Aside from the shows that are unexpectedly cancelled, or never get the chance to make a second season, there is usually some attempt to wrap up a series in its final season with an Ending. Endings come in all sorts, most provide some kind of closure, assuring viewers that that longed for couple did get together and stayed together (The O.C., Roswell), that a favourite character sorted out their life plans (Gilmore Girls) or vanquished their mounting troubles (Buffy). Regardless of the way a series ends, there’s often something satisfying there to hold on to, even if the rest of the season, or even the rest of the episode didn’t provide a matching sense of conclusion.
Beyond a gesture towards finality, there is something particularly satisfying about the conclusion to Dance Academy. This show not only creates a finale full of closure and “how they end up” moments, but provides an emotional and effective End (with a capital E) to the show as a whole. Significantly, it actually comes at a time that makes sense, the end of the protagonists’ final (third) year at the Dance Academy, as they move on with their lives. The episode emphasizes this ending as that moment of transition, celebrating key memories from throughout the series and gesturing towards the characters’ futures. It is a fitting finale that eulogizes and elegizes the three years that preceded it.
There’s an art to a good ending, and it’s a tricky thing to accomplish. Some of my would-be favourite novels just sort of end, or drag on with endless denouement that takes all the oomph out of the climax. It’s hard to find that moment that is the last one, that smile, that word that will be the last. And it’s hard not to blame a series for wanting to endlessly endure despite having lost some essential spark, offering cliffhangers and confusing crane shots that don’t offer any real conclusions at all (I’m looking at you, Veronica Mars, we don’t all get movies for a second chance at a real ending.)
It was with this expectation of an unsatisfying end (and lacking the knowledge of whether or not it truly was the final season) that I found myself watching the end of Dance Academy, and it struck me. Good endings are rare, and as such should be pointed out and celebrated. Yes, many of the series mentioned above have real endings that point to the future, close a significant chapter on the past and offer us something satisfying to hold on to, to remind ourselves that it ended, and it was good. (If only Gilmore Girls hadn’t sucked for almost all of season 7, if only Buffy’s season 7 ‘potentials’ hadn’t been so freakin’ annoying.) But even those small handfuls of closure leave a familiar sense of lack.
It may simply be that sadness that accompanies the end of something beloved. Having enjoyed a series for years, it’s hard to want an Ending. But letting something end when it’s still good, and watching it end well, is far more satisfying than seeing its beauty fade. This is the fundamental way in which my interests as a hound for quality stories conflict with producers who want the stability of established shows with established fan bases to continue to reel in numbers. Contradictory though it may be, we need the things we love to end while they’re still amazing, so that they can go on being amazing.
