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Works in 2010-2019 that have dissapointing endings and how to write an ending (SPOLIER WARNING)

Last posted Jan 02, 2020 at 09:03AM EST. Added Jan 01, 2020 at 11:25AM EST
2 posts from 2 users

The New 10's has ended so it's fitting that we talk about the works of the last decade that have disappointing endings.

There seems to be a somewhat rising trend in the 2010's where the works that ended in that decade to end the story on a…rather weak note. Not saying all works in/ended in the 2010s are like this and there are weak endings that happened to shows and series before 2010-2019 but last decade has many series/works that have an increasingly number of weak endings. Why is that?

TV Tropes examines on that more notable works that are infamous for having a controversial ending and provided a guide on how to properly write an ending. Here's the Link
(SPOILER WARNING ON THE FOLLOWING WORKS: How I Met Your Mother, Game of Thrones, Mass Effect 3, Inception, Harry Potter, and (500) Days of Summer)

If link is broken or you need a quick summary, here are TV Tropes two main points along with two other points:

  • Ending Should Match The Story.
  • Ending Should be Predictable
  • You Can Have A Subversive Ending But It May Not Match The Previous Material And Can Cause Derailment
  • Ending Should Match The Theme and Aesop

You can find other guides to write the ending but generally the ending needs to be a great payoff with the previous material and match the theme, Aesop and other story plots and wrap up any loose ends. Endings are important because your series/work will eventually end and shows that you, the writer know what you are doing.

Which series/work that ended in the 2010s you think had a weak finale (or to a lesser extent, season finale) and how it can be improved? What causes a poorly written ending and how did this trend started to rise?

And since we are talking about endings, please be wary of spoilers.

Last edited Jan 01, 2020 at 11:25AM EST

Game of Thrones
Nothing can beat its objective complete failure in all aspects of narrative; despite having an enormous budget, a flexible corporate overlord, access to great locations and actors, extensive source material first published in '96 and the author giving them almost any information they required to adapt the published and unpublished works to the TV format.

The cause was incompetency. The second season 5 started (S5+ did not have published work to adapt, 1-4 did), 2D were exposed to be incapable of writing dialogue, writing overarching, main or subplots that weren't extremely predictable or reliant on shock, spectacle or fanservice; additionally giant actions in the world no longer had meaningful consequences.
(Sansa grape scene, Arya-1000, Cersei destroying the Sept, the 9001 Drogon rescues Daenerys and Daenerys is the chosen 1 scenes).
Consequently Season 5-7 broke the plot pacing of 1-4, failed to introduce, explore and solve subplots contributing to the overarching plot and individuals stories.

All that culminates into 6 episode berserk rush to resolve the 3 overarching plots (Wild Walkers, Daenerys' conquest, Jon's parentage and possible link to prophecy) in a way that disregards the 7 preceding seasons, fits in hours of filler (useless scenes, people walking and looking) and relies on shock rather than well written dialogue and inter-character drama.

Usually a bad ending is due to lack of source material or writer fatigue, a corporate noose and their constant meddling in production; but Game of Thrones had the best opportunity any medium could ask for, and they blew it.
I don't think anything will rival its failure until a similar origin story occurs (adaptation of books published over decades with a huge world).

You either get cancelled or finish within a few seasons to be remembered fondly (Firefly) or go for broke and usually end up broke.

Skeletor-sm

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