cattlwordending

"The L Word" ending I would love to have seen!

But first, I'd like to vent and rant a little...

Like many other people, I hated the series finale of The L Word. There are too many horrible things about it to mention.

But one of the things that really pissed me off is that Ilene Chaiken built everyone up for the final 7 episodes that Jenny Schecter was DEAD. The big mystery was WHO KILLED JENNY. We were told there would be a 2 hour series finale, but they left out the fact that the first hour was more or less a recap of the series and interviews with the main characters, along with comments from other people connected to the show.

WTF?

Then, in the 8th and final series episode, WE NEVER FIND OUT WHO KILLED JENNY.

That's right, Ilene gave us the nasty Sopranos open-ended bullshit finale. What is with the new pretentious trend of leaving open endings? Did Ilene not hear about how upset Soprano fans were with that crap? Does she really think her viewers will ever trust her with another series? I certainly wouldn't. I don't want to give her the chance to do this to me again.

Pay attention, premium channel executives...if you keep letting these idiots continue with all of these 'artsy fartsy' open-ended finales, you are going to lose your audience with your series. Who wants to invest YEARS of their lives and emotions into a series, only to have it end with open endings? Why allow these writers to annoy your viewers?

Seriously, I am now afraid to start watching another series because this might happen to us again. I loved Rome, and HBO canceled it. I was heartbroken. So what am I to expect now? ...a series being canceled after I fall in love with it, or watch something for YEARS and have the egotistical, pretentious writer(s) give us a lame ending?

The only one I care to watch now is True Blood. Why? Because Alan Ball gave us Six Feet Under. And that was one of the best, most brilliant series finales I've ever seen. He gave us closure.

So, I can't help but to trust Alan Ball with True Blood.

We pay good money to be entertained. The writers get paid, the director, and the cable companies. We don't want to work that hard at figuring out the ending ourselves. Why set up the big murder plot and then let the fans and audience figure out 'who did it'?

We're not playing a game of Clue here.

We watch TV and movies as an escape. It's the same reason we read books. It's an escape from reality and problems and stress. What if all the books we read had a beginning, a middle, a plot, and no ending? Very few things can go without some sort of closure, Gone With The Wind comes to mind. But in the end we all KNEW Scarlet O'Hara. Whether she and Rhett got back together or not, we all understood that she would be okay.

For the love of God, people, FINISH the stories you start.

But this new trend of open-endings is bullshit. Another movie that comes to mind is No Country For Old Men. Great movie, lame ending that more or less left me confused.

What a terrible way to end 6 seasons of The L Word. What a slap in the face it was to all the loyal fans. We paid money to have Showtime so we could see it. We TiVo'd, taped, rearranged our schedules, DVR'd, and all we got for our money, effort, and invested emotions for 6 seasons, was a crappy open-ended series finale with no answers.

Seriously, why even bother to build 7 shows around WHO KILLED JENNY and show us every main character being angry with Jenny, which was laying the groundwork for motives of everyone, only to turn around and deprive us of WHO KILLED JENNY?

Now, on with my own ending for The L Word...

I'm not claiming to be a great writer, but upon thinking of what I would have done to make The L Word end differently, I thought I'd write an ending that I would have liked to have seen...here's what I would have done.

Borrowing slightly from Six Feet Under (which had the ULTIMATE series finale ending, in my opinion), I would have used flashes of the future of the cast members and where they were headed, providing some closure for us.

Not that I would have had Jenny killed if had I written season 6, but I'll give Ilene Chaiken the benefit of the doubt and say that the last 7 episodes were as they were...the way Ilene gave them to us.

I can only dream of what I would do differently, had I written the last season, but for now I'll tell you how I would have ended the final episode.

:-)

I would have chosen the perfect song to be played in it's entirety as I 'ended' the show.

Perhaps the song Tina and Bette made love to, Sade's "By Your Side".

It seems to really capture what I see in all the characters, that they'll be by the side of their family and friends.

So, imagine that song being played in the background in the final minutes of the final episode.

There wouldn't have been a single word of dialogue heard from the cast members as I showed the ending. We would have been observers, taking momentary glimpses of where the characters were headed.

For one thing, I would have ended the last episode with a flash forward of the true 'killer' in court as the trial was going on, possibly even sitting in jail. The killer would have been thinking of that night, playing it back in her mind, and we the audience would have seen that flash of memory.

There's our truth.

We have already seen the reasons for everyone to hate Jenny. Now all we needed was the revelation of WHO that killer was. And it could have been done in a quick flash-back sequence. That's all we would have needed. We understand the rest, and the motive. Because if you think about it, naming the killer wraps up the mystery of Jenny's death. What we REALLY interested in, as the show ends, is what happens to our characters?

And let's say that the murderer isn't one of the main characters of the show...meaning, Tina, Bette, Kit, Max, Tasha, Alice, Helena, or Shane.

Let's just say, for shits and giggles, that it was Dylan. That whole knife-thing when she made love to Helena makes it plausible that she could do a violent act. Plus, as we have seen, she has motive...at least in HER mind.

I'm just saying...at least I'm giving you the name of the killer.

Mystery solved, murderer in jail.

Closure.

Then, as we the audience peer through a window, I would have shown Tina and Bette packing for their move to New York. The For Sale sign on their house would have shown SOLD.

Without anyone knowing she was there, Shane would be standing sadly in front of the 'SOLD' sign, then hanging her head down, conceding that the move is really happening. It's yet another abandonment for Shane.

Then I'd flash forward to Bette and Tina in their new home. They are unpacking the large bowl Shane bought for them.

I'd flash a little more forward and show them receiving a phone call that made them very excited. They embrace, cry, laugh.

Then I'd pan out and show Bette and Tina sitting in the living room as they show Angelica how to hold their new baby.

Closure.

(are you still mentally listening to "By Your Side"?)

Then I would have flashed forward to Max in labor in the hospital, including the look of pure joy in his face as he sees his child. Then we'd go forward to Max and his child in the park walking hand in hand. Max would look over his shoulder and smile at his partner, who was busy unpacking a lunch for the three of them.

Closure.

Next I'd show Helena in an office situation on the phone. She's busy, successful, and in charge of a large corporation. We'd see a beautiful woman walk into her office and they would exchange a hurried peck on the cheek. The woman points at her watch, raises her eyebrow, and Helena acknowledges that they must hurry or they'll be late. Helena hangs up the phone, jots down a few notes, and both women rush out of the office, shutting the door.

Dylan is no longer a thought in Helena's mind.

Closure.

Next I'd show Alice sitting in an auditorium clapping her hands wildly. She wipes tears from her eyes and smiles big. You see Tasha graduating from the Police Academy. She is beaming with pride.

Flash forward to Alice sitting at a desk talking to a camera AND an audience.

Alice is now the star of her own cable TV show called "Out There".

We'd flash forward into the future and see Alice and Tasha with a realtor as they look at different homes to buy.

Closure.

I would then show Shane being Shane. Still single, still enjoying her conquests, still 'untrapped' and 'uncaged'. She's smiling, flirting, and taking someone by the hand.

Shane may eventually find someone to settle down with, but we understand her if she doesn't.

Shane IS what Shane IS. We love her for what she IS and how she wants to live.

Closure.

Next, we see the close-up faces of all the friends united again. A few are wiping a tear from their face. A few are exchanging smiles with one another. As we pan out we see that they are sitting together at a wedding.

The camera shows the guests and we see many familiar faces through the years. Friends and lovers who have come and gone from our main character's lives.

Then we see Kit in her beautiful, form-fitting wedding dress. She is smiling from beneath her veil and squeezing the hand of her partner. The camera pans back and we see that her partner is Sunset Boulevard (Roger Cross).

They are BOTH wearing wedding dresses and looking radiant.

A flash forward to the future you see Kit and Roger discussing plans with a carpenter, Weezie, for remodeling and expanding the club.

Weezie is still laughing and cracking jokes about men.

Closure.

We then find ourselves in a cemetery. We stop at the memorial headstone for Dana Fairbanks. A single red rose is in the perpetual vase. We see a slow-motion, superimposed flash of Dana's beautiful smile and then she fades away.

We then see the headstone for Jenny. A wilted white rose in a vase drops a few petals onto the ground. Then they were quickly caught up in a breeze and blown away until they are out of sight.

The song ends.

The series ended.

We see where our beloved MAIN characters were headed. Life is hard, things change, people die, people move, people split up, they join together, and we know all those things will happen to each of them eventually, because it happens to us, too.

We now have enough closure.

Final thoughts.....

No matter which road each character takes, there will always be challenges and heartbreaks. But there were things that we as viewers wanted those characters to have. We wanted to see Bette and Tina back together. We want to know that they even got married and have another child to raise.

I think a lot of people would like to see Max happy. He has fallen through so many cracks and he's a sweet soul with a lot to give. I can see him wanting to have someone to share his life with, along with his child.

I can see Kit being married to the man of her dreams.

I can see Helena as a productive business woman, whether she's in a relationship or not. Perhaps in the future she can come to terms with her mother and children.

I can see Alice and Tasha trying to make their relationship work, as well as Alice maintaining her own identity and doing what she does best, which is hosting a TV show.

And I can see Shane carrying on the best way SHE knows how. ...which is being herself and KNOWING herself. And maybe she gets reunited with her brother one day. Perhaps she finds Molly or Carmen again.

Sometimes, the things that completes one person, doesn't necessarily complete another. Shane gives us the idea that she would be fine whether she had a relationship or not. Shane has a lot of abandonment issues. Perhaps she is happier alone.

My ending, in so many ways, is a beginning for each of them, not an ending or being complete. ...just a glimpse into the journey they are on.