The Charnal Pit, the season 3 and series finale, originally aired on May 14, 1990. This was another time travel episode for the series. This time, the time travel sequences were in color. The cursed antique in this final episode was a double sided painting. The painting was the key to the past. If one sent live people into the past, the man who made the painting would send dead people into the present, along with long lost documents. The villain was a college professor obsessed with Marquis de Sade, a sadistic man who tried to make women feel pleasure in pain. It's truly horrifying. As far as the final moments of the show...granted they had no idea this was their last episode. However, the final shot was, to me, the best way they ever could have ended the show without having a proper ending. The camera is inside the vault and the vault doors close (forever seeing as this is the final episode). It was incredibly fitting.
Season 3 for me was, and I know I'm in the minority in saying this, my favorite season. Having a shorter season helped. The writers didn't run out of ideas as quickly. They had a full 2 hour episode season premiere. I felt the writing was at its strongest point during this season. I'm not a Johnny lover, but I don't hate him. I thought he was a fine addition to the show, and the way they wrote Ryan out, it was impossible for him to EVER return. I accepted Johnny right then and there. The DVD release was also excellent having many of the episodes promos that could be viewed directly before the episode. It greatly enhanced the enjoyment of the season for me. Overall, I had a blast with The Series. I may never watch it again, but it was great to watch all 72 hours for this extensive and complete analysis.
Season 4 was being planned. It was in the works, however the show got cancelled from people who were upset by the title of the show and the fact that it played during prime time. The move to prime time was a huge mistake for the show. If the show didn't move, they probably would have had a proper ending. The end of the series was not only a sad day for the fans of The Series, but also for fans of the franchise as well. For the first time there were no more plans for further installments in our beloved franchise. This episode also marks the last entry of Paramount owning the franchise solely. For me, after having seen this episode, there is nothing new in the franchise as of now for me to see and that is truly saddening to me. I LOVE this franchise, if you couldn't tell by now. But now we must move on from the Paramount years and keep going forward. Now that Paramount wanted nothing more out of Friday the 13th, the franchise rights were up for grabs. Who should end up buying it, but New Line Cinema aka The House that Freddy Built. Freddy was huge box office competition to Jason and Freddy won a lot against Jason. Now for the first time, the two big shots of the slasher genre were under the same company. Finally, plans for a Freddy vs. Jason movie could be realized. But, as of 1991, Freddy was dead. What was New Line going to do with Jason for their first Friday movie...well, we'll discuss that next time.
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