What is a finale supposed to be?

I have a question...what exactly is a finale 'supposed' to be? Because really...I've read 'it was okay, but not as a finale' about 50 times, (about last year's as well) on here and on another forum, and I really want to know. Because, quite honestly, a cliched cliffhanger, such as someone getting shot and you have to wait three months to find out if they live or die is really quite old...at least for me. I always thought that a finale was supposed to make you think and ponder over the next few months, which, let's be honest, from the discussions I have read, this episode has certainly done that. It's supposed to get a reaction...again, we've definitely seen that. And it wrapped things up a bit to be continued in the next season. At least, that is what my opinion always was. But I really do want to know...am I wrong? Last years finale was fun and fresh and gave everyone what they wanted (B&B together) without actually starting the B&B relationship too soon, and quite honestly, I loved it, though I know I'm in the minority. Even the whole 'who are you' at the end was good, imo...it sure had people up in arms and speculating about it, at least...but in the end, it really wasn't much at all, (which I thought was pretty funny myself, lol).

But anyway...if anyone has thoughts on this, please let me know, because I really am quite confused about those comments.

I did not like last finale because I'm generally not AU person, I simply dislike AU ....pretty much everything.
I did love this one. And I am also interested in what exactly people wanted/hoped to see?
Sex? Kissing? Fighting? What?

IMO a season finale should be the resolution of that season. A bookend to the season opener. A clean ending to give way to new story lines in the following season. I hate cliffhangers with a passion. A summer hiatus is way too long to spend wondering or caring what happened. I don't mind cliffhangers week to week or over a shorter winter hiatus but not for a 4 month long wait. I don't mind AU story lines. What killed season 4 was the ending dialog. When Booth woke up and said "who are you?". I wanted to throw my remote. It would have been better if he would have simply just said "Bren?". Hat would have made me say OMG he thinks they really are married and left me squeeling through the summer. I also don't mind time jumps if they are done right. I'm afraid this one is just going to be one huge mess. Another obstacle for B&B to overcome.
The only thing I wanted out of this finale was some solid proof of Brennan's feelings. For her to at least admit to herself that yes there is something there. And not in a way that we have to read between the lines to figure it out. Just some solid forward progress from her. And unfortunately we didn't get that. We ended on a down note with the promise to meet at the coffee cart in a year. Sorry but alot can happen in a year. And with this show and this story line that just spells disaster.

I'm in the minority too because I LOVED last seasons finale! Well, I loved it all but the "who are you?" part.

This season was the typical TV show finale. The whole point of a finale is to get people all amped up for the next season. If everything wrapped up into a neat little bow...why would people bother watching next year?

MI_Bonesgirl wrote:The only thing I wanted out of this finale was some solid proof of Brennan's feelings. For her to at least admit to herself that yes there is something there. And not in a way that we have to read between the lines to figure it out. Just some solid forward progress from her. And unfortunately we didn't get that.

I agree, but i think we did get that. Or at least we got enough that i'm happy. I'll admit that when i first watched the finale with some friends i was annoyed. I was disappointed. Then i re watched it and i realised i got out of it what i wanted at this stage. Brennan was thinking of Booth when making an important life decision, she wanted his input. Not only that but she was thinking about the future when she agreed to meet him in a years time and every time she said something like it's only a year (though naive in that thought).

In my opinion finales are meant to cap off the season and resolve some of the issues that were bought up. In this case it did that for me. It started with Booth thinking he loved her but not sure if he should tell her or how she felt about him and it ended with with that resolved. He told her and i think he knows how she feels about him.

Thanks tink and jess. That's what I expect from a finale as well, which is why I was so confused about all those weird comments.

An example of a good finale is this season's "House" (and not because they kissed, could have gone either way.) Last year's was also very good. The whole season deals with the character's issues and development and builds through the season. In the finale those issues come to a head and are resolved, while at the same time entirely new character issues are created. Last year's "Bones" finale actually would have really worked if it was clear Booth recognized Brennan, but was unclear if she was his wife or not. Resolves one issue - mutual thought of love and desire - and creates another, is he better or not and is Brennan going to reveal what she'd been writing about. Instead it was soap-opera like. He has amnesia? Like, really?

The issue with this year is bigger. The season itself is split between before the 100th and after. Neither section seems to tie into the other. If I had only seen the last 8 episodes the finale would make sense. However, I watched the whole season, so, for me, it doesn't. It comes off as a reset - next season we go back to square one. Doesn't mean that finale scene wasn't well done. It just didn't seem to have much of B&B's five year history behind it - just the last eight episodes.

Karlia-Wicked-Witch wrote:I did not like last finale because I'm generally not AU person, I simply dislike AU ....pretty much everything.
I did love this one. And I am also interested in what exactly people wanted/hoped to see?
Sex? Kissing? Fighting? What?

A and Booth whispers something into Brennan's ear. Last season she wrote about being married and having his baby! This year they hold hands The hand holding was sweet but a finale is supposed to build to a climax and then make the viewer want to tune in next season based on the final moments. There was a climax building as Booth moved closer to her TWICE but then SPLAT! -- they talk about where they are going to meet in a year

I have a question...what exactly is a finale 'supposed' to be?

Last Season finale of Criminal Minds is what a finale should be. Edge of the seat, nail biting ending.

tinkrella wrote:I'm in the minority too because I LOVED last seasons finale! Well, I loved it all but the "who are you?" part.

This season was the typical TV show finale. The whole point of a finale is to get people all amped up for the next season. If everything wrapped up into a neat little bow...why would people bother watching next year?

I even loved the "Who are you".

But yes, you are correct. That's exactly what TV finales are all about. We, the fans, sometimes forget that TV shows are essentially a business. Buzz is their lifeblood. Even with low ratings (not anemic, but low) a show can survive on buzz. There's the possibility for international distribution and for syndication in the long run, both good ways to recover a considerable investment. Sweeps season and Finales are the times when shows have to prove themselves and generate buzz. It doesn't matter if you kill someone, if you get someone to go off to an island, if you fire someone or if you break a couple apart. The only cardinal sin in TV is to fall flat -which, for the record, can also happen with an excess of drama.


Bones has done some lesser finales. The season 1 finale was a series finale in a way (very neatly tied). The S2 finale was also quite low-key (which made fans happy but kept the buzz on the down-low -and the series, if I'm not mistaken was still trying to find its footing with the network. This finale however opens the door to other stories, to new discoveries by the characters. There's gonna be a time jump (which people seem to hate, but I kinda love. I'm an Alias/BSG veteran. Time jumps can be awesome, too!!) which opens all sorts of possibilities. That's what finales are all about. So love it or hate it or anything in between, the finale works as a season finale and it works just fine. Now, if some fans wanted a kiss, well, I can understand that, too. But that's also different story.

SnoopGirl wrote:

Karlia-Wicked-Witch wrote:I did not like last finale because I'm generally not AU person, I simply dislike AU ....pretty much everything.
I did love this one. And I am also interested in what exactly people wanted/hoped to see?
Sex? Kissing? Fighting? What?

A and Booth whispers something into Brennan's ear. Last season she wrote about being married and having his baby! This year they hold hands The hand holding was sweet but a finale is supposed to build to a climax and then make the viewer want to tune in next season based on the final moments. There was a climax building as Booth moved closer to her TWICE but then SPLAT! -- they talk about where they are going to meet in a year

If they'd hugged, we'd know what is going to happen next season -or "know" in general terms. There'd be an agreement of a sort between them, an admission, an unspoken promise. Now we don't have any of that. Everything is very, very up in the air. We're speculating ourselves silly because we don't know. If we wanna know for sure, we need to watch the premiere at the very least (or not, if we don't wanna find out/don't care anymore YMMV). That's what the finale is all about.

I agree on CM, of course, but that's a different show. I mean, I'm not/was not biting my nails over the House finale, but boy am I watching the premiere next season! And yeah, that was a shippy, happy finale, but I'm not even a shipper for that show! I just want to know what's going to happen because I have the feeling it's gonna be insane -'cause no way is the season gonna be about happy, rehabilitated House. No way! So there, buzz created, and mission accomplished for House MD. It's a different experience for each show, is all I'm saying.

I J

heirofloki wrote:

SnoopGirl wrote:

Karlia-Wicked-Witch wrote:I did not like last finale because I'm generally not AU person, I simply dislike AU ....pretty much everything.
I did love this one. And I am also interested in what exactly people wanted/hoped to see?
Sex? Kissing? Fighting? What?

A and Booth whispers something into Brennan's ear. Last season she wrote about being married and having his baby! This year they hold hands The hand holding was sweet but a finale is supposed to build to a climax and then make the viewer want to tune in next season based on the final moments. There was a climax building as Booth moved closer to her TWICE but then SPLAT! -- they talk about where they are going to meet in a year

If they'd hugged, we'd know what is going to happen next season -or "know" in general terms. There'd be an agreement of a sort between them, an admission, an unspoken promise. Now we don't have any of that. Everything is very, very up in the air. We're speculating ourselves silly because we don't know. If we wanna know for sure, we need to watch the premiere at the very least (or not, if we don't wanna find out/don't care anymore YMMV). That's what the finale is all about.

I agree on CM, of course, but that's a different show. I mean, I'm not/was not biting my nails over the House finale, but boy am I watching the premiere next season! And yeah, that was a shippy, happy finale, but I'm not even a shipper for that show! I just want to know what's going to happen because I have the feeling it's gonna be insane -'cause no way is the season gonna be about happy, rehabilitated House. No way! So there, buzz created, and mission accomplished for House MD. It's a different experience for each show, is all I'm saying.

Yeah, the thing about "House" is that all the elements were carefully built all season - heck, over SEASONS. The dots connect. In Bones the dots just don't connect anymore. I am sad about it but I know I won't be tuning in for season six. I can see the writing on the wall and it's just too depressing.

For the shows creators, the whole purpose of a finale is to give the fans something to talk about over the whole summer. To that end, you have a couple of options, but what seems more effective is to give a very controversial finale, that they know some fans will like and some fans won't, that way, they have the fans fighting and arguing, trying to convice each other of giving up/holding on the show over the whole summer. They generate news (because the press realizes there're thousands and millions still talking about that particular show, so they know that news - no matter if they are lies or true- will sell), they drive us crazy with false spoilers, and after a long hiatus, they have us ALL there, split as a fan community, but waiting for the season premiere to finally know what happens! They give us a great season opening, the fans that wanted to give up decide to give the show a second chance, and the creators got what they wanted!

Like in the war, "Divide and Conquer". That's what they've been doing since season 3 finale. And guess what? They've succeeded!

flyersfan35 wrote:Thanks tink and jess. That's what I expect from a finale as well, which is why I was so confused about all those weird comments.

Yeah, i always wondered the same thing. Every time i see 'good but not as a finale' i wonder what it is people were actually expecting.
So long as it resolves some issues raised in the season i think it's fitting as a finale.

Although I swore I was going to stay away from the ABY I clicked through my morning links and, like clockwork, here I am (Note to Self: coffee first, then Internet).

What makes a good episode versus what makes a good finale? Well I think Joybrennan nailed it. A good finale is a resolution of the season's issues while opening a new set to speculation over the summer hiatus. House, this season, had an excellent finale as did Fringe. In both cases we saw the resolution, or culmination, of the season's events and were left with questions lingering that would make watching next season imperative. How does the Bones finale stack up? Not well really.

House: major issues were his drug addiction, his mental health, his search to find a way to connect to people and overcome his mysanthropic outlook on life, and of course, to connect to Cuddy - the one woman who's been a constant in his life for the last seven years (or longer). The finale delivered on all points and left us with a whole new set of questions to ponder for next season.

Fringe: The war between the universes came to a peak with Olivia taking a team to the alternate universe to get Peter back. We saw the resolution of Peter's storyline, Walter's, Olivia's, and there were major changes such as the death of Bell and Olivia's alternate self infiltrating the group. I'm chomping at the bit for next season.

Bones: The major issues for the season were Booth's recovery and his attraction to Brennan, Brennan's growing emotional maturity and her attraction to Booth, the whole "will they/won't they?" question, Jack and Angela (the future of their relationships), and the Gravedigger trial. If you think about it, the finale resolved none of these issues because they were all resolved in prior eps. Instead it gave us a case that was more a distraction than anything else, a farcical adventure that was definitely a distraction (though amusing), and a rather rushed and unsatisfying storyline about the partners leaving one another for a year. Compared to House and Fringe it doesn't come in third, it comes in fourth behind last years! (and we all know how much I loved that one )

I talked at length with my Queen about this and how the episode could have been redone to be a propper finale and the only answer I could come up with was 1) make it a two part episode where we deal at length first with Brennan's decision to leave and then with Booth's, or 2) lose something from the episode, either the whole Sweets/Hodgins/Billy farce or the case, and spend the time focusing on Booth and Brennan and their respective decisions to leave. As it was the episode was packed with so much that the most important aspect of it, the leaving, was given short shrift - I wanted more, more discussion, more reaction, more intimate moments, just...more.

Oh, and about the handholding - really? It failed for me because it was an incongruant element in the goodby scene. It failed because the emotional buildup was screaming for more, so, so much more. It failed because they don't ever hold hands (sorry, ONCE they held hands). It failed because it simply wasn't them. A hug, despite what anyone says, is them. They've guy-hugged dozens of times but they couldn't this time because we'd know what is going to happen next season? What a load of crap! A kiss, yes, totally, I get that, but a hug is such a poor substitute for a kiss that I can't honestly see it as anything other than them being "them". A hug is them, holding hands is just a weak ass substitute.

Anyway, I'm going away again. This time I'll remember, coffee first.

RM