After witnessing the amazing ...
Question: After witnessing the amazing
Lost finale, I've tried to think of other season finales that have left me totally shocked and awestruck, but none came to mind. I think it may be the best season ender of
any show I've ever seen. I can't think of another season finale that was this well produced, plotted, acted and structured. Well, the Season 1 finale of
Battlestar Galactica comes to mind, but even that one still doesn't compare to the masterpiece that was
Lost's Season 3 finale. Can you think of any other season finale that so delivered on every single level?
Answer: If there's justice, that awesome season finale will clinch
Lost a spot in this year's top five Emmy nominees. I agree it's a landmark episode, but I resist answering these sorts of "Can you think of any other?" questions because I'll always leave out something significant. Still, the first thing that came to mind was the first-season finale of
24, which ended on the stroke of midnight as Jack's wife died in his arms. The fact that this show, already so innovative in its look, tone and structure, would take such a risk and leave us in such a dark, bleak place is something I'll never forget. And surely the most historic season finale of its type was the "Who shot J.R.?" cliff-hanger of
Dallas at its peak, which had the entire country buzzing for months. (On the opposite end of the prime-time soap scale, there's the infamous Moldavian massacre on
Dynasty, which many believe was the beginning of that show's end.) The "Who shot J.R.?" furor pretty much defined the way season finales would be in the future. And while we're musing on these matters, it reminds me that the first time I was quoted in the pages of TV Guide (while I was still at
USA Today) was in a story about cliff-hangers, during which I confessed that my all-time favorite was the
Knots Landing finale, in which Abby spent the entire episode trying to bury the body of Peter Hollister. Macabre, Hitchcockian and loads of fun. Still, doesn't compare to having your mind blown by
Lost, I think.
