Napping at Red Lights

Just last month our favorite shows returned from the hiatus forced by the writer’s strike and now it’s already time for the shortened seasons to come to an end.  But which series season finales promise the most bang for our buck?

This season fans will have to bid good bye to more than their shows for the summer.  Several series will be saying farewell to longtime characters – or at least these characters’ fates hang in the balance.

Beware:  the following might contain spoilers.

Here’s my list of the Top 5 Season Finales to watch:

1.  Supernatural

Dean’s (Jensen Ackles) deal with the crossroads demon from last year’s explosive finale finally comes due this week.  But holding the contract is Lilith (Rachel Pattee), the newest bad ass on the block and she’s gunning for Sam (Jared Padelecki).  Can the Winchester brothers defeat this pint-sized demon with enormous power?  Will Dean find a way out of the contract without sacrificing Sam or will he join the demons he hates in Hell?  And if Dean is hellbound, can Sam survive without him? 

I’ve heard no word that Ackles is leaving the show (in fact, I’ve heard he wants to stay) and I can’t image Supernatural without Dean, but I have a feeling the executive producer Eric Kripke isn’t going to give Dean an easy out on this deal.  Expect an exciting hour with killer music, the return of Ruby (Katie Cassidy) and one very big cliffhanger.  The Season 4 finale airs May 15 at 9 p.m. on CW.

2.  NCIS

Rumors have been flying since this show returned in April that one of the main characters will not be returning in the fall.  The absence of Director Jenny Shepard (Lauren Holly) in the “Stakeout” episode where Ducky (David McCullum) handles some blood work for the director has many speculating that Shepard is on her way out.

But this fifth season death won’t be from any long-term disease.  It’ll be murder and from what I’ve read it’ll be a tragedy that devastates the entire team in the two-hour finale.  We seen many of the characters put in jeopardy during the last few weeks, but my money is still on the director.  But we’ll have to wait until the finale airs on May 20 at 8 p.m. on CBS to find out.

3.  Bones

I’ve read that in the Season 4 premiere that Dr. Brennan (Emily Deschanel) will be looking for a new full-time forensic anthropologist.  But just why is Bones looking for a new staff member?  Well, the Gormogon killer returns for the season finale and all the clues point to an insider in the Jeffersonian.  Will the killer off one of Bones’ own team before Booth (David Boreanaz) can find him or could one of the team members be the killer?

If a serial killer in the lab isn’t enough, Angela’s (Michaela Conlin) long-lost husband shows up.  Will his perfectness be enough to drive Hodgins (T.J. Thyne) to homicide or will Angela finally get the divorce that she wants (she still wants it, right?)?  The third season finale airs on May 19 at 8 p.m. on Fox.

4.  Numb3rs

If this year’s season finale is anything like the Season 3 finale we are in for one helluva ride.  Last year’s finale was by far one of the best season finales on TV last season.  On Friday, we will hopefully learn more about Megan’s (Diane Farr) mysterious personal leave that sent her to the East Coast in the last episode before we bid her character farewell.

But Megan’s exit seems minor compared to a case that is about to set the Eppes brothers at odds.  While Don (Rob Morrow) and the FBI deal with a potential terrorist attack, it’s a battle of knowledge vs. security that Don will wage with his brother Charlie (David Krumholtz). Season 4 concludes on May 16 at 10 p.m. on CBS.

5.  CSI

For the last three seasons, the season finale has found a member of the CSI team in peril – last year Sara (Jorja Fox) was kidnapped by the miniature killer, the year before Brass (Paul Guilfoyle) was in surgery after being shot and in Season 5 Nick (George Eads) was buried alive.  But this year, Warrick (Gary Dourdan) is in jeopardy – and I have the feeling that he’s not going to fare as well as his teammates.

We already know that Dourdan is leaving the show, we just don’t know yet how.  In the season finale, Warrick is once again in trouble – this time he’s a suspect for murder of a big-time Vegas gangster.  Is Warrick headed for lock up or will he be a victim of retaliation?  The eighth season finale airs May 15 on CBS at 9 p.m.

And one series finale that I’m not looking forward to – Smallville.

In its seventh season, Smallville is about to loose the best villain on TV at a time when it is already showing its age.  I’ve already talked about how Smallville needed to take the next step and let Clark Kent (Tom Welling) don his cape.  I was hoping to see Clark make the transition to Superman in this season finale – and what I thought would be a series finale. 

But due to the shortened season, the powers that be have granted this superhero another season.  But the eighth season looks to be a shell of the former series.  The series already lost Lionel Luthor (John Glover) earlier this year.  And word has it that Clark’s arch nemesis Lex (Michael Rosenbaum) and his high school sweetheart Lana Lang (Kristin Kreuk) will not be returning as regular cast in the fall.  And now there’s a possibility that we’re losing Chloe (Allison Mack) too.  Add that to the fact that the show will also lose the two men behind the show – Alfred Gough and Miles Millar – next season and it doesn’t bode well for the future of the show.  However, if you’d like to see what Lex has in store for Clark before he parts, tune in to the season finale on May 15 at 8 p.m. on the CW.

What series finale are you most looking forward to?  Which characters will you miss the most?