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The ending of Blackadder was the saddest show ending I\u2019ve ever seen. The show is hysterically funny for four seasons. It\u2019s just, laugh, after laugh, after laugh. Rowan Atkinson, Hugh Laurie, Stephen Fry, all in their prime. It\u2019s magnificent. Then the final episode comes. And humor just\u2026 leaves the scene.
\nSuddenly, it\u2019s dark. And heart-wrenching. There\u2019s still some jokes, but they\u2019re no longer jokes aimed at the public \u2014 the men are now just trying to cheer one another up. But it isn\u2019t cheery, it isn\u2019t happy, it\u2019s just, sad. All these episodes, Atkinson\u2019s Captain Blackadder has been trying to avoid \u201cgoing over\u201d. Baldrick, his dim-witted by overly enthusiastic comrade-in-arms, has come up with what he describes as \u201ca cunning plan\u201d in every episode so far. It never is cunning, of course. And it never works.<\/p>\n
This time, Baldrick doesn\u2019t have a cunning plan. He calls it, for the first time, just \u201ca plan\u201d. The men are resigned to their fate. Even the running jokes fall flat, and they no longer take heart from them. Hugh Laurie\u2019s George says \u201cso we are, in fact, going over. This is, as they say\u2026 it.\u201d Captain Blackadder wishes his men good luck. Blows his whistle. And over, they go. And as they run over, in slowmotion, a nostalgic tune starts playing. The scene fades. The trenches disappear. And a field of poppies appears.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s apparant that they all died in the charge. The final episode of Blackadder was aired around Remembrance Day in the United Kingdom. It was unexpectedly emotional, and the ending was even played as part of a serious commemoration of Armistice Day on it\u2019s 80th anniversary in 1998 \u2014 highly unusual for a comedy show. Because in the final three minutes\u2026 Blackadder wasn\u2019t comedy anymore; it was more. It was a beautiful, tragic tribute to the futility of war.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The ending of Blackadder was the saddest show ending I\u2019ve ever seen. The show is hysterically funny for four seasons. It\u2019s just, laugh, after laugh, after laugh. Rowan Atkinson, Hugh Laurie, Stephen Fry, all in their prime. It\u2019s magnificent. Then the final episode comes. And humor just\u2026 leaves the scene. Suddenly, it\u2019s dark. And heart-wrenching. … <\/p>\n