How do Neighbors end? A question that has been on the nation’s lips since news of the beloved soap’s premature cancellation broke earlier this year.
Wrapping up a series is a big task for TV producers as the final result is likely to divide fans no matter which route is taken.
However, a serial drama is a different story altogether, especially one that spans four decades and has been home to some of the most iconic moments TV has ever seen.
That was the task Jason Herbison, executive producer of Neighbors, and his team faced back then Channel 5 controversially scrapped the show in February.
Fans wasted little time theorizing about how Neighbors should and should end up, with some thinking a major soapy-style disaster was the solution, while others suggesting the whole thing was Bouncer the dog’s dream.
However, neighbors chose neither route, taking the opportunity to celebrate all that the show is and has been over the past 37 years.
And what is that, precisely? What is Neighbors?
Well, it’s a lot of things, as summed up by Susan Kennedy (Jackie Woodburne) in the closing moments of tonight’s episode. At their core, however, they are good neighbors and ultimately good friends.
And that’s exactly what we got, both in recent weeks and in the final. Last month’s episodes have been a delight, with faces old and new crammed together, creating the perfect mix for both returning audiences and those who have stuck with the soap through thick and thin.
Izzy Hoyland (Natalie Bassingthwaighte) made a delightful comeback to camp, resulting in her horns with mortal enemy Susan Kennedy (Jackie Woodburne) again, making for great TV, reminiscent of the height of the 1990s.
Paul Robinson (Stefan Dennis), meanwhile, video recalled pretty much all of his kids, giving us the Robinson clan gathering we’ve all longed for.
Love and family remained central themes throughout, and a number of well-run and well-written stories, all of which had some sort of finality, set the stage for the final episode ever.
The finale certainly didn’t disappoint, with an hour-long outing that dripped with nostalgia, but ultimately didn’t linger in the past. There was a lot of reflection, yes, but it was used to help characters make choices for their future – which is exactly what we do in real life.
And let’s face it, nostalgia or no nostalgia, having Scott and Charlene (Jason Donovan and Kylie Minogue) and Mike Young (Guy Pearce) back on our screens, alongside Jane Harris (Annie Jones), was truly a moment to make history. !
The neighbor’s heart has always been in Susan, however, and she rightly took her place in the middle of the show’s closing.
The matriarch’s closing monologue, cleverly hidden in the show’s universe as an introductory paragraph to the book History of Ramsay Street, beautifully summed up Neighbors – and Ramsay Street – with a small nod to the viewers at home, who have followed their journey from afar.
Noticing his wife’s moment of reflection, Karl asked her where she was, in terms of where her mind had wandered.
“I was home,” Susan replied.
that is what Ramsay Street is to the public. House. How could it be? not to be? We’ve all been to Erinsborough for a daily visit at some point in our lives, and some of us have even done so for our whole lives.
Neighbors has been a safe space and little slice of escapism for nearly 40 years, and it ended by doing what it was always good at, putting a smile on our faces.
To answer the question posed at the beginning, ThatThat’s how you conclude Neighbors.
It really is the perfect ending.
But you may wonder why it ends at all. And that in itself is the million dollar question.
Neighbors, you see, didn’t just pull it out of the bag for the finale, because this is a show that’s been in top form for a long time. This year, in particular, it enjoyed some of its best storylines ever, prior to the news of his axe.
With intriguing new characters, dripping with potential and incredible plot twists left, right and center, the beloved soap shot on all cylinders before the cancellation pulled the rug out from under it, meaning some of these wonderful stories had to be cut down, and newbies written out just after they are written in.
It’s rare, especially in this day and age, that a show is not only that good but has such a strong devoted fan base, as demonstrated in the wake of its cancellation. This, of course, makes the whole thing incredibly frustrating, as Neighbors could have gone on for many more years quite easily.
Channel 5’s reasoning for ending the show is that they want to invest in ‘original British drama’, which the broadcaster claims has a ‘strong appeal’ to audiences.
However, Neighbors still has a “strong appeal” to viewers given the consistency of the ratings, not to mention the cheers for the support the show received after its cancellation.
The boss of the station claimed neighbors’ money is ‘better spent’ on other projects, but given how well Neighbors continues to perform, coupled with the fact that it’s a show in extremely good shape, it’s hard to see how funding anything new at the expense of this well-established, much-loved brand will last long. term will be beneficial.
In fact, it’s hard to see the untimely end of Neighbors if something else then a mistake, and it’s probably one we’ll look back on for years to come, wondering why it happened, given the miles it apparently had left.
But hey, at least we have more ‘original British drama’ to look forward to, right?
Neighbors: The Finale is now streaming on My5.
If you have any soap or TV story, video or photos, please contact us by email [email protected] – We’d love to hear from you.
Join the community by leaving a comment below and keep up to date with everything about soaps on our homepage.
LAKE : Neighbors star Takaya Honda reveals soap ‘saved lives’: ‘It’s much more important than people think’
The Soaps Newsletter
Contains exclusive content, spoilers and interviews before appearing on the site. Find out more “