On that subject, I really like what Josh Whedon did with Buffy's season 4 ending episode, "Restless", where the big bad was defeated on the penultimate episode,

On that subject, I really like what Josh Whedon did with Buffy's season 4 ending episode, "Restless", where the big bad was defeated on the penultimate episode, while the last episode serves more as an introspection on each character's fear. Per Josh Whedon commentary [1]: "This was one of the years where I was pretty convinced we would actually be picked up for another year, so we left a lot of things hanging. But at the same time I always felt if this was the last episode we ever filmed, it would be a good last one because it really did just get us into the minds of our characters, whom I love very much, and let them just sort of exist." [1] https://stormwreath.livejournal.com/69633.html https://stormwreath.livejournal.com/69633.html