Season Finales

Here are a few thoughts on the season finales I caught this year, in order of how well they were received by me:

Lost – This might be my favorite episode of a series full of great episodes. I didn’t think it would be possible to top last year’s finale, but this one was so absolutely riveting that I cannot imagine a better two hours of television. A lot was revealed, but even more questions were posed, as usual. A four-toed foot of a huge statue found along the shore?!? Consider my curiosity stirred.

The Office – The chemistry between the Jim and Pam characters was explosive. Who would have guessed a comedy could contain so much passion… a very funny comedy at that.

Scrubs - This show continues to surprise me. I keep thinking they have to run out of jokes soon (how much comedy can you really find in a hospital anyway?), but it remains fresh with an only an occasional episode off the mark. The finale was consistent with the rest of the fine fifth season. My only complaint is over the tacked on, unnecessary cliffhanger ending. Is J.D. going to be a dad? Probably not since the mother is only a guest star and we can't expect to see her for more than two episodes next season. Happening on a comedy with episodes that usually stand alone, this seems like a bit of a ploy to get us to watch next season, similar to when Elliot quit her job in the fourth season finale leaving us with the question of whether or not she was leaving the show (of course she didn't). Anyway, I'm just glad there's going to be a next season.

Grey’s Anatomy – Like The Office, this episode had some smoldering chemistry between the two denied lovers. I was surprised by how much this series grew on me after not being overly impressed during the first season. It really found its footing.

Desperate Housewives – This show did the opposite of Grey’s Anatomy for me, it went down hill from the first season. I was really starting to lose interest there for a while. Surprisingly, I thought the finale delivered. I like the idea of the new subplot of Zach Young inheriting all kinds of money and becoming a powerful, unstable teenager.

Invasion – This was decent, but I heard it’s not coming back next season, so that kind of negates my love of a cliffhanger ending. That’s a bit of a bummer, but I’m also pretty sure I’ll forget about it soon enough.

Alias – What happened here? This started off as a strong episode, but fell apart completely. I think it was a case of having too much to cover and not enough time. After the first half hour (of a two hour running time), I could tell they were not going to reach a satisfying conclusion to the series. Rather than up the creative ante and try to end it in a more daring way, they actually tried to cram everything in. Obviously, not everything fit and what did was very rushed. I really hope that Lost does not one day suffer the same fate as Alias. I’d rather see it pulled off the air sooner than see it run into the ground this way.

It’s not a season finale, but I made the mistake of watching Stephen King’s Desperation, a made for TV movie that aired recently on ABC. I checked it out because I enjoyed reading the novel a few years ago. What a disaster the movie version was! The plot was meant to be tongue-in-cheek in a pulp, B-movie type of way. Instead, the cast took it way too seriously. The young religious boy was laughable in all the wrong ways. And don’t even get me started on the “ground demon,” with its attempt at menace and the way it broke all of the already non-logical rules that were established. In summary, this was an awful movie.