All My Children: The Finale

All My Children, a daytime drama for 41 years, came to an end on Friday, September 23, 2011. It was the end of an era that many fans were sad to see go. There have been many colorful characters grace the scenery of Pine Valley throughout the years. Characters such as Erica Kane, Jack Montgomery, Tad Martin, Adam Chandler, Stewart Chandler and a whole host of others kept Pine Valley alive during its tenure. Fans waited in anticipation of a great finale show that brought everyone back together one final time. Disappointment rang throughout the internet after all was said and done.

For your information, this article is somewhat of a spoiler if you weren't able to watch the All My Children finale show. If you are planning to watch it in the future, do not read this article. What fans got when watching the final episode was utter shock that the writers left things in such disarray. Although there were talks of either continuing AMC on another network or on the internet, fans wanted some closure. What they got was everything but closure. That seems to be a theme among shows that have been cancelled.

In the weeks prior to the finale show, AMC writers went to great pains to bring old characters back, even those who were dead. Kudos to them for doing such a wonderful job with that. They also went to great lengths to ensure that the families reunited no matter how bad things were. Viewers hoped and truly believed that the ending would have all of Pine Valley in one room and happy to be together. That was something to look forward to.

The show didn't end that way though. It ended with a cliffhanger. It also ended with a huge number of cliché lines from other movie/show endings. Nothing of the final ten minutes was original in thought. J.R. basically stalked the town the entire episode with a gun in his hand. Erica and Jack's relationship was ended and a shot rings out as Erica begins to walk out after Jack. The screen then fades to black, leaving fans in utter shock and anger. The final episode did not do justice at all to the show, the characters, the hard work the writers have put in to create the reunions or to the fans.

I watched AMC as a teenager and into adulthood. It was only when I went out to work during the day that I stopped watching. In the past couple of years, I was able to begin watching the show again. I even made a special point to watch when I found out the show was cancelled. I didn't want to miss the ending, just like thousands of other fans. I now wish I had stopped at the next to the last episode.

The All My Children Facebook fan page was overflowing with disappointed comments after the show ended. Most of those people echoed the same feelings I had about it. What are we saying?

The biggest disappointment was the fact that they left it a cliffhanger. J.R. totes a gun around town and then stalks the party at the Chandler house. At times throughout the finale show and the days preceding, many of us thought that J.R. was going to kill himself. By the end of the show, shots ring out while the camera is on Erica Kane (Susan Lucci). Some people believe that this means the show will be back on air. At the very least, they believe that it will be on in internet form. The problem is, that has not been established yet. If that happens, it is wonderful, but it presents other problems. It leaves no closure for those who cannot watch from the internet, if that were to happen.

Loyal fans of All My Children watched from their televisions for years. Many of those people are now senior citizens who do not use computers. Many people do not want to watch their favorite soap on the computer anyway. For those people, there will never be closure for one of the most beloved soap operas of all time.

There are other problems with this ending. The first thing that most people thought is about the Dallas "Who shot J.R.?" cliffhanger. For those who don't know what Dallas was, it was a nighttime soap many years ago. J.R. was the main character in that show. He was the hated character and someone shot him. They aired the episode of him being shot on a season end episode and left viewers hanging the entire summer before getting back to the storyline in the fall. This reminded them of that except it is "Who did J.R. shoot?" Viewers will never know whom he shot because the show has ended.

It reminds me of the Soprano's ending where the screen turns to black and leaves viewers hanging. It is a cold way to leave viewers when you know there will be no more episodes or there is a chance there will be no more episodes. It also shows little imagination. What a horrible thing to do to fans. It should have been wrapped up, not left in the air even if it is moving elsewhere. Fans deserved closure.

As for Erica turning into the selfish somebody that she had gotten away from being, that was a wrong move as well. To show that conceited side of her again instead of the loving and caring person she grew into over the years was upsetting. When people have learned to grow, even if they are a soap character, shouldn't the final show have shown exactly how far the character of Erica had come through the years? She did the right thing in asking Jack to go with her, which brings us to another problem area. Jack loved Erica for who she was. Erica was a strong-willed woman. She was successful at everything she attempted. She had a lot of pull and power in Pine Valley. Jack loved that Erica. For him to suddenly decide that Erica was being selfish by pursuing her dreams was ridiculous. He would have backed her up one-hundred percent and agreed to go with her. Why couldn't they have followed the example of Home Improvement's ending? Tim Taylor was a man who learned through the years that his wife's dreams were just as important as his. That was the best show ending I have ever seen. She gets a job in another state. She doesn't want to leave the house, so Tim figures out a way to take the house with them. The Gone with the Wind ending was out of character for the current Erika and Jack.

As for the other little tidbits of bad decision making when it came to the final episode, there are so many that fans are left hanging on several levels. For instance, who was that other person that David had stashed away? Was it fair to build up the audience like that for one more person and not give it to us? Did J.R. actually shoot someone or did he shoot himself? Why wasn't Stewart at the party? For that matter, if The View could get Jenny and Greg to show up, why couldn't AMC have Jenny as that final person David had and convince both characters to come back to town for one day? Come on! They got Carol Burnett and Sarah Michelle Gellar (the original Kendall) for a few scenes. If they could do that, they could have been convincing enough to bring Jenny and Greg back to town.

There is some hope that the show will return in some form. It is hard to determine because some of the actors from the television show have thus far refused to continue with the soap opera. Susan Lucci has turned the offer down even though she was offered the same amount of money that she was receiving for the television show. Even Erica Kane deserves to retire. The show had an extremely long run. It will remain in the hearts of fans for a long time to come. Unfortunately, they don't have the closure that makes the series end even more special.