so what do you think was the best finale. either series or just a season finale. doesn’t matter if its sci/fi or not just a great finale.
i’m gonna say BSG 4.0 finale Revelations
All Good Things (TNG) was pretty good. It had some logical inconsistencies (the singularity did something backwards at the end) but was a good show.
well i’ll start off with one in a non fantasy show
Two Cathedrals from season 2 of the west wing… Its the high watermark to me of the entire series.
FarScape went out good and proper when it was given a chance.
Futurama’s original finale was also pitch-perfect.
But Cowboy Bebop’s is the best.
Best of Both World’s part 1 was the first finale that made me scream at the TV.
Edit: B5’s finale almost brought a tear to my eye.
“Good night, my love…”
No, Bob Newhart pretty much has everyone beat for all time. I remember watching that and I literally fell off the sofa.
Lost Season 5 “The Incident”. I sat at the very edge of my seat and it left me feeling quite drained and quite saddened by the 9-month wait before I could find out what happened next.
The MASH finale still makes me cry
TNG’s “All Good Things” and Babylon 5’s “Sleeping in the Light”.
“All Good Things”: I remember when the credits rolled on this episode I just sat back and grinned. I was filled with so much joy. Star Trek was getting respect and sci-fi was given a chance to work in TV. It wasn’t just a genre for children or grown-up children. Science fiction was moving from cheese to thot-provoking.
“Sleeping in the Light”: I cry every time. Just listening to the soundtrack makes me cry. This episode was so endearing and heartwarming. Each character of a character intense series has a proper farewell. The ending shot is filled with closure and hope, a beautiful piece of art not just television.
I agree, MASH is one of the best finales!
Seinfeld is totally underrated. Instead of being satisfying and hilarious, it turns around and indicts the audience, leveling the charge that everthing they’ve been laughing at for 8 (?) years is not, in fact, funny.
Then, when Jerry Seinfeld hosted Saturday Night Live, they had him transferred to the Oz part of the jail.
As far as series finales go, I think “Angel” is my favorite. A rush job, sure, but it was a great ending to a show that was always about fighting (not winning) the good fight. Sniff.
For a season finale, “Lay Down Your Burdens” is the episode that broke my brain, so I guess I have to go with that. Sweet, sweet agony.
do I watch too much sci-fi???
Lost seasons 1, 3, and 5 were tremendous.
BSG cliffhanger between 2 and 2.5 – in terms of unbearable tension – was the woooorst. I’d just started watching it, and right when I got into it, they just left it hanging.
Season two of Sons of Anarchy was a total kick in the nards, too.
Turnabout Intruder, hands down.
Well, I laughed.
-BSG 2.5 finale comes to mind for me. I especially remember because I just got into BSG between 2.5 and 3, so it was kind of my first ‘real’ BSG finale in which I couldn’t just shove the next DVD in to see what happens next. It was a great finale - and I like that they were willing to take the risk to change up the show (which was already fantastic) - and one which you can’t really anticipate what’s going to happen next. And also, one heck of a last image for the finale.
Other finales I thought about:
-TNG series finale. Who doesn’t love old kooky Picard?
-And Lost, no matter how good the season as a whole was, generally had really good finales (and premiere eps) - I second dxf’s S3 and S5 finale as the highlights of Lost. All were suspenseful, daring, and you also can’t really anticipate what’s going to happen next. And I can’t see into the future, but I’m hoping S6 finale would be the greatest finale ever.
-Something different than the above, Doctor Who (new series) S2 finale. I’m not even a big fan of Rose, but tear! It was a very well done sending off of a character.
-Not SF related, but The Wire - S2, S1, heck, every season - though probably more of a show with the best penultimate episodes ever. (Not that the finales aren’t spectacular, but more that all the shit goes down in the penultimate, and your minds get blown - and the final is more of a “hey, you’re going to get even more depressed, but in a most satisfying way” wrapup.)
-I loved the Mad Men S3 finale - a great heist set up with an ending that could lead anywhere too.
-If BSG S4.5 ended with Adama’s alone scene contemplating with the gorgeous background, then … probably still wouldn’t be what I think to be the greatest finale ever. It’s a good finale, with problems here and there, but what irks me the most (still) is that darn epilogue.
Here’s a late note on the controversial Battlestar finale:
I liked it. I didn’t mind the ambiguities and hanging threads.
But this point came up in conversation this week.
It might not have been the writers’/producers’ fault, but season 4.5 was hyped with the line, “ALL WILL BE REVEALED.”
But all was not revealed.
So I can understand some righteous, rational disappointment and frustration.
just want to mention TSCC’s season 1 finale What He Beheld. There are many beautiful moments in there. Derek brings John to the park to reveal that he knows he is John’s uncle, and John handing the ball back to Kyle as a kid. Agent Ellison’s Swat team charging into Cromartie’s apartment with Johnny Cash’s “The Man Comes Around” in the back ground. And the explosion that happened to Cameron is a cliff hanger that really paid off in season 2 premier.
it wasn’t the planned finale, but what a finale.
I’m a little confused, my understanding of the original question were series finales, not seasons.