Does a SOAP Ending have to be tied up in a neat BOW?

[P.J.]

But, the "continuing drama" is ending. Personally, I don't think "tied up in neat little bows" and "resolutions" are the same thing. I think audiences deserve some kind of satisfying payoff---to see justice served, beloved characters headed to happiness, and life carrying on in spite of the fact we won't see it.

I hate endings like Capitol's, that ended on Conboy's tantrum-filled fit. The audience didn't deserve that, even if he wanted to say (and deserved to) "screw you" to the suits that cancelled him.

I understand that endings like GL's and ATWT's are double-edged swords. I thought GL's entire last week was contrived to the point of saccarhine sweetness, and I wish ATWT had had the balls to send Craig to jail or play out Katie's grief instead of hooking her up with her next random battery operated sex toy....but I do think there's a hopefulness to them that is unique to television and part of the reason serials become as personal to viewers as they do.

[Cheap21]

With AMC, all the end pairings were already together prior to cancellation except maybe Tad and Dixie, whom were thrown together simply to give themselves a nice cancellatioin resolution. Even with Zach/Kendall, she was always talking about him and had never let him go, so it was very concievable that she'd end up with him. Thats probably why overall it didnt feel forced