MCF's Finale Thoughts

Warning: Today's post may contain SPOILERS about various season and series finales I've watched in the last few weeks. If you've not yet watched these shows for some reason(REY), then obviously skip that section for now. If you're not familiar with some of these shows, then some of my thoughts may seem vague.

SMALLVILLE

What I liked:
• Clark getting kissed by Chloe
• The cool slow motion spin through shattered glass as Clark shields her and catches a car that crashed into the Daily Planet.
• Multiple Marsters
• A seemingly reformed Lionel being a better father to Clark than his own son, whom he's willing to sacrifice.

What I didn't like:
• After a season building up to the release of Zod from the Phantom Zone, he possesses Lex? They can get Terrence Stamp to voice Jor-El but they couldn't hire a new actor?
• A virus knocks out the world's technology, and within a few hours there's rioting and looting and people driving cars into the basements of buildings?
• Lex/Zod telekinetically nodding Clark into a Phantom Zone portal. He's spent a Summer in a similar void already, so this is a recycled cliffhanger.
• Lana runs to Lex on the roof of his building, aware of his powers but not that he's possessed. The most diabolical survivor from Clark's home world falls for a flighty girl that would run through a mob where her friend Chloe is being assaulted, just to be with her new boyfriend.

What I'm wondering:
• Will Lex remember any of this next year after he's inevitably freed and depowered, or will the show fall back on its old friend amnesia?
• Chloe and Lionel were dragged out of his limo by a mob that descended upon her in a frightening overhead shot before cutting to Lana running by into LexCorp. What's going to happen to Chloe?
• Where exactly was the other Marsters flying Lois and Martha?
• Why do I still watch this show?
• Why am I still going to watch it next year?

Best Line:
• Not applicable.

Rating:
• 3 out of 5 S-shield sides


ALIAS

What I liked:
• The Lost style of inter cutting the episode with flashbacks from Sydney's past, telling her origin even as we're shown the final chapter.
• It takes more than a few bullets to the chest to keep Jack Bristow down. Jack Bristow is down when he says he's down, and he's badass enough to die on his feet like a man.
• Marshall finally telling Sloane exactly what he thinks of him, and not being afraid in the face of torture or worse.
• Syd does to Sloane what we've waited five years to see, and then Jack gets to take down Sloane as well.
• Sark's attitude.
• Tom's sacrifice and final words. The finale made me care about a character whose story this season always felt like a tangent I could care less about.
• Peyton taking out a circle of the twelve most powerful men in the world with two guns. I want Amy Acker to get a spinoff!
• Seeing Carrie again, and having her technical skills utilized.
• Jack's reaction in the flashback where Sydney tells him she's working for Credit Dauphine, but doesn't yet know her father is also a spy working undercover in the same agency.
• The final scene with Isabelle and those blocks. I loved the continuity and the sense of an ongoing cycle. Baby Jack was a beautiful touch too in this regard.

What I didn't like:
• No Weiss
• Only five minutes of Irina which reduced her complexity from past seasons to basic selfish villainy.
• Seeing Francie one last time but not Will. Sure he got his own episode a few weeks ago, but a cameo in a flashback to Syd's college life would have been a nice touch while they were bringing things full circle.

What I'm wondering:
• Will there be any spinoffs?
• Should there be a spinoff?
• Why couldn't the last three seasons have been as good as the first two or the series finale?
• Is there a connection between Rambaldi and The Hanso Foundation? An episode featuring a song by Drive Shaft hinted that Lost and Alias may take place in the same continuity. Since Lost is still set in 2004, it's possible to see anyone from Alias should that show cut to events in the world outside the island. Even in character flashbacks we could see cameos.
• Why did the small red ball cause regeneration and immortality, but the large one caused insanity? In season one when Vaughn nearly drowned from one of those rupturing, did he gain any regenerative abilities? Is that how he was able to recover from being sprayed across the chest with a machine gun?

Best Line(and Best Last Words Ever):
“You beat death, Arvin, but you couldn't beat me.”

Rating:
4.5 out of 5 red wigs


24

What I liked:
• If you kill Jack Bauer's friends, Jack will eventually kill you. It might take 23-24 hours or so, but once you cross him the clock is ticking. ”Watch out Julian Sands!” ”You have five seconds to comply!”
• When Jack only tells one or two people what he's planning, he usually gets the job done. Jack always has a plan, and even if he's being led away in handcuffs he might still be winning.
• Logan's confrontation with Martha, followed by the expression on his face once he realized the secret service were coming for him. The looks Martha and Mike gave him as he was led away were awesome.
• The contrast between an honorable president and a dishonorable one, as Palmer's casket is loaded on to the plane while Logan is taken into custody.
• The return of the Chinese.
• Buchanan flirting with Hayes once the crisis was over. For the briefest of moments I finally understood how he once hooked up with Michelle.

What I didn't like:
• Chloe's ex-husband Morris.
• The second half of the finale aired against the first half of Alias' finale. I watched 24 in it's entirety, then had to wait until 11 to watch my tape of Alias.
• Jack looks so suspicious when he's sneaking into places in plain sight. Putting the helmet on and hunching down as he walked to the chopper was as bad as the hood and suitcase maneuver to get on the plane a few weeks ago.
• Not much else.

What I'm wondering:
• Will Gardner be president next season or will the show jump past his term?
• How much time will pass between seasons this time?
• Who tipped off the Chinese to Jack's specific whereabouts and the best way to lure him into a trap? Did they impersonate his daughter on the phone, or was the guard who gave him the message in on it?
• Will next season take place in Shanghai, with Curtis leading a rescue mission?
• Is Jack disavowed to avoid an international incident?
• Will we ever see Chase again?
• Is the shadowy organization behind Logan, fronted by Graham going to play a major role in future seasons, and are they connected to some of the behind-the-scenes players hinted at in past seasons?
• Will we see Wayne follow in his brother's footsteps?
• Is the kid on the submarine going to rat out Jack's murder of Henderson?
• Did Henderson kill Evelyn and her daughter?
• Where's Behrooz?!

Best Line:
“China has a long memory.”

Rating:
5.5 out of 6 bullets

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The best season finales have cliffhangers, and the best finale of this season is LOST. Tune in tomorrow for my review...