What's Your Favorite Series Finale

By Illmatic May 11, 2009 25 Comments

With college finals finally over and the warm embrace of a two week summer break I decided to watch the tentative series finale of a show I had not watched for some time, Scrubs. I had given up on this show quite some time ago, particularly for its strange mix of comedy and "serious business." I never really latched onto the way I would be treated to a comedic scene of Turk and JD's bromance one minute and a suicide the next. Of course, this is a TV hospital and as such it is in the Universal Television Show Guide that hospitals must always have its own self reflective moments on life and death but I preferred a focus on either one or the other. However, I would never say the show was bad, it was a welcome and different style of show that isn't seen very often these days and so I decided to give it its proper send off by DVR'ing the finale and watching it almost a week later like a true American. It displayed a typical summary of characters met and experiences shared that while did not hit me so hard I imagine brought those who stuck with the show from beginning to end to some tears, or maybe just a caught throat.

Watching the series finale did bring me back to two finales in particular that had me searching for a Kleenex and a friend to hug. The first was, of course, The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, a show that needs no introductions, summaries, or explanations. Any man who owns a TV has seen this program and what I consider a sitcom masterpiece along with the likes of Seinfeld and Arrested Development. While this show also had its share of "serious business" moments, I suppose it was the fact that I had so much interest in these characters that I was able to not only deal with these moments but actually appreciate them. The father/son episode dealing with Will's dad especially comes to mind. So it was with watery eyes that I watched the once full and noisy mansion slowly empty out as the kids moved on with their lives and the parents moved on to retirement. To this day, I have no problem watching an episode of this show for the tenth time and still laugh just as hard at the jokes presented.

My final show is in fact an anime that I was brought onto by a friend back in New York. I remember him asking me if I was into anime at all and like the majority of guys my age might've answered, I told him Dragon Ball Z was perhaps the best (and only) anime I had ever seen. He smiled, invited me over to his house, and proceded to show me a variety of animes including Naruto, Death Note, and Full Metal Alchemist. One anime in particular stood out to me though. Maybe it was the hip-hop intro complete with vinyl displaying the anime's name and the amazing soundtrack that is engraved in my mind to this day. Maybe it was the break dance fighting style one of the characters used in the show. Maybe it was just as simple as the record scratch used to change scenes. Whatever it was, Samurai Champloo caught my attention and for the next week I watched every episode. Now I lied earlier when I said DBZ was the only show I had ever watched. I had in fact dabbled in other animes but was usally always turned off by either the characters or the premise. Samurai Champloo, however, had characters that I was able to latch onto from the start. A cold hearted samurai, a bandit samurai, and a 15 year old waitress made up the major cast of this show and while many animes would focus on over the top fight scenes and hammy love plots, Champloo concerned itself with developing characters that felt real and believable. Watching as Mugen struggled to read or Jin's falling in love with a geisha were episodes I will never forget. Therefore,  I was more than shocked and sad to find out I had reached the shows series finale at a mere 26 episodes. I remember saying no out loud to my screen as they each reached their crossroads and a new and final track played over the credits, signifying the end to their journey.

But that's enough of me and my sad connection to fake chracters. What about you? What series finales stick out in your mind today? What makes a great series finale to you?

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