Tags
Captain Hook, Friends, Glee, How I Met Your Mother, New Girl, New Girl Finale, Once Upon a TIme, Once Upon a Time Finale, TV Junkie
Confession: I am a HUGE TV junkie.
Question: Is a confession really a confession if everyone already knows it?
Answer: Probably not, but let’s just go with it anyway.
Disclaimer: This is going to feel like two posts in one because I just couldn’t pick ONE show to talk about!
Point of All This: It’s TV Finale season, artsies, and this happens to be me in my element.
(First, let’s not even talk of the mess that was this year’s Glee finale, and instead focus on its silver linings and the ways it can redeem itself next year—sound good?)
Therebe spoilers ahead, mateys!
First up? Once Upon a Time.
So yeah, the premise can be a shaky one, and it often suffers from ‘way-too-many-characters-to-develop-properly-syndrome’. However, it’s the kind of show that if you just give yourself over to it and let yourself ride its wave of magically fantastical unrealities and disbelief…there really is no better adventure on television right now. For the overly imaginative and nostalgic at least…
There is no question that this season has been a little rocky, because well, magic is back, guys. That’s a big freaking deal. Especially for a show that’s initial allure came from the dual identities of Fairy Tale’s most beloved characters…the most intriguing element of which being their ignorance to these identities. So yes, magic came back and with it, a huge risk to the show itself.
But hey—Emma revisited her birth land (albeit, against her will), Snow showed her dark side, Regina went through an even bigger identity crisis than usual, we learned the identity of Henry’s father, met some new characters—Sleeping Beauty (annoying), Mulan (stereotypical), and *drumroll please* Captain Hook (20 years younger than expected, and complete with British accent and guyliner…yup, we’ll take it)—and finally…we’re GOING TO NEVERLAND!
All in all? Pretty kickass season. So here we go:
Five speedy off-the-top-of-my-head Finale thoughts:
- Goodbye Lacey. Welcome back, Belle. What the heck was that, anyway?
- I’ve wanted Henry to end up in the Enchanted Forest all season…but, hey, I’ll take Neverland!
- Sure, it’s visually strange for Emma to call Snow and Charming, “Mom and Dad”, but yeah, it sent the warm fuzzies aflutter and brought a tear to my eye…I’m not ashamed.
- Still not feeling Tamara and Greg as villains but…meh, whatever, I’ll just go with it.
- Lastly, seeing them all aboard the Jolly Roger bound for Neverland…all determined and working together…that definitely got a giddy reaction from me. I just like when everyone can be friends, okay?
Also check out this awesome Character-Wish-List from Hypable. I didn’t even think about Narnia! Guys, they could go to Narnia!
Seriously, if a part of you is still a little kid at heart, who throws on a Disney movie every once in a while, and occasionally feels nostalgic for that whimsical, nonsensical, naive childhood time of blind faith in all things magic … and you require strong characters and engaging plot in your television viewing experience…then really, you need to be watching Once Upon a Time.
Next up? New Girl.
Okay, first. Does anyone on the face of this Earth have a negative comment about this show?
I will admit, it started to annoy me this season that Winston has no character, and that he was consistently pushed to the sidelines with pointless story arcs. However, now that New Girl has actually turned around and started making fun of precisely this shortcoming…I’m back to being entirely cool with everything this show does.
Let’s begin with the old man-like, grumpy, self-deprecating perfection that is Nick Miller…
That’s it. That’s all that needs to be said.
If you agree though, you should probably check this out.
We now pause this finale chat for a very important message…
~
Breaking the Rules and Kicking Ass: A Tangent by Ashley
A long, long time ago a group of TV bosses got together, drew up a contract, signed a paper, and agreed that—until death due them part—they would torture TV watchers until the end of time by keeping all character love-interests apart for five million years. Or they would give eager fans a taste of it…and then keep them apart for five million years.
This maddening rule has been upheld throughout the decades to the pull-your-hair out frustration of TV watchers everywhere. It is television law. It is not to be broken…because whenever it is? Well, it usually means death to the show in question. It’s a sad fact, but true.
New Girl is a great big exception.
Now, I don’t want to degrade it by suggesting this is a show about a will-they-won’t-they romance, because it’s most definitely not. And that is precisely why it works.
It’s why Friends worked, and why How I Met Your Mother kind-of-sort-of died along the way.
How I Met Your Mother is an amazing, hilarious premise that is predicated on the precise moment when a couple will become a couple. Therefore, it will meet its end when said couple unites. Therefore, if they want to keep the show on air they need to keep postponing it…which, makes way for recycled jokes, desperate storylines, and tired dialogue.
Friends worked (among a gazillion other reasons) because it was Friends and not the Ross-and-Rachel-Show. The audience had other things to look forward to, root for, and enjoy besides their eventual reunion.
New Girl falls in line with this idea—though, did any of us really expect it to? (I personally thought the Nick-and-Jess thing was a plot point for the very, very distant future).
Sure, Ted from How I Met Your Mother is that geeky, awkward kind of desperate that is always appealing in television characters, but we associate him with finding ‘their mother’ first and foremost (mostly because he won’t stop talking about it). And frankly, he’s not much else.
Personally, the Nick-and-Jess stuff is a storyline I definitely enjoy, but the reason I watch New Girl is because it’s freaking hilarious, and a unique kind of quirky that is so addicting it almost doesn’t matter what’s actually happening. Now if you recall…in a different decade, with a different kind of quirk and a different kind of humour and a different gaggle of mismatched friends…this was, well, Friends.
So basically, all hail, New Girl!
End Tangent
~
Welp. I didn’t expect to ramble that long…but there you have it. I could continue, but can we all just agree that New Girl is one of—if not, the most—refreshing sitcom in a while and that we should probably all just worship at its feet? K, good.
Here we go!
Five speedy off-the-top-of-my-head Finale thoughts:
- The boys sabotaging Cece’s wedding? Perfection.
- Random Taylor Swift sighting? K, cool. I’ll go with it.
- Congrats New Girl…you actually made me care about a potential love interest in a mere three episodes…aka, Elizabeth rocks, Schmidt. And now Cece wants to rekindle you’re twisted but somehow awesome star-crossed romance? Yes run! That’s a hard decision!
- What is with Jess’s dad? Like, seriously.
- Thank you, New Girl, for continuing to defy typical sitcom ‘code’ and not waiting until next season to resolve this Nick and Jess ‘calling it’ madness. Nope, you waited about 3 and ½ minutes. And that is why I love you.
Well, I hope you’ve enjoyed a bit of my early morning obsessing. And I hope if you haven’t given Once Upon a Time or New Girl a try that I haven’t frightened you away with said obsessing. Seriously—check ‘em out. They’re the best!
If you did watch the finales—let’s be friends. Tell me your thoughts!!!
A happy, obsession-filled Thursday to you all, artsies!
See you next week.
-A
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