Succession, Ted Lasso and The Curious Case of Natalia Grace
Ashley Ray Ranks All the May TV Finales
I get it! You want my Succession takes and I have an entire hour right here for you! Not just that, it’s a Scam Goddess reunion since I’m joined by THEE Laci Mosley! I’m sure you’re tired of hearing about Succession, tweeting about Succession, and headlines about Succession, but this is the last thing you’ll need to properly say goodbye to the show. Also…we talk about that new Shaun King scam, of course we do!
Let’s Rank Those Finales!
There were so many series and season finales this month, I feel like a lot got overlooked. So, I’ve decided to rank all the finales I watched this month. Not like, just the popular ones, but all the finales that I watched. You’ve heard enough about Succession, let’s all shut up about it until enough time has passed that it feels nostalgic to look back. Barry and Ted Lasso were also shows that had a lot on the line, but did they deliver more than The Great North finale?
Using an arbitrary system (how the episode made me feel,) here are the month’s finales from worst to best. Obviously: THERE ARE SPOILERS
Grey’s Anatomy - Season 19 Finale
Get your “that show is still on the air?” jokes out of the way, okay? Yes! Grey’s Anatomy is still on and I still watch it! This finale had some great moments: Teddy is maybe dead or at least got a bad tooth infection (lol) during surgery, the new interns have their “Denny” moment when they cause a hot guy to die and Meredith comes back! They don’t really do anything with Meredith, it turns out she’s solved alzheimer’s, but everything we’ve known until now is wrong! Bailey magically wins an Avery award which should make me cry, but I just wondered about the ethical issues of Katherine giving her own doctors her own foundation’s award again. Also, that girl didn’t get married! They really want me to think she’s in love with Lil’ Derek, but who are they even??? Whatever. We say goodbye to another season of Grey’s Anatomy, knowing it will return to us again.
Yellowjackets - Season 2 “Finale”
Finale is in quotes here because a “surprise” 10th episode has been teased. I wouldn’t mind a Yellowjackets Christmas Special, so sure! But, if this is the finale we’re working with…what the hell is going on? The last 30 minutes were like wild wet spaghetti thrown against the walls. Character decisions no longer made sense (WHY did they go along with Lottie for so long?! What was the plan there?! Why would Natalie suddenly pull that knife or why would that cop just agree to what a stranger said so fast….? If the darkness just needed a sacrifice, why didn’t Travis count as one earlier? Did Lottie know that the darkness rejected Travis and actually she was trying to sacrifice him?) I still love Yellowjackets and absolutely think it can come back from this, but the final choice…to kill off their best character…well, this is a finale that’s going to have an impact for a long time to come and it just doesn’t feel like the right time or choice.
Animal Control - Season 1 Finale
What a sweet sitcom that wants to replace Brooklyn 99 in our hearts, but with animal cops so it doesn’t feel like a moral issue. I think it deserves the second season renewal and the finale was funny and tidy just in case there wasn’t a renewal. Do I really remember what happened? Not so much! It’s one of those sitcoms you can just throw on in the background, but sometimes you’ll chuckle. The show is still finding its footing and I’m willing to give it time to grow.
Night Court - Season 1 Finale
Hey! Did you watch this whole show like I did? I enjoyed the overall season way more than the finale! It felt a bit lackluster compared to the energy we got in earlier episodes. Mostly, I still think I’m enjoying this show because I have never seen the original Night Court. It got laughs out of me though! The multi-cam is back, baby!
Not Dead Yet - Season 1 Finale
If you gave up on this show, I beg you to keep going! It becomes a great ensemble show with interesting twists in the back half. The finale tries to get the characters in a place that makes sense if there’s no season two and, honestly, I’d be fine if the story does end here. It was a bumpy show and I’d take Home Economics if I have to choose.
90 Day Fiancé: The Other Way - Season 4 Finale
It took a three part Tell All to get to the end, but we’re here. This season had a lot of promise with our new couples, but the pay off wasn’t there. Everyone was keeping secrets at the Tell All and Shaun Robinson didn’t have the background to push them. Usually my girl comes prepared with screenshots, photos, hotel receipts! Instead, Gabe was the reunion instigator. He digging into everyone’s business! That’s fair though, he’s part of the only healthy couple we got to see. They’re actually going to stay together, so I’ll let him talk his shit.
The Goldbergs - Season 10
This finale really should’ve made me cry more! You’re saying goodbye to 10 seasons, a dead grandpa and a “dead” dad! I should’ve been sobbing, but it was more like a whimper. A few callbacks and happy endings mark the end of a sitcom that was truly interesting and even a little subversive early in its run. Goodbye, The Goldbergs, I’ll miss you when I’m bored on Wednesday nights.
Queen Charlotte - Season 1
Netflix dropped the entire season this month, so it counts as a finale airing. I thought this would be a great show to watch while I scroll Twitter and I don’t pay attention, but by the end I was deep in Bridgerton lore trying to figure out all the connections to the main series. These people know how to write a romance and, goddamn, they got me with Charlotte and this lil’ white boy. I’ll gladly watch more if they shovel it into my face. It turns out it’s even better than the first season of Bridgerton, actually!
Ted Lasso - Season 3
I know I’m the black woman who told you to watch Ted Lasso. I stand by that! The first season of this show was truly a balm. It was what we needed and it hit just right. I never “wanted” anything from the Ted Lasso finale, I just figured it would end with the same optimism the series encouraged. Instead, the finale suffers from the same pacing issues that plagued the season. Every character ended up where I thought they would, I’m just not sure….how or why they got there.
Mostly though, Jamie Tartt was great! Until the end that is: for some reason the last episode chose to throw all of Jamie and Roy’s growth at the wall by having the two men confess they still like Keely. It’s a pointless half-time love triangle that just felt unnecessary. Oh, and Rebecca did end up with the boat guy. She runs into him at the airport after Ted leaves and is soon bringing him to a team bbq. I choose to believe she moved so fast because she was pregnant (lol.)
Either way, this just felt like a set up for a spin-off, so I know we’ll get more of this world. The fans are so upset about the finale, they’re trying to convince themselves that the entire final montage was a dream sequence. I was fine with it! Ted was always going to leave. I never thought Tedbecca was real and I knew it was gonna be Boat Guy the second he was introduced (I just wish they’d actually developed that.) I’ll always be glad that this show got me through the pandemic, but I think it will give me the same feeling I get re-watching some Community or Glee episodes…it was for a time and a place.
The Great North - Season 3
Now this is how you keep a great season going all the way to the end goal! I loved the part two cliffhanger to the kids’ meat explosion disaster. The Great North has built out a fun, weird world and I hope we get to spend a lot of time in it! There are at least 10 jokes every episode that make me go “guffaw” Three seasons in and it feels like it’s just getting to the good part.
Single Drunk Female - Season 2
Freeform dropped this all at once, but it felt like it didn’t deserve a binge watch. There were some great moments that would’ve thrived with some online discussion. This show still feels like a refreshing take on female grief, sobriety and addiction. With the Hulu/Disney+ merger shaking things up all over Freeform, I don’t know if we’ll get more of this show, but I hope we do! I’d love to see it continue.
Primo - Season 1
This whole season dropped on Amazon Prime Video Freevee. That means it’s on Amazon Prime Video, but you have to watch it with commercials. It’s worth it! I finished this in a day it was so great. It has some wonderful Malcom in the Middle vibes that hit the perfect tone of silly and heartwarming. I am absolutely rooting for the mom, so if you need a show to replace your Ted Lasso hole, I actually think this is a good one for you. It’s just FUNNY!
Bob’s Burgers - Season 13
Goddamn it, they did it again! With this “Amelia” episode, I was brought to tears! Grey’s Anatomy didn’t make me cry! The Goldbergs? No! Louise talking about Amelia Earhart made me sob. Of course I was a young girl OBSESSED with Amelia Earhart! I played her in a 4th grade school play, so this hit close to home. I wanted to hold Lil’ Louise. Anyway, that was just the A-plot, I also loved the Mother’s Day story because Bob’s Burgers is always good with a holiday.
The Great - Season 3
Another amazing show that was dropped all at once and quickly forgotten! This season had a SHOCKING twist at the half-way point, but after that relationship changed the rest of the episodes just felt off. As a whole season, the finale worked for me, but I didn’t like how finite that ending felt. If it is the real end though…I am glad we got three seasons of this brilliant comedy.
Ghosts - Season 2
I’m still watching Ghosts with your mom and grandparents! And we loved the season two finale! The ghosts constantly helping them save the bed and breakfast never gets old. I love where the show might go with new ghosts! On Thursday nights, this is the show I look forward to most (it is in competition with Grey’s Anatomy, so, it’s not a hard contest, but still.) And that cliffhanger???? WHO WAS IT!?
Barry - Season 4
Bill Hader, you are crazy, man. I think he pulled off this final season and I’m happy where the narrative ended, but I don’t know if I like the time jump we had to take to get there. I wanted more time with Hank and Sally, but that’s the nature of final seasons. Hader played with the fact that we overlook the evil things Barry and others on the show have done to love them. I’m happy Fuches got his ending and…NoHo Hank, I will always love you. It feels like some stuff this season went nowhere, but I think Hader just wanted to have fun.
Somebody Somewhere - Season 2
This poor lil’ show is getting so overlooked in the Barry and Succession of it all, but this has been the cleanser between those two toxic entrees. Somebody Somewhere is simply relatable, funny and Midwestern. It’s a version of queerness we rarely see on TV. It just feels special, without feeling like an after school special. You actually love seeing these characters break their walls down and connect, but even they know it’s kind of gross. I hope we get more episodes and more people write about this gem!
Schmigadoon - Season 2
IT IS SO UNFAIR THAT EVERY TED LASSO EPISODE WAS ALMOST TWO HOURS LONG AND SCHMIGADOON HAD A REDUCED SEASON! This season - Schmicago - hit my favorite era of musicals so it had everything I wanted: references to A Chorus Line, ballads and flappers. The Sweeney Todd stuff helped the season find the perfect pitch. I could rewatch this season again already. I hope we get more because I’d love to see them take on modern musicals like Spring Awakening and Rent.
Succession - Season 4
Oh come on, you knew it would be here. You probably thought it would be #1, but NO! Scroll up and listen to the podcast for all my thoughts, but I mostly liked that nothing shocking happened the entire episode even though there was so much tension. I always knew it would be my Midwest Boy and everyone gets to suffer in a hell of their own making. I will miss this show so bad.
Mrs. Davis - Season 1
YEAH! This is NOT SUCCESSION! It is Mrs. Davis! A Peacock limited (?) series that won me over and stuck a difficult landing. I did not see how they’d write their way out of the insane premise, but it all lines up. Everything pays off. Character development makes sense. There’s a heartbreaking death reveal and romance. No one remembers Peacock shows, so this incredible finale didn’t make it above the fray. I beg you, though, go watch Mrs. Davis! I’m not even spoiling anything because I want you to watch it!
The Dave and Rise of the Pink Ladies finales aren’t included because I haven’t watched them yet. Think I forgot a finale? You know what to do:
What Else?
I told you I had a tour date announcement! The tickets to my early show at Union Hall are SOLD OUT but there’s still some tickets to the late show, so get ‘em! Can’t go to NYC? Well here are the Chicago and LA dates!
Also, the Feeld One Night Stand shows are FREE if you have the app!
Also, I’ve been watching SO MANY DOCUMENTARIES for you. I’m going to do another big documentary ranking soon (for paid subscribers, cough cough), but I do want to say I’m watching The Curious Case of Natalia Grace (on Max, Hulu and Discovery+).
It’s a 3-night series with 2 episodes airing every night. So far, it is the wild documentary of the year. Every other minute I am changing where I stand. Start watching so you’re ready for my doc dive!
justice for the maisel finale!!
Excited to start the Natalia Grace doc! I am going into it feeling that she was a child abandoned by her adoptive parents but am fairly open to having my mind changed.