Friday, May 26, 2006

je ne sais qua

Random time! Mostly TV related, but other stuff too.

What is it with series finales (and several season finales) sucking?

Cases in point.

Scrubs. Didn't mind the cliffhanger, but the episode itself was rather meh.

Simpsons. Most of the time, The Simpsons season finales are pretty much just another episode. Since there is no "arc" on that show, there's no need to end it with a cliffhanger to draw people back in next year. They either will, or they won't. (The one exception being Who Shot Mr. Burns) And while the current Simpsons episodes are, of course, not nearly as great as those from the days of yore, this season was on an upswing lately. The finale, however, was a weak installment. Three laughable moments, tops.

Survivor. - I'm just glad that...um. I guess I'll tag this, just in case. Highlight to view:
I'm just glad that Terry didn't win. That man was the biggest ass in the history of asses.
It's a pity that Cirie didn't win, because she totally was one of the greatest players ever. Very strategic. Very likeable. And just plain-out FUN.
But once it came down to Aras and Danielle, it was just ...not as entertaining.

Of course, I'll be watching next year, and most likely make the same complaints (only with different names.)

And then there were the series finales:
Charmed and Will & Grace both sucked - from what I was told. I didn't watch either one, but people at work complained to me about the quality (or lack thereof) from both wrap-ups. Of course, look at the shows that they were talking about... but still. Finales are supposed to be ...I don't know. Good. er.

7th Heaven... which maybe can't even really be considered here, since it was a fake out finale. And, also, you know, 7th Heaven. But it's still another notch in the "sucked" camp.

Alias. Grr. Spoilers for the Finalias are below. Highlight to read:
They were on such a roll! And then they dropped the ball!
SpyDaddy dies.
Sloane doesn't. (Although it was pretty cool to have him get the eternal life under a rock treatment) SpyMommy dies. And worse - her character (one of the greatest characters in recent history) is completely and totally assassinated. For four years, Lean Olin made Irina Derevko an extremely fascinating, watchable, amazing character. For four years, we knew whenever she showed up that there would be mystery and intrigue and we were in for some good times. For four years, the baddest bad ass KGB spy in the world was there and was evil, but at the same time, you knew she loved her daughter.
And then, in 20 minutes of the last episode ever, they threw that out the window and made her a simple-minded one-dimensional James Bond villain.
ARRRRRRGGGGHHHH!!!!
The redemption of Irina was something I had been looking forward to immensely on this show. And something that we were fucking promised from the writers, all the way back in Season 2, when Irina herself told Sydney, "Truth takes time"
From that day, we had all pretty much known that in the end, Irina would come around, prove to us, and the world that she was a good person. Well, maybe not a good person, but she definitely loved her family.
In the end, though, she attempted to kill her daughter, and blow up Washington DC and London, because... she wanted power? I guess? I don't know, man.
They could have done it better, is all. I mean, I could have been okay with her being straight out evil, and even dying, but she deserved to go out better. And her agenda shouldn't have been as stupid as "I'm gonna blow up the capitols of the Western World." That was never Irina's style. She was much more subtle and ingenious with her villainous ways.
Sigh.

Oh, and there needed to be a Jack/Irina confrontation/showdown/scene. Those two were HOTT. The fact that they didn't wind up even talking to each other in the last episode is criminal.

Another screw up? The lack of Rambaldi. If Rambaldi's endgame was immortality - and, DUH, not a big surprise there - then the frickin' prophet should have been on the show at some point. Since they didn't actually disprove my theory, I'm sticking with the idea that Marshall was, and always had been, Milo himself. So there.
[/spoiler]

Oh well. The show is over, and there's not much to say or do about it now.

And besides, Lost is apparently the new king of appointment TV.
The finale for that show was done right.

And, the best part of all is that now that all the shows are done, there's no need to ever watch TV again!!


Until September.

Moving on.
My step mom called me today, and informed me that Star, their pet dog that they have had for ...geez, twelve years now! - had to be put down. :(
She had stopped eating for a while, and was getting very skinny, and her barks were becoming more and more hoarse. The vets said that she had cancer in her throat, and that it was merely a matter of time. Not wanting to see her suffer, my parents opted to ease her pain and put her to sleep. It's a bummer.
Poor Star. She was a big, dumb dog, but I did love her. She'll be missed.

In other animal news, Angel is currently at the vet's office, being fixed. Hopefully getting that procedure done will calm him down some, and also stop him from marking parts of the house with his urine. If it doesn't... well, we may become a two cat household.

Lastly (unless I think of something else while I'm typing this part), I re-found the disk with my nanowrimo story from last November on it. (You know, the Perth/Choset epic story that has been in my head for 8 years and is supposed to take place on 06/06/06, and which I have not finished) I was re-reading it, and ...I think I might start to work on it again. There is no way that it is humanly possible to complete it by The first Tuesday in June, but...

3 comments:

Amanda said...

Re: Survivor - I was pretty disappointed in this season, and Terry was a big part of it. He strategized poorly, and the producers just kept him in there by having all physical challenges.

Re: Charmed - I did watch this show (guilty pleasure), and my opinion is summed up in one really fucked-up thought: that show really went downhill after Shannen Dougherty left.

I personally am looking forward to the new Blade series on Spike TV this summer.

Amy said...

Just remember, in an alternate universe, it's already finished.

Also, I still have not watched Lost. I mean, come on, me!

Simon said...

Poor Star. I hope everyone's OK.