Upcoming Season Finales

Six Feet Under

There are only 2 first-run episodes left to the second season. Episode #12 airs this Sunday, 5/19, at 9:00 P.M. on HBO, and the season finale, episode #13, will air on Sunday, June 2, at 9:00 P.M. (with reruns scattered throughout the following respective week). I'm not really sure where this show is headed; the plotlines have gotten a bit melodramatic and, dare I say, soap-opera-ish. Will Ruth finally seek some much needed counseling? Will Nate dump his "I-screw-complete-strangers-but-I-have-no-problems" girlfriend Brenda and hook up with the nice, stable Rabbi Ari? Will David stop being Keith's doormat? Will Keith ever get that stick out of his ass? Oo, bad metaphor. And what of whacky Lisa, pregnant with Nate's (most likely very hairy) baby? Will Claire and her guidance counselor get a little too close? Tune in to find out.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Tuesday, 5/21, 8:00-10:00 P.M, UPN (two back-to-back episodes). These are the sixth season's final two episodes - "Two to Go" and "Grave". With Buffy's producers' penchant for making character disappear, I'm not sure I like those titles. The perspective of this season has been turned inward, focusing on struggles of a more human nature, both within each of the Scoobies as well as in their relationships with each other. Even the Big Bad wasn't so big or so bad - just a trio of once-amusing-but-now pathetic nerds whose evil plans basically involve getting all the money, power and girls (except maybe Andrew on that last one). However, they may not be supernatural, but they did manage to kill off one of the Scoobies (Tara), and now Willow has gone off the magic deep end. Will Buffy, et al, be able to bring Willow back, or will she be next season's Big Bad? Is Spike trying to restore himself to his former evilness, or is he trying to restore his soul? Has Xander lost a couple of pounds? Will Dawn get a crush on Clem now?

24

Tuesday, 5/21, 9:00-10:00 P.M., FOX. I've stuck with this show all season, and despite some serious ups and downs (amnesia, anyone?), I'm glad I did. Things seem to be paying off big time now. Last night was one of the best episodes all season (partly because Dennis Hopper vith de bad accent had few lines so there was no bleeding from my ears), but mostly because of the emotional payoff we got - the scene where Jack - on his way to trade his life for his daughter's, talking on the cel phone with his wife - finally loses it when Teri (unaware of what he's doing) tells him she's pregnant. With the show's focus on non-stop action, thrills and paranoia, it's difficult to know if you've invested emotionally in these characters - they could be killed off any minute, or turn out to be a bad guy. When we see honest emotion as we did in that scene, or finally get definitive proof of a character's allegiance (the mole was revealed last night!), there's a huge payoff. When Jack finally let the tears go, I had to fight them back. As to what will happen in the end? I don't really think I could even guess at this point - I don't think any of the Bauers will die, although I wish they would put that tape back across Kim's mouth. Will the mole end up dying? Will Tony shave that annoyingly creepy patch of hair under his chin? Will the Drazen's succeed in killing Senator Palmer or will his wife finally do the job herself?

The West Wing

"Posse Comitatus", Wednesday, 5/22, 9:00-10:00 P.M., NBC. I don't know why everyone is always giving Aaron Sorkin such a hard time - he's certainly not perfect ("Isaac & Ishmael", anyone?), but this is still one of the very best shows on television. What sort of repercussions will Sam face after last week's boneheaded move? Will Bruno ask Margaret out? And would Leo be jealous? Who's stalking and threatening CJ? And will she and Special Agent Sunshine just kiss and get it over with? Where the heck did Abby go? And for that matter, what happened to Nancy? Fitzwallace is cool, but she was cooler. Will Josh actually be able to maintain an adult relationship with Amy? (I'm torn on this one - part of me wants him to, because then he'll act more grown up and he won't irritate me as much; the other part of me wants him to muck it up so that I don't have to see Amy ever again, a strong female character but sort of smug and vaguely annoying). Will Abdul Sharif rock the casbah? (You know he don't like it...) (from the description of tonight's episode, some of my questions may be answered sooner than I thought).

(all questions are purely speculative on my part, and have no basis in fact, spoiler or rumor)