Finale fun … or not …

• Posted in About Books, On TV

Note: I posted this over at Magical Musings last week, but I wanted to share it here too.

So most of the fall TV shows have wrapped up, and the summer shows are starting. I’m looking forward to the start of Covert Affairs this month.

For the most part, I’ve enjoyed all the season finales (and even the cliffhangers) over the past few weeks of shows like Arrow, The Blacklist, and The Good Wife, but there’s one finale that I’m still thinking about—the finale of How I Met Your Mother.

Oh, boy.

How I Met Your MotherI’ve always really enjoyed HIMYM, but I was not a fan of the finale. In fact, it sort of ruined the whole show for me, especially since the point of the show for nine seasons seemed to be Ted finding the Mother, the love of his life. But if you’ve seen the finale, you know the show was really about something and someone else entirely. I kind of feel like the whole thing was a bait and switch.

Finales can be hard to do, especially with a long-running series like HIMYM. It can be difficult to wrap up every single plot thread and leave fans with a satisfying conclusion. But, man. I was not expecting everything that happened in the HIMYM finale, and it was not satisfying to me at all. I’ve enjoyed watching reruns of the show, but now that I know how it ends? Even the reruns have lost some of their charm. Like I said, the finale sort of ruined the whole show for me.

I’ve been thinking about book finales too. The finale of the Hunger Games trilogy is another one that didn’t work for me. I kind of felt like everything that Katniss went through was for nothing, since a certain character doesn’t make it back home at the end of the series. On the other hand, I thought the end of the Harry Potter series was very well done and let readers leave the characters knowing that Harry and company were in a good place.

Maybe it’s cliché, but at the end of the day—or TV show or book—I want the characters to get their happy endings. To me, those are the most satisfying finales.

What about you guys? Did you enjoy the HIMYM finale? What do you think are some good book and TV finales?

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19 Responses to “Finale fun … or not …”

  1. Vicki says:

    I wouldn’t say I enjoyed the finale actually. For the small amount of time the mother was actually shown in the final season, I wished that she had been introduced sooner. I found her wit and humor great. She would have fit in with the regular group. Someone had told me before the final episode what the rumor was on how it ended. I had time to think about the entire series and how the characters were portrayed and after watching, I decided it ended the way it should have ended. I don’t always have to like it…it just has to be the right way. But, like you, I can’t watch the reruns.
    One of the best finales I have seen was for a cable show, Saving Grace. It was perfect and if I am reemmbering correctly, tied up all the loose ends. One of the most unique endings for a show IMHO, was Mob Doctor. The show was only ok, but I thought the ending was just very different, unique and welcome to see.
    For books, I thought Jaye Wells ended her Sabina Kane series perfectly and just recently Vicki Pettersson ended her Celetial Blues trilogy spectacularly.

    • Jennifer+Estep says:

      Two things really bothered me. One was that the entire season took place at Robin and Barney’s wedding … and then you saw how that ended up. So what was the point of that? I always thought they made a better couple than Robin and Ted.

      The second was if the show was all about Ted meeting the mother, then why the twist with him and Robin at the very end?

      Like I said, overall it was just really disappointing to me.

      • Vicki says:

        I think the title of the show would have been better as How I Met Your Step-Mother. At the very end, the daughter called Ted out about it. She even points out that the mother was in very little of the story.
        When I say it was the right ending, I am looking at it, seeing that the entire show was based around the friendship/relationship…errr whatever between Ted and Robin. And without the Robin/Barney marriage there would have been no mother. I think the one thing I was most puzzled over was Ted has looked for this great love (the mother) that he wants to marry and settle down for a long life together and then when he finds her, it takes them, what? Seven years to marry.
        Not the kind of ending that the fans deserved, but right for how the story was pushed.

        But I do what a blue french horn….that was cool.

        • Jennifer+Estep says:

          The blue french horn at the end was a cool way to tie everything together. But … I just never thought Ted and Robin wanted the same things. I thought that she and Barney were much more compatible. And I agree. The title should have been How I Met Your Stepmother.

  2. Rachel Vance says:

    The worst one for me was the Sookie Stackhouse series. I read them all up until the last one and after reading the leaked spoiler about it I refuse to read the last book. It twisted everything around from how the other books were set up and I just will not read the last one. I won’t even watch the last season of True Blood because I’m afraid they’ll end it the same way. After it ends I’ll find out how they do it then if it ends well I’ll watch it and if not I won’t.

    • Thomas Garland says:

      I totally agree with you about the Sookie Stackhouse series. I started out loving the series, but at about Dead in the Family (book 10), it was apparent that Charlaine was done with the series, and the subsequent books felt like she was tying up all of the loose ends and I think we really could have avoided the final book if she had just spent an additional 30 pages on Deadlocked to finish everything up.

      • Jennifer+Estep says:

        I’ve only read the first Sookie book, but I’ve been meaning to read more in the series (although I am hesitant because of the love triangle, which isn’t my favorite thing). I haven’t watched True Blood.

        • Vivian H. says:

          Don’t watch True Blood if you want to read the serieis. Completely different story lines and was really too much for me graphically. I guess I can handle harsh scenes from a book easier than on screen. Also, I didn’t like the way they changed some of the characters in the True Blood series. The characters in the book were more endearing and I felt more of a connection to them.

          As for HIMYM, yes, bait & switch. Completly. I still watched it and enjoyed it but felt cheated.

          My other ‘failed’ series finale was Sienfeld. I didn’t like how they all went to jail afterwards and was like ‘whatever’. Strange. I liked the all the characters coming back from the past seasons, but really?

          But, as for best finale ever? M*A*S*H hands down. Cried my eyes out the first time I watched it and every time since.

          • Jennifer+Estep says:

            I figured that the TV show would be different than the book series.

            Yeah, as far as HIMYM goes, I enjoyed the show so much … until the finale. Like I said, it just sort of ruined the whole show for me.

            I thought Burn Notice ended well last year. So did Alias back when it went off the air.

  3. Natalie Landry says:

    I wasn’t a fan of HIMYM either, and I just found out I won’t like the end of Hunger Games 🙁

    • Natalie Landry says:

      I meant the finale of HImym. Loved it until the finale. I think they messed up by saying Aunt Robin in the first season. So they had to find a way around that.

      • Jennifer+Estep says:

        That’s a good point. Maybe they thought they had to figure out a way to put Ted and Robin together at the end, even if she wasn’t the mother.

  4. Terri @ Alexia's Books and Such... says:

    I really hated the ending of HIMYM and felt betrayed by the writers. We had invested so much in the story only to be robbed of spending more time with the Mother. I really liked her too! I think the all-time best ending to a show was the Bob Newhart show. Such a funny twist! And I agree with Vicki about the ending to Celestial Blues. Perfect! I admit that I’m not happy with your endings, as I don’t want to let the characters go! Will probably cry my eyes out when I have to say goodbye to Gin & the gang. 🙁

    • Jennifer+Estep says:

      Yeah, after all that build-up to the mother, how they handled everything was really underwhelming.

      Aw, thanks! I appreciate that. That’s one of the nicest things you can say to a writer — that you want to spend more time with their characters. 🙂

  5. Melissa+(Books+and+Things) says:

    Ending books are always my problem child in a series. I often don’t love them. I had problems with some of Harry Potter’s ending book. It wasn’t my fave. I’ve ran into a few series enders I was satisfied with (like a certain YA series by a certain author who runs this blog) but not too many. Usually they are “okay” but not up with my faves. HIMYM did have a horrid ending. 😛

    • Jennifer+Estep says:

      Thanks! I appreciate that. 🙂

      I really hoped that the ending to the Mythos Academy series would be satisfying for fans. That was definitely one of my main goals with KILLER FROST.

      It can be hard to tie up everything in a series. As long as the big questions are answered, I usually like them.

  6. elba says:

    Thanks for the heads up on HIMYM! I was not an avid fan, but enjoyed the series on and off.
    I did like the Harry Potter movies finale, I still have the books to read. A book finale that I loved, Percy Jackson series 🙂

    Ok, so a book finale that I hated, hmmmm. Probably the Fever series. T he finale felt underwhelming to me, but I did struggle getting through that series. The main, if not only, reason I finished it was Jericho Barrons, oh I couldn’t stand Mack. I know that there’s a spin off series that may help with the JZB withdrawals, specially since Ryodan is on it, but I just can’t do it.

    I’m still in mourning over the end of the Night Huntress series by Jeaniene Frost, but I don’t think the finale was bad. I think it was well done, just selfish me not wanting to let go here… and I know there’s one more Vlad book coming out, but that only makes me hyperventilate more if I think about it too much. Thank God for Gin and the gang! Now please, keep Gin around forever, if not a few more years. I can’t take another fav series ending soon. 🙂

    • Vicki says:

      Elba-you are so right about the Night Huntress Series. It was well done. The third in the Vlad trilolgy keeps me from really thinking of it as having ended. I guess I am selfish too….I want more stories. LOL
      I will second you on the keep Gin & the Gang around longer….PLLLLEEEEAAAASSSEEEEEE!

      • Jennifer+Estep says:

        The Night Huntress series is another that I need to get caught up on. I’m really bad about reading the first few books in a series, then falling way behind on it.

        Thanks! I appreciate that. I am hoping to write more Gin books beyond BLACK WIDOW. We’ll see what happens.

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