The Disappointing Television Ending
Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for the television show The White Lotus.
Back in mid-July, HBO debuted The White Lotus, a satirical dramedy created and directed by Mike White (of School of Rock-fame). Right from the beginning, viewers are lured into the world of The White Lotus with a chilling opening scene in which we see a box labeled “Human Remains” loading into an airplane. It is quickly revealed that this is the ending of the story we are about to watch, and for the rest of the show, we are waiting in anticipation for the predicted murder to happen. In the meantime, the show’s energetic but cringeworthy cast, gorgeous yet unsettling scenery, and uncomfortably hilarious interactions create a nail biting-tension that makes the show so binge-able. Now, a mere six episodes later, we know whose body was in that box, and who caused it. We watched the characters develop and change. All is well…
…Not. The White Lotus has all the means of a good conclusion: the tropical Hawaii vacation is over, the boat has left the island, the plane is about to take off. What it lacks, however, is satisfaction. And The White Lotus is far from the only television show to have an unsatisfactory ending. Shows like How I Met Your Mother, Dexter, and (perhaps worst of all) Game of Thrones all chucked out finales that seemed half-thought out, nonsensical, and downright disgraceful.
The White Lotus does not fall into this type of unsatisfactory ending, though. Watching it has made me realize the two different types of disappointment one might find after finishing a show: the heartbreaking Daenerys-kills-everyone ending that is a result of bad writing, and endings similar to The White Lotus. This type of ending is disappointing not because of a screw-up by the show’s creators, but instead, an intentional drop as we watch all that we hoped to happen… not happen at all.
A lot of the characters in The White Lotus are pretty despicable people. The Mossbachers are a wealthy, naive family who exemplifies the privileged White liberal who pride themselves on their “wokeness” instead of realizing the harm they are causing to the people around them (like their token Black friend Paula). Jennifer Coolidge’s Tanya is a grieving alcoholic who uses her money to build relationships. Shane, played by Jake Lacy, is punchable with the way he treats the hotel staff and his new wife Rachel (Alexandra Daddario). But through all of their cringe-worthy conversations and dysfunctional tendencies, we still root for (most) of them. This may be because we saw a glimmer of hope through the annoying moments, or perhaps instead because we are used to seeing character development on the screen.
That is why the ending is so unsatisfying. Through the episodes, we watch as Rachel slowly builds the courage to leave Shane. We watch Tanya build a supportive relationship with Belinda, the Black spa manager at the hotel, and encourage her dreams. We see Paula start to stand up against the Mossbachers and try to help a local boy’s family. We see these characters grow, and we so desperately want their character arcs to come full circle.
Instead, everyone in the final episode reverts to who they were at the beginning of the show. Rachel stays with Shane even though he did not grow to respect her at all, Paula buddies up with the Mossbachers again after getting the local boy arrested, and Tanya ditches Belinda and crushes her dreams to pieces. The few sympathetic characters either revert to their original privileged selves as if nothing had happened throughout the series, or were left in the dust.
This was, of course, an intentional choice by Mike White. Does that make it any less disappointing to watch? Of course not! Fans of The Sopranos faced a similar type of disappointment during the finale of the infamous show. Creator David Chase debated back and forth during development whether the protagonist Tony Soprano was going to live or die after his life of crime. At a final dinner with his family, Tony darts his eyes to the door every time someone comes in, weary of his potential enemies. A final lookup and then—black. The abrupt ending had many viewers at the time checking to see if their television had lost connection. People were mad at the vague and unsatisfying ending. Now though, nearly fifteen years since that episode aired, people see it as a genius end to an incredible show.
Therein lies the difference between the two disappointing television endings: the Game of Thrones ending that failed due to the apparent lack of care by the creators as the show was winding up, and the ending that is intentionally unsatisfying to strengthen the story or the message as a whole. The White Lotus is the newest series to try this type of ending, but given its popularity, it wouldn’t come as a shock to see more endings that subvert expectations and maybe let some people down at first. Perhaps, like The Sopranos, we will take these disappointing endings and over time become satisfied with our dissatisfaction.
Cover Photo by Mario Perez. Edited by Madison Case.
