i feel like i've been working on this post for weeks (because i have been). anyway, i've had a lot of time to think about the season finales of my favorite shows, and a lot of thoughts to share. just not a lot of time to write them up. but i haven't abandoned this and since agreeing to edit a friend's ~600 page novel, i've been excited about writing again. sometimes it is so exhausting, and when i'm traveling, as much as i want to write out what i'm thinking...i find myself watching television in my hotel room instead (i have a whole blog post forthcoming on what i inexplicably end up watching when i am traveling for work).
but to get to the point, here are my thoughts on the some of the game-changing season finales i watched last month:chuck
this show couldn't have gone out with a better bang. and knowing that we'll get at least 13 more episodes to explore what happened makes the whole thing somewhat sweeter. in the final two episodes of the second season, chuck bartowski manages to get the intersect out of his head, quit the buy more, establish that his feelings for sarah are reciprocated, get a nice paycheck from the us government, ruin ellie's wedding and then save the day by throwing his big sister the wedding of her dreams, and finally being the hero we all know he is by chosing to download the second intersect into his brain before destroying it to avoid it falling into the wrong hands.
the big twist here being that this second intersect somehow allows chuck to tap into some special abilities. his final line of the episode "guys, i know kung fu." it was an especially great cliffhanger because even if the show hadn't been renewed it's cliffhanger was so very clearly a high point. no one's life was in peril, the characters weren't fighting over some silly misunderstanding, the cliffhanger simply allows the story to move to the next level. how lucky for all of us that we get to see how it plays out on our screens. this is definitely one show i'm eager to see back on our screens--though thanks to nbc's insane scheduling decisions, who knows when that might be.
grey's anatomy
what a season this has been. from the insanity of ripping off bad soap storylines (ahem, ghost sex) to some amazing moments for meredith and derek (finally, they're engaged!), the final two episodes of the season (aired consecutively as a two-hour event) pack a pretty big emotional punch and a lot of action that results in one hell of a cliffhanger.
the final scene with izzie in her prom dress and george in military dress uniform in an elevator is an absolutely beautiful moment, katherine and t.r. look amazing in the final shots, but to be honest, i wasn't really appreciating the beauty of the moment when i first watched it. no, i was literally screaming at the television, horrified by the realization that there wasn't any more time left. (see my immediate reaction here.)
there were so many other good moments during the finale, meredith and derek get married via post-it note (which makes me wonder if they'll ever actually get around to the legal thing), christina and owen take a step forward in their relationship (finally!!), mark and lexie continue to be adorable (i want to see more of them, and hope that now that chyler has had her baby, we'll get more mark and lexie scenes), bailey reveals her marital troubles to the chief, and alex mans up (justin chambers is often so underrated, he is fantastic as alex).
all in all, in spite of a shaky start to the season, i think the season five finale really delievered. now i'm dying for season six to start so i can find out who dies. my pet theory is izzie lives and george dies. here's why: 1. it would be more shocking and would provide some pretty juicy storylines for the entire cast, 2. having izzie die on alex would be like kicking a puppy, 3. it's what i want to happen.
private practice
so here's the thing, everybody hates noah, i find him kind of hot. i love charlotte and cooper. and violet and naomi bore me to tears. ultimately, this season finale seemed to be unnecessarily gruesome, and i think this show is still struggling to figure out how to hit the right tonal notes.
so, "lost", "gossip girl", and "dollhouse" are still forthcoming. one i've seen but deserves it's own post, and the other two i have yet to watch but will someday soon.
I agree on all accounts! Grey's had some bad moments this year, but from the moment Izzie got her cancer diagnosis and Derek returned from the woods, it was all pretty awesome. (I run a Grey's website if you're interested. The URL is in my signature)
ReplyDeleteI think once you see Lost and Dollhouse, you'll enjoy them as well. But wait at least a day or two before Lost. I watched it and Grey's within the same 24 hours and was a complete emotional wreck afterwards!
Cool. I'll definitely check it out.
ReplyDeleteI for one just hope that the show can continue with this momentum. The cast is so good, I just want season 6 to continue with the awesome bits and let go of everything that was dragging it down.