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Favorite ending to a TV series?

game-boi

Member
I love a lot of the ones already mentioned so I'll go with Looking. But I have a feeling that a lot of people don't see the final scenes the same way I do.

After an on/off again relationship with a jerk results in the main character leaving San Francisco, he comes back after a year or so for a friend's wedding. He meets back up with his jerk ex, who offers MCa job. MC only gets pretty excited about only after he learns that his jerk ex is leaving SF for good in the near future. Set on moving back to the city, MC chases after "The One that got away." They have a semi-magical night together and put an icky history behind them. MC wants to be with The One, but they are already set on leaving San Francisco to sort themselves out. MC begs him to try together one more time. The One doesn't promise anything but the two get interrupted by friends sitting in a nearby late-night cafe. Coming inside the cafe with the One, MC's friends urge MC to come back to live in San Francisco with them "happily ever after." MC doesn't respond but looks at The One. The One nods, non-verbally saying, "You should come back, but I won't be here." MC non-verbally indicates he understands this and both get a little misty eyed. They hug as the camera pulls out.

They're not going to end up together forever (that ending would betray the more realistic tone the show had always carried), but they learned a lot from their relationship over the course of the show. They'll stay friends, but not lovers.

The end.

I love the ending not for the things that are said, but for the things that are left unsaid for the viewer to figure out.
 
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The Wonder Years.

summer_id_2.jpg


Adult Kevin/Narrator (voice over): Once upon a time there was a girl I knew, who lived across the street. Brown hair, brown eyes. When she smiled, I smiled. When she cried, I cried. Every single thing that ever happened to me that mattered, in some way had to do with her. That day Winnie and I promised each other that no matter what, that we'd always be together. It was a promise full of passion and truth and wisdom. It was the kind of promise that can only come from the hearts of the very young.
The next day Winnie and I came home. Back to where we'd started. It was the 4th of July in that little suburban town. Somehow though, things were different. Our past was here, but our future was somewhere else. And we both knew, sooner or later, we had to go. It was the last July I ever spent in that town. The next year, after graduation, I was on my way.
So was Paul. He went to Harvard, of course. Studied law. He's still allergic to everything.
As for my father...well...we patched things up. Hey, we were family. For better or worse. One for all...and all for one.
Karen's son was born in that September. I gotta say, I think he looks like me. Poor kid. Mom, she did well: business woman, board chairman, grandmother...cooker of mashed potatoes. The Wayner stayed on in furniture. Wood seemed to suit him. In fact he took over the factory two years later....when dad passed away. Winnie left the next summer to study art history in Paris.
Still we never forgot our promise. We wrote to each other once a week for the next eight years. I was there to meet her, when she came home, with my wife and my first son, eight months old. Like I said, things never turn out exactly the way you planned.
Growing up happens in a heartbeat. One day you're in diapers; next day you're gone. But the memories of childhood stay with you for the long haul. I remember a place...a town...a house like a lot of other houses... A yard like a lot of other yards...on a street like a lot of other streets. And the thing is...after all these years, I still look back...with wonder.
[Fade to black]
Young Boy (voiceover): Hey dad, wanna play catch?
Narrator (voiceover): I'll be right there.

I absolutely hated this ending as a kid, how come Kevin and Winnie didn't ended together??? this makes no sense!!!

But as time passes on, I can see the magic on this ending, on why this was the right way to end The Wonder Years.

Never has a piece of media stuck with me for such a long time.
 

oatmeal

Banned
Scrubs (real one)
The Leftovers
LOST
Breaking Bad
The Sopranos (which I've never actually seen the show, just read the theories and explanations of the ending and I think it's brilliant)
The Shield
 

HotHamBoy

Member
Scrubs (real one)
The Leftovers
LOST
Breaking Bad
The Sopranos (which I've never actually seen the show, just read the theories and explanations of the ending and I think it's brilliant)
The Shield

Why would you do that?

Just watch the show, it's really good...
 

-shadow-

Member
Twin Peaks Season 2 finale, yes I know that season 3 is now a thing. But consider it was just that for over two decades I'm still counting it. Really curious where season three is building towards.
 

oatmeal

Banned
Why would you do that?

Just watch the show, it's really good...

It was impossible to avoid the ending when it happened. That had reverberations across the internet.

I'll hopefully watch it eventually...I bought the whole thing on iTunes with full intentions of watching it. Just...haven't.
 

BibiMaghoo

Member
I made this thread not so long ago and set out to watch all the top answers, most of which have been repeated in this thread. Those I watched that were recommended and I agree with:

Six Feet Under - Flawless and crushing at the same time. Not likely to forget this
Justified - Thematically perfect ending, with some happiness thrown in

Someone said Dexter and they can fuck right off. The show was good but the ending was the worst.
 

blackw0lf

Member
The Wonder Years.

summer_id_2.jpg




I absolutely hated this ending as a kid, how come Kevin and Winnie didn't ended together??? this makes no sense!!!

But as time passes on, I can see the magic on this ending, on why this was the right way to end The Wonder Years.

Never has a piece of media stuck with me for such a long time.

Yea I'm tearing up just reading that.
 

Wag

Member
Nekketsu Kõha;247312748 said:
I wasn't a fan of the series but it had some great episodes I do agree it has a nice conclusion and end.

Still upset about Stargate Universe being cancelled :(

Atlantis is the only Stargate series to have a definite ending.

As for Universe, I recommend picking up the comic that just came out- it's supposed to be canon.
 
Hands down The Leftovers. That show is probably peak TV for me. I can't imagine another series having that kind of impact on me.

I'm a sucker for people choosing to fight a losing battle, so the ending of Angel definitely worked for me too.
 
Most of mine have been mentioned at length, but I'll throw in Defiance cause it's one of the few endings where I was gonna be pissed if they hadn't cancelled it cause they'd have to undo everything most likely with a lot of bullshit involved.
 
Atlantis is the only Stargate series to have a definite ending.

As for Universe, I recommend picking up the comic that just came out- it's supposed to be canon.

Hmm will look into that, didn't know about it thanks. I did feel the ark of truth however was a nice end for sg-1 and yes it was a movie but show ended on a cliffhanger with a tie in as they already planned it that way and it didn't get cancelled due to poor ratings. Still left it open for more possibilities and they also did so with that movie that ended the story of Ba'al which was really only question mark left of the show.
furlings :(
 

Zach

Member
Definitely The Sopranos.

And Twin Peaks. I think the season two finale still counts as a series ender. Kinda.
 
HIMYM has an excellent alternate ending. In that, he meets the mother, finally, but instead of continuing and fucking everything up the way the actual ending does, it continues by summing up everything that happened on the show and saying that's all it took for them to meet.
 
The Wonder Years.

summer_id_2.jpg




I absolutely hated this ending as a kid, how come Kevin and Winnie didn't ended together??? this makes no sense!!!

But as time passes on, I can see the magic on this ending, on why this was the right way to end The Wonder Years.

Never has a piece of media stuck with me for such a long time.
images
 
Nekketsu Kõha;247312748 said:
I wasn't a fan of the series but it had some great episodes I do agree it has a nice conclusion and end.

Still upset about Stargate Universe being cancelled :(

"Epilogue" (episode 2x18) is a wonderful ending to Stargate Universe to me. The two episodes after it are just a bonus.
 

UberTag

Member
Season 23, Episode 9 of The Simpsons... Holidays of Future Passed

What's that? We've had another 5 1/2 seasons since then?
Never mind then.
 

A-V-B

Member

Especially if you count the "ending" as being everything from the point where
the other members of the ship start leaving.

Avatar, for sure.

The Prisoner. It's absolutely batshit and I love it.

Breaking Bad, for nothing else but the shot in the car with the animalistic scream of pain and triumph.

Band of Brothers.

Firefly, for the last two unaired episodes. Strong feelings of death and incompleteness permeate.
 

Ferulci

Member
The Wonder Years.

summer_id_2.jpg




I absolutely hated this ending as a kid, how come Kevin and Winnie didn't ended together??? this makes no sense!!!

But as time passes on, I can see the magic on this ending, on why this was the right way to end The Wonder Years.

Never has a piece of media stuck with me for such a long time.

This. I thought the series was okay but that ending...
Classic : The Shield, Sopranos, Cowboy Bebop
Less known : Gungrave, Trigun
 
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