Top 10 Character Exits from TV

Greetings, reader!

This idea came to me after watching Sandra Oh's final episode as Cristina Yang in Grey's Anatomy, and thus considering what the best-ever characters exits on TV are. For this list, I'm specifically looking at instances where the actor has decided to leave, and the series has taken the time to write them out in a meaningful manner, instead of the character just disappearing or leaving in an anticlimactic way. Characters who were killed off are excluded from the list, as 'Top 10 TV deaths of all time' is a fruitful topic on its own and will undoubtedly be a separate post some day. Here are my very favorite character exits from television!

Oh, and a spoiler alert follows for the following shows: Brooklyn Nine-Nine season 6, Community season 5, Doctor Who season 3, Grey's Anatomy season 10, Parks & Recreation season 6, Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 4, Star Trek: Voyager season 4, Suits season 7, The Office season 7 & The Walking Dead season 9.

10. Mike and Rachel (Suits)

After seven seasons of legal drama Suits, Meghan Markle had to leave, as she was cast in a long-running British soap opera known for its ridiculous melodrama and insane cult following. Her Suits character, Rachel Zane, had to be written out, and as the writers didn't want to break up the show's sweetest love story, Patrick J. Adams' Mike Ross was given his leave at the same time.

The couple finally getting married and deciding to prioritize their personal lives over the high-stakes nature of their work wasn't the most creative of mind-blowing way to write them out, but it was fitting. The couple gets a lot of screen time in the season 7 finale, getting to say proper goodbyes to all of the main cast, while basking in the glory of their wedding. My interest in the show dwindled quickly after their departure, but at least their farewell was still worthwhile viewing.

9. Wesley Crusher (Star Trek: The Next Generation)

Sure, Wil Wheaton's Wesley Crusher would return for several stints throughout The Next Generation, but this marked his last episode as, well, whatever he was (a hybrid between recurring character and main cast, I suppose). While ol' Wesley never was a great character, I do really like the send-off they gave him: before leaving for Starfleet Academy, he goes on a two-man mission with Captain Picard (Sir Patrick Stewart), who gives him some parting words of wisdom in the process. It's not especially profound or unforgettable, but it's nice and sweet.

8. Martha Jones (Doctor Who)

It was difficult to pick which character exit I'd choose to represent Doctor Who: regenerations of various versions of the Doctor don't count for the purposes of this list, and out of the many ways in which his companions have been written out, there are many good ones. While the most memorable might be the most heartbreaking ones (Rose being stuck in a parallel world, Donna losing her memory et cetera), I chose the thoroughly wholesome manner of season 3 companion Martha Jones' (Freema Agyeman) departure as my favorite.

Having seen it all with the Doctor, with their travels to past and future and other planets and whatever the Gridlock episode was, she decides she wants to take it easy and be with her family for a while. This chill manner of departure allows for her to return for individual episodes in the future, while leaving viewers happy that she's doing what's best for her. Her departing conversation with the tenth Doctor (David Tennant) in the season 3 finale is sweet, reminding us that sometimes a goodbye can be like that, in good spirit and mutual understanding.

7. Gina Linetti (Brooklyn Nine-Nine)

While Gina (Chelsea Peretti) had her moments, she was always by far my least favorite from the main cast of Brooklyn Nine-Nine, as her quirky manner of being mean and self-centered got a bit tired after a few seasons. Therefore I'd say that the show actually improved a bit after her departure in season 6. Still, the character is important to the series, so I appreciate that she got a proper farewell that felt very Gina through and through.

One of my favorite tropes in writing a character out is the kind where the groundwork is laid for the exit already in the previous episode. This is the case here, as the third episode of season 6 ends with Gina deciding to leave the Nine-Nine to pursue her calling in the business world, and the fourth episode is entirely dedicated to her as she makes her departure. The episode would be even better if I cared about the character more (I can only imagine the tears if it would've been Rosa or Amy being the one to leave), but all the same, it's a delightfully weird episode that feels like a proper tribute to the character.

6. Kes (Star Trek: Voyager)

This departure was a calculated move from the Voyager writers: with the addition of Seven Of Nine (Jeri Ryan) to the series in the fourth season, the main cast would've gone from an already crowded nine characters to an impossible-to-balance ten. Therefore, it was the least necessary/developed major character, Kes (Jennifer Lien), who had to make room for the much more interesting character to have her space.

The second episode of season 4 serves as a proper introduction to Seven Of Nine as well as an exit for Kes, which makes for a nice circle-of-life contrast. The episode's ending even allows Kes to give the Voyager crew a touching parting gift, as her powers are utilized in boosting the starship ahead in its journey, shortening the Voyager's series-long journey home by ten years.

5. Ann and Chris (Parks and Recreation)

A little over halfway through the sixth season of Parks and Recreation, the time came for Chris Traeger (Rob Lowe) and Ann Perkins (Rashida Jones) to bid their farewell. The exit is done in a classic sitcom manner, with an episode dedicated to them as their friends throw them an eventful surprise party for their last night in Pawnee, Indiana.

The characters making their departure were among the show's best, and they definitely get their deserved swan song with this funny and sweet episode. The show would continue to be surprisingly good without the two characters, but they still left such a significant void that seeing them again in the series finale was moving and special.

4. Cristina Yang (Grey's Anatomy)

This one was every bit as wholesome as it needed to be. For a series to be losing its arguably most beloved and iconic character, a mere farewell party wouldn't suffice - thus the entire arch dedicated to Cristina's (Sandra Oh) departure at the end of the hospital drama's tenth season. She's in contention for the prestigious Harper Avery award, but oh no, she doesn't win it, but now she's being offered a job in a mega-resourceful cutting-edge hospital in Switzerland, and oh shit, she's gonna take the job, but not before properly saying goodbye!

This multi-episode arch allows the viewer to come to terms with the impending exit of the fan favorite character, and her last appearance in the season 10 finale really pulls out all the stops. She gains a sense of closure, has one last dance-party with Meredith (Ellen Pompeo), and even gives the protagonist some profound words of wisdom that would carry grave importance in the following season ("He's not the sun - you are"). Saddened as any viewer is bound to be by her departure, it does put a smile on your face to picture her out there in Switzerland, changing the face of medicine and getting to be with the true love of her life (cardiothoracic surgery).

3. Michael Scott (The Office)

Did the U.S. version of The Office die when Michael Scott (Steve Carell) left, or did Rainn Wilson carry the over-hated eighth season to make the show worthwhile even without the o.g. Regional Manager? That debate is being had to this day, but one thing is for sure - the series wasn't quite the same without him.

When the time came for Carell to say his goodbyes, his bombastic farewell arch became the definitive highpoint of the seventh season. He becomes engaged to the love of his life, announces that he's leaving Pennsylvania, and the emotions are running high already in his second-last episode, which ends with the Dunder Mifflin employees singing him a beautiful rendition of Seasons of Love from Rent (a scene that was a surprise to the actor, whose tearful reaction in the end product is thus very real). Followed by the character telling the documentary crew: "This is gonna hurt like a motherf***er". Fade to black. Time for the two-part episode Goodbye, Michael (with a whopping 9.8 on IMDB).

And yes, his final episode is an even bigger tear-jerker than his penultimate one. It's filled with callbacks, zany moments of fun, wholesome and humane dialogues, and touching sentiments. What really gets me every time is the very ending, where Pam (Jenna Fischer) rushes to the airport to give her friend a proper goodbye, with the lack of audio (as Michael already gave his mic back to the documentary crew) being a classy touch.

2. Rick Grimes (The Walking Dead)

Oh, man. For eight full seasons, Rick Grimes had been the man - the main character of The Walking Dead, the best character of The Walking Dead, the second-most badass television character of all time (bested only by 24's Jack Bauer). When actor Andrew Lincoln decided it was his time to leave, they gave him one of the greatest television deaths ever. His departure was announced before season 9 began, and the season's first four episodes set his spectacular swan song up while giving us plenty of classic Rick moments to remember him by. And then, we get episode 5, the best episode the show ever did in its 11-season run. A majority of the episode follows Rick, mortally wounded, making his way to save the day while hallucinating and reflecting on past moments (which allowed many departed cast members to return). Finally, he gets his heroic emotional powerhouse -death, blowing up a bridge to prevent a walker herd from overrunning the rest of the survivor community, falling to his inevitable doom in the process.

And then, when you least expect it, the most miraculous thing happens. Remember how I said at the start of this post that killed-off characters won't qualify for the list? That's right, just as viewers had come to terms with Rick Grimes' death, the f**king crazy badass pulled one last rabbit out of his hat. Against all odds, he's found by none other than the mysterious helicopter people from season 8, as his barely-alive body is carried onto the chopper which then flies off into the unknown. I struggle to even find the words for how much I love the mysterious nature of this storyline - an explained and drawn-out way of writing him out would've seemed anticlimactic, but the whole "Everyone thinks he's dead, but actually he's out there doing something important and epic with these hellishly mysterious people who have helicopters somehow" vibe is just perfect. Throughout the final seasons, the thought of Rick still being out there is just the most distantly magical thought.

Of course, the fifth episode of season 9 doesn't end with the helicopter scene - we get one last piece of the goodbye that makes it into even more of an all-timer. The series does the bold move of jumping five years ahead in time, with the very first post-time-jump scene at the end of the episode being one where five random survivors are being chased by walkers. Until they're rescued by an unseen badass who shoots the walkers. Then, we see who it is - a little girl, wearing a familiar sheriff's hat, as the startling realization dawns upon the viewers: this is baby Judith Grimes, all grown up now, carrying on Rick's legacy. Perfection.

1. Troy Barnes (Community)

It begins already in the first episode of my all-time favorite sitcom's fifth season - with Donald Glover's impending departure having been announced before the season began, the premiere is filled with meta jokes (Troy ranting about Zach Braff doing a few episodes of his last season before leaving Scrubs, "AFTER ALL THAT SCRUBS DID FOR HIM?!", Troy cutting into an emotional moment by saying he's sadder than any of them but doesn't know why, et cetera). No, wait. Actually, it began a lot earlier than that, technically in season 1, when Troy sees the character based on him in Abed's (Danny Pudi) movie crying, and says: "Why am I crying? Will I accidentally listen to Come Sail Away by Styx again?". Genius as he is, writer Dan Harmon remembered this tidbit about that specific song being emotionally relevant to Troy, only to use that gut punch many seasons later.

Anyways, Troy's impending exit really starts to see the light of day with the fifth season's third episode and its completely out-of-the-blue ending: after the ass-crack bandit storyline has gotten more and more thrilling, and Jeff (Joel McHale) and Annie (Alison Brie) chase the culprit across the hallway, they instead come upon Shirley (Yvette Nicole Brown), emerging from the haze with tears in her eyes, informing them that Pierce (Chevy Chase) has died. The following episode is a polygraph-heavy bottle episode, dedicated to Pierce's memory, as the group passes a test in order to receive their final gifts from the crazy old man. And, as the time comes for the last gift to be passed, Troy's, an ominous chord starts to float in the soundtrack, making for a scene that will always give me goosebumps. Pierce's will states that Troy will inherit all of his remaining shares at Hawthorne Wipes, valued at millions and millions of dollars, if he takes Pierce's boat and sails it around the world, thus becoming his own man. The ominous chord in the background intensifies as he decides to do it, Jeff can't do better than "I'm speechless", and Abed delivers a heartbreaking "Cool - cool cool cool", which the polygraph determines to be a lie.

With that, we get to Troy's final episode, Geothermal Escapism (also known as the one where Veikko cries like a baby every time). For Troy's last day at Greendale, the school throws an elaborate game of The Floor Is Lava, which starts out as a classic over-the-top Community gimmick episode, with the directing and set design going all out for a blockbuster feel. However, the episode gains a massive emotional core once it becomes clear that the game isn't just a game for Abed, Troy's best friend, who has major difficulties coming to terms with Troy's departure once the game is over. The lava, *tries not to cry when thinking about that scene*, is real to him. Eventually, Troy (with a little help from Britta (Gillian Jacobs)), knows just what to do in order to help his friend.

All that's left is the final scene, as Troy says his goodbyes to the study group before embarking on his 'round-the-world journey. All of the 1-on-1 goodbyes are perfect for their specific character relationships - Shirley calling herself a boring old mom and Troy affirming that she's a badass, Annie's authentically sweet and cute sentiments echoed by Troy's own thoughts, Troy&Britta confirming that they are maturely over their romantic entanglements but will always be good friends, and Troy calling Jeff the coolest guy he knows, to which Jeff replies with the profound "I've never stepped foot outside Colorado - you're becoming much cooler than me by doing this". And then, of course, Troy's goodbye to Abed - my favorite friendship from all of TV, one that meant indescribably much to me in my youth for various reasons. Their last words to each other are perfect, and as Troy gets on the boat while Come Sail Away starts to play, Danny Pudi pulls off one of the greatest feats of face acting I've seen. With just one facial expression, he perfectly conveys that he's sad and heartbroken about his friend leaving, but also that he has accepted it and knows he will be okay.

Thank you for reading! Tune in next week for a post marking the first week of June: the top 15 LGBTQ+ -themed television episodes in my recommended Pride Month viewing!

Top 10 Tenth Instalments of Movie Franchises

Greetings, reader!

Today, my 10-week-long project finally comes to an end. #10 is the last number of instalments where I have watched ten or more films belonging to that category, and can therefore make a top 10 -list. I had considered continuing this for even longer with smaller and smaller lists, but as glorious as the battle royale between Skyfall and Spider-Man: No Way Home as the top two 23rd instalments would've been, I decided to quit while I was ahead. No honorable mentions this time, as there are exactly ten 10th instalments I've seen, so I'll just rank them from worst to best.

10. Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (2018)

The Wizarding World franchise, consisting of the Harry Potter films and the Fantastic Beasts spin-offs, hit its tenth film with this Fantastic Beasts sequel. It's not very good - the whole feel is a bit too apocalyptic and thus feels more like a DC Comics blockbuster than anything in the Potter-verse. Also, the sheer amount of Marvel-esque set-up and worldbuilding for future sequels makes the film feel empty at its core, like it's so hell-bent on being a franchise instalment that it forgets to be a movie with an identity of its own.

After ten long weeks of praising Potter-verse movies while balancing it out by tirading against the outspoken transphobe who created said world, this project is coming to an end. Would it have been simpler to just exclude the Wizarding World movies from this series? Very possibly yes, but I opted to discuss them while including this discourse in each post, as they are important conversations for Potter fans to have. I'll end in the most powerful way one can end a speech: by quoting Pete Davidson.

"I mean - what's wrong with her, Colin? She creates a 7-book fantasy series about all types of mythical creatures living in harmony with wizards and elfs, and the one thing she can't wrap her head around is Laverne Cox? She's a national treasure!"

9. Halloween II (2009)

Not to be confused with Halloween II (1981), the film of the same name in the same franchise, this is the sequel to the 2007 Rob Zombie remake. For better or for worse, this silly flick is even more Rob Zombie than its predecessor, with the director's polarizing style being hilariously prominent in ways good and bad.

At it best, the plot is delightfully unpredictable and some of the style choices are borderline Lynchian, but at its worst, the film does devolve into messy dialogue and unclear plot turns. The ambition of Halloween II makes it a tad better than the more generic and unimaginative slasher sequels out there, but the half-assed realization of this ambition does make the end product a bit laughable at times.

8. F9 (2021)

Yes, this is the tenth Fast & Furious film, because the spin-off Fast and Furious presents: Hobbs & Shaw wasn't counted as a numbered instalment (even though the earlier spin-off The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift was counted? God, this franchise is a mess). F9 is quite alright, especially for the tenth movie in a franchise with the eloquent premise of "Fast cars go brrr".

Mind you, the plot is very silly and stupid. But when not taken seriously, the film becomes entertaining and even delightful, much thanks to its self-aware nature. After years of fans making the joke "These stunts are becoming crazier and crazier, what are they gonna do next? Go to space?", the franchise actually listened, and made the gamble that filling fan service expectations for meme value and entertainment is more important than pretending to keep any shred of realism and credibility in the plot. And, at least for this viewer, it paid off. For the tenth Fast & Furious film, I'll take cars in space over trying to be respectable cinema any day of the week.

7. Jason X (2001)

Oh, speaking of films where the biggest strength is self-aware tongue-in-cheek entertainment value, this one! It even shares the "going to space" element of the entry above, as by the tenth Friday the 13th film, the producers apparently went "Well, why not send Jason Voorhees into space?".

The film is extremely bad in so many ways - the one-dimensional characters in queue to be killed off, the horrendous dialogue, the abscence of any actually creepy horror, you name it. But damn, it's just so fun! Having watched all 12 films in the franchise, this isn't even in the lowest tier, because this film is just so out there that it becomes a delight to watch in the realm of F-class cinema. A tried-and-true cult classic.

6. Star Trek: Nemesis (2002)

Star Trek: Nemesis is a specific kind of good - it's good enough. The directing is a bit sloppy, and the plot screams "The writers don't understand the Star Trek world all that well". But, for a viewer who loved Star Trek: The Next Generation and its cast, this is a good-enough send-off. Would they have deserved a better swan song? Yes, and thankfully they got it with the third season of legacy sequel series Star Trek: Picard decades later. But, for the last film of the Next Generation cast, this one is just good enough to pass the vibe check, even though it could've been a lot better.

Shinzon, played by a young Tom Hardy, is an interesting villain, whose origin as Picard's clone raised by the ominous Remans raises some interesting nature-versus-nurture questions. We also get some nice cameos and sentimental moments amidst the overall messy plot, so despite its flaws, the film is watchable and does at least half of its objectives justice.

5. Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018)

Released as an expansion of the fictional universe between episodes VIII and IX of the Skywalker saga, this spin-off follows a young Han Solo, played by Alden Ehrenreich. First of all, I was happy with the casting - there is no replacing Harrison Ford, but for the role of a pre-original-trilogy Han Solo, Ehrenreich is pretty much the next-best thing. Of course, the show is absolutely stolen by Donald Glover as a young Lando Calrissian.

The film isn't all that deep, as showcased by the shockingly forgettable main cast (usually Star Wars characters are so memorable that a nerd like me will remember their names and stories for years after seeing the movie, but with this one, my memories are reduced to "one-dimensional femme fatale played by Emilia Clarke", "generic mentor-with-ulterior-motives played by Woody Harrelson", "cliché bad guy played by Paul Bettany", et cetera). But purely as a fun Han Solo adventure, for fans wanting to know how he met Chewbacca and got his vest and came across the Millennium Falcon, it checks the boxes.

4. The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)

The tenth James Bond flick isn't quite Roger Moore's best Bond film (though it isn't far from that honor), but it's definitely the most Roger Moore Bond film. In the definitive flick of the Moore era, we get to enjoy all the staples from the dry humor and cartoonish antics to the legendary ski chase opening sequence and the very Cold War -driven plot. Barbara Bach's Anya Amasova is certainly one of the more memorable 'Bond girls', not to mention Richard Kiel's Jaws being one hell of a henchman.

3. The Avengers: The Age of Ultron (2015)

The tenth overall film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is the second Avengers film, and while it is unavoidably the worst of the four Avengers movies, it's still pretty decent. At times, the pacing can be a bit messy, but honestly, who could blame them? Stuffing over ten major characters from various different movies into one main cast, where everyone should have sufficiently balanced screen time and a character arch while also working for the larger plot, is one hell of a job. The first Avengers film had it easier as there were fewer threads to connect, while the third and fourth saw the Russo brothers perfecting the formula. The Age of Ultron has some growing pains in that area, but it's still a worthwhile addition.

At its best, the film provides exciting action sequences, entertaining banter, neat connections and a thoroughly intriguing villain in James Spader's Ultron. And while the plot was understandably criticized as hard-to-follow for casual MCU fans, I can say that for those of us who had seen each previous film and had studied the in-universe connections (read: nerds with nothing better to do), it all came together in quite a satisfying fashion.

2. Logan (2017)

The tenth X-Men film was Hugh Jackman's swan song to the role of Wolverine, which he had played for eight films (nine, if you count his hilarious cameo in X-Men: First Class). Or, at least, it would've been his swan song if we weren't living in a cash-grab hellscape where every popular character has to keep returning and rebooting infinitely, as witnessed by this year's upcoming Deadpool x Wolverine or whatever it's called, in this ridiculously self-repeating time-loop that's starting to feel like an X-Men plotline that Magneto would've come up with in order to warp reality.

Anyhow, this tasteful send-off film can hardly be blamed for the mistakes the franchise made later on.

Logan is a pensive and ultimately gripping film, with a gritty western vibe mixed with a subtly post-apocalyptic feel and a specific balance of giving up yet underlying instances of hope in the themes. It's the best possible superhero film for people who don't like superhero films (although those of us who do like superhero films loved it as well), as the focus is on character-building and great actors showcasing humane emotions, instead of prolonged action sequences and worldbuilding.

1. Zach Snyder's Justice League (2021)

I think the biggest takeaway from this instalment project, from an academic standpoint, might be pointing out that the entire top three of the 'tenth instalments' list is movies from comic book franchises. Whether that says something about the structure of modern superhero movie universes (they don't start out with masterpieces but have their primes later on, or maybe they stay fresh because there's such an endless goldmine of source material to adapt from) or about the nature of sequels (the classic formula of planning one film at a time leads to a point where the tenth film in a row can't be any good, but if you plan something ahead like the MCU, the tenth film can be just as good as the first one), I think it's a fascinating takeaway.

Anyways, I thoroughly count the Snyder cut of Justice League as a separate movie and thus a tenth instalment, even if it technically is a version of a previously made movie. The theatrical cut of Justice League, which was the fifth film in the DC Extended Universe, was one of the worst superhero films I've ever seen - and the Snyder cut, released four years after, is one of the best. Even though it's edited from the same material. That's the power of editing right there.

The 2017 Justice League wanted so bad to compete with Marvel that it turned an artistic vision into a shallow product - the runtime was cut to less than two hours, the color scheme is all bright and happy, all of the darker and deeper stuff is cut to make room for witty banter. None of the main characters have anything resembling an arch, the villain is ridiculously one-dimensional, and the action sequences are generic.

In contrast, 2021's Justice League runs at over 4 hours, and it is worth every second. Snyder didn't want to do another generic superhero flick, he wanted to make a work of art, and in that he succeeded. The runtime allows the viewer to get to know each main character, their backstories and motivations, and thus you care for them a great deal. The villain and his motivations make sense as well. The action sequences and color aesthetics feel much more DC, with a gloomy vibe that stands out of the crowd. After being so disappointed in the 2017 film, seeing Snyder's vision come to life with this one was a massive payoff.

Thank you for reading! With this post, my 10-week blast of movie franchise instalments is finally over. Continuing with the themes of saying goodbye, tune in next week for my list of the top 10 character exits from TV!

Top 10 Ninth Instalments of Movie Franchises

Greetings, reader!

It's time for the penultimate chapter of my ten-week project: next week's post of the best 10th instalments will be the final one. Today we're still going strong, despite the quality of top 10 -worthy instalments having deteriorated to a hilarious point by the #9 instalments. Still, out of that fairly rough group, these are the best ones out there!

Here are my honorable mentions: A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010), Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw (2019), Wonder Woman 1984 (2020).

10. Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday (1993)

Man, this film is bonkers - but it's not all bad. Sure, the level of elements like cinematography and dialogue are what you'd expect from the ninth instalment of a slasher franchise. But, for all its flaws, Jason Goes to Hell is definitely not in the worst tier of such films, while not being in the best tier either. The worst tier is reserved for films like Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child (1989) and Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (1989), that are lazy and boring and generic and predictable.

Say what you will about the ninth Friday the 13th, it is not boring and predictable.

The plot goes places, from the technically-killing-off the main villain in the very first scene, to the whole posession storyline, to the Cronenberg-esque body horror, to the lowkey set-up for the Freddy vs. Jason crossover. We don't get to see a whole lot of classic hockey-mask Jason in this film, but what we do see is a chaotic mess that unfolds in a glorious manner.

9. American Pie: Girls' Rules (2020)

Hell yeah. The female-lead American Pie spin-off is not as good as the films with the original cast, but by far the best out of all the many spin-off films that have been made. Mind you, it does belong to the same style of D-class cinema as the rest of the spin-offs, but it's certainly more fresh and therefore more fun.

The main cast has good chemistry, and I thoroughly appreciate the execution of the film's take on feminism: instead of making it even a bit more chaste and less vulgar than the male-lead American Pie films (a route many filmmakers would've taken, with a misguided approach dictated by existing gender stereotypes), it celebrates that us dudes don't have a patent on being gross and obscene.

8. The Nun II (2023)

The eighth film in the Conjuring franchise is the long-awaited Nun sequel, and if nothing else, it's better than the first Nun. It's still not in the same ballpark as the franchise's finest offerings, but it more or less fills the quota on what one would expect from a successful horror flick. The scariest moments are legitimately creepy in a well-built and suspenseful manner, and the titular villain is as awe-inspiringly frightening as always. This makes up for the semi-forgettable plot, making this a decent, middle-of-the-road addition to the Conjuring universe.

7. Halloween (2007)

After the ever-escalating cascade of Halloween sequels had passed a point of no return, the franchise did what such a franchise is bound to do in an attempt to keep itself relevant: a remake. While Rob Zombie's Halloween remake is no masterpiece, it is most definitely an above-average member in the world of horror remakes. Not a high bar, I know.

But, yeah, this one is surprisingly decent. I especially like the pacing of the plot: while the original Halloween starts with a single flashback scene of Michael Myers' childhood and then cuts to the night before his Haddonfield massacre, this one fills in the gap of the missing years. We follow the events before the childhood flashback and after that, following the years Myers spent locked up, slowly building up to the events of that dreadful Halloween night. What makes for most of the original film's runtime is just a half-hour climax at the end of this film, which makes the plot feel climactic and delightfully rapid at the end.

6. Star Trek: Insurrection (1998)

Ah, I long for a time when the first thing to come to mind from the word 'Insurrection' was the ninth Star Trek film and not a bunch of MAGA-cult worshippers storming the capitol at the behest of their führer.

Anyways, this isn't the best of the Next Generation sequel films, but also not the worst. If anything, Insurrection feels like a feature-length episode of The Next Generation, for better or for worse. The stakes aren't super-high and the plot isn't especially powerful, but the tried-and-true chemistry of the main cast is ever-present, and many classic Star Trek tropes rear their head to the delight of sci-fi nerds such as myself.

5. X-Men: Apocalypse (2016)

Many viewers didn't like this X-Men flick, but I have somewhat of a soft spot for it. It may not be as deep as X2 or as groundbreaking as First Class, but it's an entertaining addition to the franchise that kept things exciting. Apocalypse (Oscar Isaac), one of the most legendary villains from the X-Men comics, gets his silver screen introduction, and the lore around the character is quite compelling. Also, the film contains what is probably my favorite moment in the entire franchise: Quicksilver (Evan Peters) saving everyone from the explosion, to the tune of Eurythmics' Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This).

4. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016)

While some might count the first Fantastic Beasts film as the first movie of a new franchise, I'm lumping the Harry Potter spin-offs in with the originals. Different film series, same film franchise. So, after the eight Potter movies had been released, this is the ninth film in the larger Wizarding World franchise. It's a pretty decent one - not as good as the Potter flicks, but a solid and refreshing spin-off, with cool worldbuilding full of potential for its sequels (that have not really lived up to the hype, sadly).

Anyways, f**k J.K. Rowling. It's not my place to tell anyone to stop enjoying the books or movies, as that would be extremely hypocritical among other things. But I'm also very much not going to say that it's totally okay to keep enjoying them, because it is part of the problem that much of the 'separate the art from the artist' discourse is cis people affirming other cis people. Listening to trans voices and their experiences is what I'd recommend more than anything else - I strive to do that myself, and this has been a part of how I personally landed on still being okay with enjoying these works while being very aware of Rowling being a bigot who deserves zero respect. But that's just where I landed, and I suppose everyone ought to think for themselves and find a solution fit for them.

3. The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)

The ninth James Bond flick is Roger Moore's second outing as 007, and it's a wild ride. Sir Christopher Lee, who I consider the hands-down greatest villain actor in Hollywood history, is unsurprisingly one of the most memorable Bond villains, truly realizing the 'James Bond, but evil' premise with his character Francisco Scaramanga. The end result is cool and entertaining, with a high point being the iconic car-spiraling stunt.

2. Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi (2017)

The eighth episode of the Skywalker Saga (which is the ninth instalment in the franchise because of the Rogue One spin-off in between) is an opinion-splitting one, but I'm all for it. While there are some flaws that prevent The Last Jedi from being the full-on masterpiece it could've been, the positives destroy the negatives in my book.

After Episode VII was criticized for playing too close to home with its risk-free plot, Episode VIII does many things differently, making for a bold film that made many man-children cry on the internet about how their childhood is ruined now that Star Wars isn't Star Wars anymore. In my view, this just makes The Last Jedi an interesting expansion of what the franchise can be, and a nice alternative route to clichés and fan service.

1. Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)

By the ninth film of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the franchise had hit a 'golden era' where fans were just dying to see whatever the studio would come up with next. This film, and I mean this in the best possible way, honestly feels like Kevin Feige and company just messing with the audience and testing their limits - "If our next project is adapted from one of Marvel's most obscure comics, the series where the main characters include a raccoon and a f**king tree who only speaks one sentence, will we still smash the box office and get excellent reviews?".

And the answer was yes.

Guardians of the Galaxy isn't a though-provoking masterpiece or a genre-defining groundbreaker. What it is is one of the most entertaining films ever made, carrying on the tradition of Back to the Future with its fast-and-loose, not-too-serious, banter-filled-dialogue, fun-for-the-whole-family approach to sci-fi cinema. It's Fun with a capital F, and sometimes that's the best thing a movie (escpecially the ninth instalment of a franchise) can be.

Thank you for reading! Tune in next week for the final post of this 10-post series: the top 10 tenth instalments from movie franchises.

Top 10 Eighth Instalments of Movie Franchises

Greetings, reader!

My dive into the best instalments of various movie franchises is nearing its end, but I still got a few more left in me. Here are my very favorite eighth parts from the movie franchises I've seen!

Here are my honorable mentions: Birds of Prey (And the Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) (2020), Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan (1989), Halloween: Resurrection (2002), The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (2021).

10. Creed II (2018)

Ah yes, the sequel to the reboot of the original movie, with a plot mirroring the fourth part in the original sequels. Gotta love Hollywood.

The second of the Rocky pseudo-sequel films shares many of the first Creed's strengths: Michael B. Jordan is still fantastic as Adonis Creed, and Sylvester Stallone is still powerful as the aging boxing-legend-turned-coach Rocky Balboa. However, Ryan Coogler's departure as director is felt, as Steven Caple Jr. doesn't come anywhere near the same levels. Also, the film's plot is a bit wonky - it goes so far into the modern trends of making the hero edgy and making the villain have sympathetic motivations, that you kind of end up rooting for the villain.

9. Fate of the Furious (2017)

Still continuing with films that are okay but not great (not too many life-changing part eights out there, I'm afraid), the eighth Fast & Furious film is what you'd expect from the franchise at this point, in both good and bad. The main cast bathes in chemistry, the stunts are big and entertaining, and the whole big-budget blockbuster feel is tried-and-true "If it ain't broke, don't fix it". Henceforth, the film's flaws are just what you'd expect - the plot is heavily predictable and generic. Not a masterpiece, but a fine piece of fast-cars-go-brr action.

8. Freddy vs. Jason (2003)

The area of crossovers between multiple franchises becomes a murky area when making these instalment lists. Freddy vs. Jason, the crossover between A Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th, is technically both the eight Elm Street film and the eleventh Friday the 13th film. However, my dilemma was resolved when I realized that it wouldn't be possible for the same film to be on two of my lists, as there will be no "Top 10 eleventh instalments" post (tenth instalments are the last one where I've seen 10 or more qualifying films and can therefore make a top 10, so the saga ends there).

Anyways, much like Fate of the Furious, this film is by and large what you'd expect. If you're looking for a smart and well-made horror movie, I suggest steering far from this one, but if you're looking for chaotic and cheesy slasher extravaganza to the maximum, you can't do much better than this one. The plot is nonsensical and the acting horrendous, but seeing Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees teaming up to kill a bunch of teenagers (and then turning against each other for an entertaining fight) is must-see for fans of either franchise.

7. American Reunion (2012)

Ah, the eighth American Pie movie. After three films with the original cast, one one-off spin-off, another spin-off and its sequel, and yet another individual spin-off, the franchise had escalated into the territory of worse and worse cinema (as well as more and more obscure Stifler relatives as the main characters). But then, a magical thing happened - the original cast was reunited, naturally for the story of a high school class reunion.

It's a blast to see Jim (Jason Biggs), Michelle (Alyson Hannigan), Kev (Thomas Ian Nicholas) and the gang, as well as countless semi-iconic side characters, as middle-aged adults with a life outside of sex and high school. Naturally, the franchise's inherent elements of cringe comedy and sexual misadventures are still very much there, but with a slightly more mature twist this time around. All in all, it fulfils its purpose as a nice, feel-good legacy sequel.

6. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)

Indeed, the eighth Star Wars film is not, in fact, Episode VIII, as this spin-off was released the seventh and eighth episodes of the Skywalker Saga. Rogue One is pretty much the epitome of "Good, not great", with its relatively not-all-that-important premise serving as both its greatest strength and inevitable weakness.

On one hand, there's not much to ruin when the main characters are a new batch and not the ones fans have spent decades being invested in, but on the other hand, that also makes the film feel less emotional and less important. Overall, once you get past the fact that the whole movie basically exists to fix a plot hole from the original Star Wars, this is a solid, well-made addition to the ever-growing universe.

5. Live and Let Die (1973)

The eighth James Bond flick is Roger Moore's debut in the 007 role, and boy, it's a fun ride. While some of the racial elements haven't aged gracefully, that hardly makes the film stand out of the crowd as pretty much all old Bond flicks have their share of "oh dear, it's a product of it's time I suppose" moments. In every other sense, this is one of the better vintage Bond adventures - Moore is delightful in the leading role, the chase sequences across land, water and sky make for loads of entertainment value, and the theme song is an all-timer.

4. Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)

The eighth film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is the second solo outing of Chris Evans' Captain America, and more importantly, the first MCU film to be directed by Anthony and Joe Russo. The Russo brothers (who made their breakthrough directing a little show called Community), would go on to shape the very best moments of the whole franchise, with projects like Captain America: Civil War (2016), Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Avengers: Endgame (2019).

The studio handing the responsibility of their biggest and most vital projects to these brothers is very much thanks to their work in this film: the action sequences are neat and intense, the plot is thrilling, and everything just works. Many consider The Winter Soldier to be the beginning of the MCU's prime: after seven films with varying quality as the studio works out the kinks in the system, this flick started a run of several expecation-defying films, such as Guardians of the Galaxy and Spider-Man: Homecoming.

3. Deadpool (2016)

After a trilogy, a few Wolverine spin-offs, a reboot and a time-travel crossover mega-mash, the X-Men franchise once again reinvented itself - this time by finally answering the wishes of patient comic book fans and making a proper Deadpool adaptation.

The film is gloriously meta, insanely funny, delightfully clever and just a really good time. Not much more to say than that, really.

2. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011)

The final Harry Potter movie got to adapt all of the most epic moments from the last and best book, and the end result is pretty great. Some of the changes from the source material are bold but ultimately well-reasoned; for example, the final duel between Harry and Voldemort feels much more powerful in the film version than it ever did in the book. All in all, a very satisfying ending for the generation-shaping fantasy franchise.

It's really too bad that J.K. Rowling is a transphobic bully who has lost all my respect. And yes, I will continue to talk shit about her as long as she continues to talk shit about a community just trying to live their lives, and who are constantly vilified by voices like Rowling's despite not being a danger to anyone. If you have extra money on your hands, donating to a cause like The Equality Project or Youth In Policy would be a great step to counteract the harm being done by the Rowlings of the world!

1. Star Trek: First Contact (1996)

Ah, yes. This sequel film to Star Trek: The Next Generation is as good as an eighth instalment can get. Not only is the premise thrilling, with fan-favorite villains the Borg Collective going back in time to change things for the worse and the Enterprise crew coming after them, it is also borderline profound in how it ties into the very ideals at the core of the franchise.

The Star Trek franchise was always a utopia of sorts, as it takes place in a future that is by no means perfect, but certainly better - somehow, humanity has found a way past racism, past sexism, past homophobia, past greed and war, past the abuse of the environment, and into a more harmonic existence. First Contact is a tribute to this powerful idea, as the time-travel narrative shows for the first time how this future came to be. The climax of the film is one hell of a tear-jerker for a viewer like me, who really hopes with all his heart that humanity in real life could find its way to the same direction.

Thank you for reading! Tune in next week for my ranking of the top 10 ninth instalments of movie franchises.