Current Events > C/D: a good final episode of a show is more like a victory lap than anything

(+) Yeah! (+)

The plot mostly gets resolved in the second to last episode, and the last episode is a farewell to the characters and the culmination of their outstanding arcs. It's the writers getting one last flex, and the characters getting a final goodbye as opposed to their existence ending the second that the main plot is finished.

A show that did this well was The Good Place, while a show that did this poorly was Supernatural. Second to last episode was fine, but that last episode was a big ol' pile of shit.

This doesn't necessarily apply to episodic shows like Star Trek: TNG. But despite that show being more episodic, the last episode still dealt with each of the characters getting an ending and making peace with each other in a really nice way.

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