Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Series Finales: The End of a Journey

Tonight when I got home from the movies I decided to finish watching the last two episodes from my favorite television show ever, Gilmore Girls.  As a huge fan of the show, I admire the way they wrapped everything up, sure some of it felt rushed, but I still get emotional every time I watch Rory (Alexis Bladel) say goodbye to her mother and best friend Lorelai (Lauren Graham) before she hits the road to be a journalist.

A shows series finale symbolizes the end of an emotional journey for fans.  Throughout the years characters from these television shows become a part of culture, and our lives.  I invested seven years of my life in Gilmore Girls, and have re-watched the entire series several times, and that emotional connection is always there.

TV shows start out like relationships.  As a show is starting you often test out the waters with the pilot, and see if their is any chemistry or if you think you can relate to the shows premise.  If you find that connection the first year of the show is the honeymoon phase,  You get excited to turn on the TV and watch this brand new show.  As the the years go on you continue to learn more and more about the characters, and you start to truly love, appreciate, and respect everything.  There is of course a point where the show may take stories in a direction you do not like, as if there is a fight, or if the show goes on longer than it should you could start to get bored with it.  Then the network/creator decides its time to pull the plug and the show is going to end.  Throughout the last season and last episodes there is this emotional feeling as though you are preparing for something important to leave your life.  Within that last episode there are often several emotional moments as the writers pay homage to the shows history, give the actors an opportunity to say goodbye, and gives the viewer a chance to see closure with the story (hopefully).

When my favorite shows have gone off the air I have remembered being bummed.  I was no longer going to be a part of the any new adventures in the land of Stars Hollow, watch the gang drink coffee at Central Perk in Friends, or watch four women sit around the table and eat cheesecake on The Golden Girls.  Watching my favorite shows leave TV has been a journey for me, like reading great literature, every journey must come to an end.

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