User blog comment:Mattalamode/A Second Opinion: The Finale/@comment-30307603-20171222000855

"The Finale" has always been an interesting episode. It is an episode you either love or despise. Personally, while it is not my favorite episode from the second season, I still hold it to high acclaim and find it quite clever. The episode is an excellent deconstruction of the status quo and how episodic animated children shows are so dependent on it. The ending is amazing.

However, I do disagree on your analysis as to why this episode is as controversial as it is. I think it has more to do with the general atmosphere of the episode and the way the characters conduct themselves rather than the credits being cut. Sure, the lack of credits was not helping matters, but the episode just presented an all-around cynical and bleak situation. Personally, it is not such an unhealthy amount that the episode becomes irritating, but to others, they see a town in which the entire town is relentlessly conducting an aggressive withchunt against a family. A family that the town did not feel the need to attack until now all of a suddenly. The situation becomes more and more hopeless and the town becomes more and more relentless. Keep in mind, the town never felt the need to hold the Wattersons accountable until now.

You and I may find enjoyment in the episode's excellent mockery of the show's reliance on the status quo, but others may not value that component of the episode. It is a finale where the main characters absolutely cannot win despite their best efforts to remain optimistic. The episode presents a future in which the Wattersons are run out of town, arrested in prison, or potentially murdered. It all comes down to priorities in what makes the episode, and for some, the deconstruction and commentary is not enough to negate the bleak scenario. It is an episode that some may get frustrated at. Most of the complaints about the episode seem more geared toward those components than anything (at least in my experience).

That aside, while the credits would have made the ending much better, they were not necessary. I got the joke just fine upon first airing when the episode just abruptly ended and transitioned into the advertisements. Nice blog post still!