A Good Ending

So “The Walking Dead” has recently aired its mid-season finale. I know I seem to post about “The Walking Dead” a lot, but I love the show. All I can say on the subject is, the mid-season finale was amazing. What makes it so amazing? I really don’t want to give away spoilers. However, I do want to discuss what makes a great ending in general! Which means that I will have to do so in a way that doesn’t give away spoilers, which means this post is going to be EXTREMELY vague...

Wish me luck!

There are so many different factors that can go into making an ending great. Not to mention the fact that an ending oftentimes is the "make or break" factor in a movie. From the characters that live or die, to the idea behind the ending, to the symbolism present, anything can make an ending great. Like a delicious pie however, it’s the perfect mixture of the right ingredients that can produce an amazing finale.

Of course, everyone’s opinion on the loose definition of "great" is different. However, there are plenty of endings that are iconic due to their widespread acceptance of greatness. After reviewing plenty of opinions on seemingly great endings, I believe I’ve come up with two key components that make an ending "great": its ability to make you think, and its capacity to make you feel.

This is pretty vague, but allow me to provide some examples of what I, and many others, think are great endings. This is a topic that can go across platforms of the media, so I’ll try to incorporate as much as possible. My favorite ending to a movie, and the number one movie on IMDB is known as “The Shawshank Redemption.” In other words, I’m not the only person with this opinion. However, “The Shawshank Redemption” is one of those movies that seems to handle both of these ideas into a beautiful ending.

The movie follows Andy, a person imprisoned under the pretense of murdering his wife. The ending of this movie is so great because of the emotions you feel throughout the movie constantly build and swell but never quite resolve. Just thinking about the myriad of emotions a person in confinement can go through can emotionally wreck a person. However, the movie builds upon each emotion, constantly keeping them in the back of your mind.

To side track for a little- this is why I believe this episode of “The Walking Dead” had a great ending. It builds up so many emotions throughout its previous episodes, leaving the emotion unsatisfied and unresolved. In the end, it allows all of these to simultaneously culminate and when they’re finally resolved to coalesce. It makes you hinder on these emotions because of that buildup.

Back to “The Shawshank Redemption.” This ending also has the ability to make you think. It makes you think back on the mundane things that have happened throughout the movie and realize that although they seemed insignificant at the time, they played the most important role in the ending. I like to call this the twist ending.

Although not all twist endings are good, and not all twist endings have been hinted at throughout the lifespan of the media outlet, I believe that the twist endings that can make you think back are some of the best. For something a little more modern, think of the ending to Harry Potter. Throughout the books, Harry exhibits a special connection with the powers that are known to belong to Voldemort. However, you may not truly realize why until the very end. On the other hand, Darth Vader’s revelation that he is Luke’s father was a twist ending that wasn't even really hinted at. (I feel like it’s okay that I spoil that one)

The point is that both of these endings make you think. “Harry Potter” and “The Shawshank Redemption” make you think back to the beginnings and see how the ending was set up, to make sense of it all. Darth Vader’s reveal makes you wonder, “How is that possible? Where can this possibly go as a result?”

All these endings make both the feelings and thoughts of the viewer converge simultaneously. I honestly believe this convergence, how that piece of media combines the thoughts and feelings of the viewer/reader, is what makes an ending special.