Judging the Season Finales, From Best to Most Baffling
Your head is heavy, even though your DVR is lighter than it’s ever been. That can mean only one thing: You’re still processing the lightning-fast flurry of season finales we’ve been dealt over the last two weeks. Some of them were true-blue game-changers that we’ll be debating all summer, while others wimped out in their final moments. But which shows got it right, and which left us scratching our heads? Let’s rewind and find out.
Best Consummation, Visible
Will and Alicia have been building sexual tension for decades, and last season's voicemail-inducing smooch just didn't cut i... Best Consummation, Visible
Will and Alicia have been building sexual tension for decades, and last season's voicemail-inducing smooch just didn't cut it. Fans finally — finally — got to see a tequila-loosened Will and Alicia ride the elevator all the way up to the presidential suite.
Photo: DAVID M. RUSSELL/?2011 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Will and Alicia have been building sexual tension for decades, and last season's voicemail-inducing smooch just didn't cut i... Best Consummation, Visible
Will and Alicia have been building sexual tension for decades, and last season's voicemail-inducing smooch just didn't cut it. Fans finally — finally — got to see a tequila-loosened Will and Alicia ride the elevator all the way up to the presidential suite.
Photo: DAVID M. RUSSELL/?2011 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Best Consummation, Invisible
On the one hand, Booth and Brennan finally did it! On the other, we didn’t get to see any of it! In the season finale, vie... Best Consummation, Invisible
On the one hand, Booth and Brennan finally did it! On the other, we didn’t get to see any of it! In the season finale, viewers learned that TV’s longest-running will-they-won’t-they couple had finally slept together, but were denied the pleasure of witnessing even one on-screen smooch. Instead, they had to settle for two sweet smiles when Brennan told Booth she was pregnant with his baby.
On the one hand, Booth and Brennan finally did it! On the other, we didn’t get to see any of it! In the season finale, vie... Best Consummation, Invisible
On the one hand, Booth and Brennan finally did it! On the other, we didn’t get to see any of it! In the season finale, viewers learned that TV’s longest-running will-they-won’t-they couple had finally slept together, but were denied the pleasure of witnessing even one on-screen smooch. Instead, they had to settle for two sweet smiles when Brennan told Booth she was pregnant with his baby.
Biggest Anticlimax​
Remember in the season three finale when Michael, Jim, and Karen went in to interview for the corporate position, and the episode e... Biggest Anticlimax​
Remember in the season three finale when Michael, Jim, and Karen went in to interview for the corporate position, and the episode ended with a one-two punch of surprises: Jim decides to return to Scranton to ask Pam out, while Ryan ends up with the job that everybody wanted? Instead of giving us even a single jolt on par with those, the season seven finale basically wrapped up its high-profile job hunt with the characters and writers throwing up their hands and saying, "Who knows? Maybe we'll figure out something by next season." Photo: Chris Haston/? NBCUniversal, Inc.
Remember in the season three finale when Michael, Jim, and Karen went in to interview for the corporate position, and the episode e... Biggest Anticlimax​
Remember in the season three finale when Michael, Jim, and Karen went in to interview for the corporate position, and the episode ended with a one-two punch of surprises: Jim decides to return to Scranton to ask Pam out, while Ryan ends up with the job that everybody wanted? Instead of giving us even a single jolt on par with those, the season seven finale basically wrapped up its high-profile job hunt with the characters and writers throwing up their hands and saying, "Who knows? Maybe we'll figure out something by next season." Photo: Chris Haston/? NBCUniversal, Inc.
​Best Decision Not to Keep a Secret
Penny and Raj drunkenly sleeping together was a big choice for Big Bang to make, but the episode followed it with a... ​Best Decision Not to Keep a Secret
Penny and Raj drunkenly sleeping together was a big choice for Big Bang to make, but the episode followed it with an even bigger one: not sticking with the sitcom standard of having the characters keep their tryst a secret. Instead, Penny (complete with JBF hair) and Raj stumbled into the living room, only to find all their friends. While a secret-keeping plotline can have its moments, a seething-jealousy one has so much more potential. Photo: MATT KENNEDY/©2011 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved
Penny and Raj drunkenly sleeping together was a big choice for Big Bang to make, but the episode followed it with a... ​Best Decision Not to Keep a Secret
Penny and Raj drunkenly sleeping together was a big choice for Big Bang to make, but the episode followed it with an even bigger one: not sticking with the sitcom standard of having the characters keep their tryst a secret. Instead, Penny (complete with JBF hair) and Raj stumbled into the living room, only to find all their friends. While a secret-keeping plotline can have its moments, a seething-jealousy one has so much more potential. Photo: MATT KENNEDY/©2011 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved
Weirdest Decision to Actually Keep a Secret
I​n its last few moments, the Glee season finale sprang a mild surprise: Sam and Mercedes are secretly dati... Weirdest Decision to Actually Keep a Secret
I​n its last few moments, the Glee season finale sprang a mild surprise: Sam and Mercedes are secretly dating! It's a revelation that might have packed more punch if Mercedes wasn't already the third girl Sam had dated in a single season, though it's nice that Mercedes is finally getting a love interest. Still, we question their motivations to keep it a secret, especially since Ryan Murphy will probably break them up in four episodes and send Sam after Rachel, Tina, Becky, and Coach Sylvester before he graduates.
I​n its last few moments, the Glee season finale sprang a mild surprise: Sam and Mercedes are secretly dati... Weirdest Decision to Actually Keep a Secret
I​n its last few moments, the Glee season finale sprang a mild surprise: Sam and Mercedes are secretly dating! It's a revelation that might have packed more punch if Mercedes wasn't already the third girl Sam had dated in a single season, though it's nice that Mercedes is finally getting a love interest. Still, we question their motivations to keep it a secret, especially since Ryan Murphy will probably break them up in four episodes and send Sam after Rachel, Tina, Becky, and Coach Sylvester before he graduates.
​Best/Worst Trip To The Mall
What's a perfect dramatic setting for the faceoff between a bereaved investigator and the serial killer he's been tracking... ​Best/Worst Trip To The Mall
What's a perfect dramatic setting for the faceoff between a bereaved investigator and the serial killer he's been tracking for years? A mall food court, apparently. Patrick Jane and Red John had their long-awaited, highly charged meeting across a crappy little table near an escalator, but the banality of the setting put all the attention on the showdown, which ended with Jane avenging (in his eyes at least) his wife and child's murder. For a show that's usually by-the-book, The Mentalist really went all-out with its finale. Photo: MICHAEL YARISH/©2011 WARNER BROS. TELEVISION. All Rights Reserved.
What's a perfect dramatic setting for the faceoff between a bereaved investigator and the serial killer he's been tracking... ​Best/Worst Trip To The Mall
What's a perfect dramatic setting for the faceoff between a bereaved investigator and the serial killer he's been tracking for years? A mall food court, apparently. Patrick Jane and Red John had their long-awaited, highly charged meeting across a crappy little table near an escalator, but the banality of the setting put all the attention on the showdown, which ended with Jane avenging (in his eyes at least) his wife and child's murder. For a show that's usually by-the-book, The Mentalist really went all-out with its finale. Photo: MICHAEL YARISH/©2011 WARNER BROS. TELEVISION. All Rights Reserved.
Best Romantic Entanglement No One Was Asking For
Who would have ever paired Annie with Abed? And yet, when the two came together for Community's most e... Best Romantic Entanglement No One Was Asking For
Who would have ever paired Annie with Abed? And yet, when the two came together for Community's most epic smooch ever in the season finale, it was actually kind of great. Admittedly, Abed was playing Han Solo at the time, and Annie might not be as into him when he's out of Han drag, but we're going to ship this anyway, just because it's so deliciously random. (What do you even call it? "Abdie"? Didn't he win the first season of Work of Art?)
Photo: Lewis Jacobs/? NBCUniversal, Inc.
Who would have ever paired Annie with Abed? And yet, when the two came together for Community's most e... Best Romantic Entanglement No One Was Asking For
Who would have ever paired Annie with Abed? And yet, when the two came together for Community's most epic smooch ever in the season finale, it was actually kind of great. Admittedly, Abed was playing Han Solo at the time, and Annie might not be as into him when he's out of Han drag, but we're going to ship this anyway, just because it's so deliciously random. (What do you even call it? "Abdie"? Didn't he win the first season of Work of Art?)
Photo: Lewis Jacobs/? NBCUniversal, Inc.
Least Surprising and Yet Still Satisfying Reveals
Lily and Marshall have been trying to have a baby for ages, and we've known since the season premiere... Least Surprising and Yet Still Satisfying Reveals
Lily and Marshall have been trying to have a baby for ages, and we've known since the season premiere that Ted was going to be someone's best man a little ways down the road. And yet! After a middling season, not to mention an episode that primarily featured diarrhea jokes, Lily's pregnancy and the confirmation that is it indeed Barney heading down the aisle came as welcome high notes. Photo: ERIC MCCANDLESS/©2011 FOX TELEVISION. All Rights Reserved.
Lily and Marshall have been trying to have a baby for ages, and we've known since the season premiere... Least Surprising and Yet Still Satisfying Reveals
Lily and Marshall have been trying to have a baby for ages, and we've known since the season premiere that Ted was going to be someone's best man a little ways down the road. And yet! After a middling season, not to mention an episode that primarily featured diarrhea jokes, Lily's pregnancy and the confirmation that is it indeed Barney heading down the aisle came as welcome high notes. Photo: ERIC MCCANDLESS/©2011 FOX TELEVISION. All Rights Reserved.
​Worst Sendoff For a Main Character
House's writers didn't know this would be Lisa Edelstein's final episode as Cuddy, but that still doesn't excuse th... ​Worst Sendoff For a Main Character
House's writers didn't know this would be Lisa Edelstein's final episode as Cuddy, but that still doesn't excuse their decision to have House crash a car into her living room. Making him a rakish drug addict is one thing, but making House homicidal? Too far.
House's writers didn't know this would be Lisa Edelstein's final episode as Cuddy, but that still doesn't excuse th... ​Worst Sendoff For a Main Character
House's writers didn't know this would be Lisa Edelstein's final episode as Cuddy, but that still doesn't excuse their decision to have House crash a car into her living room. Making him a rakish drug addict is one thing, but making House homicidal? Too far.
​Longest Delayed Break-Up
Admittedly, the big “shocker†of the Gossip Girl finale was that Serena’s cousin Charlie is actually a scam artist who is not... ​Longest Delayed Break-Up
Admittedly, the big “shocker†of the Gossip Girl finale was that Serena’s cousin Charlie is actually a scam artist who is not related to her (we’re pretending that positive pregnancy test didn’t exist), but we just don’t care as much about Charlie as the series regulars yet. On that front, the big news was that Blair and Prince Louis are somehow still together and engaged, with the wedding scheduled for November sweeps. We feel comfortable assuming that by then, Chuck will have regrouped enough to break things up more definitively. Photo: Giovanni Rufino/©2011 WARNER BROS. TELEVISION. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Admittedly, the big “shocker†of the Gossip Girl finale was that Serena’s cousin Charlie is actually a scam artist who is not... ​Longest Delayed Break-Up
Admittedly, the big “shocker†of the Gossip Girl finale was that Serena’s cousin Charlie is actually a scam artist who is not related to her (we’re pretending that positive pregnancy test didn’t exist), but we just don’t care as much about Charlie as the series regulars yet. On that front, the big news was that Blair and Prince Louis are somehow still together and engaged, with the wedding scheduled for November sweeps. We feel comfortable assuming that by then, Chuck will have regrouped enough to break things up more definitively. Photo: Giovanni Rufino/©2011 WARNER BROS. TELEVISION. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Most Promising Next-Season Teases
Parks and Rec took the opportunity of its season finale to hint at plenty of season four possibilities. Will Leslie r... Most Promising Next-Season Teases
Parks and Rec took the opportunity of its season finale to hint at plenty of season four possibilities. Will Leslie run for mayor, and will that screw up her blossoming relationship with Ben? (Take note, Sam and Mercedes: That's one relationship that makes sense to keep secret.) How will Tom come back to the parks department after quitting? And, most importantly, who are the producers going to find to play Tammy One, the Ron Swanson ex-wife who strikes fear even in the heart of terrifying Tammy Two (Megan Mullally)?
Parks and Rec took the opportunity of its season finale to hint at plenty of season four possibilities. Will Leslie r... Most Promising Next-Season Teases
Parks and Rec took the opportunity of its season finale to hint at plenty of season four possibilities. Will Leslie run for mayor, and will that screw up her blossoming relationship with Ben? (Take note, Sam and Mercedes: That's one relationship that makes sense to keep secret.) How will Tom come back to the parks department after quitting? And, most importantly, who are the producers going to find to play Tammy One, the Ron Swanson ex-wife who strikes fear even in the heart of terrifying Tammy Two (Megan Mullally)?
1
/
11