What exactly makes a satisfying ending?

[Cure Dragon 255]

Some may say that its to plan one from the beggining, but then you get shit like How I Met Your Mother. So what exactly makes one in your opinion.

Of course, some felt GT was the better ending. Other disagree and say its Un-Toriyama. So what makes a satisfying ending in your opinion.

[LoganForkHands73]

Well, maybe it's just that I'm completely out-of-step with most popular fanbase opinions, but How I Met Your Mother's ending was decent and fitting (not perfect) in isolation, it was just let down by a really bad final season that failed to effectively build up to it. But whatever, that's an argument for another day.

Yeah, GT's ending was pretty perf. Sad but bittersweet, hopeful and interpretable... and most importantly, very conclusive. It's unfortunately ironic that the only part that feels left out of the finale is GT itself. We get nostalgia for every other part of the franchise except for the whole era that the rest of the show gave us. Strange.

[ABED]

HIMYM's ending was bad because while it paid off the story logically. It gave a credible reason why Ted would feel the need to tell a long story about how he met his children's mother, it was a disappointing pay off to the rest of the series. He never actually got over Robin, and the tonal switch from "oh, the titular mother died, I'm so sad" to being happy that Ted will find love again is so damn quick it's impossible to feel the intended emotion. Even a lackluster season wasn't the culprit as those can be overcome by a great ending.

To answer your question a satisfying ending pays off the central story or stories and theme in a way that doesn't feel too easy. The ending to the first series would be a great ending because Goku was now the strongest and finally achieved his goal of winning the Tenkaichi Budokai which he had been attempting since the second arc. He just barely survived and by allowing his enemy to live, it gives him reason to not become complacent. Storytelling at the end of the day mostly comes down to set ups and payoffs. I love it when endings aren't "everything is amazing and they live happily ever after forever and ever," but rather, things are fine; these people will likely have some ups and downs but they've learned the lessons they needed to and life will go on and they'll be fine.

Here's a list of some of my favorite endings: Monk, Psych, Person of Interest, Justified, Halt and Catch Fire, Breaking Bad, The Good Place, The Big Bang Theory, The Office, Community, Cheers, Wings, Scrubs (Season 9 doesn't count), Yu Yu Hakusho, One Tree Hill (Season 4 and 6) Macbeth, Avengers: Endgame, The Count of Monte Cristo (novel), Ender's Game, New Girl, Supernatural (Season 5), Friends

[Planetnamek]

HIMYM's ending was bad because while it paid off the story logically. It gave a credible reason why Ted would feel the need to tell a long story about how he met his children's mother, it was a disappointing pay off to the rest of the series. He never actually got over Robin, and the tonal switch from "oh, the titular mother died, I'm so sad" to being happy that Ted will find love again is so damn quick it's impossible to feel the intended emotion. Even a lackluster season wasn't the culprit as those can be overcome by a great ending.

To answer your question a satisfying ending pays off the central story or stories and theme in a way that doesn't feel too easy. The ending to the first series would be a great ending because Goku was now the strongest and finally achieved his goal of winning the Tenkaichi Budokai which he had been attempting since the second arc. He just barely survived and by allowing his enemy to live, it gives him reason to not become complacent. Storytelling at the end of the day mostly comes down to set ups and payoffs.

It was also bad because it completely undid Ted's character development in the final season where he learned to let Robin go and also needlessly fucked over a perfectly good pairing of Robin and Barney(which makes you wonder why they bothered devoting an entire season to their wedding when they were just going to break up which makes the whole thing feel pointless). The ending would've made sense if the show had ended in season 3(those scenes with Ted's kids were actually filmed WAY back in 2006, the creators were so focused on using them that they didn't stop to think if they actually fit into the series by that point)but after that Ted was a different person. Not to mention the ending also makes several "funny" scenes with the kids getting impatient with Ted for taking so long to tell the story come off as callous and disrespectful in hindsight(I facepalmed so hard when they encouraged him to go screw Aunt Robin pretty much). I was actually enjoying the last season until the crappy ending, thank fuck the DVD box set has a far superior alternate ending that feels way more in-character, so I can just pretend that was the real ending and ignore that abomination that graced our TV screens all those years ago. Unfortunately I don't get that luxury with DBZ, not that its ending was NEARLY as bad, just kind of "eh" compared to the rest of the series.

Don't even get started on LOST's godawful ending, JJ Abrams might as well have put a black screen(ooh speaking of black screens, am I the only one who didn't think The Sopranos finale was "brilliant" in the least and instead thought it was just plain lazy?) with nothing but a giant middle finger on it.

[ABED]

The ending of DBZ has grown on me over the years. Goku wants to reach higher and higher mountains and Uub represents that for him. Super's ending is pretty satisfying. It's a life goes ever on type ending. Problem with DBZ/the manga's ending is after spending so much time on the next generation and the nearly last minute switch back to Goku, it doesn't feel as narratively satisfying

Going back to HIMYM, I think they only really had enough story for 5 seasons, but once they got to season 5 and realized they would be going for a while, they were constantly having to tread water while giving the appearance of forward movement. Most shows should end after 5 years. That feels like the magic number where the creator can get enough out of their story and develop the characters but not so long they inevitably tread over ground they already covered.

I can't believe I forgot to add Buffy and Angel and Boardwalk Empire to my list of endings I love. Parks and Rec also has a good ending, but it feels a little too "and everything worked out great and they all lived happily every after" endings.

The Sopranos ending didn't bother me once I saw it in context. It feels fitting and was set up earlier that season. My issue with it was the show didn't need to spend that many seasons for the big revelation about Tony to be that he was a thug and psychopath who would never change.

Of course, this is all being limited to long form stories and not individual stories and not one offs.

[Matches Malone]

There are a few points I think any ending should tick in order to be satisfying:

1- It happens after all plot points are resolved, and all character arcs are complete. There's nothing worse than a story ending with plot points left up in the air or uncompleted character arcs.

2- It keeps the spirit of the story, and doesn't try to do something completely different for shock value. If there's anything major that needs to be done, it shouldn't be left till the very tail end of the story.

3- It doesn't feel like it's out of nowhere. This is an issue I have with the manga's ending, but watching either BOG or Wrath of the Dragon helps take care of this.

4- It should follow a strong arc. No matter how good of an ending you have, it'll lose a lot of its impact if its coming off of a disappointing story arc.

[ABED]

Why do you think the manga's ending comes out of nowhere?

[Matches Malone]

The ending of DBZ has grown on me over the years.

Same here. For awhile I didn't like it, but the more I think about it, the more I realize it's the best option Toriyama could've taken with ending the story.

Why do you think the manga's ending comes out of nowhere?

I've always felt one more story was needed to make it feel more natural. I can't put my finger on it, it just feels a bit off going from Buu to EOZ, unlike going from Buu, wrath of the dragon (or BOG), then EOZ.

[Grimlock]

An epilogue showing/stating what the characters ended up doing in their lives is a nice one. Kinda like the emotional ones like Dragon Ball GT ending, but you are left with a lot of questions that most certainly will never be answered, and that kills me.

Now when you have Dragon Ball Online's ending, things just get interesting. Sure, Goku and Vegeta ending leaves you with a question, but not one that desperately needs to be answered, also because you don't get many possibilities out of it. But for everyone else is great. Ending the story with this type feels the more appropriate, because it's not a open ending like Dragon Ball Z's one and is not an emotional one that may end up with people saying "it's not fitting for Dragon Ball" or whatnot. Then the only thing left you can do is to take Dragon Ball Online's route.

[ABED]

If there's one thing DB didn't need, it was another arc. It had gone on long enough. It just needed a stronger story, not necessarily plot, but story.

[LoganForkHands73]

I consider the alternate HIMYM far worse. It's just way too safe and cowardly. There's nothing to linger on afterwards unlike with the other great finales mentioned. Although some may say it erases character development and so on, I think it concludes most of it pretty well. The kids' deduction that Ted really isn't fully over Robin makes sense since Ted spends an inordinate about of time focusing on his feelings for her. I like the extremely bittersweet edge to it that Ted may go and make the same mistakes again because that's life, which is what I've always seen the show as truly being about. Remember that one episode where Marshall miraculously gets over Lily leaving him only to relapse the very next scene with Bob Saget Ted saying that's not how life works? That's basically the finale on a grander scale. Similarly, Barney and Robin's relationship really wasn't perfect which was hammered in constantly but no one wanted to see it - I agree that wasting an entire season on their wedding was a huge mistake though. It's like how some Gohan fans just conveniently ignore his scholarly, conflict-avoiding personality and see him as the show's ultimate badass destined to become Goku 2.0. I will say that it was a massive tonal mistake to gloss over the mother's death so quickly though.

Yeah, the episode wasn't perfect but I seem to be one of the only people who liked it.

As for what makes a really good ending... it's a loaded question. I think the best endings conclude the main characters' stories while also leaving us on a note of uncertainty. I'm glad Boardwalk Empire was mentioned as I've been reliving my love for that show. It's a damn shame that Season 5 had to be rushed out but the ending is still strong and brings a thematic conclusion that Nucky's one selfish decision as a young man to ruin someone else's life for his own ambition came back to destroy him. Capone and Narcisse also get their comeuppance. But we're left on a question of what will become of Tommy and the knowledge that underdogs Luciano and Lansky have basically won everything.

[Planetnamek]

The ending of DBZ has grown on me over the years. Goku wants to reach higher and higher mountains and Uub represents that for him. Super's ending is pretty satisfying. It's a life goes ever on type ending. Problem with DBZ/the manga's ending is after spending so much time on the next generation and the nearly last minute switch back to Goku, it doesn't feel as narratively satisfying

Going back to HIMYM, I think they only really had enough story for 5 seasons, but once they got to season 5 and realized they would be going for a while, they were constantly having to tread water while giving the appearance of forward movement. Most shows should end after 5 years. That feels like the magic number where the creator can get enough out of their story and develop the characters but not so long they inevitably tread over ground they already covered.

I can't believe I forgot to add Buffy and Angel and Boardwalk Empire to my list of endings I love. Parks and Rec also has a good ending, but it feels a little too "and everything worked out great and they all lived happily every after" endings.

The Sopranos ending didn't bother me once I saw it in context. It feels fitting and was set up earlier that season. My issue with it was the show didn't need to spend that many seasons for the big revelation about Tony to be that he was a thug and psychopath who would never change.

Of course, this is all being limited to long form stories and not individual stories and not one offs.

David Chase mentioned in earlier interviews that he originally only intended Sopranos to go for 3 seasons and that definitely started to show in later years, it felt like he just couldn't think of a proper way to end the show.

Friends is actually one of my favorite series finale, tied up the show perfectly. Also quite happy with how Will and Grace ended recently.

To be fair to DBZ it has been quite some time since i've seen the end of it, i'm the process of rewatching it now so perhaps this time around i'll have more positive feelings about the end. I'm the kind of person that's generally not a fan of unanswered questions at the end of games/movies/TV shows so those types of endings have an uphill battle to satisfy me.

[Planetnamek]

I consider the alternate HIMYM far worse. It's just way too safe and cowardly. There's nothing to linger on afterwards unlike with the other great finales mentioned. Although some may say it erases character development and so on, I think it concludes most of it pretty well. The kids' deduction that Ted really isn't fully over Robin makes sense since Ted spends an inordinate about of time focusing on his feelings for her. I like the extremely bittersweet edge to it that Ted may go and make the same mistakes again because that's life, which is what I've always seen the show as truly being about. Remember that one episode where Marshall miraculously gets over Lily leaving him only to relapse the very next scene with Bob Saget Ted saying that's not how life works? That's basically the finale on a grander scale. Similarly, Barney and Robin's relationship really wasn't perfect which was hammered in constantly but no one wanted to see it - I agree that wasting an entire season on their wedding was a huge mistake though. It's like how some Gohan fans just conveniently ignore his scholarly, conflict-avoiding personality and see him as the show's ultimate badass destined to become Goku 2.0. I will say that it was a massive tonal mistake to gloss over the mother's death so quickly though. It wasn't perfect but I seem to be one of the only people who liked it.

As for what makes a really good ending... it's a loaded question. I think the best endings conclude the main characters' stories while also leaving us on a note of uncertainty. I'm glad Boardwalk Empire was mentioned as I've been reliving my love for that show. It's a damn shame that Season 5 had to be rushed out but the ending is still strong and brings a thematic conclusion that Nucky's one selfish decision as a young man to ruin someone else's life for his own ambition came back to destroy him. Capone and Narcisse also get their comeuppance. But we're left on a question of what will become of Tommy and the knowledge that underdogs Luciano and Lansky have basically won everything.

Well of course it wasn't perfect, no relationship is. But I never once got the sense that the show was saying
"these two don't belong together", otherwise why spend a whole season on their wedding? If their wedding had only taken place over a couple of episodes maybe it would've been easier to swallow, but as it is it felt incredibly forced.

I never really understood this notion that "'safe" automatically equals bad, Game of Thrones final season certainly wasn't "safe" yet you won't hear too many people defending it. I never got the sense that Ted wasn't over Robin, that just felt like bad writing to me, the kids can tell me all they want that Ted isn't over her, but I felt like the show did a piss-poor job of conveying that, it was very much a case of "show don't tell". I just got the sense that the entire search for the mother was a complete waste of time because of how they dropped a bridge on her.

The Wire's finale was also really good, some characters got happiness, others not so much, but it felt entirely consistent with their characters and not forced. Same deal with Sons of Anarchy.

[ABED]

Except that HIMYM was all about learning and growing. If Ted just makes the same mistakes after everything then why have we spent so much time with him. At the very least, the original ending gives the sense that he and Robin have been through so much and finally learned enough lessons that they can make it. It's not a great payoff but at least it shows growth. Why tell a long serialized story if the characters don't learn something by the end? Yes, people often don't learn lessons and they make the same mistakes over and over and over, even sometimes till it kills them but that's not satisfying to see over and over again in a story. Take Vegeta for example. How many times did we see him egg on a villain for the sake of a better fight only to get beaten and nearly die? it's true that he likely wouldn't learn his lesson, but after a while that story gets tiring when it doesn't get them what they want.

But we're left on a question of what will become of Tommy and the knowledge that underdogs Luciano and Lansky have basically won everything.

That's not about uncertainty. It was never the point. The point of the show is selling your soul will lead to self destruction. It may take time, but you reap what you sow. The story for our main characters reached their end. Tommy's life is likely ruined. We don't need to know how things end for him. It's beside the point.

The ending of Halt and Catch Fire is a damn work of art. The story is one about people constantly losing and yet at the end, we get the sense that they're going to be alright. It was never about them achieving financial success but about human relationships. It's about the thing that gets them to the thing. Will they have that one big idea? Who knows? It doesn't matter, what we know is that they'll be fine. They can take the problems life throws their way.

I don't need to know where Goku goes in either Z's ending or GT's. It doesn't matter. We know he and the others are okay. Battle of Gods also works great. We don't need to see any of the other universes, we just know there's a world of infinite possibilities to explore and more mountains to climb. It's true to the spirit of DB. It's a restatement of DB's theme, but in a way that feels more satisfying than the manga's ending.

[Vijay]

Some may say that its to plan one from the beggining, but then you get shit like How I Met Your Mother. So what exactly makes one in your opinion.

Of course, some felt GT was the better ending. Other disagree and say its Un-Toriyama. So what makes a satisfying ending in your opinion.

FMAB & Inuyasha's ending was satisfying. GT's ending felt too calculative man. Nothin against it, but felt it was a tribute & out and out Goku's fanservice moment filled with flashbacks from kid Goku till GT...maybe for a show that rides on Goku's popularity alone (GT = Goku Time) it was okay, but take away GT's ending...what's left is a shit show....despite Baby & Shadow Dragons Arc

And u can't use a shitshow with ONLY Great ending as yardstick as to how an ending has to be.

An ending for a long-running series has to provide proper closure for every character, or at least to it's leads. Not FOCUSING ON just 1 fckin lead as GT

Speakin of ending, FMAB & Inuyasha's ending was great. It gave progressive journey & future adventure for it's characters while proper ending to major characters in both series. EoZ may not be exactly a great ending....cuz I personally wanted world shattering fight at Tenkaichi Budoukai b'ween Goku & Veggie so that the world would know the existence of such omnipotent fighters.

But hey, who are we to judge? Knowing Toriyama who does great things with simplest gestures, his low-key ending served its purpose by bringing Goku's student-to-mentor character Arc full circle, while also providing solid reason to build in next-gen Z fighter in the form of Uub.

[LoganForkHands73]

The point of the show is selling your soul will lead to self destruction. It may take time, but you reap what you sow. The story for our main characters reached their end.

I said that though.

I stand by that there was still an element of uncertainty to it, if not solely the other characters' fates, then in for example Nucky's final vision. It's a powerful image to end the show on and though its intended meaning may be fairly obvious, it's not explicit so people could interpret it in their own ways. I don't see how that somehow undermines anything about the show's themes. The more obvious examples of uncertain endings would be Inception and Stalker.

As for HIMYM, it's just my opinion and I realise I'm in a vast minority. Him going back to Robin may be a mistake in the long run, who can say, but the bigger lesson that he's learned is to listen to his own heart and not let his ideas of "destiny" or his negative past baggage rule his life. That's the way I choose to view it. I'm happy with it, and that's that.

[Matches Malone]

I personally wanted world shattering fight at Tenkaichi Budoukai b'ween Goku & Veggie so that the world would know the existence of such omnipotent fighters.

I think it'd just end like their 2 previous fights, in more or less a tie. It seems like Toriyama never wanted Goku to beat Vegeta in a one on one fight, so it's understandable why he didn't have them fight a 3rd time, because it'd just end like the previous 2.

[ABED]

The point of the show is selling your soul will lead to self destruction. It may take time, but you reap what you sow. The story for our main characters reached their end.

I said that though.

I stand by that there was still an element of uncertainty to it, if not solely the other characters' fates, then in for example Nucky's final vision. It's a powerful image to end the show on and though its intended meaning may be fairly obvious, it's not explicit so people could interpret it in their own ways. I don't see how that somehow undermines anything about the show's themes. The more obvious examples of uncertain endings would be Inception and Stalker.

As for HIMYM, it's just my opinion and I realise I'm in a vast minority. Him going back to Robin may be a mistake in the long run, who can say, but the bigger lesson that he's learned is to listen to his own heart and not let his ideas of "destiny" or his negative past baggage rule his life. That's the way I choose to view it. I'm happy with it, and that's that.

But Ted knew that already. That isn't a new lesson and certainly doesn't sum up the show. It's a terrible ending and basically a middle finger to the audience. Ted didn't learn any lessons and instead of the mother being his great love, she's his baby factory. The show should be called "How I Met Your Mother, but I Really Want Your Aunt Robin and Your Permission to Sleep With Her." Screw whether it makes any sense or is narratively satisfying, we want to go through with our intended ending come hell or high water. It's similar to how the Netflix season of Gilmore Girls ended the way the creator had intended even though it no longer made any sense and wasn't satisfying in the least. This is why people harping on planning or lackthereof being the culprit of bad endings or just bad writing in general doesn't misses the point.

Nothin against it, but felt it was a tribute & out and out Goku's fanservice moment filled with flashbacks from kid Goku till GT...maybe for a show that rides on Goku's popularity alone (GT = Goku Time) it was okay, but take away GT's ending...what's left is a shit show....despite Baby & Shadow Dragons Arc

And u can't use a shitshow with ONLY Great ending as yardstick as to how an ending has to be.

An ending for a long-running series has to provide proper closure for every character, or at least to it's leads. Not FOCUSING ON just 1 fckin lead as GT

The flashbacks weren't fanservice. It's a summation which is appropriate for a finale. Some of the characters already had closure. It wasn't just for Goku, either. We get closure for Pan. She's an old lady and the last of that generation of characters and she's fine. She became an adult so the world was okay without the Dragon Balls.

If an ending is ambiguous or open ended that feels like it needs to be the whole point of the story and not just a way to get people talking. If the protagonist fails it also has to be the point of the story and not just a way to get people to talk. When people say that like the ending of Rocky because he loses the fight, it misses the point. Had he won, it would've felt like he did it because he was a more talented fighter. Just staying on his feet to the end is more satisfying because he does so out of sheer force of will. He didn't waste his great opportunity. The ending of Chinatown was a downer and the main character fails, but it goes to the heart of what that story is about - corruption and cynicism. Even though Jake fails to save Evelyn, he takes it hard because he cares. He hasn't totally given into cynicism despite the corruption.

We can get more granular than series finales. The end of the Saiyan arc was so satisfying. The good guys won, but Goku lets Vegeta go because he wants to fight someone so strong again. It makes perfect sense for Goku to make that choice for that reason.

[KorgDTR2000]

I would say the biggest thing is the ending not making what we've been reading/watching a waste of time. See Game of Thrones for an example of that one.

But I really don't know, because I think EoZ is a perfect ending and apparently I'm the only person in the universe who feels that way.

[ABED]

The ending of Game of Thrones feels like writers checking off a list of plot points instead of making the audience feel the emotion. Like I think the ultimate fates of those characters make sense (Dani becoming a tyrant, Sansa becoming a leader, Jon joining the Wildlings, etc.), but the way it happened was weak sauce.