(warning: contains major spoilers for a handful of television shows)
The 2012-2013 television season has come to a close. Some shows said goodbye for their last time (RIP 30 Rock) and some finished up their first season with the hopes of a new tomorrow (what up, The Following). There were twists, turns, all around shockers, and moments we’re still saying “WTF!?” to. Every finale this season had its moments and I give a round of applause to each and every show (even the ones I haven’t had the pleasure to watch yet). So, with the fall/spring season put to rest and the summer season taking off, I’ve decided to look back at some of the sweet, funny, heartbreaking, and crazy moments showcased in some of this years season finales.
How I (FINALLY) Met Your Mother: Over the course of eight seasons, HIMYM has been an on going, up and down, journey for main character and narrator Ted Mosby and how he met his wife and mother of his kids. Every episode has essentially been one story closer to the day he met the love of his life. Ted has been through countless relationships, crazy adventures, and love crisis’, including a continuous on-again, off-again relationship with best friend Robin. Season eight provided a closure to the Ted/Robin saga as Robin said “yes” to Barney’s marriage proposal. Even though clues were provided about Ted’s future Mrs. Mosby (she was in the band that played at Barney & Robin’s wedding, she had a yellow umbrella that Ted has passed on the street several times through the years, she was the roommate of a former flame of Ted’s, etc.) viewers still weren’t convinced Robin wasn’t the mother, even up until the season finale.
In the final episode of the season, as all the characters made their final plans before heading out of the city for Robin and Barney’s wedding weekend, Ted lamented to Lily that he was planning to make a permanent move to Chicago, hoping to finally let go of his feelings for Robin and move on. At the same time, a girl with stylish boots and a guitar made her way through a nearby train station. As she stood in line for tickets, she set down a signature piece viewers had come to recognize since the first season: a yellow umbrella. Would this be the final moment? After seasons and seasons of being teased with finally meeting the mother, would viewers finally see her face? The answer was: yes! HIMYM finally revealed the face behind the umbrella in the last shot of the finale (and I couldn’t be happier about the actress, Cristin Milioti, of Broadway’s Once) and viewers were introduced to the mother.
You get a cliffhanger, you get a cliffhanger, everybody gets a cliffhanger! It’s safe to say that the third season of SyFy’s Being Human was by far its strongest. With their ability to differentiate themselves from their British counterpart, the show grew into its own this past season. Not only were viewers taken through the separate journey’s of ghost/zombie Sally, not werewolf and then werewolf again Josh, and vampire Aidan, but a slew of new and interesting characters were introduced including Sally’s boyfriend and boss, Max, and Aidan’s bubble boy and vampire son, Kenny.
The last episode of the season didn’t slow down its twists and turns. The show introduced some big cliffhangers that would set up each and every characters season four storyline. Sally was dragged to an unknown dimension by witch/ghost Donna. Josh, finally turning for the first full moon since being scratched again by pureblood wolf Liam, set off into the woods with new wife Nora for their transformations. Nora awoke the next morning to find that Josh was still in a wolf state, no longer cursed solely by the full moon. Finally, Aidan tried to move on after refusing to kill now deformed vampire son Kenny and letting him go in the woods (*cough* asshole). As Adain walked down the 
crowded streets of Boston, a cab pulled up to a curb. A beautiful woman stepped out, revealing the same face that viewers had caught a glimpse in flashbacks from over two hundred years ago, Aidan’s thought to be dead, human wife, Suzanna. Where did Sally go? Was Josh a new breed of wolf? Was it really Aidan’s wife or a doppelgänger? Each storyline left an open end that would redefine each character going into their next season.
Walk of Shame: In the latest season of Showtime’s Shameless, Fiona’s complicated relationship with con man Jimmy/Steve came to a halt. Jimmy continuously lied to Fiona as he kept up his charade of being married to Estefania, the daughter of a powerful Brazilian mafia head Jimmy had pissed off more than once. His rules were simple, keep up the ruse of the marriage and Estefania would not get deported back to Brazil and her father would be a happy man. Unfortunately, Jimmy could not keep up his end of the bargain. He was hell bent on keeping any and all aspects of his “marriage” a secret from Fiona and the rest of the Gallagher family. This would cause many fights and breaking points between Fiona and Jimmy, even leading Fiona to develop a closer bond with her boss at her new job.
Jimmy’s plan backfired on him as his struggle to keep his two lives separated came to an end after missing a home inspection from immigration with Estefania, leading to her deportation. Her father spared no time and made his way back to the states to have a firm and maybe even deadly conversation with Jimmy. Jimmy’s last shot came as he took his walk of shame onto a large yacht, sealing his fate. Viewers were unsure whether this 
meant his torture, kidnapping, or demise. Fiona, still unaware of Jimmy’s other life and whereabouts, desperately tried to get in touch with Jimmy as their last interaction had been a huge argument over their future. She was convinced he had run off, too scared to face his life with Fiona and her family. She said goodbye to Jimmy for good over one last heartbreaking voice message, “Last message. I promise. Wherever you are…bye.” Even after the finale, fans were still unsure of Jimmy’s fate. Creators of the show put the mystery to rest as it was revealed that JimmySteve had in fact been murdered for his wrong doings. So ended a long and crazy three season relationship between JimmySteve and the Gallagher’s.
Who are you? Who who who who: The finale of Doctor Who ended the season long mystery surrounding new companion Clara Oswald. After meeting and witnessing Clara’s death not once but twice, in the future and the past, the Doctor was dumbfounded over finding her again in our present day. How could this girl have died twice? How could she be alive once more? All of those questions and more were answered as the Doctor made his way to the forbidden planet of Trenzalore, the Doctor’s final resting place.
In order to save the Doctor, Clara inserted herself into the Doctor’s wibbly wobbly timeline, scattering herself countless times, saving him through out all his different incarnations. Not only was the mystery of Clara solved but as the Doctor jumped into the the depths of his own timeline in order to save Clara we learned a deep, dark secret even the Doctor had hidden from 
himself: Another incarnation had existed (presumably before the reboot of the show) and had done something so deplorable and so un-Doctor like that he had regenerated just to hide the memories of this incarnation where no one could find him. The reveal of the lost Doctor was a way to end the season with a bang and to keep viewers impatient until the long awaited 50th anniversary special scheduled for later in the year.
Quoth The Following, “Nevermore.” A lot of criticism has fallen upon Fox’s baby suspense drama of the season, The Following. Many found the FBI’s inability to catch escaped murderer and cult leader Joe Carroll ridiculous and the events became too far 
fetched and too crazy for some to handle. But, that’s why I loved the freshman show. It was over the top, took crazy to a new level, and had me yelling at my screen several times. After a long manhunt and with a personal vendetta to end, ex FBI agent Ryan Hardy finally had his chance to take down Carroll once and for all. And he did. In a fiery boat house, Ryan let Joe Carroll meet his maker much like many other followers and FBI agents had during the first seasons course.
With a serial killer and cult leader dead, Ryan could finally settle down with the woman he loved, Claire (who also happened to be Carroll’s ex-wife and mother of Carroll’s child). Things were looking up for the couple who had fought so hard to just stay alive. Ryan took Claire back to his apartment in New York for some R&R only to be met by Ryan’s neighbor and undercover Carroll follower who’s mission was simple: kill Claire. The season finale ended with Claire’s fate up in the air. The stab wounds she suffered seemed serious and possibly even fatal. With Claire’s death looming, what kind of man will alcoholic and already erratic Ryan become? Now that Joe is dead what will happen to his still breathing followers? The first season played out like a long movie, utilizing every trick they could. A second season will have to be bigger, badder, and even crazier in order to avoid the “sophomore slump.”
Honorable Moment Mentions: Stefan is a doppelgänger to big bad Silas (The Vampire Diaries), Ron Swanson is going to be a daddy (Parks and Recreation), Jenna cheats on Matty (Awkward), The fate of Olivia Benson as she’s locked in her apartment with a serial rapist and sociopath (Law and Order: SVU), Did Norman finally snap and kill his teacher? (Bates Motel)
Special Mention: The Red Wedding (Game of Thrones‘ penultimate episode)
5. Ask yourself: Do I really care about these characters? Back at the beginning of the fall TV season I was interested to see where Glee was going to go now that half the characters had graduated. The season three finale felt more like a series finale to me but I decided I would still tune in. I try not to just give up on shows, I want to be a loyal viewer! But, as season four began the show failed in keeping my interest, simply because I didn’t find the characters interesting anymore. I didn’t care if Rachel and Finn were together or not, I didn’t care about Mr. Shue and his new D.C. position, and I definitely didn’t care about any of the new characters (whose names I can’t even recall at the moment) and their plights. I found the character arcs centered on their love lives and only their love lives…and sometimes they sang about it. What I originally loved about Glee was the view into these characters lives and the hardships they went through as people, not who they were kissing on a week to week basis.
A girl, a TV, a lot of feelings. 