To think writers don't know how to end series' these days

[Griphook]

To be so annoyed that this week I wasted 12 hours of my life watching undercover and Marcella, to just not understand the endings and to think the writing is absolutely shit.
It's like they just make it up and forget what they have written in the past episodes.
Aibu? To be fucked if that undercover made no sense!!

[madmother1]

I feel exactly the same. I've discussed it with work colleagues today. I felt that "The Missing" didn't have a proper ending either. I'm going to stick with "Death in Paridise" and "Jonathan Creek"

[Theydontknowweknowtheyknow]

I haven't watched those two but reckon YANBU in general. Also pisses me off is tendency to leave cliffhanger / unresolved storyline just so they can string it out for another series.

They should know when to quit.

[Foxyloxy1plus1]

Yes, I watched both and had no more idea at the end than the beginning. I assume it's so they can bring back a further series.

The exception is The Night Manager which did have a proper climax and with the opportunity for another series.

[littledrummergirl]

Yanbu

[emotionsecho]

Totally agree with you, OP.

Undercover was worse than Marcella, I'm not the kind of person who normally gets worked up about TV dramas but I was intensely irritated by Undercover and it's 'what the hell was the point of that?' ending.

Both dramas piled far too many plot lines into them and the lack of credibility of the events and characters was ridiculous.

The endings of both were so badly thought out and done it was pathetic.

[Griphook]

Glad I'm not the only one who doesn't have a clue what's been going on, for the last 6!!! Hours. All seems like a waste of time. Shane because I love a good drama. Will now only be watching re runs of Lewis and Jonathan creek is a good idea.

[icanteven]

I was SO ANNOYED at the ending of Marcella. The whole POINT was how on earth they were going to deal with Grace's body etc. and in the end they just said "fuck it" and left it hanging. Really lazy writing, for what was otherwise a great series, even if there were at least 2 subplots and 4 or 5 characters they could have left out. WHO SHOT THE TAXI DRIVER??

[RaeSkywalker]

madmother agreed- the end to The Missing was awful!

YANBU OP. I think they all do it to 'guarantee' a second series. So annoyed with the ending of Marcella- the series wasn't great anyway, I hung on in hopes of a decent ending/ resolution.

[scarednoob]

we just watched "life on mars" and "ashes to ashes" - missed them the first time around as I hardly watched tv due to being out all the time, but now DD has come along and ruined all that, we needed a good box set!

I thought the ending to "ashes" was really well done, but 3 days later I am still breaking my heart about galex.... WHY??????!!!!!

[blimeyalldecentnamesaregone]

YANBU Undercover had a shit ending. Very anti-climactic.

[smellylittleorange]

Undercover was a truly rubbish ending..I can't believe I wasted 6 hours of my life watching that - getting annoyed blah blah - i can't even be bothered to carry on writing about how pissed off I was with the ending of that...

[Notonthestairs]

even more annoying when the last episode in the series is clearly setting itself up for the next series - massive explosion, who is dead, who survived?? and then the next series is cancelled (am looking at you ITV - Home Fires)

[Tatiana11235]

Anyone watching The Good Wife? Well I tell you I was majorly pissed off about the way they ended it. What an absolute rubbish ending considering how brilliant the series have been!

[Thatrabbittrickedme]

I haven't watched the series here (except TGW, still on S4 though!). My theory on this is that they often only end these shows for commercial reasons (not getting the audience anymore) so rush to finish them abruptly after the mass audience has lost interest.

Nothing seems to end at its natural or artistic point as the TV networks want to milk money out of them even if it means dragging out the story with more and more incredible/stupid plot twists. Lost was a prime example of this. It's very frustrating!

[Tatiana11235]

Thatrabbitt, just you wait for it. It's beyond pointless.

[LizKeen]

I gave up on Undercover after ep3 and Marcella after ep1. I love a good drama but those two in particular didn't draw me in.

TGW ending was pure trash. (I won't give spoilers). I have watched every episode, I really really enjoyed it, but there were too many loose ends. For a 7 season show to end like that is shoddy IMO.

I liked how Parenthood ended. I didn't like that it ended in the first place, but at least they did it justice.

[BoingZebedeeArrived]

Anyone else seen the first season of Veronica Mars? That had a good ending.

Totally agree about ending of Marcella. It might as well have been a Friday episode of Neighbours.

[readingrainbow]

I don't know if it still works like this, but I've heard that writers for award-winning, successful shows get pinched after a season or two for a higher-paying gig. By the time a series makes it to its 7th season, there aren't any original writers on the team. That would be a big reason why plot points are dropped, rehashed, or strained beyond any shred of credulity.

I firmly believe that most shows should have an 8-12 episode run, once a year or 18 months. Keep the writing tight and cohesive. Set a story goal and actually achieve it.

Too many shows are like Lost. Ugh.

[squoosh]

YANBU

They could all learn a thing or two from Murder She Wrote.

Enough of the whorish 'please commission us for a second series' ambiguous shittery.

[icetip]

There isn't always a satisfying resolution in life, so I can't be too bothered by the occasionally ambiguous ending to a series. But sometimes they get it spectacularly right - Six Feet Under anyone? m.youtube.com/watch?v=WWdYMuo3_B4

[Summerblaze100]

Another vote here for 'The Five' if you like a nice tidy ending. Fab series, proper ending.

[fatshitcrazy]

Agree on Marcella and Undercover although to be fair Im still bitter about the ending of Lost and that was years ago. Why cant they all just wrap things up neatly?

[TheCountessofFitzdotterel]

Breaking Bad ending was great.

[Woodenmouse]

I'm still angry at Lost!

The five was excellent