Have you heard of this show Breaking Bad?
Probably.
In the incredibly unlikely case that you missed the news, the genius Vince Gilligan show came to an end earlier this week with the airing of its near-perfect finale, Felina. Check out the last episode’s promo:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HAQt2sKC_E
Following on from the final adventures of Walter White and friends (and enemies), the lads at JOE HQ got to discussing some of the best, worst, most disappointing, most emotional and most controversial television show finales.
Finales by their very nature are an emotional experience and, needless to say, it’s been quite an emotional week for all of the Breaking Baddicts out there, but nothing prepared JOE for the sheer rollercoaster of emotions we’ve been through as we picked the selection you see below. The fact that we’ve been bawling our eyes out so much in the office is not good for this particular JOE’s (practically non-existent) manly reputation in any way whatsoever.
In fact, the other JOEs have been looking at us like we’ve got four heads. And all of those heads are crying.
A commitment…
When we sit down to begin and invest in a new television series we are making a life choice. A commitment.
As the finale of a beloved series eventually rolls around what we’re ultimately all looking for is satisfaction. Relief. Contentment with what you’ve just witnessed. And mainly, justification of the fact that you’ve ignored your family, friends, loved ones and pets for nearly six years and that you now measure Time in “Series.”
Mammy: “What time are you heading to the shop JOE?”
JOE: “Oh, I dunno, in about 2 series time. Now stop talking to me while I’m watching TV finales. You’re not my real mammy anyway.”
And so on…
So here goes, kicking off with the TV finale that made us uncontrollably angry:
LOST – 6 seasons, 2004 – 2010 – ‘The End’ (final 2 episodes)
Now, we have to contain ourselves when talking about Lost. The therapy is helping but we do have a tendency to become quite annoyed as we remember back to watching the finale one melancholic Monday evening on RTÉ 2.
Some viewers felt cheated as the writers revealed what many people had suspected from the very beginning – that the the idea of ‘purgatory’ or a ‘purgatory universe’ was a major part in why the the characters were behaving the way they were, being constantly told to “let go” and eventually reuniting in the final scene below.
We do know that the original Oceanic 815 plane crash happened. We do know that everything on the Island from seasons 1-6 also actually happened, but it was the ‘flash sideways’ universe (introduced in season 6) that was a kind of stop-over point between life and afterlife.
A lot of the show’s various strands were left entirely unexplained and the finale still proves as divisive today as it ever did. Well, they don’t call the show’s creator Damon ‘I love plot holes’ Lindelof for nothing. In fact, they don’t call him Damon ‘I love plot holes’ Lindelof at all. We just made it up there now.
Following this week’s Breaking Bad finale, some not-so-rational fans of the show decided that this would be the perfect opportunity to get in touch with the show’s creator directly, just to remind him how much they hated his ending to the show.
Ouch.
In response though, Lindelof wrote an excellent letter explaining his very interesting take on the finales of both shows. You can, and should, read it here.
FRIENDS – 10 Seasons, 1994 – 2004 – ‘The Last One’ (final 2 episodes)
Before Monday evenings were held sacred for episodes of Lost, they were dedicated to watching ten years of Friends, with Tuesday mornings similarily reserved for school discussions about how attractive we all thought Rachel…’s new hairstyle was.
The series finale brilliantly closes several long running storylines including Ross Geller (David Schwimmer) confessing his love for Rachel Green (Jennifer Aniston), complete with an obligatory, romantic comedy sprint through the airport. It was always meant to be though, they are each other’s lobsters after all.
Monica Geller (Courteney Cox) and Chandler ‘could I BE any more hilariously sarcastic’ Bing (Matthew Perry) adopted twins and move to the suburbs, while Phoebe Buffay (Lisa Kudrow) had married Mike Hannigan who is portrayed by Paul Rudd. As everyone knows, anyone who marries Brian Fantana is one lucky lady…
Joey Tribbiani (Matt LeBlanc) actually ended up with his very own spin-off show, Joey, so it’s safe to say he probably ended up the worst out of all of them.
After having watched a number of previous television show finales, the Friends writers eventually created one of the most emotional last episodes, with the very final scene showing the group leaving their apartment for one last time and going to Central Perk for one more cup of coffee.
Get ready for those manliest of manly man tears:
Thankfully, due to the constant multiple repeats, you actually have a one in four chance of randomly tuning into the Friends finale episode on any given day. An incredible, 100% true statistic…
THE OFFICE (UK version) – 2 Series – 2001-2003 – ‘Interview’
One of the most perfect television series of all time (in this JOE’s opinion at least), Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant’s The Office brilliantly lived up to the high standards set by the preceding 11 episodes.
Having been made redundant in the second last episode ‘Charity’ (which really should be viewed as a double bill with ‘Interview’), the boss from hell David Brent begs with his seniors to let him stay on at the Slough branch of the Wernham-Hogg paper merchant company. The episode also contained one of the best will-they-won’t-they moments in TV history, as Tim (Martin ‘Bilbo Baggins’ Freeman) and Dawn (Lucy Davis) shared their amazing silent confessional. (Dont’ worry Tim and Dawn fans, just watch the Christmas specials…)
Like the rest of Series One and Series Two, this final episode had the perfect blend of comedy, drama, heartbreaking moments and, of course, classic David Brent gold. It’s the final moment the audience were waiting for – sad and real, but one that ultimately leaves you with a huge beaming smile on your face as the final credits roll:
THE SOPRANOS – 6 Seasons – 1999-2007 – ‘Made In America’
Ah, The Sopranos. Without doubt, the most hotly debated and controversial television finale of all time. So much so, that analytical essays bordering on dissertations have been written about the now infamous ‘cut-to-black’ final scene.
Did Tony actually die or not?
For years we religiously followed the life and times of Tony Soprano (expertly played by James Gandolfini) – the New Jersey-based, Italian-American mob boss who became addictive viewing for anyone who tuned in, with the audience eager to see how the big man would deal with difficulties in his personal life (his family), as well as those problems that arose in his working life as, ahem, the head of a waste management firm (the Family).
What final choice did the show’s creator David Chase really have? If The Sopranos had ended with our beloved mob boss Tony being led to jail then that really wouldn’t have been that much of a big deal and, if he’d died in a one-sided gun fight in front of his family then the audience would have undoubtedly felt cheated by the unoriginal ending.
Instead, to this day, debate still rages as to the actual fate of Tony Soprano.
(We’re pretty sure he died).
Check out the incredibly powerful scene:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnT7nYbCSvM
One JOE colleague Declan Whooley who shall remain nameless, decided to watch the finale as an ‘in’ to the show, just to see whether he might like it. Unfortunately, The Sopranos lost out on a potential fan after he left the episode early, describing it as “one Italian-American lady’s struggle to park her car.” Poor Meadow Soprano (Jamie-Lynn Sigler):
We’ll tell you something there was no controversy over though. As a result of the now infamous episode, the song that is playing on the juke box in the background of the final scene gained huge press coverage and a massive surge in popularity, returning to charts all over the world.
It is, of course, Journey’s ‘Don’t Stop Belie……………………………………………..’
So let the argument begin. Agree with JOE? Disagree? YOU BETTER AGREE WITH US YOU BASTA*DS.
Sorry about that.
And, as ever, there was quite a lengthy list of shows that just didn’t quite make the final cut, so an honourable mention goes out to all of these guys *takes deep breath*…
The Wire, The Shield, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, The West Wing, Six Feet Under, Alias, M.A.S.H., Cheers, Angel, Dawsons Creek (seriously), Blackadder…
Did we mention spoiler alert?
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