I think the episode itself is overrated. The montage is very well done, it's the stuff before it that is the issue.

No, it's the best ending of a series I've seen. After watching the show 5 times, still gets me every time. I suppose it's just a matter of, you either love it or you don't.

I was kidding lol
Well that's because almost every ending of a tv show left us unsatisfied and just plain suck. The fact that this show have an above average ending definitely make it worthy of such recognizition.

That's weird, I don't feel like I hate myself. You do understand that this is one of my favorite shows? In fact, it was for years my #1 show of all time, and it's still #2 after
Breaking Bad
. I just don't like how in popular culture, all you ever hear about is the finale (which really just means the final montage).
My top 250:
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No, you hate yourself if you think that

Uh, no? It's still the best series finale of any show that I've seen.

I feel the same! Can you link me to stuff you've written about it?
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It's funny that you mention
A Coat of White Primer
as your favorite because despite being such a seemingly standard episode within the series, I often cite it as my favorite as well. I've wrote about it a few times on these boards, but while I don't necessarily think that in terms of quality the episode is the best in the series, it has always stood out to me.
But I agree, every single scene of that episode is fantastic, the Andrea Kuhn vignette is the most impactful of all the series' opening deaths as far as I'm concerned, the new dynamics that we are thrown into following the time jump, it all just makes for a tremendous episode.
I could go into further detail, but I'm just glad to see someone else appreciates that episode as much as I do.

The wedding/miscarriage is so raw and harrowing. Brenda's mom shows a side we don't often see. Every conversation by every character at the wedding is perfectly written and acted. Even the title is amazing.
The opening death is, more than most of them, like a little movieand a good one. (Were there ever any others that showed a substantial period of time before the death?)
My top 250:
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Haha well I think it's a solid, memorable episode so not "inexplicable" but it's an unusual choice. Personally I find the flashback scenes a little jarring, which is why it isn't a favorite, but the Brenda stuff is fascinating and I always like when the characters are brought together.
Ill be waiting, with a gun and a pack of sandwiches.

Is "interesting" a polite way of saying you think it's an inexplicable choice?
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That's an interesting choice. My #1 actually isn't from those episodes either - it's probably A Private Life (season 1, episode 12). That stretch from S5 is next, but it's all so depressing and hard to watch..!
Ill be waiting, with a gun and a pack of sandwiches.

Those are great, but my all-time favorite episode is still the Season 5 premiere.
My top 250:
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Yeah, as much as I love the show I'm not crazy about the montage. It's a great concept but not so great in execution. The obituaries HBO released for the main characters tell us everything about their lives (and deaths!), so they would have been sufficient.
To be honest, I find the whole finale a tad overrated. It's a very good episode and brings nice closure, but episodes 9, 10, and 11 of Season 5 are the ones that deserve all the attention. They are am.az.ing.
Ill be waiting, with a gun and a pack of sandwiches.

Unless they just skip to the end
My top 250:
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Do you think the focus in media/online culture on the finale (and implicitly, on the montage) is harmful to the show overall?
nope!
Or is it helpful in keeping it in "the conversation" in terms of the best cable dramas of all time?
yup!
so while it may set some up for disappointment, the journey they'll have experienced up until that point will make whatever they feel about the ending moot. i cant imagine someone saying, "i watched 70 hours of tv for THAT?!?!" they'll have connected to the story and characters the same way we all did, and the ending, at that point, wont matter. regardless, the vast majority of the people are going to love it. whether its because they actually do or theyve been primed to think they do. they will.

Sounds like we are pretty close to agreement.
Do you think the focus in media/online culture on the finale (and implicitly, on the montage) is harmful to the show overall? Or is it helpful in keeping it in "the conversation" in terms of the best cable dramas of all time?
My top 250:
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even though this is my favorite show of all time, i do think the ending is vastly overrated and borders on silly at points. but the more poignant moments (ruth seeing her men, david seeing Kieth, the non death stuff), make it all worth it.

There you go. I don't think I hated it as much as you, but it absolutely would have been cool with the dinner table toast. Or what about a shorter version of Claire driving east to the Sia song?
My top 250:
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I hated it, it ruined the ending for me. The episode should have ended at the dinner table with the toast to Nate.
The rest was absolutely unnecessary, looked like cheap sci-fi.

This message has been deleted.

TYhe ending was amazing but then everyone started dying of a heartattack and it became overrated.

Agreed.
My top 250:
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some parts kinda ruin it for me like rico falling over and billy talking brenda to death when ruth sees nate though, david sees keith, and claire at the end when they show the pictures is touching.