TV Finales of the Seasonal Kind
This semester I discovered the wonders of Hulu, IPTV, and YouTube, and thus my television intake increased significantly. Dubbed "IPTV Buddy" by my wonderful suitemate, I became re-addicted to a variety of shows, some of which I'm not so sure how I started watching in the first place...but yeah, in an attempt for some extra closure with these shows, here are my musings on the good, bad, and sometimes ugly season finale episodes.
WARNING! this post is filled with spoilers so skip over it if you haven't watched the season finales and were planning to do so ;)
The Amazing Race - So this didn't really have a 'season' finale per se, but the final episode was filled with drama and excitement as always (or at least that's how they edited it to looks like a close race the whole way through). The brothers from RI, Dan and Jordan, snuck in from behind to win the $1 million, beating out The Cowboys and The Models (a team which included the infamous the Miss Teen South Carolina). The race ended in San Francisco where they racers did some awesome stuff like navigating a virtual reality maze at George Lucas' visual effects company, Industrial Light and Magic. Part of the reason why I enjoyed this season was the teams were all really different from one another that they were easy to remember...though part of me was a little uneasy about the straight up labeling that the nicknames displayed: The Cowboys, The Models, The Lesbians, The Brothers, The Incidental Asian couple (that one I came up with), The Cops, A pretty standard finale episode except that the producers included a pretty intense confrontation at the finish line between The Models and a previously eliminated team about how The Models screwed them over a few episodes back. A little damper on the otherwise cliche celebration, but as usual, left me eagerly anticipating next season.
Ugly Betty - Not only a season finale but a series finale, the last episode of Ugly Betty undeniably had a somber tone to it...They did a good job wrapping up many of the loose ends of the supporting characters. Hilda was settled and happy with new husband. Betty's dad found love and ready to let his girls go and grow. Amanda found her true calling, and Mark...what happened to him? Well I bet he ended up happy too. Even Whilamena finally got what she wanted. For Daniel and Betty? They both made the right choices even if they weren’t necessarily the easy choices. The romantic thread woven in the last couple of episodes wasn’t a surprise because the other versions of Ugly Better always intensely focus on the relationship between Betty and her boss, I thought it would only be a matter of time before they brought it up in the American version. I must say though, the last scene was really quite corny...chance meeting in a London square? Uh huh, sure...I think I was just hung up on the lack of spark and chemistry in that last scene...but otherwise, good themes, definitely sad to see that show go off the air.
Private Practice - Full of tension and intense drama, all packed into one episode. Everything uncomfortable and tense that had built up over the season came together in this episode. The love triangles became unfolded and exploded as they should in any good medical show. Drama doesn't even begin to describe all of the struggles that face these characters...unrequited/unfulfilled love, pregnant teen daughters, divorcing your spouse (who in their right mind would want to leave Taye Diggs!?!), financial problems with the business, ex-boyfriends from Seattle, drug addict spouses, falling in love with your best friend's ex husband, the mother of your child suffering from post-traumatic stress, masculinity/femininity, falling for your boss, falling for your colleague who's in a wheelchair...okay so some of their problems aren't so typical. But basically Private Practice is a once-a-week soap opera if there ever was one.
In their season finale, divorced parents Naomi and Sam's daughter Maya has gone into labor, but gets into a car accident on the way to the hospital. Waiting at the hospital are Addison and Sam. Sam gets paged for a patient needing heart surgery, leaving before finding out about his daughter has gotten into an accident. Adding insult to injury, the patient Sam is doing surgery on happens to be the driver of the car that cause the accident with Maya. So the whole crew, who've as I noted before have had their share of problems with one another, is brought together as they await news of Maya and the baby. But just as things get seem to get to their breaking point, the crew gets hit with another blow as Dell, the practice's front-desk man/midwife certified/just got into UCLA medical school man, also needs surgery for internal brain bleeding that had been overlooked in the mess of it all. Like I said this episode was really intense, really heavy, and truly heartbreaking at some moments. In the end, there was some resolutions and small happy endings that next season will probably be sure to exploit and complicate once again.
Okay on a different note, I have had this odd celebrity crush on Taye Diggs, and I think it goes back to when he guest appeared on ANTM :) What do you think that says about me?
Grey's Anatomy - Talk about holding your breath, Grey's Anatomy's 2 hour season finale was kept tying knots in my chest tighter and tighter with every passing minute. A shooter's in the hospital, and everything's on lock-down. Compared to the finale for Private Practice, I actually felt that this finale had less happening in it even though it was 2 hours long. I want to say that it was because quite a bit of the "stuff" going on happened to minor characters that the audience wouldn't be as attached to...
Meredith: Ok. You realize you're about to be a godmother.
Cristina: I'm godmother? What do I have to do? Talk god to the fierce? 'Cause I'm not gonna do that.
House - On winter break back in California, I stumbled upon House during a marathon on the usa channel, and from then on I was hooked. My roommate last summer in Georgetown LOVED watching House reruns, but unfortunately she never shared the joy with me. I was supremely amused to find that, yes, the show does follow pretty much the same format EVERY EPISODE, but yes, it is still an addictive show. If you ever need a brush up on the scientific method, don't follow House's method :). Just kidding, but in every episode they brainstorm, gather evidence, test hypotheses, realize they made a mistake, lather, rinse, repeat until House makes a brilliant connection and solves it all. It's formulaic, slightly repetitive, but genius-ly addicting and makes you feel smarter and more informed of obscure medical diseases. This season's finale was pretty epic, with the doctors doing damage control from a crane that collapsed into a parking structure and other various buildings in the area. Lots of concrete, lots of injured people to treat, but they focus on a one woman trapped under a beam. In a medical drama-esque fashion, the right patient pops up to teach the doctor something about life, kind of like bi-directional healing. Reviews from those that have been with the show longer say that this finale was precisely what was desired by the fans, that House's long awaited search for happiness has finally been fulfilled. A feel good ending is precisely what it appears...or is it? I must say that a part of me thinks that the ending was misleading and next season will reveal the big twist. Still a great finale though!
Glee - "Journey to Regionals" was full of action, though it had a touch less drama than I would have expected from the Glee finale. Most of the ends were tied up by the end...the Glee club finally acknowledged that they were all happy to be a part of Glee, the club got a second chance, Mr. S and Coach agreed to disagree for another year, and just about every couple got back together/made the "right" decisions. What drama will they bring next season? I'm looking forward to new storylines for sure. The music was awesome and on point, fit for a season finale. A lot was resolved to make it feel like so a lot was happening in one episode, and a slew of touching moments to latch on to until next season...Rachel and Finn right before they begin singing, the Journey mash-up, Quinn and Puck looking at their baby, the Glee club's tribute to Mr. S, Mr. S's tribute to the Glee club...and those are only a few off the top of my head. Like I said, still uncertain about the direction for next season, but excited for new songs and new guest stars (Daniel Radcliffe and Justin Timberlake have already been linked to showing interest in a Glee appearance) And Chris Colfer, aka Kurt, suggested Julie Andrews for playing Kurt's grandmother? Looks like a celebrity-filled season for Glee, can't wait!
NBA - And the best for last, LAKERS WIN THE CHAMPIONSHIP!
It's everything a "season finale" should have been: Game 7, hard-fought, both teams wanted it, the Lakers coming back from 13 down, grinding it out til the last minutes, the "other guys" making an impact when it counted--all leading to a great celebration of a sweet sweet victory. Sweet 16!
So this is my long-winded account of the endings of my favorite tv shows. Besides realizing that I watch A LOT of medical dramas (despite not being a pre-med anymore), I notice simply basic themes typical of season finales, tones of desperation and urgency to get final messages out to fans before the summer, hooks to keep them longing for the next season, and just enough resolutions to assure them that sometimes things do work out and assure them that the season wasn't a complete waste. Until the fall, I've already started finding some summer shows to keep me entertained, but that, of course, is for another blog post :)
WARNING! this post is filled with spoilers so skip over it if you haven't watched the season finales and were planning to do so ;)
The Amazing Race - So this didn't really have a 'season' finale per se, but the final episode was filled with drama and excitement as always (or at least that's how they edited it to looks like a close race the whole way through). The brothers from RI, Dan and Jordan, snuck in from behind to win the $1 million, beating out The Cowboys and The Models (a team which included the infamous the Miss Teen South Carolina). The race ended in San Francisco where they racers did some awesome stuff like navigating a virtual reality maze at George Lucas' visual effects company, Industrial Light and Magic. Part of the reason why I enjoyed this season was the teams were all really different from one another that they were easy to remember...though part of me was a little uneasy about the straight up labeling that the nicknames displayed: The Cowboys, The Models, The Lesbians, The Brothers, The Incidental Asian couple (that one I came up with), The Cops, A pretty standard finale episode except that the producers included a pretty intense confrontation at the finish line between The Models and a previously eliminated team about how The Models screwed them over a few episodes back. A little damper on the otherwise cliche celebration, but as usual, left me eagerly anticipating next season.
Ugly Betty - Not only a season finale but a series finale, the last episode of Ugly Betty undeniably had a somber tone to it...They did a good job wrapping up many of the loose ends of the supporting characters. Hilda was settled and happy with new husband. Betty's dad found love and ready to let his girls go and grow. Amanda found her true calling, and Mark...what happened to him? Well I bet he ended up happy too. Even Whilamena finally got what she wanted. For Daniel and Betty? They both made the right choices even if they weren’t necessarily the easy choices. The romantic thread woven in the last couple of episodes wasn’t a surprise because the other versions of Ugly Better always intensely focus on the relationship between Betty and her boss, I thought it would only be a matter of time before they brought it up in the American version. I must say though, the last scene was really quite corny...chance meeting in a London square? Uh huh, sure...I think I was just hung up on the lack of spark and chemistry in that last scene...but otherwise, good themes, definitely sad to see that show go off the air.
Private Practice - Full of tension and intense drama, all packed into one episode. Everything uncomfortable and tense that had built up over the season came together in this episode. The love triangles became unfolded and exploded as they should in any good medical show. Drama doesn't even begin to describe all of the struggles that face these characters...unrequited/unfulfilled love, pregnant teen daughters, divorcing your spouse (who in their right mind would want to leave Taye Diggs!?!), financial problems with the business, ex-boyfriends from Seattle, drug addict spouses, falling in love with your best friend's ex husband, the mother of your child suffering from post-traumatic stress, masculinity/femininity, falling for your boss, falling for your colleague who's in a wheelchair...okay so some of their problems aren't so typical. But basically Private Practice is a once-a-week soap opera if there ever was one.
In their season finale, divorced parents Naomi and Sam's daughter Maya has gone into labor, but gets into a car accident on the way to the hospital. Waiting at the hospital are Addison and Sam. Sam gets paged for a patient needing heart surgery, leaving before finding out about his daughter has gotten into an accident. Adding insult to injury, the patient Sam is doing surgery on happens to be the driver of the car that cause the accident with Maya. So the whole crew, who've as I noted before have had their share of problems with one another, is brought together as they await news of Maya and the baby. But just as things get seem to get to their breaking point, the crew gets hit with another blow as Dell, the practice's front-desk man/midwife certified/just got into UCLA medical school man, also needs surgery for internal brain bleeding that had been overlooked in the mess of it all. Like I said this episode was really intense, really heavy, and truly heartbreaking at some moments. In the end, there was some resolutions and small happy endings that next season will probably be sure to exploit and complicate once again.
Okay on a different note, I have had this odd celebrity crush on Taye Diggs, and I think it goes back to when he guest appeared on ANTM :) What do you think that says about me?
Grey's Anatomy - Talk about holding your breath, Grey's Anatomy's 2 hour season finale was kept tying knots in my chest tighter and tighter with every passing minute. A shooter's in the hospital, and everything's on lock-down. Compared to the finale for Private Practice, I actually felt that this finale had less happening in it even though it was 2 hours long. I want to say that it was because quite a bit of the "stuff" going on happened to minor characters that the audience wouldn't be as attached to...
Meredith: Ok. You realize you're about to be a godmother.
Cristina: I'm godmother? What do I have to do? Talk god to the fierce? 'Cause I'm not gonna do that.
House - On winter break back in California, I stumbled upon House during a marathon on the usa channel, and from then on I was hooked. My roommate last summer in Georgetown LOVED watching House reruns, but unfortunately she never shared the joy with me. I was supremely amused to find that, yes, the show does follow pretty much the same format EVERY EPISODE, but yes, it is still an addictive show. If you ever need a brush up on the scientific method, don't follow House's method :). Just kidding, but in every episode they brainstorm, gather evidence, test hypotheses, realize they made a mistake, lather, rinse, repeat until House makes a brilliant connection and solves it all. It's formulaic, slightly repetitive, but genius-ly addicting and makes you feel smarter and more informed of obscure medical diseases. This season's finale was pretty epic, with the doctors doing damage control from a crane that collapsed into a parking structure and other various buildings in the area. Lots of concrete, lots of injured people to treat, but they focus on a one woman trapped under a beam. In a medical drama-esque fashion, the right patient pops up to teach the doctor something about life, kind of like bi-directional healing. Reviews from those that have been with the show longer say that this finale was precisely what was desired by the fans, that House's long awaited search for happiness has finally been fulfilled. A feel good ending is precisely what it appears...or is it? I must say that a part of me thinks that the ending was misleading and next season will reveal the big twist. Still a great finale though!
Glee - "Journey to Regionals" was full of action, though it had a touch less drama than I would have expected from the Glee finale. Most of the ends were tied up by the end...the Glee club finally acknowledged that they were all happy to be a part of Glee, the club got a second chance, Mr. S and Coach agreed to disagree for another year, and just about every couple got back together/made the "right" decisions. What drama will they bring next season? I'm looking forward to new storylines for sure. The music was awesome and on point, fit for a season finale. A lot was resolved to make it feel like so a lot was happening in one episode, and a slew of touching moments to latch on to until next season...Rachel and Finn right before they begin singing, the Journey mash-up, Quinn and Puck looking at their baby, the Glee club's tribute to Mr. S, Mr. S's tribute to the Glee club...and those are only a few off the top of my head. Like I said, still uncertain about the direction for next season, but excited for new songs and new guest stars (Daniel Radcliffe and Justin Timberlake have already been linked to showing interest in a Glee appearance) And Chris Colfer, aka Kurt, suggested Julie Andrews for playing Kurt's grandmother? Looks like a celebrity-filled season for Glee, can't wait!
NBA - And the best for last, LAKERS WIN THE CHAMPIONSHIP!
It's everything a "season finale" should have been: Game 7, hard-fought, both teams wanted it, the Lakers coming back from 13 down, grinding it out til the last minutes, the "other guys" making an impact when it counted--all leading to a great celebration of a sweet sweet victory. Sweet 16!
So this is my long-winded account of the endings of my favorite tv shows. Besides realizing that I watch A LOT of medical dramas (despite not being a pre-med anymore), I notice simply basic themes typical of season finales, tones of desperation and urgency to get final messages out to fans before the summer, hooks to keep them longing for the next season, and just enough resolutions to assure them that sometimes things do work out and assure them that the season wasn't a complete waste. Until the fall, I've already started finding some summer shows to keep me entertained, but that, of course, is for another blog post :)
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