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Best last episodes ever - possible spoilers
Former Member
Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
Inspired by a few posts on the BSG thread, what are the top five endings to a show ever
1) Battlestar Galactica 1980 - an absolutely crap series, but redeemed by possibly the best ever last episode (and contender for episode of all time), when Starbuck sacrifices his chance of escape I had a lump in my throat and the line 'Not human... not cylon... friend' just shows how good BSG 80 could have been
2) Blakes Seven -everyone's dead but Avon. He's surrounded by Federation Guards. The credits roll. Sound of blasterfire.
3) The Shield - Shane's end, the betrayal of Ronnie by Vic, Corrine and the kids looking at the new house, Dutch's finally getting a chance with a girl (and him and Claudette showing what a great partnership/friendship they) are all surpassed by the final scene of Vic. For a show which was steeped in moral ambiguity it would have been a travesty to have any other ending than this.
4) Doctor Who Survival - okay I know strictly speaking this wasn't the last episode, but it took a sixteen year break, so I'm counting it. Pretty average up (and not a pacth on Baker or Davison) until the last lines
"
just sums up the mixture of whimsy and wonder which made (makes?) Doctor Who so great
5) Angel - whilst not having Sarah Michelle Gellar makes it a looser in the totty stakes with it's older cousin, Angel remains a much better series, darker and more ambigious. In Buffy the heroes save the world and unleash a feminist revolution, in Angel the heroes end in a dark alley about to face the minions of hell in a fight they can't win. It's a perfect ending to a series about an unending battle....
After doing this list I notice only one could be said to be a happy ending.
1) Battlestar Galactica 1980 - an absolutely crap series, but redeemed by possibly the best ever last episode (and contender for episode of all time), when Starbuck sacrifices his chance of escape I had a lump in my throat and the line 'Not human... not cylon... friend' just shows how good BSG 80 could have been
2) Blakes Seven -everyone's dead but Avon. He's surrounded by Federation Guards. The credits roll. Sound of blasterfire.
3) The Shield - Shane's end, the betrayal of Ronnie by Vic, Corrine and the kids looking at the new house, Dutch's finally getting a chance with a girl (and him and Claudette showing what a great partnership/friendship they) are all surpassed by the final scene of Vic. For a show which was steeped in moral ambiguity it would have been a travesty to have any other ending than this.
4) Doctor Who Survival - okay I know strictly speaking this wasn't the last episode, but it took a sixteen year break, so I'm counting it. Pretty average up (and not a pacth on Baker or Davison) until the last lines
"
There are worlds out there where the sky is burning, where the sea's asleep and the rivers dream, people made of smoke and cities made of song. Somewhere there's danger, somewhere there's injustice and somewhere else the tea is getting cold. Come on, Ace, we've got work to do."
just sums up the mixture of whimsy and wonder which made (makes?) Doctor Who so great
5) Angel - whilst not having Sarah Michelle Gellar makes it a looser in the totty stakes with it's older cousin, Angel remains a much better series, darker and more ambigious. In Buffy the heroes save the world and unleash a feminist revolution, in Angel the heroes end in a dark alley about to face the minions of hell in a fight they can't win. It's a perfect ending to a series about an unending battle....
After doing this list I notice only one could be said to be a happy ending.
Post edited by JustV on
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I also thought the second series of Skins captured that post-college leaving all your friends thing really well, even if particular aspects of it were bollocks.
The Office, obviously.
Blackadder Goes Forth.
Reason I've taken so long to reply is just how hard it is to actually find series that really did end well. The Wire was too depressing (though not surprising from David 'everything you love will find a way to fuck you over in the end' Simon), Deadwood paled to nothing with the whole third series, Buffy was just a rehash of the last 4 or so series conclusions, The Sopranos was a mess - with an entire last series of high and low points with little momentum. Even the West Wing felt like a pilot for an even better series that we'll never see...
So I'd go for (in no particular order, and with one extra one because... err... because I'm a mod and Flashman already got in a sixth
1. The Office
A soppy one to start with, but Dawn rushing back into the party just when you thought they'd never be together... touching and hopeful and unexpected from a series that sent so much time enjoying the cringe-inducing world of Brent.
2. Edge of Darkness (my first cheat)
So it's four or so episodes, but that doesn't stop it being an incredible conclusion. One of the greatest moments of any Tv drama as those two blocks of uranium are brought together whilst the UK's military screams and runs for their lives.
3. Blackadder Goes Forth
A truly great moment. The recent documentary shows just how much you can do with a little slo-mo and a tasteful field of poppies. The original footage was badly acted and a joke - but directed properly this was overwhelming. I remember people still talking about it weeks later in school.
4. The Shield
I've already said it in the BSG thread, but this was a heart-stopping season. All the conventions of where a cop-show can go were torn apart for this conclusion. Although there's the bittersweet final moments of Vic 'imprisonment' it's the family meeting, the cops horror and terror at Shane's choice and Vic being confronted with what he had done that stay in the mind. They made each other worse.
6. Smiley's People (one last mini-series)
Taken as a whole Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and it's follow up (the middle part of the Karla trilogy going unfilmed) were an exercise in continually building tension and an exploration of what the British stiff upper-lip really meant. Devoid of any real happiness or contentment Alec Guiness' Smiley was driven by a purpose he barely recognised - the defection of his Soviet counterpart.
For a writer whose own life was reportedly put at risk by the Philby defection this was in part wish-fulfillment, that the west could convince a great Russian spy to defect, and in part a plea for old-fashioned reason and professionalism.
The conclusion of many, many hours of spy drama comes down not to guns or chases, or jumping through windows but with one old man sitting down at a desk with a pencil and a piece of paper. Smiley has the chance to write just one letter, one and only one communication with a man he has hunted almost his entire life. He must convince a man who has destroyed his friends and the organisation he committed himself to that he is offering an olive branch, a chance for reconciliation.
One of the best scenes I've ever seen.
Now hurry up and come up with a thread for best season rather than series conclusion - I'd rather be embarrassed by a wealth of riches than snuffling around for the few truffles
The last episode of Father Ted makes me sad. It was nice that Father Ted went back to Craggy Island. But I think it's sadder than it's supposed to be cause he died...