Storytellers: You Are Obligated To Deliver The Goods
By J.C. Hutchins | May 27, 2010 |
It’s the time of year when television seasons are concluding, which always gets me thinking about storytelling — endings, specifically. The best dramatic TV season finales perform several critical functions: they pull out the narrative stops by bringing together disparate story threads in interesting and meaningful ways … they often build intrigue or cliffhangers for the season to come … and most important — at least for folks like me, who love plot-driven stories — they dazzle by deftly paying off the narrative buildup experienced so far.
Great season finales, like the third acts of all great stories, deliver the goods. They do so because they’re obligated to do so; weeks (or in some cases, multiple seasons) of smartly-created narrative have inexorably brought the audience to this flashpoint of suspense, emotional tension and physical action. This is where writers must Deliver The Goods. To present anything less is an unforgivable Writer Crime — a violation of the faith the audience has invested in the narrative so far.
And yet, at least in some of the series I’ve watched this season, Delivering The Goods wasn’t on the to-do list. I have yet to see the series finale of Lost, though the grapevine suggests its destination may not have been worthy of the six-season journey. The season finale of the narratively-troubled V (which I watch) finally shoved the story into a compelling, action-driven direction — but did so only in the last five minutes of the episode. I’m not even waiting for the season finale of the new Doctor Who; I’ve dropped the series because the storytelling is flabby, and its protagonist fails to inspire childlike wonder within me — a key ingredient for that show’s success, and why it has wowed me in seasons past.
And then there’s the recent Season Five finale of the horror/thriller show Supernatural — a program I absolutely love. I’m going to deep geek on Supernatural here, and serve up epic-level spoilers about its finale for the rest of this post. My purpose is to illustrate why writers must always Deliver The Goods in their show-stopping finales. If you’re a fan and haven’t watched the episode, you might want to come back when you have. For everyone else, consider this a What Not To Wear for storytellers.
Supernatural is an incredible TV show. It’s about two brothers who cruise the United States in a muscle car and slay monsters. That unapologetic, brass-knuckled premise immediately sold me on the concept years ago, but it’s an awfully good character-driven show too, which helps. This show knows precisely what it is, and celebrates it.
Like most genre shows, Supernatural’s first few seasons were dominated by Monster Of The Week episodes (which are easy gateways to snag new viewers; essential when you’re a new property), with vague allusions of greater machinations (hopefully to pay off in future seasons). However, things changed in Seasons Three and Four: all those niggling plot threads began to coalesce, propelling the show’s Winchester brothers toward the endtimes itself — Armageddon, in the here and now, with mission-critical roles for each of them. Very very cool.
I won’t say this ultra-arc and buildup to Season Five’s finale wasn’t the most agonizing wait in TV history — that goes to Lost; Losties are masochists, which they’ll gleefully admit — but Supernatural fans have patiently waited for more than two seasons, pining to see the prophesied Earth-rending devastation as viewed from Sam and Dean Winchester’s ringside seats. We endured episode after episode of Big Talk About The Stakes and Terrible Hints Of The Battle To Come.
And finally, a few weeks back, the finale arrived. Who farted?
There were some wonderful character moments (as manufactured at the last-possible-second as some of them were), and when Satan snaps his fingers and makes an Angel of the Lord explode in a mist of blood and pulp … well, that’s unspeakably badass. Shattering a longtime supporting character’s neck was equally horrific and resonant. (What can I say? I like my stories peppered with shock and violence.)
But dude. When you yammer on for two seasons about the Apocalypse, show me the Apocalypse. Deliver The Goods.
That didn’t happen. Viewers were presented with a less-satisfying … but initially, perfectly acceptable … ending of Sam Winchester (possessed by Satan) and his half-brother (possessed by the archangel Michael) plummeting into Hell itself. This had the promise of delivering an emotionally satisfying and a visually stunning ending in which we would see Hell’s horrific landscape, and bear witness to the triumphant recapture of Satan’s unholy essence, imprisoned back where he belongs.
But we didn’t get to see any of that. Instead, we were treated to the sight of two dudes falling into a hole…
…and then the angel who was turned to pulp-mulch with a snap of Satan’s finger is miraculously resurrected…
…and then the longtime ally whose neck had been shattered is miraculously resurrected…
…and, by episode’s end, it appears the status quo has been reestablished in even more ways through even more miraculous resurrections. (Or some other mojo that’ll be quickly explained next season.)
Perhaps I have snobbishly high standards, but when you rev me up for two seasons, you gotta deliver something more than two dudes pulling a Skywalker Noooooooo, leaping down a big-ass vortex — and then showing all other meaningful sacrifices disappearing in a puff of deus ex machina smoke. I was dutifully drooling like Pavlov’s dog; Supernatural’s storytellers tugged me along for years, training me to expect this finale. I became a True Believer, teased to zealotry from extended foreshadowing and buildup.
I’m all for plot twists and defying audience expectations, but ending a stellar five-year run with a sigh makes me sigh. It makes me wonder what all that talky-talk gumflapping for the past two seasons was all about. If I can’t go all the way with the prom queen, at least let me get to second base. (Narratively speaking, of course.)
This Supernatural season finale represents a storytelling failure — a Writer Crime — because we tale-tellers are slaves to the story, not the other way around. Here’s an instance of a story’s climax that had all the foreshadowing of an epic confrontation, and was warped into a well-intentioned, but ultimately unsatisfying, conclusion. When you yammer on for two seasons about the Apocalypse, show me the Apocalypse, ya know?
You Writer Unboxed readers are clever people, so I know you’re receiving what I’m transmitting. A remarkable buildup means nothing without a worthy ending. Don’t commit the unforgivable. Your follow-through is paramount. Delivering The Goods is mission-critical.
Are you doing everything you can to ensure your story’s destination is worthy of the journey? By sharing examples and information, we can all improve our show-stopping finales. Sound off in the comments with any tips you’ve discovered, or challenges you’re facing.
J.C. Hutchins crafts award-winning transmedia narratives, screenplays and novels for companies such as 20th Century Fox, A&E, Cinemax, Discovery, FOX Broadcasting, Infiniti and Macmillan Publishers. His latest creative endeavor is The 33, a monthly episodic ebook series.
A big fat WORD to your entire post, JC. I was so disappointed in the Seinfeld finale. It was like, “that’s the best Emmy-winning writers can come up with?” Soured me on the whole thing.
While I agree wholeheatedly with this — it was the biggest let down of the finale of Lost for me, the lack of Goods being delivered – I’m beginning to wonder if we are starting to see a new or not-so new branch of story-telling. This is just a first inkling of thought and I may be totally off-base, but given the show’s meta presentation (ARG’s video games, blogs, etc.) did the “shared” experience of Lost transmute the way the story was presented, hence the writer’s didn’t feel the traditional ‘wrapping things up’ was the way to go? I’d like to hear other thoughts on this…
It might be unfair of me to sound off on Lost, since I was not a real viewer/fan, but I knew enough about it that I wanted to know how it ended. So I read the blow-by-blow on ABC’s website, and once I really digested and comprehended the meaning of what happened, I actually felt pretty satisfied. But, um, maybe that was just me…
A show I can be MUCH more justified about is Grey’s Anatomy, and HOLY EFFING COW that season finale was amazing. It was tense and emotional and best of all: good storytelling. They took the characters to dark and scary places to make them face their greatest fears. They showed the characters’ true colors (which were completely in line with what we’d glimpsed throughout the series). They made tough decisions, but everything made sense for the show. And they set up a huge fallout for next season — what happens next? It wasn’t even a cliffhanger, honestly, and it’s still got me gagging for more.
Seriously? Standing ovation for the Season 6 writers of Grey’s Anatomy. (Not so much for Seasons 3-5, which were so hit-or-miss.)
Watching that finale came at a great time for me, because I’m working on adding “punch” to my story — making it “bigger, sexier, more dramatic” — and it’s hard for me because I don’t want things to feel fake. But Grey’s showed how a very big and dramatic thing (a shooter in a hospital) can be done well, done believably, IF you are true to the characters. Analyzing the the cogs of that has been really helpful for me.
.-= Kristan´s last blog ..Writerly Wednesday =-.
Great post, J.C.! I didn’t watch Supernatural, but it sounds disappointing. As for LOST, I did feel like it delivered in the end.
Kristan, I totally agree with you re: LOST and Grey’s. Both finales stuck with me, made me think, made me mourn. That’s what you want — to feel something, and once you’re finished feeling that, to know the emotional energy was justified. That was my experience in both cases. Grey’s was also a great example of storytelling that makes the audience feel as the characters do — in this case, hopeless and horrified. The writers really pushed the envelope.
Awesome post! I do not watch this show, because I’m on the squeamish side when it comes to scary stuff. LOL But I agree that it’s disappointing when something goes from badass to lame-ass. (Kind of like when the fireworks make tons of noise going up and then pfft — nothing!)
Do you think maybe failing to deliver the goods on TV shows has less to do with storytelling, and more to do with factors such as studio requirements, actor contracts, advertisers’ wishes? Maybe they couldn’t AFFORD Hell’s horrific landscape (or they got behind in constructing it?) I’m just speculating here.
It’s still risky to mess with viewers in this way, especially the ones who have been so devoted. Thank goodness we can learn from these errors!
.-= Donna Cummings´s last blog ..To Blog or Not To Blog =-.
I absolutely agree. I haven’t seen any of the shows you mentioned except for V (yes, I haven’t seen Lost. Amazing, isn’t it?) which I greatly enjoy, for the most part.
After reading this, though, I was left with the overwhelming need to say this: You NEED to watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer, if you haven’t already. Dumb name, I know, but it’s the most amazing show ever to have been made…not to mention the fact that it really has two season finales, at the ends of seasons five and seven, each of which goes above and beyond the call of duty in “delivering the goods”.
I always wonder with TV shows that fail to deliver whether it’s a ‘too many cooks spoil the broth’ kind of syndrome–too many writers working on each storyline, producers, directors, etc. I just can’t imagine they all wouldn’t pull in slightly different ways with the story they were trying to tell.
An effective climax/finale should address most, but not all, of the plot threads that have lead up to it. A little bittersweet mixed with a satisfying conclusion gives readers something to reflect on. The worst endings are those cliffhangers that rob the readers of closure. The most challenging part for me is finding an acceptable balance between the two.
.-= S0BeUrself´s last blog ..Plotting: Part I =-.
*That unapologetic, brass-knuckled premise immediately sold me on the concept years ago, but it’s an awfully good character-driven show too, which helps.* Now see, for me, it was the opposite. The premise did NOT sell me on the concept. Indeed, I avoided watching Supernatural at all during its first three seasons. Wasn’t even willing to give it a chance, because my mindset was “Yet ANOTHER demon/vampire/urban fantasy/werewolf show to jump on the already overflowing paranormal band wagon? Please. Spare me.
But friends from various circles kept telling me to check it out, and I finally relented, knowing I’d hate it. What happened next was totally unexpected, to me, anyway. The show grabbed me and wouldn’t let go. I rushed out and bought all the season dvds and devoured them—something I’ve never done for another tv show. It’s the first time in at least two decades that I’ve been so enthralled by a television series.
What hooked me? The characters. To me, the characters do drive this story much more than the premise. But the story arc itself—and it is epic—is nothing to sneeze at. I’m in awe of Supernatural’s writers, of their creativity and their courage in tackling questions and theories that have dogged mankind since the beginning of time.
I love the way the character Chuck talked about endings, saying no matter what a writer does, “the fans are still gonna bitch.”
You’re right, Chuck. Regardless of how the geniuses of Supernatural choose to finally wrap this treasure up, I’m gonna bitch. ‘Cause I’m going to be very unhappy that the ride is finally over.
Finale finality! It seems to me that viewers appreciate having some kind of closure to a story-line.
After 20 seasons, Law & Order left people without much to grasp as a parting plot.
Re-runs will still provide an opportunity to see some of their best episodes before the series lost some of its momentum.
C’est la vie; that’s TV!
.-= Patricia Anne McGoldrick´s last blog ..PARSLEY, SAGE, ROSEMARY, AND WHAT???? =-.
the series finale of 24 was great. even though they are making a movie, i assume to continue this storyline, it was ‘balls to the wall’ right up to the very end. the same with Grey’s Anatomy. okay, everyone i talk to is making fun of me for saying this but… at the end of Lost, when Vincent lay down next to jack – did you think, like i did, that dog is GOD spelled backwards? and that’s why vincent was in that last frame??? just sayin
I think Blake Snyder said it best when he called it “the promise of the premise.” You’ve got to deliver on your genre expectations. (And if you haven’t read SAVE THE CAT, then you must run out and do so immediately!)
.-= Laurence MacNaughton, Author´s last blog ..Wednesdays with David Weber, Part 4 =-.
It’s nice to know how many people watch shows as a way of thinking about storytelling. Until I started writing, I never thought about it that way–I just knew when I liked a show. Now, I get to put it down to ‘research’ :)
.-= Sarah Woodbury´s last blog ..The Black Death in Wales =-.
Excellent blogging. Its great to see someone appreciate a show for its writing and be upset when it legitimately fails to come through.
The most satisfying ending I’ve ever seen to a series has to be the finale of the revamped Battlestar Galactica. Storytelling at its finest, I thought.
I have to laugh because I just wrote something similar to this on my blog a few days ago, about lessons we could learn about story-building from Lost, and I started by focusing on what they could have done better. I love that you’ve summed it up in three words: Deliver the Goods. Like I said in my post, I’m generally a little more lenient on long-running series because they often have to make it up as they go in order to extend the show and can’t go back and change things or eliminate subplots the same way the writer of a novel can. But as much as I loved the series and the finale, and think we got more answers than most people are claiming if you really think about the show, I do have to concede that there were some balls dropped. (I’m going to write about things Lost did well, though, because it did manage to captivate people for six seasons, and I am looking forward to watching it again on DVD.)
But it’s interesting to read these comments. Josh Hagy above me praises the finale of BSG, which a LOT of people criticized as well (it’s going to happen with any popular series), and which I thought was weaker and a bit more boring than Lost’s, although I still liked it well enough at the time. Unfortunately I haven’t seen a lot of the series mentioned, though, so I can’t comment on them.
Basically, writers, the lesson to learn is to tie up your loose ends, and make sure that if you raise the stakes in your plot, you show how bad the devastation will be or what there is to lose, etc.
.-= Kristin Laughtin´s last blog ..What Lost Can Teach Us About Story-Building (Part I) =-.
No doubt – endings are tough. “Deliver the Goods” is a loaded statement. Deliver the excitement, the emotions, the aha. And make it so that much of the audience reaches that apex of emotions. Otherwise, everything that comes before is undone.
24 did a great job. Law & Order’s finale was shot before the cancellation notice came through. I hear that they’ll have a special farewell thing next season, but I like the mental image that the team is still out there catching bad guys.
But the ending of The Sopranos upset my husband so badly that his opinion of the entire series is now forever altered. He used to love the series – but no more. Even though critics loved the series finale cut-to-black, we all know who’s out there watching entertainment – just regular folks. And their opinions/viewership is what pays the bills.
Just think – an ending is so powerful that it can reach back over a multi-year run and put bad spin on a primarily stellar run of several years.
.-= RhondaL´s last blog ..2010 Northeast Equine Expo @ Belmont Park =-.
Mind you, a series can go too far the other way.
I adored the earlier seasons of Doctor Who: RTD has a masterful way of weaving themes and moments of episodes into a powerful season arc. He does, however, also have a penchant for wanting to play with all the toys at once come the finale.
The season 4 finale’s the most obvious culprit. He certainly Delivered The Goods, but there were so MANY goods we didn’t know where to put them all, and the emotional arcs turned into an emotional blob. Too many story threads and “ooh!”s and smaller payoffs thrown in to process within the time given.
.-= Sofie´s last blog ..Surrealism =-.