Cliffhangers

CLIFFHANGERS
I like it when a story reaches a satisfying conclusion. Preferably, everyone you care about is safe and they achieved all their goals. I think this is what you might call an ideal ending, however...

I spent maybe 80hours on my first play-through of Final Fantasy 7 when I was 12. The game was a part of my life for who know how many weeks or months. I'll reiterate, It was a part of my life, so when I finally beat it, I was on top of the world. The sensation ended before the final movie and by the credit scroll I was really sad because it was all over. What was I gonna do now?

FF7 is a special case because I was extremely invested. Even still, the hardest part of telling a story is writing an ending that doesn't hurt. Both Seinfeld and The Sopranos got it wrong. I think a cliffhanger might have done some justice. Yeah, a cliffhanger. Why? Think about comics. Western super hero comics go on and on and on. They're not intended to ever have an end. They just have new story arcs forever. The sentiment "all good things must pass" is kind of a double whammy: Either something dies or it lives long enough to jump the shark (total Dark Knight reference). It's inevitable.

There are good cliffhangers and bad. Good cliff hangers tie up all the lose ends and introduce or hint at the next story arc or saga or chapter. Bad cliff hangers leave a few pieces of the puzzle out. This makes you feel gypped. Also, you actually do get gypped if something prevents the next part of the story from being made.

So I finally saw the ending for season 4 of Heroes. I don't know why people were so unhappy that the show didn't get a fifth season. Trust me, the show will come back in 20 years like Star Trek: The Next Generation. Anyway, I liked the ending. It was satisfying to me. It seemed that all the loose ends were tied neatly and everyone grew, achieved their goals, and etc. Then Claire exposes Specials to the world. Then the show ends. Perfect! It gives me the impression that the heroes never finish their heroes journey, ever, even if I never see them again. Also, It left off with in a sense that they had a specific and interesting idea for the next chapter in the story, rather than something vague.

Now that I think about it, THAT'S HOW DARK KNIGHT ENDED. All loose ends are tied and Batman goes on protecting Gotham as usual, but we're entering a new chapter in the story where Batman is hunted by the law.





Man, I'm good.