The Soprano's Ending was bad?
- Thread starter asearcher
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I agree that instead of saying "Dr. Beckett Never returned home" they should have said "Dr. Beckett remains lost in time" or something like that. Saying he never returned home was pretty harsh and scary. Poor Sam. 
Honestly? I think it does the show a disservice to say that Mirror Image was a bad finale. The episode itself was, as one poster on that blog said, a tour de force of acting for Bakula, as potent as any of the four QL episodes for which he was Emmy-nominated. I defy you to show me a scene more wrenching than the "Home, I want to go home. . ." scene. There is a difference between a "bad" episode - which conjures up badly written, contrived, out of character (Hi, Enterprise, how are ya?) - and a finale that doesn't leave you where you expected to be.
The Bartender specifically tells Sam that he has the power to send himself home, and implies that when he accepts that, he will go home. That he never does go home tells me that, at least subconsciously, his desire to change the world is always a little bit stronger than his desire to go home. Also, we don't know whether he continues to leap without his "buddy."
It drives me a little nuts when people label Mirror Image as "bad" because everything up to that last screen is some of the best acting (ranging from confusion to joy to comedy to pathos) you will ever see, and it's something people really should watch. By labeling it "bad," we're saying, "Don't watch it - it's a waste of time." Not surprisingly, this critic doesn't deal with any of the issues in the show itself - the Bartender's struggle to get Sam at least to understand his destiny, and Sam's struggle to put all the pieces together. There's a terrific, metaphysical plot there and almost a direct conversation between the writer and the fans, chock full of inside jokes and hidden references. But if all a viewer remembers is that last screen (and is disappointed by it), then the whole storyline - and the amazing acting that brought it to life - gets completely lost.
So, while I understand the critic's point of view (and I get that people have different opinions about Mirror Image), I think "bad" is the wrong word to use.
The Bartender specifically tells Sam that he has the power to send himself home, and implies that when he accepts that, he will go home. That he never does go home tells me that, at least subconsciously, his desire to change the world is always a little bit stronger than his desire to go home. Also, we don't know whether he continues to leap without his "buddy."
It drives me a little nuts when people label Mirror Image as "bad" because everything up to that last screen is some of the best acting (ranging from confusion to joy to comedy to pathos) you will ever see, and it's something people really should watch. By labeling it "bad," we're saying, "Don't watch it - it's a waste of time." Not surprisingly, this critic doesn't deal with any of the issues in the show itself - the Bartender's struggle to get Sam at least to understand his destiny, and Sam's struggle to put all the pieces together. There's a terrific, metaphysical plot there and almost a direct conversation between the writer and the fans, chock full of inside jokes and hidden references. But if all a viewer remembers is that last screen (and is disappointed by it), then the whole storyline - and the amazing acting that brought it to life - gets completely lost.
So, while I understand the critic's point of view (and I get that people have different opinions about Mirror Image), I think "bad" is the wrong word to use.
Yeah I liked Mirror Imange and I love how it takes more than a few watches to solve all the msyteries of the episode. I have seen it at least five times and I still don't get some of it. And like you said Dana the acting was great. I especially love the ending before he leaps to Beth's house when he says he wants to go home but he can't because he has to help Al first. Things like that make me wonder how actors can cry on cue so well. Scott is so incredibly talented. This eo is on my list of episodes that make me wanna give Sam a hug.
bluedana said:
This is a good point. The episode has everything you mentioned, and raises fascinating questions and new ideas. On the other hand, it's possible to ruin an excellent show with a bad ending. If Mirror Image were a movie, that black screen could have been the perfect ending. As the end of a series whose fans are strongly invested in the continuing story of the characters, I think it did a disservice.
Also, from an Al fan's POV, it's a disappointing episode. There's just not much for Al to do. He has one scene with Sam, says, "I'll get you out of this," and we never see him again.
We also have no resolution at the Project. We don't see Sammy Jo or Donna, so it's an open question to this day whether Donna is even part of the timeline anymore. In fact the only female character in the entire episode is Beth, who does nothing but weep. To me it's as though DPB is saying, "This is a boys' game, Girls Keep Out!" What setting could be more masculine than a coal miners' bar? It makes me so grateful that Deborah Pratt was such a prominent member of the writing staff, because otherwise there would have been no woman's voice in this show. It seems like DPB used this episode to express his peeves with the opposite sex (or maybe Deborah Pratt, specifically--both Sammy Jo and Donna were her characters, right?), and I find that annoying.
A one-hour episode can only accomplish so much. There's no way it could make everyone happy. Also, I realize that no one was certain whether it would be the last episode when they filmed it. I can agree that Scott did a terrific job and the whole cast had some fascinating material to work with, but overall, I'm not happy with it.
I really think that if Mirror Image had been a cliffhanger season ender, like Shock Theatre (another ep with only one female character*, and she's a hot mess), people would have no problem with it at all. The loose ends regarding the Project have nothing to do with the emotional rollercoaster Sam goes on during the story. What burns people is that third screen. So, to me, to say that Mirror Image was "bad" is off base, because the criticism is misplaced, and I'd be truly surprised if the guy who wrote that article could even summarize the plot of the episode, which was very metaphysical and well acted.
If QL had ended after Season 3, and the screen had gone to a card that said, "Al is still leaping" or something like that, I believe people would have been similarly mad because of the lack of closure, the sucker punch of the statement. But I think most people agree that Shock Theatre as an episode was phenomenal, and that the Emmy nom SB got was richly deserved.
That is to say, the third screen, to me, doesn't make Mirror Image a "bad episode," or even a bad finale because the episode itself is terrific (imo) and transcends the disappointment of what happens afterward. I find Mirror Image sad, because you can't help but want Sam to go home (since that is what he thinks is his heart's desire), but I thought and still think it was brave not to take the easy, warm and fuzzy way out. Then again, I have no problem with killing off main characters, either, as long as it's done plausibly. That probably makes me somewhat of a misanthrope, so you can take my opinion with a grain of salt.
*I don't count Dr. Beeks as a character because she doesn't actually talk.
If QL had ended after Season 3, and the screen had gone to a card that said, "Al is still leaping" or something like that, I believe people would have been similarly mad because of the lack of closure, the sucker punch of the statement. But I think most people agree that Shock Theatre as an episode was phenomenal, and that the Emmy nom SB got was richly deserved.
That is to say, the third screen, to me, doesn't make Mirror Image a "bad episode," or even a bad finale because the episode itself is terrific (imo) and transcends the disappointment of what happens afterward. I find Mirror Image sad, because you can't help but want Sam to go home (since that is what he thinks is his heart's desire), but I thought and still think it was brave not to take the easy, warm and fuzzy way out. Then again, I have no problem with killing off main characters, either, as long as it's done plausibly. That probably makes me somewhat of a misanthrope, so you can take my opinion with a grain of salt.
*I don't count Dr. Beeks as a character because she doesn't actually talk.
Yeah good point people are just mad because of the lack of closure. People need to learn to be more open even though it is suspensful to think about what happened to Sam after he left Beth's.
bluedana said:
If it were a cliffhanger, it probably wouldn't have that black screen with its final message. Also, since it seemed poised to send the series in quite a different direction--if Sam leaped into the future, as one of DPB's endings suggested--then it could have generated a great deal of controversy. Look at all the controversy over the changes in season 5. But basically, yes, if it were a cliffhanger that led to something further, people would probably rave about what a great episode it was.
re: "a hot mess", do you mean the nurse in Shock Theatre was mostly eye candy? I don't really agree, since the ending hinged on her giving Sam the amount of shock treatment that he wanted. I was rather going off on a tangent complaining about the lack of female characters, though. It's a personal peeve and not that relevant to an evaluation of Mirror Image.
Absolutely! Although the card would still say "Sam never came home" because we don't know until Season 4 that Al is the one who leaped. If Shock Theatre had been the end, people would be even more upset, I think, because there would be no preparation at all. Mirror Image with its themes of God, dead leapers, Sam being himself, seems to be all about some major change coming. One possible resolution is that this is the end. Shock Theatre is weird, but it doesn't have that sense of real change coming.
<chuckle> Well, I have a problem with the ending, which I don't find believeable, and the alphabet rap makes me cringe. But overall, it's mesmerizing. I've watched it again and again.
I like brave endings. And I have no basic problem with killing main characters either, as long as it's not just for shock value. But they don't actually kill Sam. We don't know what happened to him, and I think that's what upsets people the most. I can live with the ambiguity of the ending, sad as it is, but I can also wish that they had done better.
bluedana said:
Well this is quite true, and the article completely ignores this fact. However, I do consider "Mirror Image" to be a bad episode, but not because of the ending. I want to point out that good acting is not enough in and of itself to make a good episode (as I'm sure you're aware); it depends on the writing, too. I hated the metaphysical aspect of the plot. My problem with this episode is that it made a 180-degree turn from the rest of the series in terms of the ground rules to leaping. At many points, it feels to me as if I could have written the episode myself, because there were no answers to anything. It would be different if I believed Don Bellisario had some sort of grand scheme of what the episode means, but I believe his intention was to create a nostalgic episode for himself, by re-creating his past and hiring actors who looked just like his father and other people he once knew. As far as I know, the few times he was interviewed about it, he didn't appear to even have an answer himself.
Snish said:
In Bellisario's defense, he was trying to re-create his boyhood experiences of his father's bar, and life as a coal miner. The Bartender's appearance was intended to look exactly like Bellisario's own father (in the beginning of the episode, the Bartender shows Sam pictures on the wall, and the one where Sam comments, "You pushed your stomach out to make yourself look fat," is actually a picture of his real father.
No, "a hot mess" has nothing to do with beauty, lol. It means "a disaster." The nurse was sweet and lovely to Sam, but as a character, she was a disaster. Not telling the doctor what Butch did and that it likely triggered all the problems Sam was having; listening to a (as far as she knew) mental patient telling her to crank up the voltage on the electroshock machine to the maximum - and then doing it?? A hot mess.
And that's my point. A viewer can dislike the episode in and of itself, as QLNut does, and that's fine, I can buy that. But the critic doesn't even address the fifty-something minutes before the last screen card, which makes me not really sympathetic to his position on Mirror Image as an episode. I'd have more respect for his point of view if he'd said, as you seem to be saying, Snish, that the resolution, or lack thereof, made for a bad ending to the series. But the critic is calling the episode bad, without addressing the quality of the episode at all, not the acting nor the writing.
I completely agree, Scott is incredibly talented and Shock Theater was an incredible desplay of that. He totally should have won that emmy.
QLNut said:
Yeah, while I like Mirror Image I don't consiter it to be the best series ending in the world, its definietly not the one I pictured at that. I have jpg saved of an image of a TV Guide cover that announces the airring of Mirror Image...in fact
Here it is. as you can plainly see it says that all your questions will be answered but in my opinion it mostly just leaves you with more. I for one still don't understand some of it and I have seen it at least five times.
I remember that. "...The mysteries will be solved, your questions will be answered!" What a load of crap!
In my opinion "Mirror Image" was one of the best episodes in "Quantum Leap",but the ending sucked.:disbelief
Yeah exactly, false advertising. it didn't answer anything except shine some light on the force behind Sam's leaping.QL Nut said:
bluedana said:
Well, my guess was way off!
Employees in places like this may have an unwritten code that they don't snitch on each other, or she may be afraid that Butch will retaliate against her if she tells the doctor. Butch should lose his job for what he did. Since it sent Sam into a downward spiral, though, she really should have told the doctor anyway. The fact that she gave a mental patient higher voltage because he asked for it is what bothers me about the ending of this episode. It's just not believeable to me. (So I'm agreeing with you that she's a mess.) Then again, the doctor should never have ordered another shock treatment in a fit of anger. He should lose his license to practice medicine. So I guess everyone at Havenwell is an incompetent who should be barred from practicing medicine! I love the drama in this episode, but I try not to think about the plot.
Well the only reason the Nurse had to listen to Sam was so the episode could complete and Sam could leap because Beaks said he needed to take another shock at the same voltage in order to get his ego back. Although they could have made that a part two of the episode that would have been cool. that way they could make the second treatment more of a conflict. But I agree that Masters and Butch shuld both lose their jobs, Bucth for the un supervised shock treatment and Masters because he treated Sam like a lab rat and also because of like Snish said ordering a shock out of anger. Havenwell period should be shut down as the whole place was unkind despite a few nice people such as the Nurse and Freddy.
Snish said:Well, my guess was way off!
It never bothered me quite as much, because it was a hectic situation and the nurse was a pushover. She let Butch push her around when she knew better, and Sam more or less shocked (no pun intended) her into giving the second treatment.
Yeah I agree if I had been that Nurse I would have ratted Butch's *** out in a second. He could have killed Sam and she even knew that yet still allowed him to perform the treatment. If she were a good nurse than she could have ran for the doctor the second she caught him. Instead she nearly costed a patient his life because she let Butch perform the treatment period let alone scare her into keeping her mouth shut. She was definietly an unfit nurse. Heavenwell period was an unfit place to practice shock treatment in the first place as its very cruel.
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The Finale
My original post didn't indicate much of my feelings about the whole thing. Basically, I did like Mirror Image (metaphysics and all.) Right up to the 3rd black screen I was on board. Great show, great acting, interesting concepts. Then that screen came up and I felt shocked, angry, cheated, saddened, and many other emotions that took me YEARS to get over. I had never before and never since had that type of a reaction to a "mere" television show finale.
Based on the conversations with the bartender...I can go with the possibility that Sam could come home (although remember...it was couched in a 'technicality.') The main problem I had with that black screen was that it was so FINAL. If they had simply said "Dr. Sam Beckett has not yet returned home" I would have happily gone on with life, ok with the fact that Sam still hadn't made his way back (maybe even forever) but having that potential in my mind that he still COULD make it home.
I guess that's the main thing. Through the ENTIRE series all Sam wanted was to come home. The black screen seemed to end all potential for that without an explanation (e.g. is it that Sam WANTS to keep leaping that means he NEVER comes home, did he die and CAN'T come home, did he forget what the bartender told him (swiss cheese effect) after he leaves and no longer KNOWS it's in his power to come home? Is there some OTHER explanation?) The ending just drops the viewer into making up their own ending.
I agree with the Al's fan POV too. Did Sam continue leaping and if so, was it with Al's help? It was only after the fact that Bellasario said that Al and Sam were destined to meet...but did that mean that Al would continue as his observer? Just going back to the way the story ended in 1993...it would have been devastating to Al that his last words to the man were "I'll get you out of this" and then NEVER even gets to interact with him again. What angst!
From the project POV...Sam made a promise to Donna that he would return to her someday. Even if we accept that Sam decides to keep leaping cause the Don Quixote in him won't allow him to do anything else...what does that say about the man and his willingness to forego his promise to her? Whether you like the idea that Donna was brought into the story (or Sammie Jo for that matter)...the fact is they were. Sam making the decision to fix Al's situation and then turning his back on his wife just doesn't make a lot of sense to me. So what happened? Did his change for Al mean that he never married Donna afterall and therefore his promise to come back wasn't a factor? Again...the viewer was simply dropped.
I agree that as a cliffhanger like Shock Theatre...the black screen wouldn't have been used. Then the story would have still left the questions...but it wouldn't have been much worse than some other finales when a show is dropped suddenly. It was the insertion of the third black screen that was the stumbling block...I wish it had NEVER been placed at the end!
My original post didn't indicate much of my feelings about the whole thing. Basically, I did like Mirror Image (metaphysics and all.) Right up to the 3rd black screen I was on board. Great show, great acting, interesting concepts. Then that screen came up and I felt shocked, angry, cheated, saddened, and many other emotions that took me YEARS to get over. I had never before and never since had that type of a reaction to a "mere" television show finale.
Based on the conversations with the bartender...I can go with the possibility that Sam could come home (although remember...it was couched in a 'technicality.') The main problem I had with that black screen was that it was so FINAL. If they had simply said "Dr. Sam Beckett has not yet returned home" I would have happily gone on with life, ok with the fact that Sam still hadn't made his way back (maybe even forever) but having that potential in my mind that he still COULD make it home.
I guess that's the main thing. Through the ENTIRE series all Sam wanted was to come home. The black screen seemed to end all potential for that without an explanation (e.g. is it that Sam WANTS to keep leaping that means he NEVER comes home, did he die and CAN'T come home, did he forget what the bartender told him (swiss cheese effect) after he leaves and no longer KNOWS it's in his power to come home? Is there some OTHER explanation?) The ending just drops the viewer into making up their own ending.
I agree with the Al's fan POV too. Did Sam continue leaping and if so, was it with Al's help? It was only after the fact that Bellasario said that Al and Sam were destined to meet...but did that mean that Al would continue as his observer? Just going back to the way the story ended in 1993...it would have been devastating to Al that his last words to the man were "I'll get you out of this" and then NEVER even gets to interact with him again. What angst!
From the project POV...Sam made a promise to Donna that he would return to her someday. Even if we accept that Sam decides to keep leaping cause the Don Quixote in him won't allow him to do anything else...what does that say about the man and his willingness to forego his promise to her? Whether you like the idea that Donna was brought into the story (or Sammie Jo for that matter)...the fact is they were. Sam making the decision to fix Al's situation and then turning his back on his wife just doesn't make a lot of sense to me. So what happened? Did his change for Al mean that he never married Donna afterall and therefore his promise to come back wasn't a factor? Again...the viewer was simply dropped.
I agree that as a cliffhanger like Shock Theatre...the black screen wouldn't have been used. Then the story would have still left the questions...but it wouldn't have been much worse than some other finales when a show is dropped suddenly. It was the insertion of the third black screen that was the stumbling block...I wish it had NEVER been placed at the end!
Yeah that is what I was saying at the beginning of this thread. they should have said "Dr. Sam Beckett is still lost in time" to make it less final and scary. Poor Sam. I also think they should have kept the original ending where the photo of young Ensin Calavicci became a photo of him with his beloved Beth and four adult daughters.asearcher said:
asearcher said:
Yeah I was thinking about that too. I know Sam doesn't remember Donna but I know his heart must and he should feel that there is someone at home that needs him just like he felt that he had a wrong to put right for Al. He could have gone home from Beth's place. Although CarolD told me once that Pratt mentally dropped Donna from the story as she regretted ever bringing her back, I personally will never drop her or believe that Sam changed the timeline to once again exclude her. I love Donna and will always believe that she is there patiently waiting for her love. I think Sam should have at least been shown thinking that he feels someone at home needs him it would have been sweet and made the delemia of weather to return home or keep leaping all the most difficult and exciting.
Boo... Boo...
I completely agree with that review of MI. It was not only bad, but it just flat out sucked. For all the effort, fantastic writing, marvelous acting and promise the show had… to go out like that… on a 'limp' rather than a 'leap' is, well… lousy. DPB might as well have burned all the master tapes and slapped everyone associated with the show in the face.
You could tell DPB’s heart just wasn’t in it anymore. And it always happens in TV history… look at Star Trek (TOS). Studio/Hollywood politics stab every ounce of creativity it can. This finale was a victim of it.
It was so convoluted in its own enigmatic shackles of non-elucidation that it never reached a believable pace. MI wasn’t just released, it escaped.
Sorry, I love the show and no offense meant or aimed at you guys who love it. It’s just that as a kid, I didn’t want the show to end, and to hand us MI as our parting gift for five years of faithful dedication and loyalty was completely inappropriate.
~Kirok
I completely agree with that review of MI. It was not only bad, but it just flat out sucked. For all the effort, fantastic writing, marvelous acting and promise the show had… to go out like that… on a 'limp' rather than a 'leap' is, well… lousy. DPB might as well have burned all the master tapes and slapped everyone associated with the show in the face.
You could tell DPB’s heart just wasn’t in it anymore. And it always happens in TV history… look at Star Trek (TOS). Studio/Hollywood politics stab every ounce of creativity it can. This finale was a victim of it.
It was so convoluted in its own enigmatic shackles of non-elucidation that it never reached a believable pace. MI wasn’t just released, it escaped.
Sorry, I love the show and no offense meant or aimed at you guys who love it. It’s just that as a kid, I didn’t want the show to end, and to hand us MI as our parting gift for five years of faithful dedication and loyalty was completely inappropriate.
~Kirok
kiork said:
This is the only thing of your post that I agree with. In Another Time Another Place which is a book about the making of QL it stated that even DPB said that season five traveled far from the original feel good feeling of the show that it had in its first years and disliked it. Pratt felt the same way and refused to write anymore episodes with the Trilogies as the one exception because she really wanted to expirement with Sam having a sexual relationship on a leap. Other than that DBP it seemed, really felt that season five killed the show and thus I can understand his heart no longer being in it.
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