The best sci-fi shows with the worst finales

[Intractable]

(Cross-posted in the Lounge)

Discussion of Smallville, Babylon 5, Battlestar Galactica, The Prisoner, and Star Trek: Enterprise.

I completely agree with the sentiments expressed in the article. They are some of my favorite shows (not Stranger Things and Smallville).

It needs to be mentioned that despite the time problems, the ending of Babylon 5 (truly one of the greatest shows) was mind-blowingly, heart-wrenchingly amazing!

The article doesn't go far enough in slamming the finale of the Prisoner. (They had many, many production problems in filming the finale. It's jarringly inconsistent with the rest of the series. Who else could Number One be? Of course, it was going to be him.)

https://www.inverse.com/entertainment/worst-sci-fi-finales-ranked-stranger-things

But the finale that most irked me is the end of Miami Vice.

We see Crockett, Tubbs, and Castillo squaring off against a dozen corrupt Feds, guns drawn, about to fire ... then a commercial break ... then Crockett and Tubbs saying good-bye.

For 40 years, I have wanted to know what happened with the Feds!

[ret5hd]

1. i was very disappointed in "Lost"...

excellent series, excellent arc (imho)…

and then “God Did It”.

dammit.

[Intractable]

2. I rec your post. Most of the 5th season of Lost was a waste.

[Pluvious]

3. The two that I recall as being very unsatisfying were...

Space, Above and Beyond
The Big Door Prize

I am certain the cause was due to premature ending of the show, but still !

[Intractable]

5. Space, Above and Beyond

Mmm. That was a flash in the pan.

I remember seeing six interesting episodes, then nothing. Just static.

I remember someone having to lie on their stomach to fire the ship's weapons.

[Pluvious]

9. Ah, then you somehow missed the final episode...

You definitely would have remembered it

Without spoiling anything, the early scene was each of them clipping their nails...

The last scene was the stuff of nightmares

[Pluvious]

4. B5 was awesome for its time...

I'll never forget the spooky episode about the night of the dead, it should have won an Emmy Award

[Intractable]

6. Ironically, the episode "Day of the Dead" was made during the "add-on, afterthought" season 5.

Even season 5 was great.

A lifelong Star Trek fan, at the time, I clearly enjoyed B5 better than DS9, maybe more than any TV. DS9 had too much soap opera.

[Xavier Breath]

7. The ending of Enterprise was a true punch in the gnads.

And that's coming from someone who loved TNG. Riker and Troy could have went and pissed up a rope

And don't even get me started on the finale of St. Elsewhere

At the other end of the spectrum, Newhart is still the gold standard

[Intractable]

8. It took me about 37 years to appreciate Riker as a character.

I never loved the guy (like I did with Picard, Data, Worf) during the entire TNG run.

Troy was almost as annoying as Wesley.

Both the Riker and Troy characters were terrific in the recent Star Trek: Picard.

Frakes as a director was consistently terrific. I appreciated that in him always, except for ...

I remember feeling quite letdown by the Enterprise finale. The angle of seeing the events of the finale as a future holodeck research topic was interesting. But, he interacted with all the characters of Enterprise instead of just watching from a distance. He made it all about himself.

Seasons 3 and 4 of Enterprise were some of the best Trek ever.

[Pluvious]

10. I too greatly enjoyed Picard...

Sir Patrick did quite the admirable job for the two seasons,
it can't have been easy for a man of his advanced years !

I am only 20% into my listen of his reading of Making It So, the Audible program of his memoirs.
He came from such HUMBLE beginnings, but he was destined to be an actor. I find myself laughing
out loud often to his stories and experiences, he really brings his past to life.

[Xavier Breath]

11. I was with you up until the last line.

... some of the Best Trek ever? That entire Xindi season arc was something to be endured, and I felt little but relief when it finally ended. Desperate for better ratings, they took all of the joy and wonder of exploration on display in seasons one and two and pissed it away on a dark, soulless slog. Come to think of it, it was really a preview of the shit NuTrek that talentless hack Alex Kurtzman has inflicted on ST fans ever since.

Of course, as always, YMMV

[Intractable]

12. I guess you liked season 4.

I stand by my statements. I liked the Xindi arc.

I thought season 2 dragged.

Discovery was alright, I thought, until season 3. I didn't much like the future thing. (Is that when Kurtzman came on?)

Strange New Worlds is the best thing on TV. My only complaint -- too much singing and dancing -- and too few episodes. Only 15 (16?) more.

[Xavier Breath]

13. I certainly stand by my statements as well.

It's good to know we're both people of conviction

Season four was better, but to my mind any other direction would have been an improvement. Still, it did not deserve that ending. If I recall correctly, they inserted Troy and Riker as a way to try and drum up fan interest for a fifth TNG movie. And, after ST: Nemesis, who could blame Paramount for passing on that?

I tried watching Discovery twice but abandoned it five or six eps in on both tries. I never saw Prodigy, my impression being it was intended for kids and I believe it was on some service I don't have anyway. SNW started out good but has slid in each successive season with the silliness quotient off the scale of late. The first two seasons of Picard were dreck and it was only salvaged by a third season of complete, unabashed fan service. I bailed on Starfleet Academy after the third episode, with each worse than the one that proceeded it. It's loud, dumb YA trash and I'll die on that hill. But any problems I have with it are due to the writing/acting and not whatever grievances the RWNJ-spere has with it. The Youtube reviews of it are just vile trash.

So, at this point, I mostly just watch the original six series and movies and hope that maybe something better will happen some day. Big maybe.

[Intractable]

14. Nobody hates Star Trek more than Star Trek fans.

I was ready to spit bile when in the second season of SNW, they encountered an "improbability field" (reminiscent of Hitchhiker's Guide) that makes them sing/dance/perform broadway-level musical numbers. (The music was pretty good, if only I could get past the silliness.)

When they have something good, they sure know how to cheese it up.

Either the producers don't take it seriously enough, or we take it too seriously.

Season 3 of Picard was da bomb!

I sort of hate the context of the SF Academy show, "the Ya trash" as you say. Holly Hunter is weird as a Captain, always waving her bare feet around.

So, I go into each episode thinking it's junk, and end each episode thinking, "It's much better than all the other trash on TV." I've sort of enjoyed them out of low expectations.

What else you gonna watch? Taylor Sheridan dramas?

As Spock said, in ST:VI, "You must have faith that the universe will unfold as it should." Keep the faith, my friend.

[Xavier Breath]

15. Meh, I'd take an episode of Landman over Starfleet Academy in a heartbeat.

Expectations shouldn't have to be lowered to enjoy a show, IMHO. Not when there's too much good non-Star Trek content to waste my time with what toxic waste Paramount tries to pass off as Star Trek these days. They should end the current shit shows before the legacy is further tarnished and let the franchise rest in peace.

Star Trek

1966 - 2005

We Took the Quality for Granted

For the record, I do not hate Star Trek. I hate what it's become and, if anything, mourn for the franchise I've loved since childhood.

And as to my keeping the faith, faith is earned, and the ass-clowns in charge have given me zero reason to keep it.

But, you enjoy it and I will ignore it and we can both be happy. There will be no improving on that.