HOW DO YOU THINK IT’LL END?

tvTALKcelebratesONEyear

With the announcement of the end of DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES last week, I got thinking about how all my favorite shows would end, whenever it’s time for them. Therefore, in the third and final installment of tvTALKcelebratesONEyear, I look at five of them and explore what their series finales might have in store for us…

HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER

This one comes with the big question: Who will the mother turn out to be, and how will we find out? 

When we were introduced to Zoey last season, the more I watched her with Ted, the more I felt like this relationship had almost as much potential as Ted’s relationship with Robin had. I actually thought that Ted and Zoey’s relationship would become serious, and that she might just be ‘the mother’. I know that as the relationship would get serious, the suspense would be dead, but do we actually believe that Ted’s eventual announcement of a wedding to ‘the mother’ would end the show? I think not. I think that there might be several episodes, maybe an entire season, which will be like an epilogue after we find out who ‘the mother’ is. That epilogue could explore how Ted gets married, while simultaneously, winding up everyone else’s stories. A strange twist would be to have Ted meet ‘the mother’, subsequently have kids and then end up with someone else altogether. That’s where there’s still hope for him and Robin! Now I’ve previously mentioned here that I would love for Ted to end up with Robin, because, for me, it would be perfect for them to be together. Whether or not any of the above happens, it’ll be a tricky job for the writers to end the show well, because they could very easily just end it very predictably.

And while we take that trip with the writers, as they decide on a fitting end, I would really like to see Barney actually getting married, eventually. Who knows! With how seriously [we know] he feels about Nora, maybe they might get serious, and a couple of seasons later, after a series of ups and downs and back-and-forth, they might get married. Barney’s already in an emotional transformation, with the whole reconnecting with his father, and having true feelings for a girl, so you never know; a marriage that sticks might just happen for him before the show ends. As for Lily and Marshall, they’re already living their happily ever after, so besides exploring the travails of raising a family together, there probably won’t be anything drastically different happening in their story. Whatever happens, I wonder if they’ll show all of them with Ted’s grown-up kids in the end, in the time-frame during which he’s telling them the story. What do you think?

DEXTER

Will he get caught? 

As a fan of happy endings, I would love to see Dexter walk at the end. But that’s the extent of happiness I see in his future; I mean, with the alternative being him getting caught. I don’t really expect to see him having that happily ever after, which would entail a happy marriage, family, and possibly, him having finally left his ‘dark passenger’ behind. That could happen, after a major emotional meltdown, triggered by a situation that forces him to deal with the baggage from his past and his ‘sins’. We know that in the forthcoming sixth season, he will be revealing his secret to Debra. It makes me wonder if that will affect the final outcome of the show. We know that the show’s not ending anytime soon, so it’s most likely that she’ll keep his secret, but whether she will understand it is another story. In fact, when it does, the series could possibly end with Debra finally understanding and accepting that side of Dexter. All said and done, there are way too many possibilities of how the show could end. For all we know, they might just leave us with a vague climax, not revealing anything about where the characters would go from there.

Another possibility would be that of an epilogue, probably one that jumps ahead a few years after the final climax. Picture this: Debra accepts Dexter’s dark side, while he, over the years, moves on from his need to kill, or not. Harrison’s a little grown up, and Debra’s married to some guy she met, with Quinn being a distant memory. Astor and Cody have become a major part of their lives, and they’re visiting Dexter from college. With all that established, and everyone having gone their separate ways, Dexter begins his final voice-over. He walks into his apartment, takes off the air-conditioner cover and opens his box of ‘trophies’, the glass slides with his victims’ blood, one last time, and it ends on a sinister note, with us never knowing whether or not he’ll kill again.

HOUSE MD

Will he fade into oblivion, or is there still hope for a happy ending for House? 

I can safely say that the end of his relationship with Cuddy was more than ugly, with her actually instructing the cops to throw him in jail. We know that Cuddy’s going, and some theories about the opening of the forthcoming season suggest that we might actually see House in jail. Some are also speculating over whether S8 will be the last one. Whatever may be the case, this is another show, for which an ending cannot be predicted; the writing is way too edgy for that. After so many years of being miserable, and jeopardizing almost every chance at happiness, all by himself, I don’t really see House getting a happily ever after. And that wouldn’t even be in keeping with the nature of the show. I think we’re more likely to see House fade into oblivion, while sinking into dementia, all alone in his apartment; or worse, die. As morbid as that thought may be, there’s nothing else that would be a fitting end to the show that HOUSE has been.

However, a happy ending could come in the form of House retiring, and moving off to some exotic place, not much unlike the beach where we saw him last, at the end of S7. After having had enough of his life at the hospital, he could finally hand over the reins of the Diagnostics department to Foreman, and go off to lead a happy retirement. On the other hand, we might just see the other characters have their happy endings. Foreman could meet someone and settle down, while I wouldn’t mind so much if Chase and Thirteen ended up together. Even Taob could end up in a happy relationship with one of his ‘baby mommies’. Wilson should ideally get back with his ex-wife, who’ll finally take him back, with House not being a factor in their lives. What do you think? Can you see any of the above happening?

GREY’S ANATOMY

Is it just a matter of who will end up with whom?

It may not be, but just for the heck of it, let’s start with that! Now, I think we can safely assume that Meredith and Derek, Callie and Arizona, and Christina and Owen will all stick with each other, even though there may be several rough patches that they might have to overcome in their relationships. That leaves us with the rest of the doctors. Let’s not think about any characters that are going to be introduced in the future, even though we know that some of the current ones will hook up with the new ones, knowing how people hook up on the show. With the existing set of characters, I can probably see Mark eventually getting back with Lexie, and Avery ending up with April. That leaves us with Karev, but I don’t see anyone else whom he might be suited for. Who knows! Maybe PRIVATE PRACTICE will end before GREY’S and Addison might come back. We know she has a history with both Mark and Karev! On the other hand, something tells me that Teddy Altman and Henry won’t last the long run, and that he might probably die, given his poor health. But when it comes to Bailey, I think her relationship with Nurse Eli is going to be explored, and it will eventually become something that’ll stick; and they might even get married by the end.

Speaking of the end, I don’t want this show to end any time soon. But be that as it may, it will eventually, because it’s not a soap opera and I don’t want to see Meredith and Derek playing with their grandchildren! That being said, I really hope we at least get to see the fifth-year residents in dark-blue scrubs, as each of them becomes an attending, after completing their seven-year residency (in what would be season 11). It would be great to see them all specializing in their fields—Christina in cardio, Alex in pediatrics, Meredith in neuro, and so on. By that time, probably a few of the current attendings could have gotten into extensive research, conducting heavy-duty medical trails, etc. At the same time, maybe the Chief should finally retire to be with his wife, who we now know, is suffering from Alzheimer’s. With that, I would really like to see Bailey as Chief of Surgery eventually, since Webber did tell her that she would, one day, run the hospital. Who would you like to see ending up as what and with whom?

DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES

Will the series finale be as explosive as a disaster episode? How will everyone say goodbye?

This is one show for which we know that the end is near. With just one more season to go, creator Marc Cherry has suggested that he would like to pay tribute to the show, by having everyone, who has been associated with the show, come back to Wisteria Lane, in some way or another, during S8. Now while Nicolette Sheridan (Edie Britt) has said that she won’t be returning [they could have had her in a dream sequence or in a flashback], Dana Delany (Katherine Mayfair) has said she’d love to revisit the lane. But for now, let’s just consider how the show will end next year. I think there should be the backdrop of a big event, like a wedding perhaps. It could be Bree’s. However, I doubt they’d be able to have her establish a relationship deep enough to marry that person in one season. Moreover, given the current scenario on Wisteria Lane, her relationship with a detective won’t last too long. Maybe it could be Julie who gets married. That, we know would be a big deal for everyone. That would also be reason enough for people like Danielle Van de Kamp to visit the street.

As for those whose stories remain unfinished, I think the one person who should get their happy ending is Paul Young. Paul did return last season, and he finally had that showdown with Felicia Tillman, but he ended up going back to jail, and after losing his second wife at that. Now while Felicia is shown to have possibly died in a car crash, I think Paul deserves a happy ending, because he’s been wronged and misunderstood, and him killing Martha Huber was only to avenge Mary-Alice’s death. Cherry has said that they would revisit the original premise of the show—Mary-Alice’s suicide, so it would be a great time to have Paul get out of jail, return to Wisteria Lane, to his old home, and even reunite with his son Zach, who neglected him and let him rot in jail in S3. A crazy thought—what if Bree were to end up with Paul? Like I said, it’s crazy, but when you think about it, Bree is the one housewife who’s most like Mary-Alice, and Paul, the well-mannered and dignified gentleman that he is, would suit Bree perfectly. And if Bree could have had a relationship with Carl Mayer, why not Paul! Maybe the two could date secretly till the end, when they decide to tell everyone that they’re engaged or something.

Among other people who have unfinished business on the street, there’s Dave Williams (Edie’s husband), who was thrown into an asylum, after he tried to kill Susan and MJ, to avenge his wife and daughter’s death in the accident that eventually ruined Susan and Mike’s first marriage. I don’t know how, but if they could bring him back, it would surely be interesting. Kayla, Tom’s other daughter, who was sent off to live with her grandparents after her malicious deeds against Lynette, could also return. She’ll be all grown up now, so there might be some exciting story opportunities there. In the midst of it all, I hope they can pay some kind of a tribute to housewives from the past, like Betty Applewhite and Angie Bolen, who made quite a mark in seasons two and six, respectively.

As for the current housewives, we know Tom and Lynette will eventually get back together; Gaby and Carlos will establish a stronger bond, for sure; and Susan and Mike should have some strong storyline that doesn’t include any kind of threat to their marriage, because that’d old. I hope Renée finds someone nice to settle down with, and even Bree, whether or not it’s Paul.

How do you think DESPERATE HOUSWIVES should end, when it does next May?

How would you like to see your favorite shows end? Share your views with TV TALK...