Resisting Everything but Temptation

Day 22 - Favorite series finale

Spoilers behind the cuts.

Jeremiah "Interregnum"

Jeremiah's season two suffered from unevenness, but even more from the long hiatus that fell between episodes seven and eight. For a while, we thought we might never actually get to see the rest of it in the U.S. It was worth the wait. I'm still not thrilled with the way the Daniel story played out, and it was plain to me that there should have been six or so more episodes of development, there. But despite the fact that Showtime did the show no favors, the last episode did an amazing job of showing Markus, Kurdy, Smith, and Jeremiah fighting the long-approaching war at last, and balancing the moments of personal triumph and emotion against the big-scale plot.

"You tied me up."
"You stole my fish."
"Two wrongs don't make a right."
"Maybe not. But this time, maybe it will."
—Jeremiah and Kurdy, "Interregnum"

Wonderfalls "Caged Bird"

It's been too long since I watched this show! The theme of this one is dear to my heart. The bird tells her, "Let him go!" but the show tells us, don't let him go, you idiot. When the chance comes around, you grab it. Don't let it go past.

"I make good life choices — mostly because they’re forced on me — but I make them, and I find myself in unpleasant situations all the time. You know why? Because even if you have a choice it can and will be taken away from you. We’re all fate’s bitch. You might as well go ahead and bend over for destiny now."
—Jaye Tyler, "Caged Bird"

Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles "Born to Run"

I know many viewers probably found this episode frustrating, as it was plainly designed to lead into a season 3 that never happened. But coming on the heels of Derek's heroic death in the previous episode, I could have asked no more satisfying a conclusion to the series than what happened: most of the main characters transported to the future and new loyalties and alliances laid out with all their possibilities. I adored this show, but didn't really have the urge to read or write fic for it, or to vid it, until the finale opened so many doors.

I think one of the things that makes the Terminator story compelling is the way it literally embodies our fears of the future and of becoming too reliant on machines. It explores those philosophical issues directly and in many nuanced ways, and the finale did something really cool by making Weaver and John Henry, previously cast in a very threatening light, into the possible saviors of humanity alongside John Connor. Weaver's line to Sarah about how Sarah's son can't save the world without her son opened up a whole new story, which sadly we never got to see -- but now we're free to imagine for ourselves where it would have led.

24 "Day 8: 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM"

I wrote about this one already, here. It really was one of the most satisfying couple of hours of television I've ever watched, and made me glad I'd stuck with the show for so many years. Jack Bauer! You are still awesome. ♥

"When you first came to CTU, I never thought it was going to be you that was going to cover my back all those years. Thank you."
—Jack Bauer, "Day 8: 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM"

Favorite series finale: Miracles "Paul Is Dead"

It's no coincidence that I love a lot of shows that got canceled early. If a show goes on too long, chances are it will either disappoint me, or answer all the questions I had in such a satisfying way that I move on to the next fandom. The ones I love best are the ones that end with a satisfying story, but that leave open lots of juicy possibilities, and Miracles did that, in spades.

The last episode is my favorite of the series for many reasons. Skeet Ulrich's acting is pretty amazing in it -- I'm usually unable to watch the scene where he loses Matty in the park without crying. The bathtub scene (where Paul asks Alva to temporarily kill him so that he can communicate with the spirit of a dead boy) is just really cool TV: funny, awful, scary, hypnotic -- and I love the way Alva's concern for Paul and protective instincts easily outweigh his fascination. Protective Alva is my favorite flavor of Alva! It's also my favorite Evie episode. So awesome, when we get to see her be a cop, and I absolutely believe her as a desperate mom. The scene where she screams at Paul that he's not safe is so awful to watch, but so good -- both of them nailed that.

As if that's not enough, it introduces the very cool character of Jason Herlock, another psychic played wonderfully by Peter Outerbridge. I've always wanted to know what became of him, and he adds great texture to the episode.

"It's my understanding that normal and happy people do not appear on television."
—Alva Keel, "Paul Is Dead"