Support NeoGAF

[Drizzlehell]

I'm watching it for the first time now. Still only on the first season but I'm digging it a lot so far, it's really good.

I'm just kinda wary of the "mystery box" trope that Abrams & Co. are known for and this whole Pattern stuff bears all the hallmarks of some bullshit MacGuffin that the writers never really had a decent idea about what it is exactly, and the mystery alone was enough for the show to drag on for as long as possible.

In any case, I'm just looking for a straight answer to the question if the show's finale is a cop-out and I'm gonna be angry about watching 5 seasons only for the whole thing to go absolutely nowhere. Or even worse, has an ending that sucks balls.

 

[Trogdor1123]

I always felt like they ran out of ideas and were just trying to create “something “ at the end

 

[Nico_D]

Lost didn't have a disappointing finale.

Other than that, I think Fringe went somewhat downhill towards the end.

In comparison to Lost and some other shows, I don't remember what happened in Fringe finale. Anything about it. Kinda telling.

 

[Drizzlehell]

Lost didn't have a disappointing finale.

Other than that, I think Fringe went somewhat downhill towards the end.

In comparison to Lost and some other shows, I don't remember what happened in Fringe finale. Anything about it. Kinda telling.

I never really watched Lost but the only thing that I ever see people talk about when it comes up is how much of a bullshit ending it had.

 

[Nico_D]

I never really watched Lost but the only thing that I ever see people talk about when it comes up is how much of a bullshit ending it had.

I can understand why some people think that but the actual character ending is really, really good. The mythology part may or may not be great but that is not what Lost was about for me.

 

[PaddyOCanager]

I stopped watching after Season 3, after a few episodes of season 4. I remember enjoying seasons 1-3 but I really don't remember the show at all.

 

[jason10mm]

It's been a hot minute since I've thought about Fringe but I don't feel like they ever just "had stuff happen" with no explaination. The show stayed pretty focused on the central conceit (I don't recall when "whats actually going on" is explained so I wont reveal it here) in the later seasons so if anything it just ran out of clever ways to exploit the sci-fi angle rather than died under its own weight of unexplained and unexplainable WTF moments like most mystery box shows. The episodic nature of most of the show and the ensemble they created helps it a lot. Much of modern TV could learn from the formats of some older shows, I feel like we have gotten way too serialized for the amount of actual plot most shows have and scripts rely far too much on constant interpersonal conflict instead of episodic event resoluiton.

Doesn't hurt that Anna Torv is soooo easy on the eyes.

 

[GymWolf]

Let's just say that the final season was pretty bald.

 

[Drizzlehell]

It's been a hot minute since I've thought about Fringe but I don't feel like they ever just "had stuff happen" with no explaination. The show stayed pretty focused on the central conceit (I don't recall when "whats actually going on" is explained so I wont reveal it here) in the later seasons so if anything it just ran out of clever ways to exploit the sci-fi angle rather than died under its own weight of unexplained and unexplainable WTF moments like most mystery box shows. The episodic nature of most of the show and the ensemble they created helps it a lot. Much of modern TV could learn from the formats of some older shows, I feel like we have gotten way too serialized for the amount of actual plot most shows have and scripts rely far too much on constant interpersonal conflict instead of episodic event resoluiton.

Doesn't hurt that Anna Torv is soooo easy on the eyes.

I agree wholeheartedly with the part about virtues of episodic format. I've skipped on so many modern shows because it's so easy to lose the plot if you don't watch it all at once, and spending an entire weekend binging shit is just not something that I'm into either. The constant drama with no resolution is often tiresome as well.

I prefer to look for some older shows that I missed out on, like The X-Files or, case in point, Fringe. And judging by the answers so far, it doesn't seem like it's gonna be a total disappointment, so that's good.

 

[G-Bus]

Kept up with it for a few seasons and it was enjoyable. Not sure why I stopped watching.

 

[AJUMP23]

It is a cool show but it completely changes what the show is at some point. It stops being X-files type show and becomes stargate is almost the best equivalent. I enjoyed it. I can't remember the finale but I don't remember it bothering me like LOST.

 

[Catphish]

Lost didn't have a disappointing finale.

 

[Pagusas]

The value is in the journey, not the end.

 

[poppabk]

I recall it being fine in terms of making narrative and "in world logic' sense. The last season overall was a drop off in form, but you won't be left screaming or staring dumbfounded at the TV.

 

[ManaByte]

Fringe started as basically an X-Files clone, but ended much better. They came up with a cool idea about halfway through the show and it paid off well.

 

[pesaddict]

Man i loved walter great show

 

[Clear]

Given that I honestly cannot remember the entire back half of the 5 season run* I'd say that it probably sucked.
Show really lost its way at some point.

*I had to look this up

 

[AJUMP23]

Lost didn't have a disappointing finale.

Lost went dumber than Game of Thrones.

 

[BouncyFrag]

I’m rewatching it now. It gets ‘out there’ crazy, BUT I really liked the finale. It’s a mixed bag, but I’d recommend sticking through it if you enjoyed the White Tulip episode from season 2.

 

[Konnor]

The mystery is explained adequately, the problem is that season 4 and 5 are not good plus they made some exceptionally stupid story decisions in season 4 that ruined the rest of the show for me almost everyone's character getting reset in season 4 was moronic and ruined the show, I haven't witnessed this stupidity in any other show

 

[Doom85]

Lost went dumber than Game of Thrones.

Even as someone who enjoyed all of LOST, this is way off for me. LOST only “failed” in its ending by not providing answers and even that’s debatable as most major questions were answered during the show or had reasonable explanations, it’s just that some of those answers involved fantasy/mystical elements when some fans were hoping for more sci-fi and/or semi-realistic answers.

GOT failed in not just leaving some questions unanswered, but also flat out forgetting several character arcs, completely assassinating several characters characterization-wise, rushing through long built up story threads, having characters make decisions so bad even teens in a stereotypical slasher film would be staring at them in disbelief, etc. It was a complete failure across the board in writing, whereas LOST’s finale is only contested in one major aspect of its writing.

If LOST’s final season were more like the GOT final season, the Man in Black would have been abruptly beaten in episode 2 after seasons of build up, then the characters just go deal with Charles Widmore and easily beat him in a single episode, then out of nowhere Kate goes insane and becomes the new villain and Jack defeats her by simply walking up to her and stabbing her. YAY, sooooooo exciting. Oh, and Sawyer randomly becomes an asshole again after six seasons of character growth for……reasons. And Ben goes from being smart to making insanely stupid decisions and comments out of nowhere.

LOST’s finale was like somebody handing you a dish of spicy food that some might not enjoy eating. GOT’s finale was just someone stealing your meal but not before punching you in the face.

 

[Catphish]

LOST’s finale was like somebody handing you a dish of spicy food that some might not enjoy eating.

For me, the Lost finale was me expecting a dish of spicy food, hopefully a bit chewy, that would be filling while satisfying the craving that the delightful aroma from the kitchen had been building up for six years.

Instead, they gave me a bowl of rice pudding and a hug.

 

[Trunx81]

To spell it out a little different:
The finale was better than the last season.

But all in all, Fringe was amazing. Still got the music stuck in my head after all these years.

 

[Snaggletooth]

Fringe and Grimm are my 2 favourite TV series. Loved Fringe right to the end.

 

[Doom85]

For me, the Lost finale was me expecting a dish of spicy food, hopefully a bit chewy, that would be filling while satisfying the craving that the delightful aroma from the kitchen had been building up for six years.

Instead, they gave me a bowl of rice pudding and a hug.

But I still feel the general consensus would be GOT had the worse ending.

It didn’t help the LOST ending‘s amount of hate was questionable given how many people demonstrated they had hearing and/or comprehension problems. Jack’s father FLAT OUT SAID what was happening in the flash forwards, and yet somehow against all logic and reason some viewers went, “aah, so the Island was purgatory after all”. I seriously wept for humanity’s intelligence upon witnessing this failure to understand something so basic. Even the people running the Emmys managed to not “get” the ending, for fucks’ sake!

Shit like this is why creative writers can be so hesitant to go for subtlety in their writing because even when shit is plainly spelled out it somehow still goes over some people’s heads. Hell, it happened again with the new Dr. Strange, people asking all these silly questions about Wanda’s morality or motives and I’m like, “what part of ‘the Darkhold corrupted her mind’ is so fucking hard to understand?! Did the audience need Strange and Wong to put such a basic concept on a chalkboard with visual aids, or are just moviegoers so dense that even that wouldn’t have helped them?”

To be clear, this isn‘t aimed at you as I assume you actually paid attention to what Jack’s father said in the ending and you just simply didn’t care for the ending, rather the LOST ending was a big example of how a significant portion of an audience just in all honesty aren’t that bright when it comes to understanding storytelling at times for whatever reason. I dunno if they get distracted at the worst possible time in an episode/movie to get distracted but it’s frustrating to watch them decry a film/show when their entire argument is founded on a complete misunderstanding of the story.

 

[clarky]

Fringe was great, well worth a watch. If i remember correctly it was about to get canned then after an out cry we got the last season which was disconnected from the rest of the show and nowhere near as good. My memory might not be quite right, but definitely a great show.

I say go for it, really hits its stride once it gets going.

 

[clarky]

But I still feel the general consensus would be GOT had the worse ending.

It didn’t help the LOST ending‘s amount of hate was questionable given how many people demonstrated they had hearing and/or comprehension problems. Jack’s father FLAT OUT SAID what was happening in the flash forwards, and yet somehow against all logic and reason some viewers went, “aah, so the Island was purgatory after all”. I seriously wept for humanity’s intelligence upon witnessing this failure to understand something so basic. Even the people running the Emmys managed to not “get” the ending, for fucks’ sake!

Shit like this is why creative writers can be so hesitant to go for subtlety in their writing because even when shit is plainly spelled out it somehow still goes over some people’s heads. Hell, it happened again with the new Dr. Strange, people asking all these silly questions about Wanda’s morality or motives and I’m like, “what part of ‘the Darkhold corrupted her mind’ is so fucking hard to understand?! Did the audience need Strange and Wong to put such a basic concept on a chalkboard with visual aids, or are just moviegoers so dense that even that wouldn’t have helped them?”

To be clear, this isn‘t aimed at you as I assume you actually paid attention to what Jack’s father said in the ending and you just simply didn’t care for the ending, rather the LOST ending was a big example of how a significant portion of an audience just in all honesty aren’t that bright when it comes to understanding storytelling at times for whatever reason. I dunno if they get distracted at the worst possible time in an episode/movie to get distracted but it’s frustrating to watch them decry a film/show when their entire argument is founded on a complete misunderstanding of the story.

Nah "LOST" lost it when it started to tie up the ridiculous amount of loose ends and started trying to explain every single thing. Plus they must of got a budget cut towards the end because some of the sets were straight out of Star Trek.

This is coming from someone who ranks the best of Lost amongst some of the best TV ever. The run up to the end/ending was incredibly disappointing. What a ride though.

Might have a re-watch actually see if my opinion has changed.

 

[Darkmakaimura]

It's good up until season 4. The entire series of season 4 is one story arc and then they go with a new story in season 5 and it sucked.

 

[ANDS]

FRINGE final season was amazing. Was it as good as the previous seasons? No. But it for damn sure didn't have a disappointing ending. Easily one of my favorite genre shows and I'm glad it got the chance to tell a complete story.

 

[jimmypython]

It's like the Stranger Things of its time...I also remember it experimented with a lot of ideas other than

Spoiler

parallel universe

.

 

[trikster40]

Ah, Fringe. One of those shows I loved but completely forget about. Yeah, it seems to lose its way near the end, I think sometimes the writers forgot what the hell they were even doing.

Don’t let it scare you away though, ride was still worth it even if it didn’t go out like it should have.

 

[DGrayson]

IM also watching Fringe now for the first time. I'm enjoying it a lot (in Season 1 now). But as its JJ Abrams I just assumed the ending would be terrible.

 

[Sgt.Asher]

But I still feel the general consensus would be GOT had the worse ending.

It didn’t help the LOST ending‘s amount of hate was questionable given how many people demonstrated they had hearing and/or comprehension problems. Jack’s father FLAT OUT SAID what was happening in the flash forwards, and yet somehow against all logic and reason some viewers went, “aah, so the Island was purgatory after all”. I seriously wept for humanity’s intelligence upon witnessing this failure to understand something so basic. Even the people running the Emmys managed to not “get” the ending, for fucks’ sake!

It's been so long I don't remember the ending much. Though i actually liked it. What happened, if you don't mind a recap?

 

[UnNamed]

Yes, the last season is pretty bad. Overall, I find this tv series overrated, it has very good characters and actors (jackson, torv, noble), but the story retconned itself pretty much every season. Not bad, not great.
You can consider the third season the real series finale, then there is a fourth season which is a sort of a reboot, very strange in its contents because, well... I can't do any spoiler but it's enjoyable. The last season is something good on paper, very bad in results.

 

[ElRenoRaven]

I'd say it was not a bad ending. The last season kind of went a weird direction but the finale really did have some impact and emotion I think. Really loved Fringe.

 

[thefool]

Don't know but I've always been curious to watch fringe.

 

[Nester99]

Watch “dark” instead

 

[Drizzlehell]

For me, the Lost finale was me expecting a dish of spicy food, hopefully a bit chewy, that would be filling while satisfying the craving that the delightful aroma from the kitchen had been building up for six years.

Instead, they gave me a bowl of rice pudding and a hug.

From what I know about the ending, it just sounds like a bowl of anal sauce lol

It basically sounds like a gigantic cop out, on the same level as "it was all a dream". If I spent so much time watching this show only to be rewarded with such a lazy ending, I'd be pissed.

 

[01011001]

the ending was completely illogical and a huge disappointment yes

BUT contrary to Lost the show has monster of the week like episodes which still make it worth a watch, as it doesn't completely rely on the big overarching storyline and can be enjoyed episode to episode.

so that's why the ending is not as detrimental to the show compared to Lost, which completely relied on a single big storyline basically

 

[clarky]

IM also watching Fringe now for the first time. I'm enjoying it a lot (in Season 1 now). But as its JJ Abrams I just assumed the ending would be terrible.

Enjoy the ride it just gets better from there, until the disjointed ending that is. like another poster said its just different than what comes before, your mileage may vary on what you think about how it ends.

Walter's a great character.

 

[BouncyFrag]

Almost done rewatching the series. Good show!!

 

[RaduN]

Lost didn't have a disappointing finale.

Other than that, I think Fringe went somewhat downhill towards the end.

In comparison to Lost and some other shows, I don't remember what happened in Fringe finale. Anything about it. Kinda telling.

Possibly the best finale of any TV show. Not perfect or anything, just very inspired and very poignant.

Fringe's entire last season is bad. Not quite Got or The Walking Dead bad, but pretty useless and random.

 

[RaduN]

From what I know about the ending, it just sounds like a bowl of anal sauce lol

It basically sounds like a gigantic cop out, on the same level as "it was all a dream". If I spent so much time watching this show only to be rewarded with such a lazy ending, I'd be pissed.

It's the complete opposite of a cop-out.

Except for a couple of on-the-nose moments (i'm looking at you butthole of the universe plug), it delivers on every level, both intellectual and emotional. The ending of the character's arcs are probably the most satisfying in television, ever.
Also contrary to what some, with baby attention spans, would try to convince others, most minor and major misteries are explained/hinted/suggested. (Yeah, who the fuck shot the boat?..)

It's ok to admit one didn't get it, neither did RR Martin (Got), and it reportedly made Damon Lidelof (Lost creator) double his shrink sessions.

 

[Nico_D]

Possibly the best finale of any TV show. Not perfect or anything, just very inspired and very poignant.

Fringe's entire last season is bad. Not quite Got or The Walking Dead bad, but pretty useless and random.

I would definitely put it among the best (Twin Peaks S2, The Shield, Homeland...). I'm an atheist but I thought Lost's ending was really well done from character arc point of view.

I remember how in the later seasons of Fringe they touted how that one character - his name didn't stuck with me - was exceptional genius. But they had no clue how to write that so the character certainly didn't come off as such. That was annoying.

 

[RoadHazard]

I think I'm gonna rewatch Lost (again).

 

[MastaKiiLA]

It does fall off. I think someone else said it best, they just ran out of ideas. I enjoyed the first few seasons. I thought at its best, it probably surpassed OG X-Files (yeah, I really dug early Fringe). It's been a long time since I've watched. I might have to check it out again, to see if my memory is correct.

 

[xellos2099alpha]

Most of Fringe is good but yeah, final season is disappointing but I really do like they got to travel to mirror verse one lastn time.

 

[Drizzlehell]

I love how John Noble keeps mispronouncing Astrid's name. "Asteroid" was by far the best one.

 

[FoxMcChief]

I’m watching the show for the third time. This show is criminally underrated. John Noble gives quite possibly one of the best performances in television, imo. I’m nearing the end of season 4, of 5. The show is fantastic.

 

[AJUMP23]

I’m watching the show for the third time. This show is criminally underrated. John Noble gives quite possibly one of the best performances in television, imo. I’m nearing the end of season 4, of 5. The show is fantastic.

John Noble is great in this show. Really carries the show in my opinion. Or is at least the most interesting character.