Farewell to 2023!
Recently, I finished the Netflix series Sex Education which gave me pause to reflect on how shows end well or badly. It's hard to remember one that ended well but long-term fans of Sex Education were particularly annoyed with how it finished after four seasons.
I am guessing Covid and various strikes may have played a part but Season 4 did seem oddly paced, introducing new settings and characters and then rushing to tie everything up in the concluding episode, which was 8 rather than 10 or 12. It really did feel muddled and I felt they got rid of the wrong characters. I really missed Anwar, Olivia, Lily and Ola. So many questions: What will become of Elsie? Will Cal get surgery? Has Ruby really got over Otis? We will never know.
But I was not that satisfied with how Grace and Frankie ended last year after eight seasons. For a start it was not so much Grace and Frankie as Grace and Frankie's kids and exes. Bud as a stand-up? Coyote searching for his ex? Not that interesting. Thank heavens for Dolly Parton's cameo.
Fans of Killing Eve are still cursing the showrunner for how that show ended last year. I am only on Season 2 so can't get too excited or let down, but it is funny how difficult producers find it to wrap up long-running shows.
I thought Derry Girls did OK even though I really wanted Clare to find a girlfriend and did not really buy James and Erin as a couple.
Atypical was one of my favourite shows and I thought that ending was mixed, too. I didn't mind so much leaving Izzie and Casey's ending open but I did not buy the sudden interest of Doug in travelling with his son. Nope.
Bringing it back to SexEd, introducing new characters in the final season can really backfire as they take attention from the main characters and don't necessarily add anything. Witness Never Have I Ever which ended this year. I loved that show but why add new love interests and rivals in the last year? I wish they had spent more time on the friends Fabiola and Ramona and less on various pointless love triangles. Sigh.
Here is hoping for happier endings and joyful beginnings for 2024.