Talking About Season Finales

So we’re into that time of year where we’re facing season finales all over the place.  Now that I’m home, I’ve been catching up on various shows.  And I’m getting a lot of really great reminders about craft, the importance of surprising the reader, and circularity.  Warning, if you have not seen the finales for SHIELD, Hart of Dixie, or About A Boy, now is the time for you to depart because SPOILERS AHOY!

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Still here?  Okay, so here are a few of my mostly uncaffeinated thoughts and fangirling.

Agents of SHIELD

REALLY loved this season finale episode.  There was a lot of classic Joss in there, lots of feels.

• Fitz finally admits to his feelings for Jemma (OMG I ship them so hard!).  And they’re in this impossible situation where I was POSITIVE that we were going to get Whedoned and he was going to die (because, dude, he DOES THAT IN EVERYTHING).  And then she saves him, but he’s…well he’s alive and we don’t know anything else.
• May finally gets to kick Ward’s ass (as well as using that Asgardian staff from earlier in the season to go after the super soldiers from Cybertech), and he so had that coming.
• Ward gets humanized and his weaknesses really exposed, making him a more interesting and complicated villain.  Not redeemable, but not a completely evil dude either.
• Deathlock gets released from servitude and gets to take out his frustrations on Bill Paxton (who, I am sorry to say, is STILL Bill from Twister every time I see him), and is going on to try to redeem his actions.  Bringing us back full circle to the start of the season.
• We get NICK FURY!  And oh my GOD, how much do I love how well he and Coulson play off each other?  They are the perfect match of dry.  Their reactions during Garrett’s villain monologue were fantastic.
• Also, how Garrett looks like he’s going to come back and then gets ESPLODED by Coulson?  Fabulous.
• They’re still dangling these tantalizing hints about who or WHAT Skye actually is.
• All in all, SUPER happy with this season ender and can’t WAIT for next season.

Hart of Dixie

This is a show that I thought I had all figured out.  As this season has progressed, I was SURE I knew exactly where they were going.  I had to give up on my hope for Zorge because obviously they were setting him up to be with Lemon and her to go back to Wade.  The surprises here were not as huge but were still WHOA.

• It’s CRICKET, not Stanley that announces she’s gay.
• AB turns down Davis’s proposal, which was no shock, and made me happy but then…
• Lavon makes a mad dash after Don Todd finds out his ex wife has moved on, and you THINK he’s going to talk to AB…
• And then George goes to stop Lemon from getting on the SS Desperation AND LAVON IS THERE TOO.  Did NOT see that coming!  (POOR AB!  I’m totally shipping her and Lavon)
• Zoe publicly announces she loves Wade and he walks out…
• But then he STAYS, even though he doesn’t claim to stay for her.  So there’s HOPE.
• And really, we’re left with that kind of circularity thing of coming back to where we started.

About a Boy

This show is one I didn’t care for straight out of the gate.  There’s a lot of awkward and cringe, but it’s absolutely GROWN on me, such that this season finale hit me in the feels zone.

• I’ve LOVED seeing the evolution of Will, seeing him go from this incredibly selfish, bachelor dude, to a guy who really struggles with this desire to put this kid first
• The tree house…the final few scenes where he tries to make up for the fact that he couldn’t tell Marcus he was moving to New York to be with Sam just really get me–he did EVERYTHING Marcus wanted to the treehouse, including the rib disposal hatch, which was masterfully shown in the final scene, proving that they still maintain their relationship across distance.
• This show DID get renewed, but even if it hadn’t, I think I’d have been quite happy with how it ended.  I felt satisfied as a viewer with the story arc that they provided.

So…what have we learned?

• It’s very satisfying to bring the ending of stuff back to the beginning.
• Go ahead and set up for the obvious…then do something COMPLETELY UNEXPECTED
• Don’t be afraid of conflict.