Thumb your nose at tidy conclusions.

[proggrrl]

LOL...Moore finally comes out of hiding to post this on his SciFi blog.

Funny enough, I had the exact same reaction to the end of the final Sopranos episode...I rewound my Tivo, thinking there was a tech glitch. I was shocked. And I admired the amazing balls on David Chase. WHOA.  Best TV Ending Evah. (It may even top my previous Best Ending Period: the final 20 seconds of Richard Linklater's film Before Sunset.)

Oh and, if it's not obvious: any of you BSG lovers out there who are big fans of "tidy conclusions," be afraid. 

Be very afraid.

Comments

[spinkkitty.livejournal.com]

That is so funny. I said the exact same thing about AJ last night! I think the point about AJ was that he totally played his parents.

[proggrrl.livejournal.com]

Yeah, while that final scene was playing out, every moment I was thinking "ooh, ooh, will they just kill Tony? What about Carmela? Uh oh, AJ's there now - is he gonna get wacked?" There was so, so much tension in that scene.

I loved AJ this season, and the actor who played him just blew me away. The look on his face when his friends poured acid on that guy's toe. The way AJ was playing his parent, his therapists. His apparently honest hesitance to make it with his underage friend/GF and the ensuing fire (LOL). His false earnestness, which was continuously being revealed as yet more excuses to be a slacker and get another day of his Mom's cooking.

[proggrrl.livejournal.com]

I have another friend who feels that AJ is completely, and utterly, LOST. So he changes his mind and his goals like every other day, much to Tony & Carmela's confusion and frustration. That's totally valid too. But he seems a bit conniving to me...

[spinkkitty.livejournal.com]

I am quaking in my boots.

I demand a satisfying ending!

[proggrrl.livejournal.com]

ROFL. BEST ICON EVAH.

I think we need to remember, that "satisfying" and "tidy" are not the same thing.

[spinkkitty.livejournal.com]

thanks! i love it too.

an ending doesn't have to be tidy but i agree with bop, it does have to be at least emotionally satisfying

[liebestrume.livejournal.com]

(It may even top my previous Best Ending Period: the final 20 seconds of Richard Linklater's film Before Sunset.)

OMG! You are a Before Sunrise/Sunset girl, too?

[proggrrl.livejournal.com]

Ha, nice icon.

Yeah, I love those films, and that ending to the second one is just BRILLIANT.

Before this Sopranos ending, the final shots of Six Feet Under and Angel: The Series were my favorites from TV.

[liebestrume.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I love those films, and that ending to the second one is just BRILLIANT.

You know they (i.e., Julie, Ethen, and Richard) already planned to do another sequel when they shot that second one, right? *grin*

I was ecstatic when I learned Before Sunrise was to have a sequel, then went "HUH?" when Celine told Jesse "you are going to miss that plane, baby." For someone who likes the world neat and orderly, I want closures. Yet as days (and years) gone by, my love for that film (and the ending) grow.

Which is what I think will happen with BSG. I made my friend ask my "happy ending" question at the All Access event, and was subsequently bummed out by RDM's answer. Then I thought about it some more. Do I want RDM to slap on an ending that is consistent, neither thematically nor narratively, to the overall story? The answer is no. Because then I wouldn't be able to love the show in the years to come, and I want to.

My friend told me that RDM took some time to deliberate before answering her (my) question at the All Access; his latest blog entry tells me he is now (or has been) giving this issue some serious thought. That is all I need, because I just know whatever he ends up delivering will be satisfying to me in the long run. (I am such a squeeing fangirl.)

So, no, I am not afraid; I in fact feel quite sanguine. Thanks for the link.

[proggrrl.livejournal.com]

his latest blog entry tells me he is now (or has been) giving this issue some serious thought.

Yes, I'm getting that sense - which is good, and makes sense since they're breaking the final 5-10 eps now, aren't they. I know this thing could go just about anywhere now...and I am ready. BRING IT!!!

You know they (i.e., Julie, Ethen, and Richard) already planned to do another sequel when they shot that second one, right?

WHA? A 3rd one? Really? Any news on that yet, I had no idea. I really love those films, they're real, heartfelt, bittersweet and hopelessly romantic.

The end of the second one is...well...it is rare to get that sort of ending: tantalizing and open to interpretation, yet completely hopeful.

[liebestrume.livejournal.com]

WHA? A 3rd one? Really? Any news on that yet, I had no idea. I really love those films, they're real, heartfelt, bittersweet and hopelessly romantic.

No word as of yet, and I don't think it'll happen any time soon. The first two were in real time -- 9 years apart in movies as well as in RL -- and the last one was only about 2-3 years ago.

And "hopelessly romantic" is right. Why do you suppose I love travel so much? *grin*

[spinkkitty.livejournal.com]

I hated the ending to 6 feet under with a passion.

it was so depressing! who wants to see all the characters whither away and die? i also found the end of angel extremely unsatisfying. clearly, we should never produce a show together :)

[bop-radar.livejournal.com]

Hmmm... I've never watched The Sopranos so I can't comment on whether the ending was appropriate or brave, but I will say I am very wary of directors who think it is 'clever' to leave things open-ended, and that statement from Moore sounds very naive. I personally love resolutions that leave some questions unanswered or which allow the universe to flow on and not be tied up with a big neat bow on top. BUT there are ways to do it well and ways to do it badly. It can look very, very lazy and sloppy in the extreme, and Mr Moore better think long and hard about that before he goes down that path with BSG. There are some things that NEED answers and resolutions or it just looks like he threw an idea out there and then did frak all with it.

I can live without a completely tidy conclusion--but I still want emotional satisfaction. There's a difference--I hope he knows what it is.

[proggrrl.livejournal.com]

As someone who shares RDM's extreme affection for The Sopranos, I have a similar love for this show's breaking open of many (possibly ALL) of the major storytelling conventions of network TV drama.

I do not think we have anything to worry about in regards to getting an emotionally satisfying completion to BSG - especially since they are going out on their own terms. Just like The Sopranos did.

That said: what you, or I, or any other individual fan needs answers/resolutions to in BSG, may or may not be on the priority list for TPTB and the stories they want to tell in the final season. I'm just sayin'... *g*

[bop-radar.livejournal.com]

*nods* That's reassuring. I do gather from reviews that The Sopranos ending was very fitting for The Sopranos. It just seemed worrying to hear RDM say he 'wished he'd thought of it first'. Because I really don't see it working for BSG.

You're right about what individual fans needing may not be where the priorities of TPTB lie too... I honestly have no clue WHERE their priorities lie since they've jumped around a lot over the three seasons. ;-) I do think though that in the overall storytelling terms, they'll need to give us some answers regarding the Cylons (who is the final model? how are the Final Four different? what's the significance/fate of the hybrids? etc) and on reaching Earth. But at a character level, I think things are a lot foggier--we all have characters we prefer over others, but TPTB may well not give them the attention we'd like in the final arc. *shrugs*

[arielmoondance.livejournal.com]

I am very very very afraid. The only thing that saves me is that he dare not repeat this, does he???

ACK!!!

[proggrrl.livejournal.com]

I wasn't insinuating a literal repetition of the final scenes (or even the overall mode of the series)...what is notable here, is how inspired RDM gets by David Chase's techniques.