8/15/2023 0 Comments Best way display menu on tvIn terms of determining a series’ reputation, finales tend to punch way above their weights in screen time-partly, I think, because of a cognitive quirk that psychologists Barbara Fredrickson and Daniel Kahneman identified three decades ago. Of course, the blowback or acclaim that follows a finale often overshadows what watching a show was like for most of its run. Whether Succession ends the way you always wanted it to-or, better yet, a way you never knew you wanted it to-won’t change what watching it was like. The recaps, opinion pieces, and podcasts you consumed. The Sundays you spent in a state of anticipation and, later, engrossed in the TV. If you’ve seen the whole series, the enjoyment you’ve derived from it has already been banked. Even accounting for the finale’s 90-minute run time, more than 96 percent of Succession has already aired. ![]() Barring something inconceivable, though, the series’ bona fides are mostly cemented in my mind. I’m hoping that the series’ last act goes over as well as Kendall’s Living+ presentation. I like Succession, so I’m excited to see what happens to the characters who’ve lived in my imagination and memory for five years. There’s a lot of TV out there. We want to help: Every week, we’ll tell you the best and most urgent shows to stream so you can stay on top of the ever-expanding heap of Peak TV. Instead of fixating on the landing, we should focus on the flight. How outsized, though? I’d argue that finales loom larger than they should in shaping shows’ legacies. Given what’s typically at stake, the last episode of a series should have an outsized significance. Like any series finale, Succession’s last bow will be its creators’ closing statement: one more chance to tie up lingering loose ends, to do justice to long-developed characters, to transport the audience, and to remind the world why the series was worth watching and dissecting. That alone makes the finale momentous, but the potential import goes well beyond that. The 39th episode will either settle it or preclude the possibility of settling it. Through 38 episodes, that matter remains unresolved. In Succession’s case, the animating mystery-on a surface level, at least-concerns which of Logan Roy’s children (if any) will inherit his empire. ![]() It’s the fate that awaits most multiseason series-especially popular, plot-driven, prestige dramas whose stories revolve around some central question that generates suspense. After the episode airs, Monday morning showrunners will debate whether Succession stuck the landing, and fans’ and critics’ collective verdict could color how the series is discussed and regarded for decades to come. (Given how good this season has been, anything short of magnificence might qualify as deflating.) Either way, “With Open Eyes” will have an outsized impact on public perceptions of the season and the series as a whole. The supersized finale may be deflating, or it may be magnificent. Check back all week to help us celebrate-we like to think of it more like an Irish wake than a funeral. Maisel, by the way.) To mark the occasion, we’re looking at the very idea of TV finales themselves this week: how to get them right, how to pick the perfect song for them, and why they may matter less in the streaming era. ![]() Hey, you may have heard, but Succession is ending this week.
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