Endings are hard. I mean, hard to write. To get right. If you try to do something different and unexpected, it's a huge gamble that is likely to go wrong, unless it makes some special kind of sense. The ending, remember, is what communicates the writers' point about the whole show; their judgment.
I liked the ending of "Lost" - for me, it worked on an artistic level. But shows that have criminals as protagonists are still a new genre, and the writers/producers apparently can't get past the moral judgment - past the idea that if people do wrong (even in such a thing as having too many wives - see "Big Love"), they should be punished. Generally, that principle is sound, but some people also deserve a second chance. Some people can reform. And in works of fiction there is most often a symbol scheme at work which means that the protagonist is not just a real and regular person, but an embodiment of a set of themes and representations.
"Dexter" was just about my favorite drama show of all time. Right up until the penultimate episode, it was deftly told. When in the second- to-last episode Dexter actually finds out that he is no longer a killer, I started hoping for a happy end. But of course I had predicted that, at the very least, they would kill off either Deb, Hannah or Harrison - to get away scott free, Dexter would have to sacrifice something. But they chose to have him react crazily to Deb's death, letting it overshadow the good things he had to look forward to. But abandoning his loved ones is no solution - when you start a new life, a new job, you are bound to get involved with people again; it's unavoidable. If he's just sitting around staring into thin air whenever he's not at work, he might as well kill himself. The moral is clear: he is in the equivalent of hell. And he chose it himself - maybe because he got "sane" enough to see that it was what he deserved. But it's only what he deserves according to old- fashioned and preachy values. Before Deb's death, he actually started to reform. There was hope for him.
But this ending showcases the problem with having "bad-guy protagonists" - you can't really sanction their actions, so you can't give them a happy ending (just look at "Weeds"). But the audience has been (kinda, sorta) rooting for this protagonist since day one! Does that count for nothing? The thing to do in a show like this is to show development, maybe repentance, even. Some sort of evolution of character. And so his ultimate fate should also be open and fraught with possibilities. Because he represents something different than what he appears to be. Dexter represents, to a meaningful extent, justice and righteousness. Reason, even. Misunderstood and having to hide, and going through a bunch of problems, but he does symbolize rationality applied to ethics, and there's no deep point in having him end up as he does in this final episode.
So, I thought that was a weird and somewhat nonsensical ending. But, everything that went before was pretty great!!
I liked the ending of "Lost" - for me, it worked on an artistic level. But shows that have criminals as protagonists are still a new genre, and the writers/producers apparently can't get past the moral judgment - past the idea that if people do wrong (even in such a thing as having too many wives - see "Big Love"), they should be punished. Generally, that principle is sound, but some people also deserve a second chance. Some people can reform. And in works of fiction there is most often a symbol scheme at work which means that the protagonist is not just a real and regular person, but an embodiment of a set of themes and representations.
"Dexter" was just about my favorite drama show of all time. Right up until the penultimate episode, it was deftly told. When in the second- to-last episode Dexter actually finds out that he is no longer a killer, I started hoping for a happy end. But of course I had predicted that, at the very least, they would kill off either Deb, Hannah or Harrison - to get away scott free, Dexter would have to sacrifice something. But they chose to have him react crazily to Deb's death, letting it overshadow the good things he had to look forward to. But abandoning his loved ones is no solution - when you start a new life, a new job, you are bound to get involved with people again; it's unavoidable. If he's just sitting around staring into thin air whenever he's not at work, he might as well kill himself. The moral is clear: he is in the equivalent of hell. And he chose it himself - maybe because he got "sane" enough to see that it was what he deserved. But it's only what he deserves according to old- fashioned and preachy values. Before Deb's death, he actually started to reform. There was hope for him.
But this ending showcases the problem with having "bad-guy protagonists" - you can't really sanction their actions, so you can't give them a happy ending (just look at "Weeds"). But the audience has been (kinda, sorta) rooting for this protagonist since day one! Does that count for nothing? The thing to do in a show like this is to show development, maybe repentance, even. Some sort of evolution of character. And so his ultimate fate should also be open and fraught with possibilities. Because he represents something different than what he appears to be. Dexter represents, to a meaningful extent, justice and righteousness. Reason, even. Misunderstood and having to hide, and going through a bunch of problems, but he does symbolize rationality applied to ethics, and there's no deep point in having him end up as he does in this final episode.
So, I thought that was a weird and somewhat nonsensical ending. But, everything that went before was pretty great!!