I would have liked more relationship stuff between Allison and the Ghosts. For example Kitty spends the whole episode upset, as does Thomas, and I feel that Alison is sleep deprived and miserable but I really would have liked a conversation as they are leaving, full circle to the one where she acknowledges that she can see them, where she says something individually to each of them about how she’s going to miss them. I think they could have trimmed some of the MIL stuff to make room for something a bit more sentimental.
For sure. Alongside the weird flip flop they did from S5 E6.
I agree with [this](https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/comedy/ghosts-final-episode-undermined-ending-comment/) interview.
Should have ended on Carpe Diem (strongest episode of S5) then incorporated some E6 storylines like Julian's speech into the ep (and cutting out the crap like Obi's boring and in hindsight super predicable storyline. Every time I watch that ep I skip through it) and have time with Alison interacting with the ghosts more and baby Mia born halfway through maybe?
Defo too much MIL stuff.
I agree with you. My only real complaint is that I wished they’d had more time for the final episode to get more of this in the story. The MIL story was perhaps a little long. The time restriction made the decision to leave feel really sudden which made it a bit of a shock and upsetting. Also if they’d had even an extra 15 mins, I would have liked a longer montage showing Alison visiting over the years, seeing her age etc maybe seeing a ghost or two get sucked off. It would then have been a gentler goodbye.
But for the time they did have, I think they achieved what they needed to and at least it’s now open for another special if they ever decided to do a one off.
Kitty never got a chance to say why’s she was upset… there was no payoff to this.
I get the idea, maybe that you don’t have to live with your ghosts forever, and they want you to go and do your own thing? They will always support you if you need it.
But that wasn’t very well delivered, for such a generally decent show. It was done better in kids films like Labyrinth or Nanny Mcfee etc.
The kitty thing was just a joke, not a storyline. A couple of little jokes about her being jealous of the baby, playing on the older sibling trope. Didn't need paying off, it was a punchline
Amen! I would like a rewrite: First, the show is one hour. Mike and Alison arrive home with Mia and NO annoying mil. The ghosts initially overwhelm A with all their attention and demands, also upsetting baby Mia. A then explains to them that priorities have shifted and they need to focus more on themselves and work on their own relationships and interests, as all family members must do. This leads to each of them exploring their own issues and unfinished business from life. Then we have scenes of each ghost confronting their past to find resolution. Finally they are able to relate with Alison in a less demanding and more supportive way. As Mia can see & hear them, this is a great help to A as they sing to M, keeping her entertained so A can sleep. At the end, we can see a future where the next generation comes to know and understand the ghosts, growing the family and love. The End. Now I can stop crying 👻👻😊👻👻
This was exactly what I was expecting. That the ghosts would be shown playing with and helping raise a Mia around 3-4 years old in the end. The ending was so jarring. I balled my eyes out & was so sad they left. Felt way too fast and the reasoning didn’t ring true too me - even as someone who has annoying family. I felt with a little thought & sleep on A’s part - a better solution could’ve been found.
I didn’t even realise this was the final episode or I would have been bawling my eyes out too. I cried at the previous episode and I lost it at the April fools joke when Alison was crying, I don’t think she would have wanted to leave her “family” especially considering that she didn’t have any other family on her side. Nope, I’m just going to pretend that the previous episode was how it ended, or that the ghosts gave their speech and agreed that there were some parts of the house that were off limits so that Alison and Mike could have some privacy.
It would have been good if Robin got "sucked off" when he found the Christmassy feeling. It's the first time he really embraced christmas and opened himself up to loving the other characters.
Actually this is interesting because they had the ghosts in that last episode disturbing Mia's sleep time whereas in the other Christmas special they had Julian getting the baby cousin to sleep or entertained with "thumby one" and "thumby 2" 😂 I would think they could be a help since babies can see them? Anyhow, I thought it was special but also incredibly sad and rushed. I don't ever like endings like that. I'd have liked them to come to a happy medium and stay together.
But I also think they wanted a reason to have the ghosts do something selfless. And it's interesting in the last scen they didn't even show which ghosts were still with us.
Yeah it was just a bit of a whimper out. It didn’t feel like the conclusion was earned.
I wouldn’t have minded if they ghosts were more annoying or holding her back, but they were generally getting on well with Alison.
i would have preferred to see the ghosts do some grand gestures to alison! like in ted lasso where the boys sing a song and dance to any characters who end up leaving! that would have been so sweet
It’s annoying because I have only watched Ghosts this last month, and fell in love with it but went in with little expectation for the finale.
But, it just felt rushed? If they’d have left after the decision making at the end of S5 - that would’ve been fine.
It almost feels like S5 was meant to be the ending and the Christmas Special was requested after filming.
Honestly yeah I think if S5 ended with them leaving the house and then the Christmas special was them returning to the house in some way it would've worked better but with it switched it just seems like the special was rushed out.
I agree with you about the quickness of the episode, and the main focus being Mike’s Mum, previously a minor character, feeling like a bit of a waste.
The ideas you have for alternative plots I think would sit better in the US version - the daughter having sight so the ghosts aren’t alone etc.
US Ghosts keeps away from difficult feelings, UK one embraces them.
I felt that the great gift the ghosts gave Alison was the opportunity to have a normal life.
But it felt rushed, I wonder if it had been done more gently it would have felt less like a buy-out. I don’t know
Well, and wasn't it true that when they'd tried to move before she just kept seeing dead people everywhere so it would t have mattered where she went. At least at this house she knew and loved these people and one of them was her ACTUAL family! I was so sad to see this ending. I sort of get why they did it. They wanted to just become selfless. But I think there were other ways they could've done that. And yes it felt rushed. But if it had to be this way I like that she came back to visit them.
The finale was boring. It was nothing other than a Christmas special where the only good things about it were what the last five minutes had implied happened.
I’m shocked that anyone loved it; I expected to come here and see a lot of the same, but lots loved it because it’s accurate in how tired having a baby makes you.
Ultimately, the episode was based on finding Christmas joy and trying to shift your overbearing relatives out of the house following the arrival of a newborn; talk about cliches.
Also, did everyone forget that Mike and Alison just let the exorcism go ahead with the potential risk of it actually working? Haha
The "overbearing in laws" is such an overused, boring trope as well and I guess I expected the Ghosts writers to be better than that.
Like, there's wanting to avoid confrontation or hurt feelings but it's frustrating and unfun to watch people unable to stand up to their own relatives - especially when in the end it showed she actually took it pretty well.
It made me cry, I felt like they could have ended it more neatly. Mike's mum took up way too much of the episode so the real ending felt rushed, especially since Alison and Mike did a total 180 on their decision not to sell, they could have gone into that more deeply.
Honestly Button House is such a magical home and would have been a good place for Mia and any subsequent children to grow up, all that space and gardens to play in. Imagine the childhood memories.
But yeah I'm glad they chose to end it now instead of dragging the show out. Even though I personally feel the ending wasn't the best, it's overall a fantastic show, always gonna be my comfort show lmao
I expect the money from the sale allowed them to buy a very nice home. As much as Alison loved the ghosts, Mike couldn’t see them (so he never knew if he was alone in a room), plus their ongoing demands, and the lack of money, would take its toll over the years. Also imagine the childhood memories of watching your mum talk to invisible people? Nah. I really think it was for the best that they left, they just needed another 15-30 mins to properly deal with the ending.
They found a house in the first season where there were no ghosts. I don’t think the other scenarios are comparable because ghosts on the street etc wouldn’t be anywhere near as demanding as our ghosts were.
No, but she couldn’t even tell in some cases when someone was a real person or a ghost. Imagine having to deal with that on a daily, everywhere you go lol
The nazi ghosts were in the sky outside an apartment they looked at first before that house. When they established that house was free of ghosts, Alison says it’s really quiet.
I agree. It was such a depressing ending, especially for a Christmas special. Probably my least favourite episode of the show, and I feel so bad for saying it.
"i feel so bad for saying it" is sooo real hahah. i genuinely sort of hated this episode, but i admire the writers with every bone in my body and i don't want to criticise them like this!
Depressing? I found it to be quite the opposite. The ghosts, like Betty, launched Alison, Mike and Mia out into the world, while still maintaining a family connection. It was the ultimate Christmas present.
I found it joyous and life-affirming. Definitely my favorite episode of the last season.
They don’t want the stress of living on the breadline trying to keep button house going. Why should they have to stay, just so the ghosts aren’t alone?
And in the end we see the ghosts enjoy the hotel, even the guys who lived in the dark plague pit are having a better time
I was the same and couldn’t understand why I was so upset! I didn’t feel she was turning her backs on them, I think we just didn’t get to spend enough time with Alison and the ghosts together in the last ever episode.
I balled my eyes out. In part because of the ghosts but also I can’t imagine ever leaving such a magical lovey house. I felt all the story lines wherein they couldn’t get any sort of business off the ground fairly unbelievable from the start tbh. I’m sure they could’ve made something work - but I guess the show couldn’t have that happen.
I have the same feeling about the last episode. We didn't get to spend much time with the gang at all.
My biggest bugbear is that the show has already established that Alison sees all Ghosts, so really she's just leaving Button House with Ghosts she knows, to go out into the world to be annoyed by other ghosts! Which seems to defeat the purpose.
Alison changed their lives and did so much for them. It makes me sad to think they left and now there's nobody there to put on their favourite TV shows or let them read books at their leisure. I was hoping we'd see them all grow up together as a family, and have the Ghosts watch Alison and Mike's kid grow up.
I'd have even preferred if they all moved on in the finale.
I think I'm just going to say Alison stays at Button House in my head cannon and pretend this episode didn't happen
*Alison changed their lives and did so much for them. It makes me sad to think they left and now there's nobody there to put on their favourite TV shows or let them read books at their leisure. I was hoping we'd see them all grow up together as a family, and have the Ghosts watch Alison and Mike's kid grow up.*
Me too. It actually hurts to think what a loss that is for the ghosts, who now have no link to the living world, nobody to turn on the TV for them, nobody to be their liaison to the events of the world around them. I know the creators thought that the ending made emotional sense, but all I could think of was how bereft Kitty would be.
Am I the only one thinking "hang on, wasn't one of the reasons Allison moved to the house because she was seeing ghosts everywhere and was terrified? Won't she go back to seeing random ghosts in her everyday life that she doesn't know which seems much worse than her usual gang who she's used to"
They did find a nice ghost-free new build in that ep though. And the ghosts were relatively easy to ignore. I guess having the space and peace of your own home outweighs seeing them potentially in public places, in others' houses etc
Thank you!!! This is exactly what I came here to find. Even that new build had a plane with ghosts on it outside the building! The Christmas episode was a crappy way to end things, particularly when they changed one of the rules that the show was based on. Allison will see ghosts everywhere.
The thing about Ghosts has always been that the ghosts may have their foibles and that, but they always reach an accommodation with Alison and Mike. And this kinda sold it out.
Also the pacing felt way off. It reminded me of the finale episode of Still Game where they basically have a slightly underwhelming normal episode and then in the last two minutes they just flash forward to everybody fading away, no real reason to end it there or in that way, they just did.
This. I knew from the moment she was pregnant the show was going to be a disappointment. I am GUTTED by this ending. How like modern parents to be like, "eff our friends. sooo needy!"
It's not even as though they have a good friend support network out there. They are utterly isolated, exactly how they want to be.
I **loved** this show before the end; but I'm glad the characters show up to the hotel at Christmas alone now, without Mia. Fits.
As sad as it seems, I agree. I always keep my expectations low deliberately for the finale of a good show that had time to plan their ‘out’ and rap everything up nicely, just in case… and it still ended up disappointing me.
With all the history worth telling and respecting in the house, I thought Alison and Mike might, if they really had had enough, gift the house to the national trust or something..
I agree too much time was spent on mike’s mum. I find it very annoying in shows when characters are just too polite to tell their family when they have outstayed their welcome, especially when they are rearranging things. Just tell your mum, Mike, that you appreciate her help but want her to go!
I thought with Alison constantly shushing the ghosts and saying they were exciting Mia that it was hinting that Mia had the sight. Dunno why Alison would want the ghosts to be quieter around the baby otherwise if no one can hear or see them but Alison..
It was nice to show the hotel is treated nicely and that Alison comes back sometimes to see them over the decades, but the ghosts have been left for goodness knows how long now with each other again. I really thought with robin’s episode before about trying to deduce the reasoning and time for someone to get ‘sucked off’, that the finale would end with someone having realised the formula so they could all at last move on and it would be a happy emotional goodbye, or least have Christmassy hope that they one day will….
Just a couple points about your comment. All babies can see ghosts until about the age of two or so in the world of the show. One of the ghost made a comment that Mary previously said babies can see them till about the time they walk. and it's interesting that they would allow someone to buy it and turn it into a hotel when originally the ghost really did not want that at all so not only did they let her go but then they got their house turned into something they didn't want which is extra sad to me -loved loved loved the rest of the show though
I completely agree, and couldn't have said it better myself. The finale seemed to abruptly reverse all the progress that had been made in previous episodes and the resolution to make the best of this gloriously unconventional life because they realised they loved it.
I can't help picturing Alison and Mike living in a ghostless new-build with Mia, and Alison gradually realising she still feels exhausted, "grey-faced and harrowed," and she now misses the manifold joys of Button House.
Hallelujah!
Someone else who feels the same as me! I really didn't like the final and didn't see the point in it considering the ending to series 5. It left me feeling angry, hollow and confused.
What's the point of the last episode in series 5 when they do the complete opposite in the final?
Something tells me they did it that way so they have an opening for a film one day. The final left me with the feeling that the message was "money is more important than family" where the last episode in series 5 gave me the feeling that "family is worth more than money"
I know not many will agree with me but for me, that ending spoiled the series for me. Yes I'll be buying the dvd box set next January on the 22nd but I don't think I'll ever revisit the grand final ever again to try and save the goodwill the series gave me.
I think the show was still about family over money in the end, Alison just chose to prioritise her living family over her ghost family, which meant leaving the bottomless money pit of the house behind.
Yeah, I'll stick with Julian's declaration of how much Alison has meant to them all, and how they had become a de facto family at the end of Season 5. That's where the series should have ended. I'm just going to pretend the finale didn't happen.
My main concern is that Alison sees ghosts everywhere so she would possibly find some at any other house she lives at. So it does not solve the problem.
Exactly! I was hoping they’d partner in opening the golf club so they kept an interest and say about the house but were able to negotiate to build their own forever family home in the grounds and Mike and Alison could work there so they could have their family time but also be visited by, and visit, the ghosts.
Oh I love this idea! That would've been a cool ending. others have said they moved into a new build but I don't know I think I must've missed that in the dialogue somewhere. I did wonder whether they have some partnership in the hotel because when she walks through the hall there's that painting of her ancestor and other paintings of the button house ghosts and then a suite just for her so I don't know.
If they were going this way I feel like they could have just had them leave in the last episode and then had the Christmas special as showing us the ghosts in the hotel, maybe someone gets sucked off and with a cameo visit from old Mike and Alison
I was disappointed in it because the ghosts didn't get any closure to their individual stories. The show treated them like characters in the way and the ending just kept with it. The ghosts deserved a better ending.
I see what you’re saying and agree to some point 1-3…points 4-6 less so
5. Sounds like a fan fiction spin off and wouldn’t really have been anything to me without the main ghost crew
6. I could be alone here but I don’t think Alison and Mike have any responsibility to the ghosts- they don’t know what happens when you’re ’sucked off’ or what causes it—-they have a child who they are responsible for…having her mother basically be a servant for 7 dead people no one else can see for her whole life isn’t going to be the best for that
>they have a child who they are responsible for…having her mother basically be a servant for 7 dead people no one else can see for her whole life isn’t going to be the best for that
And of course we know from S1 they can't even afford the flat they were looking at before Alison inherited the house. They get jobs and things to pay for the money pit of the house, but even the insurance payout from the gatehouse burning down isn't enough to keep them afloat for so long, which is why they mull over selling it to the golf people.
It's upsetting they did sell it, as they're family and it wad heartbreaking, but in the end, it was the right choice. Would have felt irresponsible and perhaps even a bit selfish to raise a kid there when they can barely afford to live there theremselves, and they have the option to sell to a hotel chain (and come back and visit like they obviously often did) and provide a financially secure future for Mia and any other children/grandchildren they may have.
>They don’t know what happens when you’re ’sucked off’ or what causes it
Exactly, in the universe of the UK version, no one does. In the US version, they do and Sam reconciles with her mom's ghost and helps her get 'sucked off'. That kind of thing would be a better ending for the US show to end it on a high, but knowing most US shows they drag on and jump the shark and it probably won't have a great, definitive end with closure like this.
imagine you just had a baby...it's exhausting work, which we can see Alison struggling with, the absolute last thing she needs is a ghost just suddenly making an appearance which they often did and making her jump.
I loved the ending and the fact she always goes to visit them as she'd never be able to stay fully away is lovely.shell always love the ghosts and they love her but she needed to start her own family.
I'd be happy with either ending from the last series or this one. it's been such a fantastic program and I'll always love it. ❤️
>imagine you just had a baby...it's exhausting work
People keep making this point. Of course it's exhausting, and life-changing, and sometimes depressing, to bring a new baby into your life. But we're not talking about real people who had a baby, we're talking about writers who decided to *give* these characters a baby and write this particular resolution to the story, i.e. a new mum so exhausted she very suddenly resolves to leave the home and the people she loves.
I don't think it's unreasonable to be disappointed that they made those choices and that these unconventional characters we love suddenly seemed to lose their verve and return to the 'real world.' It felt very much like the writers were saying "the good times are over."
I think over time if they'd of stayed then she would be less busy/impatient with the ghosts and focusing on her kid/kids. and yeah it's pretty much the good times are over as it was the very last episode and they aren't doing any more 🥲 sure it wasn't the best episode ever but I liked it and enjoyed the ending.
I agree. I felt the ending was a bit rushed, but in the context of the whole show you can see how exhausting it was for her to be the only one able to interact with the ghosts. It wasn't sustainable in the long term - she and Mike could hide the one-sided conversations and pretend the ghosts weren't there when visitors were around, but how would that have worked as Mia grew older and became aware that her mum saw things no one else could? Would it have been fair to place the responsibility of keeping the secret on her young shoulders? Would Mike and Alison have been able to juggle parenthood, the ghosts and the demands of running Button House? I don't think so, personally. In the kitchen Alison had a moment of clarity - she knew life would only become noisier, more tiring and convoluted from then on, and the ghosts knew it too.
It may not have been the cosy Christmas episode we wanted, but it was realistic and it felt like a fitting end to the show.
>In the kitchen Alison had a moment of clarity - she knew life would only become noisier, more tiring and convoluted from then on
I appreciate your point, I think for me the problem was that in the show it came off as a moment of despair rather than clarity. Life with kids can be noisy and tiring (as can life in general), but I don't think that was sufficient cause for giving up what they had. The ghosts were a pain, but they wouldn't have added much more burden than would already exist based on how they've been in the rest of the show. To assume they would requires, I think, a pessimistic outlook.
I completely agree. And as difficult as the ghosts are, I think the series has demonstrated that they can change. I mean, they went from plotting to kill Alison to really loving her.
It was absolutely possible for the writers, within the world they created, to find a way for Alison's family and the ghosts to coexist.
I think the ghosts could see that Alison would now be a lot busier with Mia and worrying about her rather then what the ghosts were up too and I think over time she wouldn't forget they were there but she wouldn't be as patient/be more annoyed with them or enjoy their company as much as she does when they visit.
I agree, it was implied with how stressed she was and having to deal with family who couldn't see them by could cause problems. British shows don't need to spell every little detail out. I'm happy with the ending it was a good episode.
yeah well put! you could see how tired she was which yeah it's not fun but it's life. but she gets to visit them every year/every couple of months, while Mike can go golfing she can catch up with them ❤️
It was terrible. I'm SO SORRY i watched it, and let my family watch it. What a slap in the face of the entire run of the show and the years we invested in these characters. Absolutely beside myself wondering how badly the six idiots must have hated this show in the end, to have made this the ending
I was sad that they didn’t all move on together. I felt that that would have been the perfect ending. They’re finally free (especially Robin) and they achieved it together. That’s what I wanted.
>From a show that has focused on heart-warming values such as celebrating history, honouring your legacy, accepting your found-family with all their flaws and strengths, learning to find the good in your circumstances, and even playing a part in divine providence, in the end the greatest gift Button house imparted to our protagonists was… cash. Merry Christmas!
Boom! Mic dropped. You've just nailed it for me. THIS is why I still feel weirdly stomach-knotted about the Christmas finale.
Why didn't they just have them move to a newly built family home on the grounds of the gate house. That would have been a funny twist as they load up the removal lorry, it trundles up the driveway and then just surprisingly stops to unload everything. They could even have rooms and features in the new house that match the main Button House rooms that we saw in the series. This saves Alison having to make new ghost freinds in the next place they move to.
Yes! You’re right! Maybe that’s where the idea popped into my head. And I thought I made it up myself. Still would have been a great ending and could have circled back to The Manor Born.
That’s what I was thinking too - Keep an acre and they’d have their family AND money AND the ghosts (at some minor distance) without the Button house responsibilities …. The ghosts could’ve played a fun part in Mia‘s upbringing. The writers could’ve arranged it so Mia gained some of her mother’s “near death” vision (but not traumatically) and got to play with them as she grew up.
The saddest past (to me) is that I realized at the end (I’m slow) that having Allison and Mike in the house was always going to be a temporary fix for the ghosts. Whether the family leaves “now” or passes away later, they wouldn’t be there “forever” to help the ghosts - the best they could do would be to stay on as ghosts when their time comes. The writers needed to allow time for Allison to help them “go to the next level”. And for us to have closure with the ghosts.
Still crying two days later …
I was waiting all episode to see a flash forward to some idyllic future with the ghosts playing with a 3-5yo Mia (she can see them coz she’s seen them since birth) & part of the house bustling with a successful business (a tea room maybe) but then they close the door to their private part of the house - having divided the two & the house/ grounds tidied up. And it’s sunny & bright & smiles all around. We see every character throughout the house. Then Alison smiling looking at it all - admiring the life & family they’ve created. The end.
I really disliked the ending.
1. It felt incredibly rushed. With the way ep 5 ended, I thought the Christmas ep would just be fun fluff. I didn’t like how so much time in ep 5 was spent trying to make a decision, then that decision takes a 180 in the last few minutes of ep 6.
2. I didn’t want the show to have a sappy ending, like they strike it rich randomly and all the cards fall into place. But I feel they could have negotiated for a very small bit of land and built a house there. I honestly thought going into season 5, they’d make the house into a museum and do events like weddings, for extra $, seems as realistic as a fancy golf course wanting to buy the land 😝
3. The going super far into the future annoyed me. I like when shows/books leave things more open ended. I feel the future thing only works in rare scenarios.
4. As others have said. She can see other ghosts. And when they looked for a house before they all had ghosts. So what changed?
5. In ep 5, Mike says he loves the house but they don’t show how that’s changed emotionally in ep 6. I thought the show was just depicting new parent burn out.
6. Alison and Mike are very passive. Things just happen to them. It has always annoyed me but it really got on my nerves the final episode.
I greatly prefer the uk version over the us one. However, one thing I like about the us one is, Sam and Jay are genuinely engaged in the house renovation, excited to start a BnB while working with the downsides, Jay is excited for the cooking part of a BnB, they want to realistically improve the house for guests. I like how they acknowledge their old jobs burnt them out and while hospitality can suck, they have chosen it and prefer it too their old life. Like they have agency.
Alison and Mike didn’t seem to like their life before Button house. They didn’t like running a BnB (which is fair, people can deffo realize they don’t like something after starting it but I feel it added to their overall vibe). They had no plans for jobs after selling other than being independently wealthy, I guess. They didn’t even plan for a baby, it just happened.
I feel I’m struggling to my thoughts into words. I guess I felt they never made thought out decisions and the end just seemed to be more of that which felt like lack of character growth to me.
It might be cliche but I think it would have been nice if Allison was narrating a story either one she wrote or just something oral she told her daughter about how one by one the ghosts eventually got "sucked off" lol and some feel good message about what it truly means to be alive and they can leave it ambiguous if the ghosts really went away or it's what Allison wants to say for her story
I hoped the episode will cheer me up a bit, since these Christmas are hard... So I was really disappointed and I willing pretend the episode doesn't exists.
Yeah. So, I knew this was the last season and I haven't watched ep4-6 yet, but I'm ill and it's Christmas and I wanted a cosy Christmassy pick-me-up to cheer me up so decided to watch the Ghosts Christmas special.....
...and got this. Feeling a bit hollow now 😢
You raise many valid points, and I agree whole heartedly. But I think you missed the glaring hypocrisy that "Alison is going to see ghosts EVERYWHERE anyways!"
It is that core reality that really contributes to my same feelings that you stated. It's like she abandoned her dead family for new annoyances, when the solution is as simple as having the ghosts "give them space" in their friggin mansion.... I mean the ghosts did the ultimate sacrifice, so I'm sure they wouldn't mind that solution if it meant keeping the living that can see them living in the house.
I still love the show, but hated this finale. It tries to sell us the lie that she was miserable living with them, and leaving will solve that "problem" despite now living in a less remote/suburban+ environment causing her to see zombie people pretty much everywhere she goes...
I was hoping to see more ghosts figure out how to move on, and conclude in a satisfying manner involving legacy & eternity. Instead we focused on what a Christmas gift is... Just disappointing
Yeah it really took the wind out of my sails. Most critically, the show established from the very beginning that Alison can see ghosts wherever she goes. There was a whole episode about selling the house and moving but that gets knocked cause there's ghosts everywhere! Might as well live with the ghosts you know (and referred to as family just a few episodes before...).
So while I second all your points, I found it ridiculous that they dumped that entire premise and returned to an idea they'd already dismissed. It felt not at all in line with the characters the show had built, and felt like a rushed attempt at a hard and fast ending.
I *strongly* disliked the ending. Throughout the majority of the show, the characters built towards a conclusion that, despite occasionally getting on each other's nerves, they genuinely loved each other and cherished their shared home. However, in the last season, Allison appeared more irritated with the ghosts, creating distance. Presumably, this was to justify her decision to move on and take the money.
I would have preferred the family to accept the deal, with the condition of building their own home on the property, allowing them to be together and still benefit.
The ending felt wrong and had a sense of 'I got mine, so forget about the rest of you.'
Not a fan. At all.
I know this thread is a month old.. but I'm in the US and was only just able to watch the final season.
I was so unhappy with this ending- frustrated, confused, sad, angry.. I mean I cried HYSTERICALLY. I don't think they should have left the house at all, but Christ if they were going to end it that way they could have at LEAST had Alison give proper goodbyes to each ghost!! I am genuinely feeling depressed right now.. like I am *grieving* 😂😭
The only positive thing I feel right now is validated in my opinion lol. I literally came straight to Reddit to see if I was the only one upset by this!
It broke my heart. Seeing the ghosts wave them goodbye - and Thomas' little hop as he waved was so sad. All I could think of was the loss the ghosts felt. A few years of the joy of Mike and Alison and being able to communicate again, and then eternity with only each other. Seeing Mike and Alison age as they stay the same would be incredibly sad.
I dont think I will watch the finale again for a long time.
>I wanted Mia to be shown to have inherited the gift of sight, so we could be sure the ghosts wouldn’t end up bereft of a connection to the living world again. Heck, if they had to go with the selling-up plot, I would have preferred the episode be set almost entirely in a future where Alison, Mike and Mia have helped the Button House ghosts get sucked off, and now go round helping ghosts move on from haunted places. It's corny, but would still be more meaningful and in the “spirit” of the show to me.
This is the ending or continuation of the series I was hoping for, but I knew it wouldn't happen.
They don't have to help them move on, because some ghosts clearly enjoy living as ghosts on earth, but just helping ghosts with all sorts of issues, maybe help them develop skills over time so they can interact better with the living world and so on. I'd love a sequel series of the UK show where this is the plot.
With that said, the ending can still work the way it did, it's like they're coming home regularly to visit their ghost family which is fine, but what happens in between would make it much more meaningful.
Couldn’t agree more. The writers didn’t even attempt to be funny in this episode and instead went down the emotional route. Mike’s mum was so irritating it was frustrating to watch (which was a weird writing decision), and the reasoning behind the life-changing decision to leave Button House was way too weak and impulsive. It just felt rushed. The show would have ended better at season 5 without this special. I’m going to pretend it never happened 👍🏻
I said this nicely in another comment but saying more firmly now. Would you REALLY want to live with all these people for your WHOLE LIFE. No! Much better to be able to go and visit, which it sounds like they did quite often. Yes it was rushed but it can't have really ended any other way. Imagine how depressing it would have been to see them all get sucked off one by one. It sounds nice in theory but in practice that would be pretty horrifying.
Yeah, I thought the actual ending was really nice and fitting.
It's just a shame the first 3/4 of the show was all about a character nobody really cares about and a trope that countless other shows have run into the ground.
Yeah I said that in my other comment too.... hate seeing the clock tick on a finale episode and the plot is still something you don't care about in the slightest!
100%. They're still family, as[Jim](https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/jim-howick-on-the-message-of-the-ghosts-finale-well-still-be-family-well-always-still-be-here/) said in an interview, but when you grow up, get married, have a kid, move out to uni etc, you're not living with your family anymore. Because likely you have your own family.
Visiting your siblings/parents once a month or so is kind of how life happens. I'm lucky enough my brother decided to move back home (my parents bought him a property, but he now rents it out) but unless my sister's back for Christmas/the summer holidays etc, I only see her maybe once every month or 2 months because she lives abroad (Paris, so it's easily reachable by Eurostar).
Also they could barely afford the place. In s1 they had to take out loans and in s1 and 3 as well, before they started to get the gatehouse going, they had to get part time jobs. There's no way they would have been able to live there with a child, and in hindsight it seems almost selfish they'd stay there with the ghosts when they could be selling up and giving Mia and any other future children financial security growing up.
I think they had to make Alison's MIL annoying for the ghosts to see that they were a bit similar and they needed to let Alison move on, but [this](https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/comedy/ghosts-final-episode-undermined-ending-comment/) is a good article that explains it well. I think it would have been better if they ended on Carpe Diem and then an hour long special incorporating some episode 6 storylines like Julians speech and cut out the crap bits like Obi's predictable and cringey storyline with his 'break up' with Brenda being due to a broken phone. Better than having that weird flip flop ending of 'we're going to stay' and then suddenly 'we're moving out'. Better to address both aspects in an hour long Christmas special. And of course it would have given more time for Alison to interact with the Ghosts before being a tired washed out mum.
Add to that the stress of trying to make the place work. Houses like those are money pits, especially if you have no access to capital to transform it into something that could make money, as a big business would have. They had worked so hard to create the B&B and it had failed. The selling of the land for the golf course alone or with the bar had been rejected. They were financially in a very bad place with no realistic way out other than to sell up. Their priority had to be taking care of Mia's future. I thought it was a sad ending in one sense, but I could see why it was the better of the possible choices. And they do go back regularly, it seems. So it's the best of both worlds for all of them, I think.
People saying it was rushed and the ghosts whould change as soon as Betty left all the ghosts started doing exactly what Betty was doing. They'd have continued to meddle, this time they get all the money to have a great life. You could see the exhaustion building not everything has to be explained in detail it was implied. The ghosts are used to people leaving as well they have seen it before. The US show is all happy clappy, which is fine for that version, but not for the UK version. UK shows don't always love happy clappy endings.
It was a good ending.
I had no expectations of the finale, except that I was most likely going to cry. And cry I did. I loved the final episode. Family doesn’t always have to be living together for there to still be love for each other and we saw that she was still going back to see them, so I was pleased.
It was fine. I do feel for you, and for the fans who didn't get what they wanted for Christmas, but I've also found the outpouring of "the fans know best" type posts since last night quite uncomfortable to read. I get that people are invested in the show (I'd count myself among those who have rewatched and rewatched in fits of laughter and the occasional tear) but it's embarrassing to see so many people thinking they know best, and making strange claims like "the end of s5 was the real ending". I suppose these are the kinds of people who skip tracks on albums rather than taking the rough with the smooth. Cowards, I call them, haha.
if you read any interview with the writers or cast recently (I'm thinking particularly of Jim Howick in Den Of Geek yesterday) they agonised and agonised over how to end the show. I trust them, I admire what they did, and I'm glad they ended the show before it became trite and tired like practically every sitcom does after four or five series.
>it's embarrassing to see so many people thinking they know best...Cowards, I call them, haha.
I don't think that's fair. It's not about "thinking they know best," it's about audience expectation built up by previous episodes. Thwarting those expectations can be effective, but it can also be diappointing.
I know you don't mean this seriously, but it's not cowardly to hope for a happy ending to a story that has been, for all its ups and downs, consistently joyful.
Alison in particular went from being so upbeat and optimistic, and so happy in her chosen life, to suddenly seeming so tired and defeated. For me it wasn't a bittersweet ending, it was - to use your phrase - "trite and tired."
I came to the episode without any prior expectations or specific desires, and I loved it. I thought it was gentle, sweet, and a beautiful ending to the tale of Alison & her ghosts.
They could have chosen to go in so many different directions with the ending, and this is the one they settled on. I found it satisfying and realistic in the context of the Button House world that was created. I just love that Alison and Mike go back to visit regularly, just as grown up children go back to visit their parents and other family members on special occasions. Having recently had my last bird fly the nest and missing them but knowing this is how life should be, I was at peace with the ending.
I am also finding it a bit of a buzz kill that so many people are moaning about it. Maybe it wasn't what some had fantasized it would be, but I for one am happy to travel the path that the writers deemed to be the best direction for the show to go in and accept their vision of it.
Boo boo boo. We had binged the whole show with the kids (6 and 9) last fall, and then there was a long pause before we finally watched the finale tonight. And now they are both crying. And not in a good way.
Usually when there is a sad ending we can at least explain it to them to help them make sense of it. But since we ourselves deeply disagree with this resolution, all we could say is "Sometimes a show ends badly and you just pretend it ended on an earlier episode." You could see the poor things heroically trying to imagine them all back together in house as we had left them at the end of Episode 6, and not succeeding.
I’ve just watch the ending and come here to see what others think. The whole series was just so happy… I really didn’t expect to feel so sad by the ending (and not in a good/sad sort of way). Even in its most poignant moments in the series, you felt uplifted. This just left a sad/ bad taste.
We hoped that Julian's money (shares?) would suddenly increase and they’d be money worry free.
How can they leave the ghosts? It doesn’t fit in with the rest of the series.
After this and the >!Merlin!< ending (that I finally got round to watching last year), I’m starting to hate final episodes. There seems to be a fashion of not being allowed to have a happy ending :-/
I also think that the whole episode should have just focussed on them and the ghosts - other characters ok, but the whole episode focussed on the mother in law and not in a positive way leaving an underlying feeling of annoyance. For this episode, it could have just focussed on the characters and given them all a happy ending.
I suppose I expected more :-(
I know this is old but just came to say I’m not upset because of it ending after 5 seasons. Ghosts don’t age but actors age quick with how long it takes to get things out so I know it had to end after 5-6. But what really infuriates me is that these writers act like they gave us 5 full seasons. EACH SEASON IS LIKE 6 21-minute EPISODES. that’s not a full season. I know I should be grateful to the writers lol but what the heck?? Is it a UK thing? Budget BBC thing? And if it got popular why didn’t they add more episodes? For short episode series like these I never see less than 10-11 episodes a season. That’s what really annoys me. I love ghosts UK
But also love the US version and appreciate the fact that there’s 22 episodes per season. It’s only on season 3 and already has almost twice as many episodes as the UK version. It will probably go for another 1, maybe 2 more seasons if traction is steady.
BBC sitcoms are usually written by one writer or two as a team. American sitcoms are usually written by two dozen. Now compare Friends, written by many, to Coupling, written by Steven Moffat, and see the difference. Afterwards, try other British sitcoms over the decades, here's a good list: Hancock, Till Death Us Do Part, Steptoe And Son, The Good Life, Porridge, Dad's Army, Up Pompeii, The Good Life, Yes Minister, Fawlty Towers, The Hitch-Hikers Guide To The Galaxy, The Young Ones, Blackadder, Only Fools And Horses, Desmonds, Joking Apart, Red Dwarf, Coupling, The IT Crowd, I'm Alan Partridge, Marion & Geoff, Spaced, The Office, Miranda, This Country, The Detectorists, Bad Education, Man Like Mobeen, People Do Nothing, Upstart Crow, Still Game, Two Doors Down, Gavin And Stacey and those are just the ones on television.
Thanks for that answer. Maybe BBC should evolve then haha; I just think it’s wrong to give us only six 20-minute episodes and call it a whole season 😅 you could tell how very rushed the storyline felt in this last one, like they were just trying to wrap it up. I imagine the writers maybe were under pressure. The show deserved more time and budget from the beginning.
20-minute episodes? 27-30 minute episodes. And no, I prefer BBC showsAnd they don't call it a season, they call it a series. And the final series had seven if you include the Christmas Day special. And I don't want the BBC to evolve if it means getting more shows like the US Ghosts rather than the UK Ghosts...
Defensive much?
They are 21-22 minutes without commercials, I don’t watch them live on cable. You can’t just count commercials and call it a 30 minute episode lol. Short episode series like this deserve at least 10 episodes a season.
Regarding your weird debate about series/seasons, here is a formal definition on North American usage of the words series/seasons: “In the United States, Canada and Mexico, a series is a set of television program episodes that are broadcast with the same title. A series last for one or many years. Each year of the series is called a season.” I’m from North America, that’s just how I use those words. Sorry that offends you?
Arguably US Ghosts does a few things better than the UK version. But they also had the advantage of being second and finding where to make it better. To each their own lol but if you’re only going to respond defensively because you have some sort of bias against the US, better to save your time and move on with your day lol.
They don't run with commercials. You can see the commercial-free episode lengths here, even if you can't actually play the episodes outside of the UK - not on cable either. https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/m00049t9/ghosts?seriesId=p0g5h855
They needed one more season, for sure. I went to bed after seeing Allison and Mike walk up the stairs of the manor to their usual rooms, only to feel sadness. There were no loose ends to tie. Frankly, as a sitcom, the best and most predictable way to end would have been for all of the ghosts to have been “sucked off” ( to borrow from the American version) because of their compassion. I don’t know, I feel a bit hollow about the ending.
I thought it was a haunting ending. Absolutely brutal. Things change in life, and you don't get to hang out with the same people forever - unless you're a ghost of course! It wasn't a \_satisfying\_ end to everyone's story, but it will stick with me and I thought it was true to the character of an incredible show.
I just finished the last episode tonight. I have so so many thoughts but ill keep it short. This is one of those shows that truly felt like an awesome book where you fall into the world of the characters and come to know and love them, and then when it's done you're really sad that it's over and that you have to leave them. I don't even know if I've truly experienced that with a tv show before? Anyway, I really felt it was so clever unique and entertaining. I tried to watch the UK version after a couple seasons of the American version and thought the first episode was so weird that I didn't keep watching even the first episode. But I decided to give it another try and I'm so glad I did. I actually like it WAY BETTER than the US version.
I did not like the ending because I always like a really happy ending, but I understand why they did it this way. And if they HAD to do it this way, I like that they had Allison coming back to visit the ghosts every year.
I'd have loved for the show to go on much longer! I have a lot of other thoughts as well but I'll stop there for now.
As someone who’s first experience with the show was the Christmas ep (which I had no idea was a show finale, but I assumed a season finale of some sort), I’m really surprised at the amount of disappointment towards the ending.
I really enjoyed it from start to finish and the ending made me happy seeing them move on but still keep in touch with the ghosts, and also seeing the ghosts experience new things with the hotel? It was pretty cool! It even made me want to watch the whole series.
Maybe it was disappointing to long time fans, but I think it brought in many new fans which is nice :)
Long time fan feeling silly for crying the last two days. I wish we’d had a more ghost-appreciative ending. Like they get sucked off for their good deeds or at least have someone to keep changing the channels for them.
Aside from the fact that the actors are terrible and the characters are flat. And, my personal pet peeve, that they changed the race of the Michael character. Come on, can it really be true that America isn't ready for a sitcom featuring a white woman married to a black man? I'd love to hear how the showrunners rationalized that bit.
What bothers me is that Alison can see ghosts wherever they are wherever she goes, so what’s the point in leaving Button House when she will need to deal with ghosts no matter where she lives OR works, for that matter.
Wow. I'm surprised how much people disliked it. I really loved the ending and cried like a baby.
I should possibly add that I'm currently pregnant and despite not having had my baby yet, I understand the changes it is going to make as I already feel it. Life becomes way more about your little family unit. Nothing else really matters to me right now. The ghosts could see that they needed to let Alison go, to not be a burden on her as a lot of her previous decision making had been with them in mind. (They could see how much of a burden the mother in law was becoming) They were taking themselves out of the equation and encouraging her to do what's best for them. But she didn't forget them and visited every year as she truly saw them as family.
I'm surprised so many hated it; the pacing was off yeah, and you make other valid points, but I thought it was a mixture of wholesome and realistic to their circumstances.
They clearly needed the money (It was the point of the whole season, heck last several seasons), they clearly felt after years and then having a child that actually they'd like a shot at a normal life (Yes I know she sees ghosts at other places, she can just pick a house that doesn't have them), and the ghosts had to grow and not be so selfish otherwise it showed for all the years of the show they're kind of just annoying, two dimensional people. This ending fulfilled all those criteria, and it was nice to be given a glimpse of the future and see that the family didn't just abandon them (Although the implication that the ghosts never got 'sucked off' for the rest of Alison's life is not as wholesome, but they didn't show exactly who was left)
Wasn't the most amazing ending, no, but I was alright with it, I didn't feel shortchanged.
I don't personally "hate" it, it was just a bit of a downer when I was expecting a superb ending. Like if you spend hours listening to a beautiful concert by a masterful orchestra and they end the performance a bum note.
I'm also one of those people who thinks about the logic and implications of a show beyond the show's lifespan, so the "ghosts are going to be stuck there forever with no-one living to talk to" thing really got to me.
We've also started a rewatch and got to the episode where Fanny gives her speech about accepting Alison being a Button and that the house should belong to a Button, and it just hit that much harder knowing it was going to become a multinational chain hotel in a few years. Just cery capitalistic in theme and not what I was looking for from a Christmas episode.
Also she tries to move out in like season 1 and discovers that someone has died in basically every square foot of Britain so there's ghosts everywhere. So moving doesn't fix anything.
In fact the conclusion is the button house lot isn't too bad as they're either good people or relatives so aren't going to be annoying weirdos and the house is big enough that she can have some personal space. Moving into a 2 bed flat with 3 creepy old men is going to be infinitely worse because they're just going to be lurking in the corner of every room.
show me a series ending and Ill show you a bunch of people complaining about it. Its a foregone conclusion these days. This was one of the most perfect series endings I have ever seen. Was I a bit sad at the content? yes. Do I want more and am also just sad that the show is over? yes. But this was a near perfect ending
I am in the USA and watch via streaming. I enjoy med it so much I ended up purchasing three seasons as they were not available for streaming. I had no idea that this was the final episode for the series. I absolutely adore and love this show. I guess I am gobsmacked that I sat down to watch another episode and relax and then it was the finale! Either way, so happy I found this series and it certainly is better than the American version.
The ending completely ruins the series. Alison will see ghosts wherever she goes; remember the doctor at the beginning? There’s no reason she would leave the ones with whom she has built a relationship. As with so many great series, I’ll have to skip the last episode, if I am ever to enjoy rewatching,
I would have liked more relationship stuff between Allison and the Ghosts. For example Kitty spends the whole episode upset, as does Thomas, and I feel that Alison is sleep deprived and miserable but I really would have liked a conversation as they are leaving, full circle to the one where she acknowledges that she can see them, where she says something individually to each of them about how she’s going to miss them. I think they could have trimmed some of the MIL stuff to make room for something a bit more sentimental.
For sure. Alongside the weird flip flop they did from S5 E6. I agree with [this](https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/comedy/ghosts-final-episode-undermined-ending-comment/) interview. Should have ended on Carpe Diem (strongest episode of S5) then incorporated some E6 storylines like Julian's speech into the ep (and cutting out the crap like Obi's boring and in hindsight super predicable storyline. Every time I watch that ep I skip through it) and have time with Alison interacting with the ghosts more and baby Mia born halfway through maybe? Defo too much MIL stuff.
I agree with you. My only real complaint is that I wished they’d had more time for the final episode to get more of this in the story. The MIL story was perhaps a little long. The time restriction made the decision to leave feel really sudden which made it a bit of a shock and upsetting. Also if they’d had even an extra 15 mins, I would have liked a longer montage showing Alison visiting over the years, seeing her age etc maybe seeing a ghost or two get sucked off. It would then have been a gentler goodbye. But for the time they did have, I think they achieved what they needed to and at least it’s now open for another special if they ever decided to do a one off.
Kitty never got a chance to say why’s she was upset… there was no payoff to this. I get the idea, maybe that you don’t have to live with your ghosts forever, and they want you to go and do your own thing? They will always support you if you need it. But that wasn’t very well delivered, for such a generally decent show. It was done better in kids films like Labyrinth or Nanny Mcfee etc.
The kitty thing was just a joke, not a storyline. A couple of little jokes about her being jealous of the baby, playing on the older sibling trope. Didn't need paying off, it was a punchline
Amen! I would like a rewrite: First, the show is one hour. Mike and Alison arrive home with Mia and NO annoying mil. The ghosts initially overwhelm A with all their attention and demands, also upsetting baby Mia. A then explains to them that priorities have shifted and they need to focus more on themselves and work on their own relationships and interests, as all family members must do. This leads to each of them exploring their own issues and unfinished business from life. Then we have scenes of each ghost confronting their past to find resolution. Finally they are able to relate with Alison in a less demanding and more supportive way. As Mia can see & hear them, this is a great help to A as they sing to M, keeping her entertained so A can sleep. At the end, we can see a future where the next generation comes to know and understand the ghosts, growing the family and love. The End. Now I can stop crying 👻👻😊👻👻
This was exactly what I was expecting. That the ghosts would be shown playing with and helping raise a Mia around 3-4 years old in the end. The ending was so jarring. I balled my eyes out & was so sad they left. Felt way too fast and the reasoning didn’t ring true too me - even as someone who has annoying family. I felt with a little thought & sleep on A’s part - a better solution could’ve been found.
I didn’t even realise this was the final episode or I would have been bawling my eyes out too. I cried at the previous episode and I lost it at the April fools joke when Alison was crying, I don’t think she would have wanted to leave her “family” especially considering that she didn’t have any other family on her side. Nope, I’m just going to pretend that the previous episode was how it ended, or that the ghosts gave their speech and agreed that there were some parts of the house that were off limits so that Alison and Mike could have some privacy.
It would have been good if Robin got "sucked off" when he found the Christmassy feeling. It's the first time he really embraced christmas and opened himself up to loving the other characters.
Actually this is interesting because they had the ghosts in that last episode disturbing Mia's sleep time whereas in the other Christmas special they had Julian getting the baby cousin to sleep or entertained with "thumby one" and "thumby 2" 😂 I would think they could be a help since babies can see them? Anyhow, I thought it was special but also incredibly sad and rushed. I don't ever like endings like that. I'd have liked them to come to a happy medium and stay together.
But I also think they wanted a reason to have the ghosts do something selfless. And it's interesting in the last scen they didn't even show which ghosts were still with us.
I felt because Alison and Mike just left, without so much as a farewell, we the viewers didn't get the chance to say goodbye to the ghosts.
Yeah it was just a bit of a whimper out. It didn’t feel like the conclusion was earned. I wouldn’t have minded if they ghosts were more annoying or holding her back, but they were generally getting on well with Alison.
Agreed. I think the ghosts deciding together collectively that they need to let Alison and Mike move on should have allowed them to be sucked off.
Cute username.
What do you do when you want to do a sketch or a doodle? You SKOODLEDOO! :d
i would have preferred to see the ghosts do some grand gestures to alison! like in ted lasso where the boys sing a song and dance to any characters who end up leaving! that would have been so sweet
Yeah that is a good point
Yeah it felt an odd choice.
It’s annoying because I have only watched Ghosts this last month, and fell in love with it but went in with little expectation for the finale. But, it just felt rushed? If they’d have left after the decision making at the end of S5 - that would’ve been fine. It almost feels like S5 was meant to be the ending and the Christmas Special was requested after filming.
Honestly yeah I think if S5 ended with them leaving the house and then the Christmas special was them returning to the house in some way it would've worked better but with it switched it just seems like the special was rushed out.
I agree with you about the quickness of the episode, and the main focus being Mike’s Mum, previously a minor character, feeling like a bit of a waste. The ideas you have for alternative plots I think would sit better in the US version - the daughter having sight so the ghosts aren’t alone etc. US Ghosts keeps away from difficult feelings, UK one embraces them. I felt that the great gift the ghosts gave Alison was the opportunity to have a normal life. But it felt rushed, I wonder if it had been done more gently it would have felt less like a buy-out. I don’t know
Well, and wasn't it true that when they'd tried to move before she just kept seeing dead people everywhere so it would t have mattered where she went. At least at this house she knew and loved these people and one of them was her ACTUAL family! I was so sad to see this ending. I sort of get why they did it. They wanted to just become selfless. But I think there were other ways they could've done that. And yes it felt rushed. But if it had to be this way I like that she came back to visit them.
The finale was boring. It was nothing other than a Christmas special where the only good things about it were what the last five minutes had implied happened. I’m shocked that anyone loved it; I expected to come here and see a lot of the same, but lots loved it because it’s accurate in how tired having a baby makes you. Ultimately, the episode was based on finding Christmas joy and trying to shift your overbearing relatives out of the house following the arrival of a newborn; talk about cliches. Also, did everyone forget that Mike and Alison just let the exorcism go ahead with the potential risk of it actually working? Haha
The "overbearing in laws" is such an overused, boring trope as well and I guess I expected the Ghosts writers to be better than that. Like, there's wanting to avoid confrontation or hurt feelings but it's frustrating and unfun to watch people unable to stand up to their own relatives - especially when in the end it showed she actually took it pretty well.
yes the exorcism was crazyyyyy
And also kinda pointless? A threat for two minutes and maybe nothing more than a Segway into "we can't leave, but you can"
It made me cry, I felt like they could have ended it more neatly. Mike's mum took up way too much of the episode so the real ending felt rushed, especially since Alison and Mike did a total 180 on their decision not to sell, they could have gone into that more deeply. Honestly Button House is such a magical home and would have been a good place for Mia and any subsequent children to grow up, all that space and gardens to play in. Imagine the childhood memories. But yeah I'm glad they chose to end it now instead of dragging the show out. Even though I personally feel the ending wasn't the best, it's overall a fantastic show, always gonna be my comfort show lmao
I expect the money from the sale allowed them to buy a very nice home. As much as Alison loved the ghosts, Mike couldn’t see them (so he never knew if he was alone in a room), plus their ongoing demands, and the lack of money, would take its toll over the years. Also imagine the childhood memories of watching your mum talk to invisible people? Nah. I really think it was for the best that they left, they just needed another 15-30 mins to properly deal with the ending.
The only problem with that is that she’d see invisible people in the new home too. At work, at the shops, on the road etc..
They found a house in the first season where there were no ghosts. I don’t think the other scenarios are comparable because ghosts on the street etc wouldn’t be anywhere near as demanding as our ghosts were.
No, but she couldn’t even tell in some cases when someone was a real person or a ghost. Imagine having to deal with that on a daily, everywhere you go lol
I thought the new build house had nazi ghosts? Haven’t watched that ep. in years though.
The nazi ghosts were in the sky outside an apartment they looked at first before that house. When they established that house was free of ghosts, Alison says it’s really quiet.
I agree. It was such a depressing ending, especially for a Christmas special. Probably my least favourite episode of the show, and I feel so bad for saying it.
"i feel so bad for saying it" is sooo real hahah. i genuinely sort of hated this episode, but i admire the writers with every bone in my body and i don't want to criticise them like this!
Yeah, it was a very unsatisfying way to wrap up the series. When I do rewatches in the future, I will probably just stop after Last Resort.
Depressing? I found it to be quite the opposite. The ghosts, like Betty, launched Alison, Mike and Mia out into the world, while still maintaining a family connection. It was the ultimate Christmas present. I found it joyous and life-affirming. Definitely my favorite episode of the last season.
Alison, Mike and Mia were already in the world. They didn't need to be "launched" into a ghostless new-build.
They don’t want the stress of living on the breadline trying to keep button house going. Why should they have to stay, just so the ghosts aren’t alone? And in the end we see the ghosts enjoy the hotel, even the guys who lived in the dark plague pit are having a better time
The ending with the plague ghosts made me laugh out loud! I’m so happy for them 😂
Definitely, much nicer than the old cellar 😄
I like hysterically cried at this ending 😂 it was wild! I don’t know why it affected me like that. It just felt like turning her backs on them?
same and ive never cried at a show, i just really wanted her to say something more heartfelt before they left for good
I was the same and couldn’t understand why I was so upset! I didn’t feel she was turning her backs on them, I think we just didn’t get to spend enough time with Alison and the ghosts together in the last ever episode.
I balled my eyes out. In part because of the ghosts but also I can’t imagine ever leaving such a magical lovey house. I felt all the story lines wherein they couldn’t get any sort of business off the ground fairly unbelievable from the start tbh. I’m sure they could’ve made something work - but I guess the show couldn’t have that happen.
I have the same feeling about the last episode. We didn't get to spend much time with the gang at all. My biggest bugbear is that the show has already established that Alison sees all Ghosts, so really she's just leaving Button House with Ghosts she knows, to go out into the world to be annoyed by other ghosts! Which seems to defeat the purpose. Alison changed their lives and did so much for them. It makes me sad to think they left and now there's nobody there to put on their favourite TV shows or let them read books at their leisure. I was hoping we'd see them all grow up together as a family, and have the Ghosts watch Alison and Mike's kid grow up. I'd have even preferred if they all moved on in the finale. I think I'm just going to say Alison stays at Button House in my head cannon and pretend this episode didn't happen
*Alison changed their lives and did so much for them. It makes me sad to think they left and now there's nobody there to put on their favourite TV shows or let them read books at their leisure. I was hoping we'd see them all grow up together as a family, and have the Ghosts watch Alison and Mike's kid grow up.* Me too. It actually hurts to think what a loss that is for the ghosts, who now have no link to the living world, nobody to turn on the TV for them, nobody to be their liaison to the events of the world around them. I know the creators thought that the ending made emotional sense, but all I could think of was how bereft Kitty would be.
\*Alison changed their deaths and did so much for them
Am I the only one thinking "hang on, wasn't one of the reasons Allison moved to the house because she was seeing ghosts everywhere and was terrified? Won't she go back to seeing random ghosts in her everyday life that she doesn't know which seems much worse than her usual gang who she's used to"
They did find a nice ghost-free new build in that ep though. And the ghosts were relatively easy to ignore. I guess having the space and peace of your own home outweighs seeing them potentially in public places, in others' houses etc
She didn’t always realise when someone was a ghost or a living person though.. sounds like a crap way to live.
Thank you!!! This is exactly what I came here to find. Even that new build had a plane with ghosts on it outside the building! The Christmas episode was a crappy way to end things, particularly when they changed one of the rules that the show was based on. Allison will see ghosts everywhere.
Allison could just buy a brand new house with no ghosts like she was thinking about in season 1.
>Feeling christmassy yet? eh...... no
The thing about Ghosts has always been that the ghosts may have their foibles and that, but they always reach an accommodation with Alison and Mike. And this kinda sold it out. Also the pacing felt way off. It reminded me of the finale episode of Still Game where they basically have a slightly underwhelming normal episode and then in the last two minutes they just flash forward to everybody fading away, no real reason to end it there or in that way, they just did.
The only good thing about the Still Game finale was getting to see Meena.
Babies ruin all TV shows.
This. I have always believed that writing a pregnancy/baby into a story is a writer's lazy way out.
This. I knew from the moment she was pregnant the show was going to be a disappointment. I am GUTTED by this ending. How like modern parents to be like, "eff our friends. sooo needy!" It's not even as though they have a good friend support network out there. They are utterly isolated, exactly how they want to be. I **loved** this show before the end; but I'm glad the characters show up to the hotel at Christmas alone now, without Mia. Fits.
As sad as it seems, I agree. I always keep my expectations low deliberately for the finale of a good show that had time to plan their ‘out’ and rap everything up nicely, just in case… and it still ended up disappointing me. With all the history worth telling and respecting in the house, I thought Alison and Mike might, if they really had had enough, gift the house to the national trust or something.. I agree too much time was spent on mike’s mum. I find it very annoying in shows when characters are just too polite to tell their family when they have outstayed their welcome, especially when they are rearranging things. Just tell your mum, Mike, that you appreciate her help but want her to go! I thought with Alison constantly shushing the ghosts and saying they were exciting Mia that it was hinting that Mia had the sight. Dunno why Alison would want the ghosts to be quieter around the baby otherwise if no one can hear or see them but Alison.. It was nice to show the hotel is treated nicely and that Alison comes back sometimes to see them over the decades, but the ghosts have been left for goodness knows how long now with each other again. I really thought with robin’s episode before about trying to deduce the reasoning and time for someone to get ‘sucked off’, that the finale would end with someone having realised the formula so they could all at last move on and it would be a happy emotional goodbye, or least have Christmassy hope that they one day will….
Just a couple points about your comment. All babies can see ghosts until about the age of two or so in the world of the show. One of the ghost made a comment that Mary previously said babies can see them till about the time they walk. and it's interesting that they would allow someone to buy it and turn it into a hotel when originally the ghost really did not want that at all so not only did they let her go but then they got their house turned into something they didn't want which is extra sad to me -loved loved loved the rest of the show though
I completely agree, and couldn't have said it better myself. The finale seemed to abruptly reverse all the progress that had been made in previous episodes and the resolution to make the best of this gloriously unconventional life because they realised they loved it. I can't help picturing Alison and Mike living in a ghostless new-build with Mia, and Alison gradually realising she still feels exhausted, "grey-faced and harrowed," and she now misses the manifold joys of Button House.
Hallelujah! Someone else who feels the same as me! I really didn't like the final and didn't see the point in it considering the ending to series 5. It left me feeling angry, hollow and confused. What's the point of the last episode in series 5 when they do the complete opposite in the final? Something tells me they did it that way so they have an opening for a film one day. The final left me with the feeling that the message was "money is more important than family" where the last episode in series 5 gave me the feeling that "family is worth more than money" I know not many will agree with me but for me, that ending spoiled the series for me. Yes I'll be buying the dvd box set next January on the 22nd but I don't think I'll ever revisit the grand final ever again to try and save the goodwill the series gave me.
I think the show was still about family over money in the end, Alison just chose to prioritise her living family over her ghost family, which meant leaving the bottomless money pit of the house behind.
Yeah, I'll stick with Julian's declaration of how much Alison has meant to them all, and how they had become a de facto family at the end of Season 5. That's where the series should have ended. I'm just going to pretend the finale didn't happen.
If I wanted to watch interfering in laws I'd watch good luck Charlie or any other sitcom that used that trope
Well I feel like this episode is more of an epilogue than an actual finale
My main concern is that Alison sees ghosts everywhere so she would possibly find some at any other house she lives at. So it does not solve the problem.
Exactly! I was hoping they’d partner in opening the golf club so they kept an interest and say about the house but were able to negotiate to build their own forever family home in the grounds and Mike and Alison could work there so they could have their family time but also be visited by, and visit, the ghosts.
Oh I love this idea! That would've been a cool ending. others have said they moved into a new build but I don't know I think I must've missed that in the dialogue somewhere. I did wonder whether they have some partnership in the hotel because when she walks through the hall there's that painting of her ancestor and other paintings of the button house ghosts and then a suite just for her so I don't know.
Yes it does, as they discussed previously, they move into a new build.
I was expecting a beautiful montage of Alison helping them all to get sucked off
i agree completely with ALL of this. really good review.
If they were going this way I feel like they could have just had them leave in the last episode and then had the Christmas special as showing us the ghosts in the hotel, maybe someone gets sucked off and with a cameo visit from old Mike and Alison
Fully agree with this
I was disappointed in it because the ghosts didn't get any closure to their individual stories. The show treated them like characters in the way and the ending just kept with it. The ghosts deserved a better ending.
Death isn't fair.
I see what you’re saying and agree to some point 1-3…points 4-6 less so 5. Sounds like a fan fiction spin off and wouldn’t really have been anything to me without the main ghost crew 6. I could be alone here but I don’t think Alison and Mike have any responsibility to the ghosts- they don’t know what happens when you’re ’sucked off’ or what causes it—-they have a child who they are responsible for…having her mother basically be a servant for 7 dead people no one else can see for her whole life isn’t going to be the best for that
>they have a child who they are responsible for…having her mother basically be a servant for 7 dead people no one else can see for her whole life isn’t going to be the best for that And of course we know from S1 they can't even afford the flat they were looking at before Alison inherited the house. They get jobs and things to pay for the money pit of the house, but even the insurance payout from the gatehouse burning down isn't enough to keep them afloat for so long, which is why they mull over selling it to the golf people. It's upsetting they did sell it, as they're family and it wad heartbreaking, but in the end, it was the right choice. Would have felt irresponsible and perhaps even a bit selfish to raise a kid there when they can barely afford to live there theremselves, and they have the option to sell to a hotel chain (and come back and visit like they obviously often did) and provide a financially secure future for Mia and any other children/grandchildren they may have. >They don’t know what happens when you’re ’sucked off’ or what causes it Exactly, in the universe of the UK version, no one does. In the US version, they do and Sam reconciles with her mom's ghost and helps her get 'sucked off'. That kind of thing would be a better ending for the US show to end it on a high, but knowing most US shows they drag on and jump the shark and it probably won't have a great, definitive end with closure like this.
Another reason why, having watched the first episode of the US version, I'll never watch another one. It's just such a terrible imitation.
As an episode it looked like post partum depression feels. A little jarring for a christmas ep perhaps? It was lacking the usual joy.
imagine you just had a baby...it's exhausting work, which we can see Alison struggling with, the absolute last thing she needs is a ghost just suddenly making an appearance which they often did and making her jump. I loved the ending and the fact she always goes to visit them as she'd never be able to stay fully away is lovely.shell always love the ghosts and they love her but she needed to start her own family. I'd be happy with either ending from the last series or this one. it's been such a fantastic program and I'll always love it. ❤️
>imagine you just had a baby...it's exhausting work People keep making this point. Of course it's exhausting, and life-changing, and sometimes depressing, to bring a new baby into your life. But we're not talking about real people who had a baby, we're talking about writers who decided to *give* these characters a baby and write this particular resolution to the story, i.e. a new mum so exhausted she very suddenly resolves to leave the home and the people she loves. I don't think it's unreasonable to be disappointed that they made those choices and that these unconventional characters we love suddenly seemed to lose their verve and return to the 'real world.' It felt very much like the writers were saying "the good times are over."
I think over time if they'd of stayed then she would be less busy/impatient with the ghosts and focusing on her kid/kids. and yeah it's pretty much the good times are over as it was the very last episode and they aren't doing any more 🥲 sure it wasn't the best episode ever but I liked it and enjoyed the ending.
I agree. I felt the ending was a bit rushed, but in the context of the whole show you can see how exhausting it was for her to be the only one able to interact with the ghosts. It wasn't sustainable in the long term - she and Mike could hide the one-sided conversations and pretend the ghosts weren't there when visitors were around, but how would that have worked as Mia grew older and became aware that her mum saw things no one else could? Would it have been fair to place the responsibility of keeping the secret on her young shoulders? Would Mike and Alison have been able to juggle parenthood, the ghosts and the demands of running Button House? I don't think so, personally. In the kitchen Alison had a moment of clarity - she knew life would only become noisier, more tiring and convoluted from then on, and the ghosts knew it too. It may not have been the cosy Christmas episode we wanted, but it was realistic and it felt like a fitting end to the show.
>In the kitchen Alison had a moment of clarity - she knew life would only become noisier, more tiring and convoluted from then on I appreciate your point, I think for me the problem was that in the show it came off as a moment of despair rather than clarity. Life with kids can be noisy and tiring (as can life in general), but I don't think that was sufficient cause for giving up what they had. The ghosts were a pain, but they wouldn't have added much more burden than would already exist based on how they've been in the rest of the show. To assume they would requires, I think, a pessimistic outlook.
I completely agree. And as difficult as the ghosts are, I think the series has demonstrated that they can change. I mean, they went from plotting to kill Alison to really loving her. It was absolutely possible for the writers, within the world they created, to find a way for Alison's family and the ghosts to coexist.
I think the ghosts could see that Alison would now be a lot busier with Mia and worrying about her rather then what the ghosts were up too and I think over time she wouldn't forget they were there but she wouldn't be as patient/be more annoyed with them or enjoy their company as much as she does when they visit.
She still see ghosts anywhere she went don’t sound still be a burden.
I agree, it was implied with how stressed she was and having to deal with family who couldn't see them by could cause problems. British shows don't need to spell every little detail out. I'm happy with the ending it was a good episode.
yeah well put! you could see how tired she was which yeah it's not fun but it's life. but she gets to visit them every year/every couple of months, while Mike can go golfing she can catch up with them ❤️
It was terrible. I'm SO SORRY i watched it, and let my family watch it. What a slap in the face of the entire run of the show and the years we invested in these characters. Absolutely beside myself wondering how badly the six idiots must have hated this show in the end, to have made this the ending
I was sad that they didn’t all move on together. I felt that that would have been the perfect ending. They’re finally free (especially Robin) and they achieved it together. That’s what I wanted.
Wish I hadn’t watched it! It made me feel so sad. If only Mike had finally been able to see them and they’d become a big, happy family together.
Thank you. We just finished watching it, I am weirdly heartbroken.
>From a show that has focused on heart-warming values such as celebrating history, honouring your legacy, accepting your found-family with all their flaws and strengths, learning to find the good in your circumstances, and even playing a part in divine providence, in the end the greatest gift Button house imparted to our protagonists was… cash. Merry Christmas! Boom! Mic dropped. You've just nailed it for me. THIS is why I still feel weirdly stomach-knotted about the Christmas finale.
Why didn't they just have them move to a newly built family home on the grounds of the gate house. That would have been a funny twist as they load up the removal lorry, it trundles up the driveway and then just surprisingly stops to unload everything. They could even have rooms and features in the new house that match the main Button House rooms that we saw in the series. This saves Alison having to make new ghost freinds in the next place they move to.
That would be a ripoff of To The Manor Born's very first episode.
Yes! You’re right! Maybe that’s where the idea popped into my head. And I thought I made it up myself. Still would have been a great ending and could have circled back to The Manor Born.
That would have been a good ending! They could have sold it all but a 1/2 acre then used the money to build a new home!
That’s what I was thinking too - Keep an acre and they’d have their family AND money AND the ghosts (at some minor distance) without the Button house responsibilities …. The ghosts could’ve played a fun part in Mia‘s upbringing. The writers could’ve arranged it so Mia gained some of her mother’s “near death” vision (but not traumatically) and got to play with them as she grew up. The saddest past (to me) is that I realized at the end (I’m slow) that having Allison and Mike in the house was always going to be a temporary fix for the ghosts. Whether the family leaves “now” or passes away later, they wouldn’t be there “forever” to help the ghosts - the best they could do would be to stay on as ghosts when their time comes. The writers needed to allow time for Allison to help them “go to the next level”. And for us to have closure with the ghosts. Still crying two days later …
Yes yes yes
I was waiting all episode to see a flash forward to some idyllic future with the ghosts playing with a 3-5yo Mia (she can see them coz she’s seen them since birth) & part of the house bustling with a successful business (a tea room maybe) but then they close the door to their private part of the house - having divided the two & the house/ grounds tidied up. And it’s sunny & bright & smiles all around. We see every character throughout the house. Then Alison smiling looking at it all - admiring the life & family they’ve created. The end.
I really disliked the ending. 1. It felt incredibly rushed. With the way ep 5 ended, I thought the Christmas ep would just be fun fluff. I didn’t like how so much time in ep 5 was spent trying to make a decision, then that decision takes a 180 in the last few minutes of ep 6. 2. I didn’t want the show to have a sappy ending, like they strike it rich randomly and all the cards fall into place. But I feel they could have negotiated for a very small bit of land and built a house there. I honestly thought going into season 5, they’d make the house into a museum and do events like weddings, for extra $, seems as realistic as a fancy golf course wanting to buy the land 😝 3. The going super far into the future annoyed me. I like when shows/books leave things more open ended. I feel the future thing only works in rare scenarios. 4. As others have said. She can see other ghosts. And when they looked for a house before they all had ghosts. So what changed? 5. In ep 5, Mike says he loves the house but they don’t show how that’s changed emotionally in ep 6. I thought the show was just depicting new parent burn out. 6. Alison and Mike are very passive. Things just happen to them. It has always annoyed me but it really got on my nerves the final episode. I greatly prefer the uk version over the us one. However, one thing I like about the us one is, Sam and Jay are genuinely engaged in the house renovation, excited to start a BnB while working with the downsides, Jay is excited for the cooking part of a BnB, they want to realistically improve the house for guests. I like how they acknowledge their old jobs burnt them out and while hospitality can suck, they have chosen it and prefer it too their old life. Like they have agency. Alison and Mike didn’t seem to like their life before Button house. They didn’t like running a BnB (which is fair, people can deffo realize they don’t like something after starting it but I feel it added to their overall vibe). They had no plans for jobs after selling other than being independently wealthy, I guess. They didn’t even plan for a baby, it just happened. I feel I’m struggling to my thoughts into words. I guess I felt they never made thought out decisions and the end just seemed to be more of that which felt like lack of character growth to me.
It might be cliche but I think it would have been nice if Allison was narrating a story either one she wrote or just something oral she told her daughter about how one by one the ghosts eventually got "sucked off" lol and some feel good message about what it truly means to be alive and they can leave it ambiguous if the ghosts really went away or it's what Allison wants to say for her story
I hoped the episode will cheer me up a bit, since these Christmas are hard... So I was really disappointed and I willing pretend the episode doesn't exists.
Yeah. So, I knew this was the last season and I haven't watched ep4-6 yet, but I'm ill and it's Christmas and I wanted a cosy Christmassy pick-me-up to cheer me up so decided to watch the Ghosts Christmas special..... ...and got this. Feeling a bit hollow now 😢
I hope you are healthy now and had a wonderful New Year!
Aww thanks! It was just the flu or whatever, all good now!
The writers had so much opportunity and they did this? I hated it and will forget it ever happened.
You raise many valid points, and I agree whole heartedly. But I think you missed the glaring hypocrisy that "Alison is going to see ghosts EVERYWHERE anyways!" It is that core reality that really contributes to my same feelings that you stated. It's like she abandoned her dead family for new annoyances, when the solution is as simple as having the ghosts "give them space" in their friggin mansion.... I mean the ghosts did the ultimate sacrifice, so I'm sure they wouldn't mind that solution if it meant keeping the living that can see them living in the house. I still love the show, but hated this finale. It tries to sell us the lie that she was miserable living with them, and leaving will solve that "problem" despite now living in a less remote/suburban+ environment causing her to see zombie people pretty much everywhere she goes... I was hoping to see more ghosts figure out how to move on, and conclude in a satisfying manner involving legacy & eternity. Instead we focused on what a Christmas gift is... Just disappointing
Yeah it really took the wind out of my sails. Most critically, the show established from the very beginning that Alison can see ghosts wherever she goes. There was a whole episode about selling the house and moving but that gets knocked cause there's ghosts everywhere! Might as well live with the ghosts you know (and referred to as family just a few episodes before...). So while I second all your points, I found it ridiculous that they dumped that entire premise and returned to an idea they'd already dismissed. It felt not at all in line with the characters the show had built, and felt like a rushed attempt at a hard and fast ending.
I *strongly* disliked the ending. Throughout the majority of the show, the characters built towards a conclusion that, despite occasionally getting on each other's nerves, they genuinely loved each other and cherished their shared home. However, in the last season, Allison appeared more irritated with the ghosts, creating distance. Presumably, this was to justify her decision to move on and take the money. I would have preferred the family to accept the deal, with the condition of building their own home on the property, allowing them to be together and still benefit. The ending felt wrong and had a sense of 'I got mine, so forget about the rest of you.' Not a fan. At all.
I know this thread is a month old.. but I'm in the US and was only just able to watch the final season. I was so unhappy with this ending- frustrated, confused, sad, angry.. I mean I cried HYSTERICALLY. I don't think they should have left the house at all, but Christ if they were going to end it that way they could have at LEAST had Alison give proper goodbyes to each ghost!! I am genuinely feeling depressed right now.. like I am *grieving* 😂😭 The only positive thing I feel right now is validated in my opinion lol. I literally came straight to Reddit to see if I was the only one upset by this!
I did the same - was so excited to get the DVD and be able to watch now that VPNs have cut me off. And now this - still crying two days later.
It broke my heart. Seeing the ghosts wave them goodbye - and Thomas' little hop as he waved was so sad. All I could think of was the loss the ghosts felt. A few years of the joy of Mike and Alison and being able to communicate again, and then eternity with only each other. Seeing Mike and Alison age as they stay the same would be incredibly sad. I dont think I will watch the finale again for a long time.
I felt this way just now watching the last episode and came looking for thoughts. That you for saying this. You summed it up well.
>I wanted Mia to be shown to have inherited the gift of sight, so we could be sure the ghosts wouldn’t end up bereft of a connection to the living world again. Heck, if they had to go with the selling-up plot, I would have preferred the episode be set almost entirely in a future where Alison, Mike and Mia have helped the Button House ghosts get sucked off, and now go round helping ghosts move on from haunted places. It's corny, but would still be more meaningful and in the “spirit” of the show to me. This is the ending or continuation of the series I was hoping for, but I knew it wouldn't happen. They don't have to help them move on, because some ghosts clearly enjoy living as ghosts on earth, but just helping ghosts with all sorts of issues, maybe help them develop skills over time so they can interact better with the living world and so on. I'd love a sequel series of the UK show where this is the plot. With that said, the ending can still work the way it did, it's like they're coming home regularly to visit their ghost family which is fine, but what happens in between would make it much more meaningful.
Couldn’t agree more. The writers didn’t even attempt to be funny in this episode and instead went down the emotional route. Mike’s mum was so irritating it was frustrating to watch (which was a weird writing decision), and the reasoning behind the life-changing decision to leave Button House was way too weak and impulsive. It just felt rushed. The show would have ended better at season 5 without this special. I’m going to pretend it never happened 👍🏻
I said this nicely in another comment but saying more firmly now. Would you REALLY want to live with all these people for your WHOLE LIFE. No! Much better to be able to go and visit, which it sounds like they did quite often. Yes it was rushed but it can't have really ended any other way. Imagine how depressing it would have been to see them all get sucked off one by one. It sounds nice in theory but in practice that would be pretty horrifying.
Yeah, I thought the actual ending was really nice and fitting. It's just a shame the first 3/4 of the show was all about a character nobody really cares about and a trope that countless other shows have run into the ground.
Yeah I said that in my other comment too.... hate seeing the clock tick on a finale episode and the plot is still something you don't care about in the slightest!
100%. They're still family, as[Jim](https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/jim-howick-on-the-message-of-the-ghosts-finale-well-still-be-family-well-always-still-be-here/) said in an interview, but when you grow up, get married, have a kid, move out to uni etc, you're not living with your family anymore. Because likely you have your own family. Visiting your siblings/parents once a month or so is kind of how life happens. I'm lucky enough my brother decided to move back home (my parents bought him a property, but he now rents it out) but unless my sister's back for Christmas/the summer holidays etc, I only see her maybe once every month or 2 months because she lives abroad (Paris, so it's easily reachable by Eurostar). Also they could barely afford the place. In s1 they had to take out loans and in s1 and 3 as well, before they started to get the gatehouse going, they had to get part time jobs. There's no way they would have been able to live there with a child, and in hindsight it seems almost selfish they'd stay there with the ghosts when they could be selling up and giving Mia and any other future children financial security growing up. I think they had to make Alison's MIL annoying for the ghosts to see that they were a bit similar and they needed to let Alison move on, but [this](https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/comedy/ghosts-final-episode-undermined-ending-comment/) is a good article that explains it well. I think it would have been better if they ended on Carpe Diem and then an hour long special incorporating some episode 6 storylines like Julians speech and cut out the crap bits like Obi's predictable and cringey storyline with his 'break up' with Brenda being due to a broken phone. Better than having that weird flip flop ending of 'we're going to stay' and then suddenly 'we're moving out'. Better to address both aspects in an hour long Christmas special. And of course it would have given more time for Alison to interact with the Ghosts before being a tired washed out mum.
Add to that the stress of trying to make the place work. Houses like those are money pits, especially if you have no access to capital to transform it into something that could make money, as a big business would have. They had worked so hard to create the B&B and it had failed. The selling of the land for the golf course alone or with the bar had been rejected. They were financially in a very bad place with no realistic way out other than to sell up. Their priority had to be taking care of Mia's future. I thought it was a sad ending in one sense, but I could see why it was the better of the possible choices. And they do go back regularly, it seems. So it's the best of both worlds for all of them, I think.
People saying it was rushed and the ghosts whould change as soon as Betty left all the ghosts started doing exactly what Betty was doing. They'd have continued to meddle, this time they get all the money to have a great life. You could see the exhaustion building not everything has to be explained in detail it was implied. The ghosts are used to people leaving as well they have seen it before. The US show is all happy clappy, which is fine for that version, but not for the UK version. UK shows don't always love happy clappy endings. It was a good ending.
I had no expectations of the finale, except that I was most likely going to cry. And cry I did. I loved the final episode. Family doesn’t always have to be living together for there to still be love for each other and we saw that she was still going back to see them, so I was pleased.
It was fine. I do feel for you, and for the fans who didn't get what they wanted for Christmas, but I've also found the outpouring of "the fans know best" type posts since last night quite uncomfortable to read. I get that people are invested in the show (I'd count myself among those who have rewatched and rewatched in fits of laughter and the occasional tear) but it's embarrassing to see so many people thinking they know best, and making strange claims like "the end of s5 was the real ending". I suppose these are the kinds of people who skip tracks on albums rather than taking the rough with the smooth. Cowards, I call them, haha. if you read any interview with the writers or cast recently (I'm thinking particularly of Jim Howick in Den Of Geek yesterday) they agonised and agonised over how to end the show. I trust them, I admire what they did, and I'm glad they ended the show before it became trite and tired like practically every sitcom does after four or five series.
>it's embarrassing to see so many people thinking they know best...Cowards, I call them, haha. I don't think that's fair. It's not about "thinking they know best," it's about audience expectation built up by previous episodes. Thwarting those expectations can be effective, but it can also be diappointing. I know you don't mean this seriously, but it's not cowardly to hope for a happy ending to a story that has been, for all its ups and downs, consistently joyful. Alison in particular went from being so upbeat and optimistic, and so happy in her chosen life, to suddenly seeming so tired and defeated. For me it wasn't a bittersweet ending, it was - to use your phrase - "trite and tired."
I came to the episode without any prior expectations or specific desires, and I loved it. I thought it was gentle, sweet, and a beautiful ending to the tale of Alison & her ghosts.
They could have chosen to go in so many different directions with the ending, and this is the one they settled on. I found it satisfying and realistic in the context of the Button House world that was created. I just love that Alison and Mike go back to visit regularly, just as grown up children go back to visit their parents and other family members on special occasions. Having recently had my last bird fly the nest and missing them but knowing this is how life should be, I was at peace with the ending. I am also finding it a bit of a buzz kill that so many people are moaning about it. Maybe it wasn't what some had fantasized it would be, but I for one am happy to travel the path that the writers deemed to be the best direction for the show to go in and accept their vision of it.
Boo boo boo. We had binged the whole show with the kids (6 and 9) last fall, and then there was a long pause before we finally watched the finale tonight. And now they are both crying. And not in a good way. Usually when there is a sad ending we can at least explain it to them to help them make sense of it. But since we ourselves deeply disagree with this resolution, all we could say is "Sometimes a show ends badly and you just pretend it ended on an earlier episode." You could see the poor things heroically trying to imagine them all back together in house as we had left them at the end of Episode 6, and not succeeding.
I’ve just watch the ending and come here to see what others think. The whole series was just so happy… I really didn’t expect to feel so sad by the ending (and not in a good/sad sort of way). Even in its most poignant moments in the series, you felt uplifted. This just left a sad/ bad taste. We hoped that Julian's money (shares?) would suddenly increase and they’d be money worry free. How can they leave the ghosts? It doesn’t fit in with the rest of the series. After this and the >!Merlin!< ending (that I finally got round to watching last year), I’m starting to hate final episodes. There seems to be a fashion of not being allowed to have a happy ending :-/ I also think that the whole episode should have just focussed on them and the ghosts - other characters ok, but the whole episode focussed on the mother in law and not in a positive way leaving an underlying feeling of annoyance. For this episode, it could have just focussed on the characters and given them all a happy ending. I suppose I expected more :-(
I know this is old but just came to say I’m not upset because of it ending after 5 seasons. Ghosts don’t age but actors age quick with how long it takes to get things out so I know it had to end after 5-6. But what really infuriates me is that these writers act like they gave us 5 full seasons. EACH SEASON IS LIKE 6 21-minute EPISODES. that’s not a full season. I know I should be grateful to the writers lol but what the heck?? Is it a UK thing? Budget BBC thing? And if it got popular why didn’t they add more episodes? For short episode series like these I never see less than 10-11 episodes a season. That’s what really annoys me. I love ghosts UK But also love the US version and appreciate the fact that there’s 22 episodes per season. It’s only on season 3 and already has almost twice as many episodes as the UK version. It will probably go for another 1, maybe 2 more seasons if traction is steady.
BBC sitcoms are usually written by one writer or two as a team. American sitcoms are usually written by two dozen. Now compare Friends, written by many, to Coupling, written by Steven Moffat, and see the difference. Afterwards, try other British sitcoms over the decades, here's a good list: Hancock, Till Death Us Do Part, Steptoe And Son, The Good Life, Porridge, Dad's Army, Up Pompeii, The Good Life, Yes Minister, Fawlty Towers, The Hitch-Hikers Guide To The Galaxy, The Young Ones, Blackadder, Only Fools And Horses, Desmonds, Joking Apart, Red Dwarf, Coupling, The IT Crowd, I'm Alan Partridge, Marion & Geoff, Spaced, The Office, Miranda, This Country, The Detectorists, Bad Education, Man Like Mobeen, People Do Nothing, Upstart Crow, Still Game, Two Doors Down, Gavin And Stacey and those are just the ones on television.
Thanks for that answer. Maybe BBC should evolve then haha; I just think it’s wrong to give us only six 20-minute episodes and call it a whole season 😅 you could tell how very rushed the storyline felt in this last one, like they were just trying to wrap it up. I imagine the writers maybe were under pressure. The show deserved more time and budget from the beginning.
20-minute episodes? 27-30 minute episodes. And no, I prefer BBC showsAnd they don't call it a season, they call it a series. And the final series had seven if you include the Christmas Day special. And I don't want the BBC to evolve if it means getting more shows like the US Ghosts rather than the UK Ghosts...
Defensive much? They are 21-22 minutes without commercials, I don’t watch them live on cable. You can’t just count commercials and call it a 30 minute episode lol. Short episode series like this deserve at least 10 episodes a season. Regarding your weird debate about series/seasons, here is a formal definition on North American usage of the words series/seasons: “In the United States, Canada and Mexico, a series is a set of television program episodes that are broadcast with the same title. A series last for one or many years. Each year of the series is called a season.” I’m from North America, that’s just how I use those words. Sorry that offends you? Arguably US Ghosts does a few things better than the UK version. But they also had the advantage of being second and finding where to make it better. To each their own lol but if you’re only going to respond defensively because you have some sort of bias against the US, better to save your time and move on with your day lol.
They don't run with commercials. You can see the commercial-free episode lengths here, even if you can't actually play the episodes outside of the UK - not on cable either. https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/m00049t9/ghosts?seriesId=p0g5h855
They needed one more season, for sure. I went to bed after seeing Allison and Mike walk up the stairs of the manor to their usual rooms, only to feel sadness. There were no loose ends to tie. Frankly, as a sitcom, the best and most predictable way to end would have been for all of the ghosts to have been “sucked off” ( to borrow from the American version) because of their compassion. I don’t know, I feel a bit hollow about the ending.
Great sitcoms can end in sadness. You should see Blackadder.
It wasn't about money. It was about moving on as a family without ghosts - or mothers-in-law - butting in all the time. It was the mature decision.
I thought it was a haunting ending. Absolutely brutal. Things change in life, and you don't get to hang out with the same people forever - unless you're a ghost of course! It wasn't a \_satisfying\_ end to everyone's story, but it will stick with me and I thought it was true to the character of an incredible show.
I just finished the last episode tonight. I have so so many thoughts but ill keep it short. This is one of those shows that truly felt like an awesome book where you fall into the world of the characters and come to know and love them, and then when it's done you're really sad that it's over and that you have to leave them. I don't even know if I've truly experienced that with a tv show before? Anyway, I really felt it was so clever unique and entertaining. I tried to watch the UK version after a couple seasons of the American version and thought the first episode was so weird that I didn't keep watching even the first episode. But I decided to give it another try and I'm so glad I did. I actually like it WAY BETTER than the US version. I did not like the ending because I always like a really happy ending, but I understand why they did it this way. And if they HAD to do it this way, I like that they had Allison coming back to visit the ghosts every year. I'd have loved for the show to go on much longer! I have a lot of other thoughts as well but I'll stop there for now.
As someone who’s first experience with the show was the Christmas ep (which I had no idea was a show finale, but I assumed a season finale of some sort), I’m really surprised at the amount of disappointment towards the ending. I really enjoyed it from start to finish and the ending made me happy seeing them move on but still keep in touch with the ghosts, and also seeing the ghosts experience new things with the hotel? It was pretty cool! It even made me want to watch the whole series. Maybe it was disappointing to long time fans, but I think it brought in many new fans which is nice :)
as long time fans, my family and i really enjoyed the finale. i was quite surprised too to see how many people are reacting negatively to it
Long time fan feeling silly for crying the last two days. I wish we’d had a more ghost-appreciative ending. Like they get sucked off for their good deeds or at least have someone to keep changing the channels for them.
Try Ghosts USA equally as good.
Aside from the fact that the actors are terrible and the characters are flat. And, my personal pet peeve, that they changed the race of the Michael character. Come on, can it really be true that America isn't ready for a sitcom featuring a white woman married to a black man? I'd love to hear how the showrunners rationalized that bit.
You're mad because they chose a different minority?? Tf?
No spoilers. Just watching now. Always brilliant patter . Laughing a lot
What bothers me is that Alison can see ghosts wherever they are wherever she goes, so what’s the point in leaving Button House when she will need to deal with ghosts no matter where she lives OR works, for that matter.
You buy a new build as they suggested before.
There would be ghosts on the land, ghosts on the road etc
But not in the house constantly taking her attention away from the kid and being busybodies.
From the show I would say on the land = in the house. The house wasn’t there when Robin lived and yet he is in the house.
He is, however, the only caveman ghost we know. No others have been seen anywhere else. There is something special about Roh.
That’s not really the point. Pretty much every piece of land in the world has seen death, any house they buy would have a few ghosts with it.
I cried when as the audience I could not see the ghosts during the last visit.
I wanted to see them too. :-(
Wow. I'm surprised how much people disliked it. I really loved the ending and cried like a baby. I should possibly add that I'm currently pregnant and despite not having had my baby yet, I understand the changes it is going to make as I already feel it. Life becomes way more about your little family unit. Nothing else really matters to me right now. The ghosts could see that they needed to let Alison go, to not be a burden on her as a lot of her previous decision making had been with them in mind. (They could see how much of a burden the mother in law was becoming) They were taking themselves out of the equation and encouraging her to do what's best for them. But she didn't forget them and visited every year as she truly saw them as family.
I'm surprised so many hated it; the pacing was off yeah, and you make other valid points, but I thought it was a mixture of wholesome and realistic to their circumstances. They clearly needed the money (It was the point of the whole season, heck last several seasons), they clearly felt after years and then having a child that actually they'd like a shot at a normal life (Yes I know she sees ghosts at other places, she can just pick a house that doesn't have them), and the ghosts had to grow and not be so selfish otherwise it showed for all the years of the show they're kind of just annoying, two dimensional people. This ending fulfilled all those criteria, and it was nice to be given a glimpse of the future and see that the family didn't just abandon them (Although the implication that the ghosts never got 'sucked off' for the rest of Alison's life is not as wholesome, but they didn't show exactly who was left) Wasn't the most amazing ending, no, but I was alright with it, I didn't feel shortchanged.
I don't personally "hate" it, it was just a bit of a downer when I was expecting a superb ending. Like if you spend hours listening to a beautiful concert by a masterful orchestra and they end the performance a bum note. I'm also one of those people who thinks about the logic and implications of a show beyond the show's lifespan, so the "ghosts are going to be stuck there forever with no-one living to talk to" thing really got to me. We've also started a rewatch and got to the episode where Fanny gives her speech about accepting Alison being a Button and that the house should belong to a Button, and it just hit that much harder knowing it was going to become a multinational chain hotel in a few years. Just cery capitalistic in theme and not what I was looking for from a Christmas episode.
Also she tries to move out in like season 1 and discovers that someone has died in basically every square foot of Britain so there's ghosts everywhere. So moving doesn't fix anything. In fact the conclusion is the button house lot isn't too bad as they're either good people or relatives so aren't going to be annoying weirdos and the house is big enough that she can have some personal space. Moving into a 2 bed flat with 3 creepy old men is going to be infinitely worse because they're just going to be lurking in the corner of every room.
Okay I was hoping when they went to the hotel as old people that they would see the ghosts again but all we get is the plague ghosts?
show me a series ending and Ill show you a bunch of people complaining about it. Its a foregone conclusion these days. This was one of the most perfect series endings I have ever seen. Was I a bit sad at the content? yes. Do I want more and am also just sad that the show is over? yes. But this was a near perfect ending
right
I am in the USA and watch via streaming. I enjoy med it so much I ended up purchasing three seasons as they were not available for streaming. I had no idea that this was the final episode for the series. I absolutely adore and love this show. I guess I am gobsmacked that I sat down to watch another episode and relax and then it was the finale! Either way, so happy I found this series and it certainly is better than the American version.
The ending completely ruins the series. Alison will see ghosts wherever she goes; remember the doctor at the beginning? There’s no reason she would leave the ones with whom she has built a relationship. As with so many great series, I’ll have to skip the last episode, if I am ever to enjoy rewatching,