Can we talk yet about how endings are actually extremely important. About how sometimes “giving the fans what they want” is actually “resolving the story in a logical and plot relevant way”. That “subverting expectations” doesn’t always mean you did a good thing - sometimes it means you fucked it up, royally.
There are plenty of extremely good stories that don’t end happily, and yet remain retold and loved and cherished. There are plenty that have ambiguous endings or sudden turns - but manage to stick the landing through careful setup.
There is an odd tension between writers and fans that has become popular - that the writers somehow know something deeper or have a better sense of plot or are somehow more cunning. That fans are stupid and foolish and don’t matter. This dichotomy would be buckwild in any other field. There’s this sort of weird feeling that… The writing staff is allowed to hate and mock and deride people who have the nerve to… Like the product? Can you imagine any other brand that would survive off of “gotcha” marketing? Sure, it’s funny for them… And kinda only for them. I know all the ironic assholes in the world love this shit - “haha! You liked something honestly! I know better because I’m smart so I never like things!” - but the world is really fucking boring & annoying & unfun when it is run by people who think like that.
But even taking fans OUT of the equation, as a writer, it’s frustrating for me to watch other writers not value their OWN MATERIAL. Like, they don’t rely on the narrative as interesting enough, as challenging enough - they think they need to end it in a “surprising” or “sudden” way in order for it to be groundbreaking. They think they need to “push boundaries” without recognizing that they are fundamentally altering and destroying the map that they have spent all this time painting.
I’m not saying I have to LIKE how something ends, or that all of my favorite characters have to live or whatever. But I AM saying that an ending is drawing a thesis line through your entire work. And recently the thesis for many, many shows/movies/etc has been - “you were a fool for caring about these characters”.
Anyway art survives its creators when it tells a story that feels honest and human in the audience it is talking to - not when it is only a monument to the artist’s ego. And the ending tells us - how heavy is the story we are carrying? And how much was this story a farce? And where will we let go?
