I used to be a fan of the TV show Dexter, I say “used to be”, because until the last season it was a thoroughly enjoyable (and) guilty pleasure of mine. However, season 8 ruined it for me. The twists and turns in the plot were nothing short of nonsensical (I could give examples; Deborah's sudden XXX but I might spoil it for those who have yet to watch this disappointing season. A word of advice, don't.)
The grand finale of the show struck me speechless, I would describe it as being a cop-out ending, an ending which had no premise, a desperate attempt by the screenwriters to give a final dramatic twist to the story, but which fell flat on its face. I believe that the writers were trying to attempt a sort of poetic justice, an ironic ending considering Dexter's character at the beginning of the TV show. But it just didn't work.
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Is there a word or expression which describes a sudden and inexplicable "cop-out ending", wherein the reader of a novel or TV viewer feels cheated in some way.
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Can I say: “a cop-out ending”? Is it idiomatic?
Best Answer
The first word that springs to my mind is anticlimactic, though lame seems to be a popular phrase. I wouldn't say your 'cop-out ending' is idiomatic, but it is definitely descriptive.
I am impressed that you got through eight seasons of Dexter. I enjoyed the first two, but the third started to get diluted and predictable and I dropped off so you might want to keep in mind that I didn't actually see the episode you refer to.
TV series also have a context all of their own. I read somewhere recently (I can't find it now...) that good endings for TV shows are almost impossible to write. Partly because very few TV series start out with an ending to work towards, while movies do; partly because a series by its nature is about continuing rather than ending; and partly because the length of a TV series means there is a lot of build up - tens if not hundreds of hours of it - and only one episode in which to finish it all off. That combines to make any finale a bit of a fizzle, so phrases such as lame and anticlimactic need to be used in a way appropriate to the standards of TV show finales. An ending that is lame for a movie or a novel may be acceptable by the standards of TV serials.
This has to balanced agains a counter argument though. Compare the UK and US versions of the old series Life on Mars (If you haven't seen it, you should. I think you would enjoy it but get the UK version.) and the way they end. Both series are about the same length, 16 episodes for the UK version and 17 for the US, but the UK finale is excellent while the US one is seriously lame. In the US one the central character wakes up in a rocket on Mars and finds it was all a dream while in suspended animation (blaaaaaaagh...) while the UK ending keeps the tension on right up to the final minute - literally. As both series have the same length and the same amount of build up, but one has a lame ending and the other a great one, it could be argued that the writers have more to do with it than anything else and blaming the format is a cop out.
This is something to keep in mind when you see lame or anticlimactic (or anything else similar) being used to describe a TV serial - does the user think TV shows inherently have poor endings, or does he blame the writers? That is going to colour his/her use of the word and your interpretation of it in a way outside the usual subjective elements.