Warning: This Post Contains SPOILERS for the Series Finale (Season 5).
One of my favorite quotes about series finales actually comes from the Season 5 finale of Supernatural. In it, Chuck (not this Chuck, the “prophet” and writer of books featuring Sam and Dean) says one of my favorite lines about writing:
Endings are hard. Any chapped-ass monkey with a keyboard can poop out a beginning, but endings are impossible. You try to tie up every loose end, but you never can. The fans are always gonna bitch. There’s always gonna be holes. And since it’s the ending, it’s all supposed to add up to something. I’m telling you, they’re a raging pain in the ass.
The reason I love this quote is because it mitigates some of the fan hatred of series finales. With rare exceptions, I’m never entirely satisfied with the series finales of TV shows. I think most of the time it’s because what I thought the show was about doesn’t jive with the finale. For example, I didn’t hate the finale of Lost. It did resonate with the message of the show: we’re all connected and it’s kind of weird how we are all connected and maybe there’s something that’s driving that connection.
In the season finale of Chuck, Sarah and our good hearted hero find themselves sitting on a beach side by side. It’s a bittersweet moment because it reflects the pilot episode where Chuck is the one sitting on the beach and is kind of lost. Sarah comes to him and explains how his life has now changed because he is the intersect. Now, at the series finale, it’s Sarah who is lost. Her memories are gone and Chuck is pained, but resolute that everything is going to work out and, at Sarah’s request, he tells her everything about their lives together. The audience has been waiting for the moment when Sarah’s memories return the entire episode. But, even after Chuck’s heartfelt and adorable moments trying to win Sarah back, she’s not there.
Then Chuck says that Morgan has a crazy idea that if they kiss, everything will come back. A magical kiss, Sarah says. The two kiss, one of those “Princess Bride” kind of kisses, and that’s where the episode ends. There’s the implication that Chuck is right, that everything is going to be fine and that Sarah’s memories will be restored, but it’s not explicit. Yet, despite the bittersweetness of the episode, it’s classicly Chuck. The adorable geek, with the heart of gold, who falls in love with a spy who thought she could never love. And, the romance is helped by Chuck’s best friend, Morgan, who is goofy and crazy, but usually right. In the end, the resolution resounded with the message – sometimes when we expect victory, we get defeat, but good friends and love win out every time. That’s the show I fell in love with back before the Pilot even aired and that’s the show I’m going to miss.
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I have been hired by Warner Bros WBWord division to raise awareness for ‘Chuck.
