IMHO, I think it's bad writing if you tune in for the finale and expect a grand finale only to realize the penultimate episode was the grand finale. People shouldn't get a heads up through a promo, interview, etc, but it ought to feel organic and like it's meant to be just from tuning it week to week.
It's not bad writing to have a denouement episode, but if the viewer experiences shock/dissatisfaction because they expected all hell to break loose and it didn't... except that it apparently did... well, it seems to me that the writing for the grand finale was poor at delivering all those emotional beats. If it's written well, there won't be that disappointment. You might not like the storytelling technique, but you won't feel cheated out of a good story.
For instance, Game of Thrones tends to have denouement episodes, but I've never walked out of a season feeling deprived. It feels cathartic and necessary, which is something these episodes are supposed to provide, a cooling off period from the climax and also scintillating viewers to convince them to tune in for next season.
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It's not bad writing to have a denouement episode, but if the viewer experiences shock/dissatisfaction because they expected all hell to break loose and it didn't... except that it apparently did... well, it seems to me that the writing for the grand finale was poor at delivering all those emotional beats. If it's written well, there won't be that disappointment. You might not like the storytelling technique, but you won't feel cheated out of a good story.
For instance, Game of Thrones tends to have denouement episodes, but I've never walked out of a season feeling deprived. It feels cathartic and necessary, which is something these episodes are supposed to provide, a cooling off period from the climax and also scintillating viewers to convince them to tune in for next season.