Season Finale

This is an unsettling time for a TV addict.

I record ever program that I watch regularly, for different reasons.  Mostly so that if I fall asleep during the program, I can go back and see what I missed.  But also in case something happens that we aren't home when a show is on, or that we get a phone call or something else.  All the shows are neatly recorded and as soon as I've watched them, whether live or on DVR, I erase them.

One of the things I do first thing in the morning, when I'm awake and the dogs aren't, and I don't want to get up yet, is to check the scheduled shows to be recorded that day.  It reminds me of what is coming up that evening and what I have to look forward to.

But at this time of year, reading the capsule summaries of favorite shows is frustrating, since each one seems to start with "Season finale..."

 

I checked the upcoming recordings for a day recently and there were NONE.  Not one single favorite program was going to be broadcast that day.  What in the world would I do with myself?

Also, with the TV seasons being so short these days, sometimes you just start to get into a series and it's over.  Better Call Saul finished its season weeks ago.  It wasn't a favorite, but I looked forward to the quirky program each week, though Ned gets more out of it because it's the prequel to Breaking Bad and Ned is much more familiar with that show than I am.

TV addiction is one thing Ned and I share and it's fun that we both watch so many of the same shows because we have lively conversations about our favorites.

Tonight is the season finale of Scandal and Big Bang Theory and the first of a 2-part season finale of The Blacklist.  Tomorrow the racers of Amazing Race run their last leg and there will be no more of that show for awhile.  Next week on Monday is the day when there are no shows to be recorded.

Tuesday will see the season finale for both NCIS and NCIS-New Orleans.  For NCIS fans, it will be a sad day as Michael Weatherly, "Very Special Agent Tony DiNozo" leaves the show after 13 seasons.  (Presumably this also means the end of the show for his father. Robert Wagner.)

I will miss Tony.  I like Tony, but it's a good time to retire--on top of his game and before his shtick gets old.  Tony's juvenile pranks and sexual proclivities were cute 13 seasons ago, but he's nearly 50 now and they have become just formulaic.  Also, the character has nowhere to go with this story.  He's already the #2 man, by his choice, so there is no place for advancement, no way, really for his character to grow, as the other members of the team are still growing.

I'm going to miss him a lot, but since there are NCIS marathons on twice a week, I can always get my "Tony" fix if need be. 

It's also just about season finale for The Blacklist and the big questions are (a) will there be a next season, and (b) can the show move forward without FBI agent Elizabeth Keen (Megan Boone), who has been the reluctant partner of Reddington (James Spader) all this time.  Her death a few episodes back was a big shocker, but like Weatherly's departure, probably a necessity.  She was pregnant and it's hard to go racing around the country killing bad guys when you have a nursing child at home.

I wondered how they were going to move forward without her, but then have realized that Reddington is the show and if they choose to go forward, the show will do very well.

Scandal's tone has changed significantly since Olivia's (Kerry Washington) long affair with the president (Tony Goldwyn) ended.  Not sure I like the tone of the "new" Scandal.  I miss the softness, but it was interesting seeing how totally unfit to be first lady Olivia was and how it shows why the whole affair was impossible from the get go.

Of course, the saddest season finales are those where the season finale is also the series finale.  Walt doesn't watch nearly as much television as I do, but he was addicted to The Good Wife, which has no ended it's 9 season run. They left things up in the air...what is really next for Alicia (Julianna Marguiles)?  We'll never know now.

Surely The Americans is headed for a series finale.  There's not really any place for the show to go, now that the Russian spies' identities are starting to be known.

The only good thing about all these season finales is that the summer replacement shows are back, but those, too, predict sadness for the loyal viewer.

Royal Pains, the story of a concierge doctor in the Hamptons (Mark Feuerstein), will start it's 8th and final season.

This is another of those "where can they go from here" decisions, and better to leave it all while it's still popular, but I've followed it for 8 seasons and will miss it

So many shows shutting down for the season and for good and it's always difficult to find a new show to latch onto.  But the salvation for a TV addict are reruns, and there are plenty of them to fill in the gap for a departing...or just vacationing show.  There is always September to look forward to, when they start coming back again.