Warning: this article contains spoilers for “My Happy Marriage”
There is nothing worse than when a piece of media you’ve been pouring your time into has a less-than-satisfying ending. For me, that experience came in the second season of “My Happy Marriage.”
Following the life of a girl named Miyo, “My Happy Marriage” is a romance anime about magic, overcoming weakness, and finding true love. This beautiful tale of self-exploration leads up to, you guessed it, a wedding.
In the final episode of season two, Miyo and her fiancé, Kiyoka, are embracing their new life together when Kiyoka comments on how much they’re enjoying their married life. As sweet as the moment was, I couldn’t help but get angry. All this build-up and… we missed the wedding? There’s no way a show called “My Happy Marriage” chose to time skip over the main event of the series.
This got me thinking that there are lots of pieces of media that skip ahead in the timeline to an important event. I’m not talking about moments like the epilogue of “Twilight” when we finally get to see Edward and Bella go to prom– I’m talking about moments like the random three-year time jump in the final season of “New Girl.” An epilogue is meant to show us the future; the final episode of a TV show is not. “New Girl” was facing cancellation, so they needed to wrap up their story quickly. I would argue that this is probably the one instance where a time jump is okay. However, shows like “Parks and Recreation,” which came to a natural conclusion, have no need for such a plotline.
“Parks and Recreation” ran for seven seasons and came to a natural finale. There was no cancellation, no rush, and the show ended when the writers said it was over. At the end of the show’s final season, writers chose to fast-forward three years into the future to show off how their characters ended up. Online, “Parks and Recreation” fans seem to agree– the time jump was a bad way to end the show.
One fan on Reddit says, “It’s going to date the final season incredibly badly. All the silly jokes and visuals of ‘the future’ are over the top and don’t fit the style at all. The time skip would have been okay but they should have just played it straight.”
While a time skip is not something fans enjoy for multiple different reasons, I can identify my own personal quarrels with it. I’m a firm believer that not all media needs to be tied off with a pretty bow once it reaches its conclusion. I believe that some sort of open-endedness can give fans online more to grasp onto for content such as head-canons, fan speculation posts, and fan fiction. By doing this, you can give your media more time in the spotlight, making its impact on those who have enjoyed it last longer.
While I chose to keep my hopes up in thinking that “My Happy Marriage” will get a fulfilling and romantic season three, I chose to tread with caution in hopes that the fandom doesn’t get the rushed ending so many others have received and despised.
