In many ways it was the Sunday of the denouements. A lefty affair, because denouements put an end to something, and that is bound to bring laughter and emotions with it.
Sunday night was no different, then Studio Sports broadcast the denouement of the last Eredivisie round. At the top nothing was at stake, but at the bottom several football clubs still had to fear the relegation specter. In such a case, nothing beats the blissful sense of ignorance – which is a lot harder to achieve than it looks (just try not to touch that Twitter app). But it worked, and so were the welcome words of ‘mr. plate on your lap‘ Tom Egbers ultimately my only grip. And once Tom Egbers utters words like “de-gra-da-tie” and “na-com-pe-ti-tie” in staccato, you know he’s serious.
Studio Sports then did exactly what (sports) television can make so beautiful, by completely milking the denouement (in a good way). Matches such as NEC-Fortuna Sittard and Heracles Almelo-Sparta Rotterdam were commented on as if nothing less than world peace was at stake here. The commentators chose their words extremely carefully, of course, so that we only knew who was relegated after seeing all the important matches. All emotions of fans and players were neatly saved by the director to avoid spoilers.
Because of this old-fashioned excellent playing plan, we were able to sympathize with furious trainers, resigned club directors and crying supporters until well after 7 pm. It was in all respects the higher art of a perfect denouement. Studio Sports has been an institution for so long that every little girl now feels like a cliché, but sometimes the familiar also offers the most satisfaction.
The latter also applied to the twelfth season finale of the indestructible Farmer seeks wife – another institution about which everything has been said. In contrast to the high football emotions, Farmer seeks wife himself the throne holder of the modest denouement, with a reunion episode that mainly looked back. Fans could speculate all week which couples were still together, but that question was answered at lightning speed. Farmer seeks wife kept it small, with lots of chatter and awkward jokes. In between, we were treated to in-depth statements such as ‘we understood each other without saying anything’, or ‘there was no wow effect’.
Seven of the ten couples turned out to be still together, so presenter Yvon Jaspers spoke of a ‘top harvest’. There were fairy tales among them, but that should not be emphasized too strongly. Participant Maud – the crowd favorite of this season – decided to live with farmer Evert. A milestone, but Maud summed up both that step and the program in great detail: ‘You shouldn’t romanticize it.’
Studio Sports and Farmer seeks wife didn’t necessarily do anything new, but they did give us something that few TV shows really master: a satisfying denouement with just the right amount of emotion.