It’s Memorial Day weekend and the summer is upon us. In the last couple of weeks, most of the TV shows we’ve been watching all year drew to a close in a flood of extended episodes, cliffhanger endings and general story arc conclusions. It’s an exciting time for TV fans but for me, it’s an exhausting time. Between all of the announcements for current and upcoming series at the network upfronts and the tidal wave of season finales that aired last week and the week before, I’m left with a pretty serious TV hangover.
While I’m sad that I’ll have to wait all summer (and in some cases, longer than that) for my favorite shows to return and pick up where they left off, I’m embracing this temporary break before all of the summer shows start up. It’s given me a bit of time to reflect on some of my favorite shows and look at each season finale individually.
Each finale is rated based on a five star scale. The rating is based on how satisfying the season finale was and not necessarily on my opinion of the show or the season in general.
‘Battlestar’ closed out the third season at the end of March but that’s no reason to leave it off this list. My mind is still reeling from the shocking and all around phenomenal conclusion. Baltar beat the death sentence and was sent off to be treated as an outcast among most of his fellow humans (and a god among a select few cultish crazies), four of the main characters learned that they were Cylons and Starbuck, presumed to be dead, returned to lead the humans to earth.
The mind-blowing plot twists in the episode wasn’t the only reason I gave this finale five stars. The acting was spot on – Especially Jamie Bamber’s performance during Baltar’s trial and Michael Hogan’s performance during the scene when the final four realize what they are. “And if I die today, that’s the man I’ll be.” That gave me goose-bumps. I also loved the use of music throughout the episode. It added a unique flavor to the finale that, while completely new for the show, didn’t feel out of place.
Lost -
‘Lost’ is back, baby! The two-hour finale had me on the edge of my seat the entire time. Any doubts I had earlier in the season as to the direction the show was headed in were completely gone by the time the finale concluded. So was the drunk-Jack stuff a flash-forward or was the island stuff a flash-back? Will the fourth season pick up in the post-island days where we get to see how bad things are for everyone else? I have no idea and I doubt we’ll be getting any clues from ‘Lost’ writers/producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse anytime soon.
To top off the greatness of the episode, we had to see one of our favorite Losties, Charlie die. Though he could’ve probably made it out of the room in the hatch in time to slam the door from the outside and seal off the flood, he chose to stay inside and face his destiny. Desmond told him he had to die in order for the rest of them to get rescued. Charlie went out like a hero, which is a lot more than we could say about most of the other ‘Lost’ characters who’ve met their demise on the island.
Ugly Betty -
Even without the twists and turns on the overall plot, Kristin Chenowith’s appearance in the episode would’ve been enough to earn this finale a high rating on my list. As a nitrus-oxide loving romantic comedy junkie, her character added just enough bubbly fun to make the finale great. Of course, there’s also the fact that Henry is returning home with his pregnant almost-ex-girlfriend, Amanda learned she was Fey Sommers’ daughter, Claire broke out of prison, Daniel and Alexis were in a car accident after someone cut the breaks on their father’s car and Hilda’s fiancé, Santos died. It was a pretty great ending to the first season of ‘Ugly Betty.’
I can’t say it was as great as last season’s “Casino Night,” but it was a pretty fantastic finale. Creed’s ridiculous blog, Jan’s ridiculous boobs (and her grand exit from Dunder Mifflin) and then of course, there’s whatever happened during the unseen time between Jim’s interview and the moment he asked out Pam. It was a great way to end the third season and it definitely left me wanting more.
If the ‘Mars’ season finale weren’t the series finale, I probably would’ve given it at least four stars. The “Castle” mystery was truly entertaining. So much so that I think the writers should’ve considered doing away with the Dean O’Dell mystery arc from earlier in the season and used a fleshed-out version of the Castle mystery in its place.
As a season finale, ‘Mars’ ended well. As a series finale, I’m greatly disappointed. The series deserved a much better conclusion and instead, we’re left hanging. Will Keith get elected sheriff? Probably not. While Balboa County would be much better off with Keith protecting them than they will with the crooked Vinnie Van Lowe, Keith will probably be fine if he has to return to being a private detective. Will Veronica and Piz make it through the summer? Again, probably not. There was never any real chemistry between those two anyway. I would’ve liked to see how everything played out though and I’m going to miss ‘Mars’ when it doesn’t return next fall.
24 -
This wasn’t the greatest season of ’24.’ In fact, I think it only ranked a bit higher than seasons 2 and 3 but the show seemed to get back on track towards the end and the finale was pretty satisfying. Jack killed his father and once again, saved the day. Bill and Karen were pardoned for their misdeeds, Chloe found out she’s pregnant and the Vice President figured out that being President kind of sucks. The season wasn’t great but it did end well, I’ll give it that much.
With no real mystery arc in the final episodes of ‘Desperate Housewives,’ the season finale almost felt like any other episode. The fact that there were two weddings and someone died (R.I.P Edie) did elevate the episode to finale status but the episode just seemed to lack something. Overall though, it was a decent ending to the season and I cant wait for next season to return with more of Bree pretending to be pregnant.
Heroes
On the surface, the finale was what we all expected it to be. The city did get saved after all; ensuring that the future Hiro saw in “String Theory” won’t come to pass. But no one died (except maybe Nathan) and up until the last ten minutes of the episode, nothing really happened. It was just like any other episode except it happened to end with the save-the-world portion of the story wrapped up. The final moments with Hiro finding himself in ancient Japan were pretty great but not enough to make up for the otherwise underwhelming conclusion to the first season of ‘Heroes.’
Grey’s Anatomy -
A just-ok ending to a sloppy season. Remember last season when Denny died? That was a really powerful finale and since then, the show seems to have derailed. The season ended with Cristina and Burke breaking up (not a total shock), Meredith and Derek on the rocks, George learning he failed his intern exam, Burke and Addison leaving (not sure if Burke’s gone for good though) and Adele and Weber reconciling. If it weren’t for every scene Sandra Oh was in, I would’ve probably given this finale one star. Hopefully the writers will get ‘Grey’s’ back to greatness next season.
Disclaimer: After doing this week’s What To Watch, I realized my choices are leaning very heavily towards FOX’s offerings. This was unintentional. It just so happens that right now, for the most part, FOX is the only major network currently airing new episodes of worth-watching shows. That should change as soon as the other networks start rolling out their summer shows.
’Dateline NBC’ (ABC) 7:00 pm
The show looks in on the story of a pair of Russian twins and the family who adopted them. There is literally nothing else on unless you want to watch a ‘Cold Case’ rerun (CBS) or NASCAR (FOX).
’On The Lot’ (Fox) 8:00 pm
(New!) – In this two-hour episode, the 18 remaining aspiring filmmakers will produce short films and present them to the judges. The judges’ scores combined with the viewers’ votes will determine which 15 contestants will make it through to the next round and which 3 will be sent home.
’On The Lot’ (FOX) 8:00 pm
After Monday’s episode, in which the final 18 contestants presented their recently created videos, the judges scores and the viewers votes are combined and the three contestants with the lowest scores are sent home.
’House’ (FOX) 9:00 pm
Human Error (Season Finale!) – A bit late in the game in terms of season finales, FOX most likely bumped this episode in order to piggyback ‘On The Lot’ with their ‘American Idol’ season finale ratings. House treats a patient from Cuba.
’So You Think You Can Dance’ (FOX) 8:00 pm
(New!) – The auditions continue in Los Angeles and Chicago.
’Pirate Master’ (CBS) 8:00 pm
(Series Premiere!) – a new reality show about a group of people who are competing to find treasure.
’So You Think You Can Dance’ (FOX) 9:00 pm
More auditions – this time in Atlanta.
Painkiller Jane (Scifi) 10:00 pm
Higher Court (new!) – The group investigates a case involving a number of people in the government witness protection program committing suicide.
Open Water (FX) 8:00 pm
This is one of those movies I will probably never watch again but the creepy nightmarish-ness of it does make it a good movie to watch at least once. It’ll make you think twice about going scuba diving, that’s for sure.
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