Doesn't check out. Haven't watched a ton of prestige TV but of what I have...
The Wire
A fairly obvious note that the cycle of poverty and violence will continue, just with different characters.
Game of Thrones
The entire last 2-3 seasons were garbage that got steadily worse so frankly the ending doesn't really even stand out that much. Still, it does fit with the overarching "moral" of the series, IE feudalism is bad regardless of who is in charge and change to the social structure is needed to prevent more giant blood feuds.
Breaking Bad
A conventional ending where Walter says "I did the crimes because of toxic masculinity" and then dies while trying to redeem himself in a way that's still kind of toxically masculine
He did after Skinny Pete and Badger told him blue meth was still being produced
Possble, it's been years since I watched it so I don't remember it very well. The machine gun thing seemed to be about killing the nazis but I guess he didn't know Jesse would be... I want to say in a pit?
EDIT: And even if that is the case, that's not some rando twist or abrupt sudden ending, it's Walt continuing to be a piece of shit.
Still, it does fit with the overarching “moral” of the series, IE feudalism is bad regardless of who is in charge and change to the social structure is needed to prevent more giant blood feuds.
The show dunks the one presented attempt to change the social structure that has any chance of succeeding at all as "naive" and makes the reform-attempting SV violence victim murderously "craaaaaazy" to justify killing her off after one more screwing of her (in more ways than one) for good measure.
It was because the actress playing her had renegotiated her contract so she couldn't be coerced into even more gratuitously presented full frontal SV :awooga: than had been previously so coercively pushed on her by contractual obligation. Such obligations had been abusive enough to her that she had cried on set while the failson director hogs were getting off to her distress. :kombucha-disgust:
"Feudalism is bad, but trying to change it makes things worse, so pick your favorite quippy monster and enjoy the murderfucking" is just edgier MCU messaging. :debord-tired:
what became of d&d?
Last I heard, no consequences whatsoever. They were vile not just to her but to a lot of people, made edgy jokes about what assholes they were, and surfed upon a board of sheer rich banker's son privilege on a cresting wave of contempt into moneyland. :capitalist-laugh:
people definitely don't want a satisfying narrative conclusion that enhaces every part that came before, they absolutely want the be ambushed and bewildered by complete tonal and personality shifts out of nowhere because the worst thing that could ever happen is forecasting anything at all
How To Get Away With Murder (season 1) was the absolute worst example of this I have ever seen. No "twist" has ever made me roll my eyes as hard as that nonsense.
It's such a cheap trick to deny a satisfying closer to an already exhaustively grimdark story. The fandom is already Pavlovian trained for expecting misery, so I see why it works. :yea:
Rome had a satisfying ending even after a lot of shit happened, and I actually liked that one as far as P R E S T I G E T V goes, and that was part of why.
Man Carrying Thing
That narrows it down so little that even if some adjectives were added like "grizzled" and "slouching" it can also cover hundreds of video game covers from 2003-2023 :pain:
Just watched this, was even going to post it, I don't even watch TV either, except for disastrous attempts at nuTrek and Better call Saul which I think was good despite some incredible psycho moments(Chuck vs Jimmy real good example). I even regret wasting my time watching The Boys after everyone was praising it here last year.
I saw Hasan praising Succession so much so I tried watching from ep 01 but I quit, I can see the appeal straight away, it is mildly funny I guess, I understand why westerners might love this so much but I have no reason to watch a show about psychopaths doing psycho shit.
Why even bother? I guess it just speaks to how the average person still somehow believes the capitalist class is just "normal" people so they're shocked to find out they're all stupid and/or psycho monsters instead?
Like I watched half of Ep01 and I'd gladly, willingly put all the characters in that show inside a bus and drive it into a lake or something. The furthers thing from appealing that I can imagine for me personally.
