Episode 967: Of Finales As Failures

So it's that time of year when the fall/winter TV season is winding down (in the spring, yes, I know it's a bit odd), and we're heading into that gap of about a month before summer shows like Covert Affairs (how I have missed you!) premiere their new seasons. (I'm glad now, by the way, that Pretty Little Liars has been kept as a summer series despite its success that saw it being extended into winter scheduling. Guilty pleasures need to be spread throughout the year!) I saw three season finales today, all pretty awful, for Hawaii Five-0, 90210 and Gossip Girl. Now Hawaii Five-0 has been dubbed one of the genuine breakout hits of the 2010/11 TV season, and ratings-wise, it is pretty solid. So that's why this finale episode seemed rather silly, in that it tried to tie up too many of the dangling threads in the most ridiculous ways possible. Hopefully, next season will be a bit saner. Now for this pair of shows from The CW. This network is all about escapism, let's be honest. It is also apparently not incapable of delivering a good season finale. Exhibit: The Vampire Diaries (although admittedly, this show is an anomaly in terms of how good it is at being frothy and yet still constructing storylines worth caring about).

This week though, 90210 delivered a finale episode so ridiculous that it beggars belief that this show can even have a Season 4. Seems like new showrunners are coming in for that, and there might be changes to the cast. Just when I was starting to like the dynamics of the show's sprawling cast! This was always its advantage compared to Gossip Girl, which in terms of character dynamics, has pretty much been stuck in a rut since forever. I suppose it's what happens when you let everyone sleep with everyone else too early on. I find it hard to imagine what sort of interesting stories there are left to tell. Maybe if Rufus had a proper affair this time? Wouldn't that be fun for him? I can't imagine the devoted husband storyline lasting much beyond the summer, to be honest. Creatively, I think these two shows are in the most trouble out of the ones that have already been renewed by The CW, although not being someone who follows One Tree Hill or Supernatural, I can't say for sure. Glad Nikita has been renewed, slightly disappointed that Hellcats has been cancelled because I kind of liked Ashley Tisdale playing someone other than a blonde bitch.