It's interesing to see how things come full circle. In ancient times, there were epic stories that all came down to the final scenes. Since many of those were oral stories, that meant hours, if not days, of story before the finale finally came to pass. Now, it's fairly normal for television shows to have season-long stories (sometimes called "arcs"). Babylon 5 was the first one that caught my eye (it originally had a 5 year arc, then was shortened to 4, but when the 5th season was picked up the final part was tacked on).
Anyway, what I'm interested in is the emotion that's generated by such long buildups. It's incredible the power that a successful resolution can have on people. Gray's Anatomy season close (with 007, if you know what I mean), apparently caused more tears than onions. That's fascinating, because the emotional impact of that last episode is far more than the sum of the episodes before it. Somehow long buildups like that manage to pay off in huge ways.
As a writer, I strive to do just that at the end of books. I study such things, try to sort them out. Maybe the biggest mystery about the long buildup is why it works to begin with? What about the human psyche wants the delayed payoff so much that they are willing to suffer through an entire season just to find out the answer? It's amazing, and a wonderful treat.
- M
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