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The more I think about it the more I feel like finales that try to wrap

everything up with a big bow are taking on an ENORMOUS task. Finding closure for everyone, explaining everything, is hard as heck. BB did that as well as any.

While I didn't like the Soprano's ending at the time, it has grown on me. It didn't wrap everything up in a big bow so you can imagine the character's lives moving on and somehow that makes them still exist in your mind.

The American's finale was absolutely fantastic. It was a great episode, but it left enough undone that you are left wondering what happened. Did Paige have to go to jail? What ever happened with Philip's son? Is Stan's girlfriend a plant or not (and even if she isn't, did Philip saying it was possible she was doom that relationship)? When the Cold War thawed relations between US & Russia shortly after the season ended were Paige and Henry ever able to go visit their parents? Did Oleg rot in jail forever? Would the fact that Stan let them get away ever come out and ruin his career?

Yet with all those unanswered questions, it still wrapped up key plot points.

It was truly a masterpiece, IMO. And I watched the last two seasons wondering how in the world they could wrap everything up in the dwindling # of episodes I knew they had left, worried that it would be rushed. But the fact that they didn't wrap EVERYTHING up and left some of those plot points dangling, while still providing a real conclusion to the show, was just amazing.

I write all this as someone who has never watched GOT. But I think finales that try to wrap everything up completely and bring complete closure are doomed to fail, especially if the show has depth and many multifaceted characters and plots. M*A*S*H did it but that was a long time ago, the TV audience is much more sophisticated now. We now watch after-shows where our shows are discussed and dissected and we have expectations that the better shows that gave us hours of entertainment will somehow top themselves and wow us even more with a spectacular all encompassing finale, and I just don't think that's possible. Leave some plot threads undone, give some closure to a few characters, most of all stay true to the characters and the plots, and sign off. The real reason people hate the Soprano's ending is because they loved the show and the characters and the plots so much that they hated that the show was ending, and so they wanted at least to get some sort of killer payoff in the final episode.
[Post edited by SteveInBaltimore at 05/21/2019 6:07PM]

(In response to this post by Baltimore Hokie)

Posted: 05/21/2019 at 6:06PM

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Current Thread:

Lost ending was another collosal fan fail. Compare/contrast with GoT ** -- Baltimore Hokie 05/21/2019 12:13PM

The more I think about it the more I feel like finales that try to wrap -- SteveInBaltimore 05/21/2019 6:06PM

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The more I think about it the more I feel like finales that try to wrap

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