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shadowkatThis is Day #18 of 30 Days of Television Challenge
Most shocking season or series ending or WTF/OMG ending.
Mine? Easy..
6 Things I Still Can't Get Over Regarding the Game of Thrones Ending, a Year Later
Why Game of Thrones Had the Worste Ending of All Time
Controversial Reactions to Game of Thrones - apparently those who binged liked it better
9 Reasons why the Game of Thones Ending Didn't Work
I can't find a positive review...but I'll see...
Ah found one..well, sort of...A Positive Review of Game of Thrones
The gist? Game of Thrones had a shocking and jarring ending for most people who'd read the books and watched the series. So shocking people signed a petition to get the ending re-done. (Which I personally found sort of silly and insane. I mean seriously, do people have any idea how expensive that season was?)
Some liked it. I happen to personally know of at least 20 people who loved the ending. I know because we debated it and then decided to agree to disagree. I don't agree with them - but we also wanted separate things from the series and perceive things differently. Things that bothered me, didn't bother them. That said? I wasn't furious or anything. It's just a television series. But I did warn my mother off - she liked Dany, Jamie, and Tyrion, and the dragons. She was not a fan of Jon Snow, Sansa, or Bran.
But it did shock most people and annoy them.
Most shocking season or series ending or WTF/OMG ending.
Mine? Easy..
6 Things I Still Can't Get Over Regarding the Game of Thrones Ending, a Year Later
Why Game of Thrones Had the Worste Ending of All Time
Controversial Reactions to Game of Thrones - apparently those who binged liked it better
9 Reasons why the Game of Thones Ending Didn't Work
I can't find a positive review...but I'll see...
Ah found one..well, sort of...A Positive Review of Game of Thrones
The gist? Game of Thrones had a shocking and jarring ending for most people who'd read the books and watched the series. So shocking people signed a petition to get the ending re-done. (Which I personally found sort of silly and insane. I mean seriously, do people have any idea how expensive that season was?)
Some liked it. I happen to personally know of at least 20 people who loved the ending. I know because we debated it and then decided to agree to disagree. I don't agree with them - but we also wanted separate things from the series and perceive things differently. Things that bothered me, didn't bother them. That said? I wasn't furious or anything. It's just a television series. But I did warn my mother off - she liked Dany, Jamie, and Tyrion, and the dragons. She was not a fan of Jon Snow, Sansa, or Bran.
But it did shock most people and annoy them.
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Date: 2020-10-15 12:26 am (UTC)I, along with everybody else, was extremely disappointed in how they ended Jaime's arc, again seasons of him growing and changing and then it is all throw away in the last couple of episodes.
And lastly, the Starks, they got sort of good endings, but I was very disappointed by how they were all separated at the end, like seasons of them trying to be reunited, and then they are just apart for good.
Anyways, I just can't see myself rewatching it again, which is such a shame, becasue I really loved the early seasons.
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Date: 2020-10-15 01:16 am (UTC)For one thing, it's insanely violent and just gets more so as you go. And I agree, the ending was too rushed and jarring. I felt none of the characters were handled well. It was as if the writers got tired of the story and just wanted to be done with it. Their handling of the ending - did cost them the Star Wars deal. They'd been signed on to do the next trilogy of Star Wars films, but that fell apart after the GoT fiasco.
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Date: 2020-10-15 02:28 am (UTC)After Maverick but just before The Rockford Files, James Garner starred in a Western series called Nichols (1971), playing a con man appointed the sheriff of a town founded by his family. The series was a light comedy in the vein of "Support Your Local Sheriff"; Frank Nichols did not use a gun, preferring to talk his way out of dangerous situations.
At the end of the first season, Frank confronted a local gunman in the town square...
The gunman shot him dead.
After his funeral, Frank's brother (also played by Garner) rode in and cleaned up the town in a much more traditional style, setting up a new format for Season 2. But that turned out to be the final episode.
Nichols was not a total loss. Stuart Margolin and writer/producer Juanita Bartlett would follow Garner to The Rockford Files a few years later. But Nichols' shocking ending--the bloody death of the main character in the first two minutes of the season finale--has stayed with me for all these years.
https://youtu.be/bp4x6hMzhMs?list=PLA_-iwsmTKt7M4tEkQ9lkuCY6KH44wtIN
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Date: 2020-10-15 01:11 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-10-15 10:55 pm (UTC)****
Nichols was supposed to be Garner's triumphant return to Warner Brothers; Jack Warner had previously kicked him off the lot for having the nerve to sue for Maverick's back royalties.
****
Chevrolet initially pledged full sponsorship, which would have spared the network huge headaches, and probably guaranteed a profit and a healthy run. Then NBC showed Chevy the pilot. The reaction from Chevrolet could be summed up with: "It's not Maverick." They cut their pledge in half. Garner's production company (he had skin in the game) now had to beg for money. Garner was pissed.
****
Nichols' air time was postponed for six weeks during the winter of 1971 for coverage of the upcoming presidential election. The ratings never recovered. Garner was pissed.
****
Margot Kidder, fresh out of Canada, played Nichols' girlfriend, Ruth.
****
The producers decided on the twin brother switchoff in the hope of retooling the show as a more traditional Western. (OR: Once he found out the show was cancelled, Garner told the writers to kill off Nichols--to put an exclamation point on it, so to speak.)
****
Long after Jim Rockford brought him TV immortality, Garner said Nichols was one of his favorite roles.
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Date: 2020-10-15 11:23 pm (UTC)Shame. There were anti-gun/anti-violence Westerns out there - Garner specialized in a whole slew of them, as did Gary Cooper.
I should ask mother about Nichols. She was a huge fan of that genre. Loved Maverick - we went as a family to see the film version because my parents loved Maverick. They also adored Gunsmoke.
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Date: 2020-10-15 08:47 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-10-15 11:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-10-15 10:54 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-10-15 11:52 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-10-15 01:09 pm (UTC)I prefer those endings.
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Date: 2020-10-15 01:43 pm (UTC)This, btw, is my sincere belief, but I confess I'm posting it just to troll you a little. :)
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Date: 2020-10-15 02:04 pm (UTC)I did state that I know of at least 20 people who loved the ending (which includes you and aptomn). But I couldn't find a review via google by anyone. The closest I got was the last one, where they were kind of tentatively positive.
I've noticed a pattern in those who loved the ending and those who didn't. Those who did were one or more of the below:
1. weren't that invested, and didn't watch that closely.
2. If invested, cared mainly about the Starks, Ayra and/or Jon and not really focusing on much else outside of that [If you were a big Ayra, Bran, or Jon Snow fan; didn't care about much else - you probably loved the ending. If you were ambivalent about them, not so much.]
3. certain aspects of plot, character development, theme didn't bother them - but really bothered others
4. loved the direwolves more than the dragons, or weren't into the dragons.
5. binge-watched on DVD and didn't watch in real time, so didn't notice how rushed the ending was or the huge shifts in plot/setting rules/logistical pacing (ie the sudden ability for characters to magically jump from one place to another and meet up with each other , when before it took them at least a year or a season or two to get from one place to the next. Or absurdly plotted battle sequences after having insanely well-plotted ones.)
I can't say it bothered me enough to want a new version or care. (Honestly that's silly - it's a television series.] And I never owned more than the first season of DVDs, which I got rid of ages ago, along with the books. Nor did I exactly plan on re-watching the series - it's graphically violent. I don't want those images ingrained on my skull.
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Date: 2020-10-15 03:11 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-10-15 05:01 pm (UTC)I read the books for Jamie's arc - people on the ATPO Board talked me into reading them in 2004 for Jamie Lannister's arc. And I came to like Brienne, Tyrion, Dany, and to a degree Ayra...and Sam. But not anyone else.
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Date: 2020-10-15 05:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-10-15 07:21 pm (UTC)[I refuse to debate redemption arcs with folks any longer - been there done that, have the battle wounds, life is too short...and honestly does it matter? It's like the folks who insisted Spike didn't have one. YMMV. If a character commits a crime that you personally can't forgive - for whatever reason - you won't see a redemption arc.]
But, most people, like myself, who had issues with the ending - had issues with the execution. We'd have been fine with what they did - if it had been well executed, but we saw so many flaws. (I mean there were people who loved Jon and Ayra, but hated that ending for the same reasons I did. They felt betrayed - even more so than I did. I wasn't that invested.) Some of the flaws were inexcusable considering the cost and time it took to do it. They took two years to film something that felt rushed, and filled with mistakes.
Just see the reviews above - they are all about the flaws, not about the characters at all. A lot of them had no problem with the character arcs, just the execution.
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Date: 2020-10-15 07:29 pm (UTC)I've read a number of comments about supposed flaws in S8 and am not convinced by any of them. I thought they handled it very well for the most part. That's not to say I thought the season was flawless -- I thought the second half of Ep 4 was weak; that every scene with Euron could have been skipped; and that the Small Council scenes in Ep 6 were also weak. But overall I loved it.
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Date: 2020-10-15 11:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-10-16 07:21 am (UTC)* I quite enjoyed all the characters, even the minor ones. That is truly unusaul, in my experience, that even minor characters are well realized.
* While I was shocked by what happened to Dany, after thinking about it for a bit-- and a rewatch a week later-- I recall thinking that it was very daring on the part of the showrunners to go this route. One of the speakers on one of the links you provided mentioned that contrary to some criticism by other fans, Dany's sudden mental snap was set up long, long ago.
My own thinking as to why she destroyed the city Cersei ruled over, frankly, is just a less violent example fo what I wish for Trump-- that he lose the election badly, and then get sued by a whole bunch of people he ripped off, and end up in jail, or at least broke.
It's why just killing Cersei wasn't enough, she had to be crushed, humiliated first. Madness? Indeed. But people snap, it happens all the time. Tragic for someone most had grown to admire? Indeed. But it made the point.
* Having the man who loved her be the instrument of her death seems cruel, but it established that Jon had the character to do what needed to be done, although it clearly all-but destroyed his soul to do it. Having him return to the Watch instead of claiming the kingship is perfect.
* People who complained that the end-ending wrapped things up "too neatly" are not paying attention. In about four or five more years, there could easily be a continuation, where we see where the characters have gone in that time, and where they're going. In particular--
It's been established that people die in GOT and come back from the dead. I'm predicting that Daenerys Targaryen will be back, and Jon will meet up with her. (What, your dragon flies off with your body, and no one knows where he flew to? Uh-huh...)
* I do not ship any particular character, so I always just went with the flow in GOT. Plus, as you know, I'm into photography, and, well, what can you say about the craft in the entire series? Even the opening credits! I also, fortunately, have the characteristic that I can hand-wave a lot of things that go a bit astray if I enjoy the overall effort. I tend to try to see the sum, not just the various parts. 90% of effort good? Me happy guy.
:-)
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Date: 2020-10-16 11:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-10-16 04:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-10-16 04:57 pm (UTC)I so agree - for me the worst part about it - was it ruined the series for me. I have no interest in reading the next books in the series now. (Which may actually be a good thing - considering I seriously doubt we'll ever see them. Martin is in his 70s now and wrote himself into a corner. Also the reception to the ending possibly did not help much with his writer's block.)
I honestly didn't think any of the character arcs worked in the final season. And from various actor interviews - I got the feeling the actors felt the same.
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Date: 2020-10-17 05:18 am (UTC)You know, like those 5-10-15-page+ epics on (fill in BtVS character) and (fill in other BtVS character)?
Ahhh, happy days!
;-)
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Date: 2020-10-17 01:00 pm (UTC)I tend to write it on things in which the metaphors grab me for some reason or other, has little to do with the quality of the series. Often shows that are lesser in the quality department get more meta.
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Date: 2020-10-17 04:59 pm (UTC)Yep, and I totally get that. For me, GOT was 90% about the visual/sonic/acting aspects as the main draw. To me, it was like being those folks who seek out action/adventure flicks, like the Mission Impossible epics or even lesser, mostly for the sake of adrenaline types. If I wanted to do any extended meta on GOT, frankly it would be almost exclusively the last two seasons, as the various arcs came to a conclusion.
*** Heh-- remember the ongoing controversy about Buffy seasons 6 & 7? There were quite a number of fans, I recall, who very seriously thought the show should have ended with Season 5, and Buffy's heroic death. I recall being one of those who thought S6 was daring and inventive, and the deal in S7 with the multiple Slayers a logical extension of the concept.
Ooo... just popped into my head-- have you looked at any of the current BtVS comics, the ones on the "BOOM" label? If so, thoughts?
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Date: 2020-10-17 11:07 pm (UTC)Ooo... just popped into my head-- have you looked at any of the current BtVS comics, the ones on the "BOOM" label? If so, thoughts?
Yes. I had hopes - I was disappointed.
Short answer? Not worth your time.
Long answer: I tried about five or six issues, along with a few issues of the Angel the series reboot.
The art is uneven. Starts out great - goes rapidly downhill because they change artists. Not helped by the fact that the first artist was better than the writer.
And the plot and characters are jarring. Xander is turned into a vampire by Dru and Spike. But Willow and Buffy ensoul him - so he's this weird hybrid. Willow is completely together, with a girlfriend, and practicing magic at the age of 15. Buffy's Mom is living with a guy - whose name I forget. Robin Wood is a teenager who starts dating Buffy. Angel is running Angel Investigations, meets Buffy, then Buffy ends up killed or in hell, while Kendra takes over - and we're following Kendra's adventures. Meanwhile Dru used Spike to open the hellmouth - Spike who apparently is chosen by Lilith to help the world, goes over to Angel Investigations and takes over..
Confused? Yep, so was I. I gave up - when they were trying to get Xander his soul or make sure he kept it.
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Date: 2020-10-18 12:00 am (UTC)Writing...eh, it went downhill also way too violent. I did not need to see the torture of Theon in graphic detail (the book implied it), and the daughter of Stannis was not burned alive in the books, like she is in the series, and Sansa was not raped. We do get a rape, but it's not quite that graphic.
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Date: 2020-10-16 09:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-10-16 11:00 pm (UTC)So true. Also just from the responses to this post - there were people that loved the ending.
The petition amused me though. I can't remember fans actually putting together a petition to get a new ending to a television series before Game of Thrones. It may have happened - but I don't remember it.
Also it's not like other television shows had ...ahem, controversial endings.
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Date: 2020-10-18 03:35 am (UTC)