A Flurry of Finales

The past week has been rather emotional for me as a viewer of primetime television with three long-running and much-loved series airing their finale episodes - Veep, The Big Bang Theory and lastly, Game Of Thrones. Although I don’t think I will face an identity crisis (because a. I am so much more than telly series blah blah and b. There are more series in the world!), I do think that anything we watch leaves a strong imprint in our minds, quite unconsciously. That’s why we still describe a person we love as ‘our lobster’, try to be funny by ending statements with ‘That’s what she said’ and, in some extreme cases, name our children Danaerys (the poor things!). It’s tough to say goodbye, but there should be closure. I generally get closure by writing random rants, so here are my farewell rants on the three finales that ended in the past week:

1. VEEP

The poster for the third season (Image Courtesy: imdb.com)

I came across VEEP in 2013 when I read that Julia Louis Dreyfus (who I loved in Seinfeld!) had won her second Emmy for this very show. On an absolute impulse, I went about scourging for the episodes (there wasn’t Hotstar then, so, go figure how I got the episodes) and began watching the first episode. I would end up watching all seven seasons over six years and Ms. Louis Dreyfus would go on to win four more Emmys for Veep.

A quick summary for the uninitiated - VEEP, short for Vice President (of the USA, specifically, because I really haven’t heard any other country use this term), is the story of VP Selina Meyer, who wants to become the President of the US (POTUS) despite her dedicated yet occasionally dimwitted staff and murky White House politics.

The genius behind VEEP lies in its sturdy, methodical yet absolutely hilarious writing. Throughout its run, the story takes many unpredictable turns and somewhere around season 5 shifts its gears altogether, but never loses focus of the main protagonist, VP Selina Meyer and her one goal in life, whatever may come.

Selina Meyer is like Cersei Lannister minus the incest. Both are fierce, ambitious, selfish women who only want all the power. Both don’t hesitate to throw the people who love them under the bus err.. in front of a flaming dragon or into prison. But only one of them gets the end she deserves. #SpoilerAlert

I firmly believe that expletives are not essential to create good content, comedic, romantic or dramatic. However, after real-life experience working jobs that are merciless to one’s physical and mental health, I also believe that expletives become inevitable after a point. The writers of VEEP, probably conscious of both the aforementioned points, do a wonderful job of naturally incorporating cuss words and below-the-belt metaphors in the long dialogues. As a result, the dialogues only rake in humour, not outrage.

Another firm belief I’ve gathered over years of binge-watching is that in the case of comedy series, a little intelligence and the absence of a garish laugh track makes it rewatchable (the only exception being Friends, of course, but even that is mostly nostalgic). It is also crucial that makers of such series put a full stop on a high, rather than getting caught up in the fandom and dragging the series pointlessly for more number of seasons, ruining it in the process.

Despite all the greatness, the show really hasn’t seen a lot of fan following in India, especially. Or at least I don’t know anybody to gab about VEEP with. It’s never too late though.


2. The Big Bang Theory

Image Courtesy: imdb.com

Okay, so full disclosure - I haven’t watched all episodes of The Big Bang Theory - specifically seasons 9 through 11. The first couple of seasons are just brilliant, with the romantic tension between Leonard and Penny, Sheldon's eccentricities and the entire Raj-Howard dynamic. I even welcomed the characters of Amy and Bernadette, not only because they suited Sheldon and Howard well, but because for one of the rare times on television, we got to see women in science. But the series took a rather unfortunate turn when the focus of the show shifted from the bond between the protagonists to their interpersonal relationships and domestic feuds.


Nevertheless, when it was announced that season 12 would be the last season, I was determined to watch it, because I really wanted to know, from a writer’s point of view, how the entire story would end. With 12 seasons, TBBT is a long show, and for comedies, I’ve often observed that the shorter the series is, the better its quality is. There is so much history in those 12 seasons, so much character development that tying the entire series into one season and eventually, one episode, would be quite difficult. Much to my surprise, the TBBT writers did a beautiful job of this entire season - they got Leonard to (sorta) reconcile with his mum, Howard to help Raj out of a relationship with the wrong woman, Amy & Sheldon to talk about their marriage and even bring in a callback to TBBT’s spinoff ‘Young Sheldon’! The finale was just the icing on the cake - a beautiful emotional episode in which we, the audience, are given a chance to say goodbye to each of our characters. The only one ending I did not like was that of Penny’s - it felt quite convenient and a tad ridiculous. Motherhood is a personal choice, and not wanting to become a mother does not make any woman wicked. Nuff said! If like me, you’ve been a semi-fan of TBBT, do yourself a favor and watch the two-part finale. It is absolutely touching.

3. Game Of Thrones (GoT)

Image courtesy: imdb.com

With its unexpected plot twists, convoluted histories and explicit scenes of both love and violence, GoT has been messing with our brains ever since it first aired in 2008. The entire series has been like the construction of a palace over 7 years- a foundation was laid, huge frames were constructed, gas and electric lines were placed, walls were built (quite literally) and the interiors were done to perfection. Going by this analogy, the final season should form the roof, to protect the house and at the same time look grand. The makers, instead, hastily joined together pieces of straw to make a clumsy thatched roof, as a makeshift arrangement, because they knew that everything they’d built had to break and burn in the finale. The makers put more emphasis on narrating an ending that very few fans could guess, instead of completing the character arcs of the leads and giving a befitting, albeit expected, ending that the saga deserved.

The worst thing about the past six Monday mornings has been Game of Thrones. Despite all my misgivings for this season, I got up religiously at 6 am every Monday, with hope. Every Monday I saw hope disappear faster than the darkness outside. Literally.

Again, not a diehard GoT fan here - am quite literally, just in for peer pressure- but even I’m disappointed at the turns this final season has taken. It has not only gone against all fan theories but nearly all logic. How can the Night King (who has been built up to be a Voldemort-like, undefeatable, omnipotent villain from season 1) be vanquished in three seconds by a stab in the stomach? What kind of armor doesn’t cover the stomach, btw? Why was the war not as brilliant as it was touted to be, and how come it was dark as a black hole? How can Danaerys fly over the sea and not notice the ships that do not belong to her allies? How can Arya just drop her idea of revenge like a hot potato after a conversation with Sandor? There are too many how cans, and Dany becoming the Mad Queen is certainly not one of them - that is the only part of the story that is logical.

I feel that the storytellers did not want any fan in the world to be able to guess the end, so they decided to fling all the detailed backstories, history and character arcs out of the window à la Jaime Lannister.

So after a rather disappointing season and character arcs that rival straight lines, the series finale doesn’t come as a surprise - it comes as a relief. It is the best episode of the season (the penultimate episode comes second). The finale answers most of the basic questions - someone becomes the ruler of Westeros, someone becomes the Hand, someone dies, someone kills, someone disappears and some make almost fun guest appearances - so I guess that’s fine. One should be thankful for the small mercies in life.

All’s well that ends well, they say, so I’m ending this rant with some of my favourite moments of this finale, so, here goes:

• Favourite scene: The one with Drogon in it
• Favourite character: Danae- no. Sansa Stark, hands down.
• Favourite disappointment: It’s a tie between Jon Snow and Arya Stark.
• Favourite moment: Bran being snarky