"Unraveling Ends," Why We Love or Despise Them

We often talk on the show about how and when things begin, so I thought it would be useful today to discuss where they end: when all the truths of your tale lead to a certain place, when all the work that you do helps folks to arrive where they’d like to—in their work, in their life, in their play—and in a better state.   But what makes an ending ‘good’, makes it right, makes you and your market, audience or tribe feel like you’ve arrived, that ‘this, here, is fine’ at the end of the journey that together you’ll take? That it’s clear. And inevitable. That you know why. So join us today, as we talk about endings, what makes them satisfying, and how even the change of a beat—at the right time—can delight, make us treasure, or feel surprised. I hope you enjoy.  -J  Show Notes  The Empire Strikes Back: how the ending was changed to better clarify   Esquire on Catharsis in film, narrative and online    Screenwriter Ronald D. Moore on what he had planned for Battlestar Galactica’s four-hour end Jojo Rabbit, the last scene  The Life Aquatic as a modern Moby Dick  The origins (and intent) to Frankenstein Captain Fantastic, living Walden 2 or Peter Pan, a review   Breaking Bad’s “Felina”, and the tales it parallels Rutger Hauer‘s final soliloquy in Blade Runner