very easily all happen again, making this one of the most sisyphusian series out there.
SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS
The episode starts with the fallout from the explosion in the episode before. We were left hanging, as we didn't know who survived and who didn't. It was torture. And then we see Lou giving his speech at the funeral of all the other guys. NO!! What the hell?? But in true Rescue Me fashion, Tommy wakes up and realizes it was a dream and that Lou, in fact, was the only one to succumb to the explosion.
And then I get sad. I loved Lou. Everybody loved Lou. But in a show where so many people die, get injured, get divorced, etc. it was expected that somebody would die. And regardless of who they picked, it would be devastating. And in all honesty, it makes the most sense that it was Lou. It still sucked though.
END SPOILERS
Anyway, the episode is super good and a terrific cap to a terrific series.
The best part? They aired it on September 7, 2011. 4 days off the 10 year anniversary of 9/11. Denis Leary is the man.
3) Boardwalk Empire
SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS
If you've never seen Boardwalk Empire and watched that video, congratulations, you've just ruined the whole show.
In my least favourite episodes list, I promised you there would be at least one HBO show on here. And here it is.
Throughout the final season, we flash back and forth between the past and the present (well - the present in Boardwalk Empire-land. That's still 90 years in the past for us.) In these flashbacks, we finally get to see Nucky make his way through the ranks in the city (both as a young boy and later as a young man) which resulted in him holding the position he does for the duration of the show. The one thing we learn from these flashbacks? Nucky was only ever really looking out for Nucky. I think we all knew that as the show progressed, but now we had the evidence we needed.
I wasn't shocked at all when the final episode went down the way it did. I feel like because we've seen so much death (of some of our favourite characters) in Boardwalk Empire, and Nucky has been so wily up to this point, I figured something would happen akin to this. I was just surprised as to who was the one to do him in. But that's HBO for you, always keeping you on your toes.
And that's why I love HBO.
2) Breaking Bad
It's probably no surprise that this is on here. This is such a wonderful show and the end is as perfect as it can be.
It took me way longer than it should have to watch this entire series. I started off with a bang and then about halfway through season 2 (FYI: I just about wrote act 2. Am I a theatre guy, or what?) I just sort of stopped watching. To be perfectly honest, I think it stressed me out. It was such an intense show that I really, genuinely felt for the characters.
So I got back on track, watched seasons 2-4.75 in near-marathon fashion. And then, at the crux of the show, with 4 episodes left, I got massively busy and didn't have the chance to watch the last 4 episodes. It took me, no word of a lie, 6 months to finally get back and watch the end. And I was not disappointed. So many things happened in those last 4 episodes which made me regret not watching them earlier. Goodness. What a ride.
I'm not going to get into anything else here. Basically, this is the sort of show where if people love it, they've already seen it, and if they don't love it, they won't watch it. There's no in between on this one. So really, what more can I say to either side?
1) M*A*S*H
Guh. Even out of context, I just about cried. This scene kicks you right in the feels. As opposed to other finales on this list, there's no death (which is refreshing in a show that is pretty much all about death.)
After 9 amazing years, M*A*S*H finally came to an end. Granted, in the latter years, when Alan Alda became something of a pompous jackass and decided to write, direct AND star in episodes, there are some pretty preachy episodes. Notwithstanding, it's one of my favourite series of all time.
And the finale was perfect.
The Korean war has ended. Everybody gets to go home. BJ keeps avoiding saying goodbye to Hawkeye because he doesn't want it to be the last time they see each other. Hawkeye takes exception to this because when Trapper left, he basically up and vanished. Not one word to Hawkeye and that devastated him. He didn't want the same thing to happen with BJ. But BJ refused to say it. Which is kind of weird because he's such a standup guy. But still; nothing.
I get it. Saying goodbye is hard. It sucks. Especially when it's to somebody you love like a brother.
But when Hawkeye gets into that helicopter and the pilot starts ascending and we see the note on the ground? Waterworks. It gets me every time.
It's perfect.
And that's it, my friends. My list. I hope you enjoyed it. And as per usual, if you disagree with my list, or if you want to tell me something I've missed, you'll be wrong but I still welcome your opinion.
-D (@davidronn)