Can't Stick the Landing 2 - Television Edition: Controversial TV finales.

I've talked a little before about unsatisfying endings, but that was in video games. I also discussed Battlestar Galactica once before, but that was mostly in the context of the board game. So... guess who just finished the series? I kid a bit, as I was actually pretty okay with the ending, though I now understand why there were so many people who weren't. Following in line with the theme, I want to talk about four of the biggest controversial series finales in modern television history. (Without just rewriting something you likely already saw on CRACKED.)

Not all of the shows I'll run down are science fiction or other traditional geek fare, but we geeks love to discuss and debate these sorts of topics. Fair warning: spoilers ahead for Battlestar Galactica, LOST, The Sopranos, and Twin Peaks, though the statute of limitations has run out for sure on a few of these, spoiler-wise. It seems that the biggest issues that people have with controversial endings is either a lack of appropriate closure overall, or a perceived unsatisfactory resolution to plot threads left hanging, questions left unanswered or with answers that make no sense.

"Uhhh... what, dude?" We're right there with ya, Hurley.

LOST pulled a lot of us in. A plane crash, characters with interesting and mysterious pasts, things on an island that shouldn't be there, and layers upon layers of sinister revelations and yet more secrets. Aside from a mysterious “monster”, overt science fiction elements were light to begin with, some unusual things with Walt, a kid on the island, but everything seemed pretty straight and narrow. As seasons progressed, we got all sorts of weird and wonderful science fiction: time travel, mythical beasts connected to ancient religions and a computer that is keeping the world form being destroyed. There were so many loose plot threads in the final season that fans wondered how they could possibly all be tied up. Turns out, a lot of them weren't. We got a “They are all dead, and coming to terms with their life” story, and some people weren't happy.

Despite the fact that she regularly ruined everything, I liked Kate. This image is probably unrelated to that.

The LOST ending gave resolution on a few key points, answered the most important questions (for the average fan) and told us what the “flash sideways” world introduced in the final season all meant. The characters, for the most part, completed their journeys in satisfactory ways, and the last episode felt to me like a fitting end to a show I watched since the beginning. I do understand fan outrage, as even with the extra scene for the final seasons DVD, a lot of big questions were never answered, and some of them were important ones. What was the whole point of the detonation of the nuclear device back in the 1970s? Did it do anything at all? Was that what created the pocket “afterlife” dimension, and if so how did it also send the cast back to the present?

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The Sopranos got an unusual ending. For one thing, the standard HBO Original Series ending of “you're canceled” wasn't used, they got to finish their run, and the actual ending was as though millions of voices suddenly cried out “WTF?” and were suddenly silenced. The crime drama worked toward its final episode with everything closing in on Tony Soprano. Most of the surviving cast and quite a few external forces had reasons to kill him, and as the Soprano family ate in a diner, the audience showed several suspicious characters paying attention to them. Tony talks with his son about “remembering the good times” as “Don't Stop Believin'” plays on the jukebox. When Meadow Soprano, his daughter finally arrives, Tony looks up, and the picture cuts to black. A few moments of black screen with Journey still playing, then... credits.

This is how the world ends. Not with a bang, but with... Journey.

Many people thought their picture went out and they missed the real ending. Others were angry, confused, talked about what it all meant. Did the guy who'd went to the bathroom come back out a la The Godfather and shoot them all? Did they all go on and live their lives as they had? Why was two of the last five minutes of the show spent showing us that Meadow can't parallel park? Love the ending or hate it, no matter how you choose to interpret it, this cable finale kept people talking, and it still does.

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Twin Peaks might have had a satisfactory ending, but it was a troubled relationship between creator and studio that gave us this unresolved gem. When Twin Peaks first came out in 1990, it was a story about a sleepy town in the American Northwest, near the Canadian border. The murder of a young girl brings an unorthodox but brilliant FBI agent to the town, and secrets begin to be revealed in order to answer the question: “Who killed Laura Palmer?” The show worked on several levels and was initially very popular, as we saw the town's facade, beneath that a seedy underbelly of sex, drugs and scandal, and still beneath that something primal, weird and supernatural at play. Against creator David Lynch's wishes, the studio put pressure on the show to answer the key question, solve the murder. They reluctantly complied, and then were left with a new question for Season 2. “Now What?”

Dammit, Dale. 7 years bad luck. Unless you are a Twin Peaks fan, in which case it is 20 years and counting.

Though there were still a lot of unresolved mysteries, viewers started to tune out once the Laura Palmer story was wrapped up, and the network saw the decline in ratings. They put the show on a significant break, moved it from its usual time slot, and the audience dropped dramatically. (We now call this process “getting Firefly'd.” When the inevitable cancellation came down, Lynch and company didn't wrap everything up nice and neat, they stuck us with a cliffhanger. Much of the cast maybe killed in an explosion? Check. Agent Cooper lost in the mysterious Black Lodge and possessed by the evil BOB? Check. Thousands of screaming fans? Check. Since then, even with a feature film, Lynch has refused to resolve the story, and refused to work with television networks since.

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And, back to where we started, I've had a full day to process the ending of the new BSG since finishing it on Netflix. I've got some of the same questions that everyone did, my suspension of disbelief is strained in exactly the same places. We saw every little bit of weirdness and foreshadowing paid off, and got one of the most amazing space battle finales I've ever seen anywhere. In the third of the three part finale, the neat and tidy compromise “peace” solution is blown all to hell, and by what? A poor decision made by one person to commit violence against another, and the rage and pain of a husband when the betrayal that resulted in the murder of his wife is revealed. Two races nearly destroy each other in the next few seconds from that one act. I loved it.

So... she was an angel? Then why...? How...? But..? Screw it.  I don't even care anymore.

But why did Brother Cavil (Number 1) shoot himself? Was our explanation for what Starbuck was awesome, or a cop-out? There is a lot of Deus ex Machina going on, but with all the talk of a divine hand in everything, is that a bad thing? If everyone can see and interact with Starbuck, why can't everyone do the same with the invisible Baltar and Six? Are they the same thing? Despite all these questions and a lingering doubt about all human survivors completely forsaking technology to pick up farming tools and make caveman babies, I was still very happy with the ending. It made sense, and gave me a more complete feeling of resolution than the other four I wrote about.

Any doubts or feelings on these four endings? Any other endings you felt were really frustrating and ambiguous in TV? I left out some classics, like the Newhart “all a dream”, St. Elsewhere's “snowglobe” (paid homage in Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends), Dallas' “Satan makes JR shoot himself” and Roseanne's “Dan dies, she goes crazy and makes up the final season” endings. If you have one I missed or overlooked, sound off in the comments.

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5 Things That Sucked About C2E2.

 Yesterday, I did a top 5 style post (The most popular post on this blog to date, incidentally) and for today, I humbly submit a counterpoint, where I want to discuss the “less than perfect” parts of my C2E2 experience.

Limited food options and walking to the train in 30° weather makes me a Sad Panda.

1. McCormick Place Venue was Out of Touch With Needs and Schedule of the Show. Without exception, the C2E2 event staff was courteous, helpful, and all around did their jobs. This is important because quite a few of these people who deserve praise and credit were working as volunteers. The facility staff, getting paid to do a job, don't deserve as much praise or credit. Frequently rude and almost universally ignorant, they detracted from the event.
   Venue management deserves some blame as well. On Saturday, the largest day for a 3 day show, you do not, I repeat, DO NOT close down all the restaurants in both food courts right before the three biggest panels let out, leaving a little pizza stand, nachos or barbeque as the only meal options for hundreds of people in the whole venue. Also, if you have someone directing attendees to charter shuttles, that person should know where they go. I didn't appreciate the long cold walk from Union Station to Clark and Lake to catch my train because a moron put me on the wrong bus.

2. People Stopping in the Middle of A Crowded Aisle for a Photo Op Every convention has their fair share of people who, for some reason suddenly forget that they are in the middle of an aisle with lots of other people and suddenly stop to gawk. I'm used to that, even if it annoys me. Usually, however, you can walk around the slack-jawed nerd and keep moving after a few seconds. This is not true if someone in a costume stops in a congested spot and poses for a picture, as you have gawkers, the people involved, and all the empty space around the cosplayer where more considerate folks don't want to ruin the picture. Occasionally, I saw where people chose to do this, and thought, “Wow, I could find you a less convenient place to do that, but I'd have to do some math first.” It is flattering if someone wants to photograph the costume you worked hard on... have a little consideration and do it somewhere you won't cause a geek pileup.
   
   

   

   Awesome costume, but trapped in the roadblock, I'm almost too busy hating you to notice how hot this is. Almost.

   
   
   
   
3. Non-existent Event Security Put Featured Guests At Risk During one of the panels I talked about yesterday, Tahmoh Pennikett was talking, and sniffling, and talking, and sniffling. He apologized for the sniffles into the mic, as the air in the venue was messing with his sinuses. Several minutes later, a helpful fan rushed up the side of the stage to hand him a pack of tissues. Good on him. But wait, a random dude ran right up to a celebrity guest without so much as a “Halt, who goes there?” with an object in his hand. Tahmoh, who is a Muay Thai kickboxer, said “Man, I didn't know what that was, and I almost took you out.” Even if he was joking, this could have gone bad in a lot of ways. DON'T let fans run up on your guests, especially Sci-Fi fans who are used to having potentially dangerous stalkers.
   
   

   

   Forget what I said up there, seeing Helo destroy a random nerd would have been AWESOME.

   
   
   
   
4. Hall Layout Was Spectacularly Inefficient This compounds the issue I talked about in #2. certain aisles were cramped way too tight, others with a lot of unnecessary dead space, and some booths had side tables that extended into places where people needed to get by. In a few spots, I'm sure some ADA regulations were violated, as there was no way a wheelchair could get through. I understand that different lot sizes cost different prices and creating those parcels is far from an exact science. I may have mentioned before that I put together shows like this professionally (though mine never got this big.) Either the lots for booths were just drawn up badly, or the people who didn't stay in their assigned areas needed to be kept in line. Safety for your attendees comes first, and lanes being that cluttered could cause a hazard if evacuation became necessary.
   
   
5. Do Three Things Well... Rather than 1 thing well, and 4 kinda “Meh”. The main focus of this event is comics, for sure, and comic-related parts of the show were solid. Quite a few of the other areas of the event need additional support and attention, or they need to be excised. I've worked with a lot of the guys and gals involved in the gaming areas, and I've seen what they can do with proper support. “Support” in this case isn't a mention in the con program, a room with a bunch of tables and a hands-off kind of “Good Luck, Buddy.” Putting someone in charge of an area and then basically leaving them completely alone isn't delegation, it is neglect.

Don't let the fact that this post is longer than the last one make it seem like I had a poor time at the con... it really was a spectacularly run show, and my eye may be more critical having run these things myself. Honestly, #1 & #2 got to me the most, and there's nothing the show organizers could do about those. Anyone else have any gripes from this show or ones like it?

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Blog Gadgets

So Say We All... Battlestar Galactica... The Series and the board game.

 A few weeks back, a group of friends dropped by and we played a full round of the Battlestar Galactica boardgame. Based on the modern incarnation of the series, it models the best aspects of the show very well. The game starts as a cooperative game, trying to get humanity to safety while preserving fuel, food stores, morale of the fleet and the population of the last of the human race.

Obligatory joke about "she can preserve *my* morale" goes here.

The game inspired me to do what I'd never made the time to do in the past, fire up Netflix streaming, and finally watch the rest of the series. Now that I have quite a bit of free time, my wife and I have made it to mid-season 4 and I'm remembering everything that drew me to the show in the first place. Suspicion, betrayal, sacrifice... alliances made and broken as loyalties are questioned, surprises are revealed, and everyone pursues their own goals.

Believe it or not, all of these elements are represented in the game, with the players not knowing who is human and who is cylon... and knowing the show doesn't help you a bit in that regard. The game starts off with characters picked out and loyalty secretly assigned, each character has their own skills and abilities to help Galactica deal with its crises... Combat, politics, sabotage... these all come up as the fleet tries to make it to Earth.

Awesome Game... not cheap, and not short, though... set aside 3-5 hours for this one.

One of the key twists comes mid-game, when loyalties are re-assessed in a “sleeper” phase, and players who believed themselves human may “wake up” to discover they've been cylons all along, and the game continues with everyone pretending to work together as several players secretly work against the team, and people start using their powers, cards and abilities on each other out of suspicion.

Our game played out like this, with players working against each other, then with each other based on rapidly changing conditions as humans accidentally hinder each other and cylon players cleverly manipulate. The humans eventually won in our 6 player game, despite half the table being cylons or their allies by its end. A great deal of fun, and something I look forward to playing again.

Definitely a remake that eclipses the original in every way... at least so far.

As I close in on the end of the series, I reach one of those topics that geeks are bitterly divided on. The series final episode... I know so many people who hated the ending, and look forward to seeing it so I can judge for myself. Love it or hate it, I think this year I may have to pick up the expansion for the game and invite friends over for a few more rounds.

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