TV Finale Trends (Spoilers Ahead!)

I love tv finales. They always shake up the show, bring some new, exciting twist to contemplate for the summer. A good finale can change a whole season. It's so much fun!

This week was the week of finales. Tons of cliffhangers--is Pete going to survive on Private Practice? What's going to happen with Mer/Der on Grey's Anatomy? What about Penny and Raj and Leonard on Big Bang? All so exciting! But the one of the most popular cliffhanger this season has seemed to be pregnancy. Cristina and Owen on Grey's. And, of course, my two favourites: Chuck and Blair on Gossip Girl and Booth and Brennan on Bones.

The pregnancies have totally different implications on each show. In this post, I wanted to explore those implications a little bit while (1) evaluating the finale as a whole and (2) assessing the predictability of the pregnancy. Sound like fun? Can I hear a hell yes?

Let's go chronologically, starting with Gossip Girl (Bones fans, skip down a while!)

Let me start by saying that I find it absolutely hilarious how they tried to make it seem like it could be Serena or Blair who's pregnant. Yeah right. It's Blair, no doubt about it. It was Blair's garbage can. It was exactly three weeks since Chuck and Blair slept together. Not to mention the fact that Serena hasn't dated anyone since Ben, who has been written out of the show and is not coming back. People have suggested to me that Serena could have slept with someone off camera, which would be totally lame. GG is lame A LOT of the time, but I don't they'd be that lame here.

So, it is a Chair baby! YAY!!!!! Do you know how long I've wanted this? Seriously, at least three seasons. I've always thought a baby would be the perfect thing to link Chuck and Blair. When they had a pregnancy scare in season one, it was good they didn't have the baby. Their relationship wasn't ready. Chuck sure wasn't ready. Since then, they have grown up a lot. They are still somewhat immature, and they still make a helluva lot of mistakes, but they're in a better place overall.

I pray for a pregnancy at every finale, and it never happens. So, you know, I'm happy. And I don't really count it as predictable. Going into the episode, I didn't think there was any chance of it happening. But, when you think about it, what more do they have? They've exhausted most of their options with Chair.

On the whole, the baby makes me excited for next season. The rest of the cliffhanger stuff (Charlie is Ivy, Vanessa and Dan and the book, Serena and her stupid new job) is okay. Standard Gossip Girl. Nothing I particularly want to watch. But a baby? SO EXCITED! There are just so many questions: How will everyone find out about the pregnancy? How will Chuck react? And what happens to Louis? And, if they keep the baby, will they get together? What will they be like as parents? I mean, can you imagine Chuck cooing over a baby? Hilarious! All I know is that that kid is screwed, having such awful parents. But hey, it'll be fun to watch!

I also question what this means for the show. If two characters are tied down with a kid, that really changes the nature of Gossip Girl. And what about the rumours that Leigthon Meester and Ed Westwick are leaving the show after next season? What does that mean for a baby? Does it mean a possible end date for the show?

See what I mean about finales? So many questions! So much fun!

Now, of course, we have to talk about Bones where a baby means very different things.

After last week we knew the finale was going to be big. After all the questioning and theorizing, we would get our answer to the huge did they/didn't they question. And, hopefully, we would get something on the future of their relationship. Not to mention a standard case and a Hodgins/Angela baby. So, we knew it was going to big. But we didn't know it was going to be this big. 

Also, the news about Emily Deschanel's (Temperance Brennan, for anyone not obsessed with celebrities like me) pregnancy broke a few weeks ago. So, we knew that the probability was a little bit higher with the lead actress be pregnant. But, most likely, it was going to be written out of the show. Hidden. Plus, there's the fact that the show is going off the schedule midseason, so we wouldn't see Deschanel at her most pregnant. Going in to the episode, I didn't think there was much chance that pregnancy was on the table. 

The episode itself was okay. The case was below average. The Raven guy was too obvious, too creepy. The fact that Max was a part of the bowling league was a little too convenient. It wasn't the best. But no matter. We got a perfect baby boy for Angela and Hodgins, which was great. And of course, we got all the stuff between Booth and Brennan. 

Wait, you say, right? All the stuff? There was barely any Booth/Brennan in the episode! On the surface, that is true. But there were a lot of hints about the pregnancy. A lot of hints about them getting together. I was convinced it was going to happen halfway through the episode. I didn't notice it until someone was talking about it online, but the look Booth gave Brennan after he kissed her on the cheek was amazing. And the "you'll be my girlfriend moment". We might not have gotten a ton, but got enough for B and B. 

And, of course, we got the last scene. It was so perfect! Her testing him, seeing what he thought about babies. She seemed scared, uncertain. And his great response. And the smile. I love David Boreanaz for that smile. 

So, I am unbelievably excited for next season. Again, there are so many questions: Are they really going to get together? And what does that mean exactly? Just dating? But won't Booth want to get married? 

Amidst all the excitement, I'm still a little disappointed that we didn't get to see them get together. But now they definitely have a future, I think I can deal. 

SO EXCITED!!!!! I love finales! And now I have so many little babies to look forward to as well!