This should absolutely be the series finale. I’m saying this as someone who has always been a huge fan of this show—though that fanaticism has significantly waned this season barely above nil. Although I watched, I didn’t care enough to come post here much this year. The storylines/relationships have ALL wrapped up, and there’s really nowhere to go from here. That ending was really spot-on as a series finale. Jax is right that it’s his friendships that made this show popular. Not just HIM of course—but the relationships amongst the core group of Jax, Stassi, Sandoval, Kristin, Katie, Schwartz (even though he was a “friend of” for years), and Scheana. ANYONE else who joined later I still don’t really care about or consider them the stars of the show. I sure as hell wouldn’t have tuned in all these years if it was just Lisa and a random group of SURvers, like “the new cast” we got this year. Jax and “his friends” ARE the show! The friendships, the fights—and especially the cheating scandals, coverups, investigations, and confessions. The gang is far past that point in life, and I really don’t give a damn about whether Dana will choose Max or Brett—or “choose herself.” The original friend group did have that It Factor that made us tune in all these years to watch the drama of their friendships unfold. Sorry, Lisa, I’m not going to tune in to see you or whomever else you happen to dredge up amongst your various business ventures—despite you putting a bunch of contenders in a room and the two nobodies starting a fight out of nowhere to “prove” their dramatic abilities for the show. I admit to even tearing up a few times during this show. Okay, maybe being locked up for 2 months is getting to me. But it was enough of an “emotional closing” for me that I think it would be a huge mistake to continue on with this show. I got choked up with James really having seemingly “changed,” and Katie and Randall both acknowledging that and physically and emotionally embracing him. The sad endings to both the male and female “core three” friendships. The Toms expanding their business enterprise. Stassi and Lala joining the ranks of married homeowners. Scheana being her same old self whooping it up on someone’s shoulders. (Everyone else has grown but Scheana and Jax are still their same old selves.) And, the piece de resistance: Lisa’s dramatic speech to Jax while flashing to representative cast members while a “demented carousel version” of the theme song played underneath. That’s a perfect ending right there. The show WAS about the friendships. The friendships are over. That’s a wrap, folks.
