The end of the semester also brought the farewell week, let’s remember some finales of the series we love.
*WARNING, THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS SPOILERS*
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
After five seasons, the acclaimed comedy series came to an end on May 26th in a big way. In an episode of one hour and 15 minutes, directed by Amy Sherman-Palladino, who is also creator and screenwriter, the series finale left all fans excited to find out the outcome of Midge, played by Rachel Brosnahan, a young housewife in the late 1950s who decides to do stand-up comedy.
As the final season made use of the use of flash forwards in all episodes, showing some moments in the characters’ future, the episode managed to remain largely in the present, showing the unfolding of the plots of each of the characters.
With one of the best finales of the farewell week, the series reached a high level that is difficult to be reproduced. Sherman-Palladino’s trademark comic timing and character verbiage reached its peak this season. The glimpses into the future were an amazing insight, rather than reserving part of the final episode, and making a rushed ending.
The series, available on Amazon Prime Video, leaves a legacy of perfection in all aspects, whether in musical numbers, locations, scenography, costumes and even in the choice of cast. A highlight was Tony Shalhoub‘s performance as Abe Weissman, who finally recognized his daughter’s power and genius in a moving monologue in episode 8, “The Princess and the Plea”.
Midge finally managed to make a name for herself, as she made clear in her chilling monologue in the final episode, in which she was stunning and breathtaking. She ended the series the same way it started: demanding the spotlight and her space, to the point that even those who doubted couldn’t deny that she was born for it.
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel presents a powerful story in the context of women’s struggle and in the life of Midge, who finds her voice by carving her space with grace and humor despite the many obstacles she encounters.
Ted Lasso
With its first episode released in August of 2020, at the height of the pandemic, the Emmy-winning series served as an outlet for many people in search of something light and happy, and this remained its central theme until its final season. In the show, we follow the trajectory of an American football coach, Ted Lasso, who arrives in the United Kingdom to lead a team to the top of British football.
Over the three seasons, the series never presented an idealized happiness, but a real one, with its moments of sadness, difficulties and anxieties, when addressing important issues such as homosexuality, mental health and masculinity. Always supported by the humor and gentleness that we should all have. The show came to an end on May 31, in a one hour and 30 minutes long episode, available on Apple TV +, written by Jason Sudeikis, Brendan Hunt and Bill Lawrence.
Throughout this last season there were many endings that pleased the fans, Ted maintained his altruism and the fight against his tendency to want to please everyone around him, Rebecca, played by the brilliant Hannah Waddingham, has one of the greatest developments of the series when discovering her true love for the team and letting go of her revenge on her ex-husband, and Jamie Tartt (Phil Dunster) experienced true redemption, especially when compared to the first season, as he realized his true worth.
But there were plenty of negatives, which crowned this Ted Lasso‘s season the weakest of the three. In addition to the many filler episodes, we had two romance arcs, Rebecca and Keeley (Juno Temple) that went nowhere, the appearance of the character Zava as comic relief that lasted two episodes before disappearing and Nate’s redemption arc (Nick Mohammed), which turned out to be very predictable.
In a bittersweet ending, Ted returns to his family, after the truth bomb his mother left in his lap, to be with his son. But his legacy remained in everyone at Richmond, as shown by the musical number to the sound of “So Long, Farewell”, from The Sound of Music. It was a full-circle ending after a season that left something to be desired, but all the characters evolved and absorbed the Ted Lasso Way. Remembering that Apple Tv+ did not say this season was a series finale, which leads fans to believe in a possible spin-off.
Succession
The series that follows the dysfunctional lives of a billionaire family in the United States has come to an end accompanied by a finale that will go down as one of the best in television history. Exposing the height of friction between the siblings, who at times revert to childish behaviors, this season shows how they fundamentally love each other, but every time that love surfaces, it’s destroyed by the deformation in each of them cultivated by their father.
This season of Succession leaves us with a tumult of feelings that are difficult to understand and control, so well-written that it makes us suffer along with the most terrible of characters. An impeccable combination of script, direction, acting and filming that takes the tension to its peak. The show takes a page out of the theater by keeping the camera moving at all times and sometimes even causing us a certain discomfort when it gets very close to the characters’ faces.
The entire season, available on HBO Max, was accompanied by Nicholas Britell‘s soundtrack, which brilliantly set the tone during the most tense moments of inevitable tragedy. We also saw an Emmy tape for Kieran Culkin, who shone as Roman especially in the last two episodes, Kendall (Jeremy Strong) going through a roller coaster of emotions, at times on top of the world and soon after losing everything by trying to be like his father, Shiv (Sarah Snook) becoming her mother, unable to free herself from the male figures in her life and sentencing her brother to death and at the same time liberation.
All of this is a direct result of the work of Jesse Armstrong, the creator and writer, who managed to bring a weighty production to its zenith, didn’t drag out the series any longer than necessary, and was rewarded with some of the best episodes in television.
This week will be remembered for a long time for giving us the finales of some of the best shows of this decade. Their legacy will stay with us for a long time, whether it’s the lessons we learned, the outstanding performances or the tears and laughter we shared. And that is the best legacy that any production can hope to achieve.
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The article above was edited by Fernanda Miki Tsukase.
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