How so? I read reviews because I want to know what the reviewer thinks of it. Obviously, great reviewers like Allison can do both analysis and opinion. But some can’t.

Strongly disagree. Grades stop reviews from turning into an academic essay. 

Agreed. It was a lot better than Season 2. Also: I believe you are/were Stake from Critically Touched? I have to thank you for starting that Person of Interest thread a few years ago. Without it, I never would have discovered my favorite show of all time. So, thank you!

Same. That’s why my favorite shows will always be those that are a bit more nuanced than that. They can showcase humanity’s flaws, but also its strengths. I can handle bleakness, with a purpose or with exceptional writing like in The Wire or The Leftovers (and they’ll still never be my favorites). But edgy nihilism for…

You get it.

*about*

The beetle monologue from GOT also comes to mind. Everything that’s annoying as prestige television wrapped up in one little scene.

Precisely. Any show that needs to scream how adult and deep it is is neither.

POI ended with a sentient AI musing about her own impending death and the inherent value of human life. Totally amazing way to end it.

And it’s very tightly plotted as well.

Angel’s definitely worth the pay-off. Though it doesn’t manage to maintain its quality the way some shows on my favorite list (like POI and Avatar) manage to do, the ending is something very special.

It’s on Hulu in the States. It’s a sci-fi story that clearly establishes its rules and sticks to them-it doesn’t make them up as it goes along. If that sounds appealing, I highly recommend it.

Love Cowboy Bebop. Also: steins;gate-the last 5 episodes were absolute madness.

Nice list. Here are the finales that truly stick out to me:

In your opinion, what other shows and finales have reached the ‘truly great’ status?

Demons would have been better as a straight drama set during the Partition of India. The things holding it back were the “Doctor Who” elements of it. Which is a bad sign. At least the writer of It Takes You Away is returning. That was definitely the best of the season.

I thought it was pretty decent.

Agreed on both. Though Black Mirror leans negative (mostly pretty bad in my opinion, going for shock value over depth), and Brooklyn 99 leans positive.

True enough. This past season though was terrible all the way through.

You’re not wrong. But it seems like these days a show is consistently good with a few duds or it isn’t. It’s hard to think of a show that wildly varies in quality the way The Twilight Zone, The X-Files, or Star Trek: The Next Generation used to, from being one of the best things on tv one episode to absolute garbage…