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Series Fauxnales-Your Picks

Zarius

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Recently I've grown addicted to episodes of TV shows that could serve as series finales even if they ultimately prove to have a lot of life left in it. To that end, I've found myself visiting this TV Tropes article a lot and adding to it.

So I thought I'd ask F.A.N if they can think of anything that warrants inclusion in the article, and you can include anything, novels, comics, movies etc.

Here are a couple of personal selections:


Captain Planet and the Planeteers: The season two two-parter "Summit To Save Earth" plays out a lot like an endgame for the series, with Gaia's rival Zarn teaming with all of the Planeteers eco-villains, traps Gaia and depletes her powers to the point she ages signficantly, and turns the world into a toxic pit. After the Planeteers and Captain Planet defeat their enemies and send Zarn packing, the titular 'Summit' goes off without a hitch and the goverments of the world all agree to do more to keep the planet cleaner, which evokes an emotional reaction from Gaia.

Towards the end of the one and only season of Centurions there are several multi-part adventures that serve as functional series finales. There is the epic five-parter Man Or Machine which reveals the origins of the Centurions, Doc Terror and Hacker and involves a battle to liberate Skyvault from Terror and stop an alien machine from destroying humanity. Other candidates include' To Dare Dominion which appears to kill off Terror and Hacker completely and wipes out their base of operations after they unleash a near universe-consuming Lovecraftian nightmare, and The Better Half, where Terror and Hacker's robot halves combine to create an even more powerful and malevolent threat, forcing them to ally with the Centurions and destroy those parts of themselves. The story also resolves the Belligerent Sexual Tension between Centurion Ace and Crystal Kane, as the two finally kiss.

For Doctor Who, while Survival is a fine story and does have a great call back to the actions of the First Doctor and how far he's come since then, over time I've come to believe Remembrance of the Daleks feels very much like it should have been the last story let alone the 'real' 25th anniversary adventure, what with The Doctor revealing his true motivations for travelling to Earth in the 60s and seeing off the Daleks and Davros in such a definitive manner that it's hard to keep looking forward to fresh comebacks, even if you don't mind them. I also think Death Comes To Time, now largely forgotten, ties up the saga of both the Time Lords and The Doctor pretty well in a manner that's difficult to come back from

Forever Red would have been a worthy finale for Power Rangers if it had been commissioned as an anniversary post-script epilogue of Wild Force.

Stargate SG-1 had about four season fauxnales in a row as they kept building towards concluding with a movie. Then by the time they thought the show was secure for several years, they were entirely unprepared for the genuine axe falling. Fortunately, they had the DVD movies to tie up whatever was left of their loose ends.

Watching one of James Eatock's new audio commentaries for Cereal:GeekTV today compelled me to type in this entry on TVTropes

He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (1983)

The early season one episode The Dragon Invasion raises the stakes so considerably one would be forgiven for mistaking it for a climatic chapter in the battle between good and evil. Skeletor is able to infiltrate Castle Greyskull and imprison the Sorceress within Snake Mountain. The episode concludes with Skeletor's allies soundly defeated after a battle within the castle itself, and a final confrontation between He-Man and Skeletor concludes with Skeletor almost falling to his death, only to be spared by He-Man, forcing him to flee his own lair. Of course the series would have many episodes to come and the saga continued.
 

bionicbob

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Not sure if this exactly fits with your criteria or not...

KNIGHT RIDER -- I think most fans would agree "SCENT OF ROSES" would have made an excellent series finale.

MAGNUM PI -- season seven ended with Magnum's death and was meant to end the show, but a fan campaign led to CBS to bring it back for a truncated 8th season.

LA FEMME NIKITA -- very similar to Magnum, the series was cancelled at the end of season four, which had solid closer, but then brought back for an additional season.

SUPERNATURAL -- much like STARGATE SG-1, this 15 season show, had multiple enders over the years, but none were better than season five.

BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER -- a pitch perfect series finale on the WB with season five's and Buffy sacrificing herself to save the world. But then UPN picked up Buffy for two more seasons.

AGENTS OF SHIELD -- another Whedon show with a very similar fate. Coulson dies at the end of season five is a truly beautiful episode. Then ABC renewed the show for two more seasons.
 

Zarius

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Not sure if this exactly fits with your criteria or not...

KNIGHT RIDER -- I think most fans would agree "SCENT OF ROSES" would have made an excellent series finale.

MAGNUM PI -- season seven ended with Magnum's death and was meant to end the show, but a fan campaign led to CBS to bring it back for a truncated 8th season.

LA FEMME NIKITA -- very similar to Magnum, the series was cancelled at the end of season four, which had solid closer, but then brought back for an additional season.

SUPERNATURAL -- much like STARGATE SG-1, this 15 season show, had multiple enders over the years, but none were better than season five.

BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER -- a pitch perfect series finale on the WB with season five's and Buffy sacrificing herself to save the world. But then UPN picked up Buffy for two more seasons.

AGENTS OF SHIELD -- another Whedon show with a very similar fate. Coulson dies at the end of season five is a truly beautiful episode. Then ABC renewed the show for two more seasons.
These fit the criteria just fine, thanks.

Angel's 100th episode "You're Welcome" is what I consider a good finale for the show, it's the mid-way point of the final season anyway, so it'd have been easier to drop it after this, it ties up Cordelia's time with the gang too and sees everyone band together one last time before all the tragedy kicks in.

The second episode of the final Pokemon mini-season with Ash definitely made for a better finale than what we actually got eight episodes later, with Ash, having become world champion, being humbled in battle by a returning Misty, before Misty, still crushing on him ultimately decides to accompany Ash on his travels and they head off into the sunset together. I've discussed a potential series finale fan edit of this many times using that ending.
 

Zarius

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I got bored one day and actually created a whole Wiki dedicated to this subject. It's entirely opinion based too. If you feel inclined, you can add anything you think fits the subject, just be sure to give a reason why you think it should be there

 
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