I’ve made no secret of the fact that I don’t like happy endings. There are some exceptions to this rule, but for the most part I find that happy endings with a nice, neat little bow tied around all the plot points to be incredibly unrealistic and predictable. Why bother watching a show and getting invested in the conflict that’s created if everything is going to end up perfect in the end?
I miss this show. It was brilliantly written.
A more realistic approach to writing good TV plots is to resolve some plots and create conflict in others. That way, the audience can be satisfied by the resolution, but still want to keep watching because of the conflict. A prime example of this kind of writing can be seen in works of Joss Whedon. He has never shied away from killing off main characters or ending a season on a down note. There’s a reason why Firefly has a cult following and Buffy the Vampire Slayer was such a long-running success. The writing has elements of realism and the plots get you legitimately invested in the characters because no one is safe. That’s good TV.
On the other end of the spectrum, there are shows that always seem to resolve themselves at the end of the season, leaving very little in terms of tension to keep me looking forward to the show’s return. A good recent example of that was Glee‘s first season finale. It started out really well written. They had gotten everyone’s hopes up about the club winning the regionals competition, but then, realistically, had them lose due to bureaucracy. I’m sure die-hard fans were upset, but that’s good, that means they were invested in the characters’ success. Things were looking up for Glee‘s finale, until they decided, in the last minutes to resolve almost all the conflict. I know I’m probably in the minority here, but I would have much rather seen season 2 dealing with the glee club members and how they cope without the club instead of more of the same from this past season.
The most successful shows are those that shy away from the obviously and surprise it’s viewers. Grey’s Anatomy ended it’s first season with a huge bombshell surprise. I remember sitting there watching and just being totally floored. It’s shows with that kind of writing that made me a TV fan in the first place. Honestly, who would want to watch a show where everything ended up being fine all the time? It would get tiring.
As an aside, I’d like to thank everyone for their feedback on my first video blog! I’m hoping to get a new one filmed and posted this week. It’s going to be about all of the interesting TV announcements at Comic-Con!
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