I suppose I never saw this labeled as a tragedy or saw it as anything but a cute comedy with brilliant music and musical talent, and as such the end was not expected to take such a dark turn. While I am familiar with some of Joss' previous work, I thought that his lighterhearted approach in this online venue would have a different manner of twist to the end. I suppose I had hoped for the best.

I was profoundly disappointed and stunned with the end of this seemingly lighterhearted comedy/different take on super heroes. What I had lauded to my friends as brilliance, has become the same old tired real-life ending to most things: unnecessarily tragic. I am now warning friends to avoid the last episode if they even watch it at all.

Had there been ANY allusion that I could see to Penny's secret survival, hints at a future sequel with Penny in a starring role (since comic book characters often 'die' but come back later through whatever means), I suppose I could have been able to enjoy the ending and anticipated the miraculous return of Penny and more tension. Instead it played out like so many japanese animes with no one happy at the end and most of the good characters dead, and there's no real hope (that I've been able to find in browsing) for a reprisal with a happier twist ending. I admit I watched the credits, hoping that there'd be something, anything, with redemption. There was nothing. All the anticipation, excitement, and joy at watching something that was so refreshingly different, was not only ruined but has left me with a sour taste for future endeavors by the writers involved. Yet I still want to hope for something to be announced that will let me enjoy the ending by offering a sequel that will have Felicia Day featured as a starring actress (she was brilliant in this by the way).

As for foreshadowing, I've seen many in the forums speak of how they could see this coming. However, what I had thought, was that Penny was really like Billy. Her song about herself, spoke of even in the darkness every color may be found, and essentially singing about rain being necessary (something that some may perceive as negative). I could have seen her as being either another potential lfor ELE candidacy like Billy (pursuing the Hammer to pull a Samson and Delilah type thing if the 'Hammer is his penis') or someone there to guide Billy to the 'necessary evil' that he was bent toward pursuing.

Should there be an announcement about a sequel involving Penny, I would be ecstatic. A friend of mine said that in the Marvel universe, "you've not lived until you've died in that Universe". I know this is wordy, but I fell in love with Dr. Horrible's quirkiness and that tension between Billy and Penny, and the ending dashed everything to pieces. Sure, Captain Hammer is gibbering in the corner, but a happier ending would have been so appreciated as a breath of fresh air.

Anyway, if you read this Joss, you have brilliant talent and the music was superb. Please consider a sequel with the return of Penny in some adorably quirky fashion? Death doesn't have to be the end in comic books. Hopefully…and I hope…that it isn't the end here.

Thanks for reading.

Sincerely,

Hope

Hope said:

If I wanted to watch something with death that can’t be undone, I’d watch the news. There’s plenty of death in the world. Not enough comedy and fun. Remember there are freeze rays that stop time in this little Jossiverse, there are characters that are super strong and powerful, and there are comic characters with silly powers like Moist. This wasn’t presented as a dark or macabre comedy.

Hope

QFT. In a dark Real Life world we have more than our share of tragedy and unexpected loss. Parts I and II of Dr. Horrible took us out of that world and into one with smirks and winks and music and funny, quotable lines. Part III, while certainly following what we have come to expect from Joss in other, darker works, did not seem to fit the world we had been enjoying for a few brief days. I'm sure there are some who will think Joss so very clever to have "psyched" us, as Billy would say, but I, for one, feel manipulated.

I also wondered if Billy was just living out a fantasy life online and none of this stuff actually happened. Great twist!

The probem is, TheGamut, that what the people "need" is being assumed to be tragedy. Why would people NEED tragedy with all the wars, death, murders, accidents that already happen on a daily basis in the world? That's like saying we need to be flagellating ourselves every day to make sure that we take everything seriously and feel constant guilt or sadness. What the people "need" is not necessarily more of the same that we always get in real life, nor is it necessarily perfect happy endings as in your case of needs, and that I will admit. I don't think it is exactly good to ever assume what others "need" if they do not know the person. For all Joss knows I may have just lost someone I love to death and this was the first thing I saw that cheered me up after the death of a loved one, only to have death pushed in my face in a fantasy world where it seemed no one really got seriously hurt even after cars were thrown at them and battle confrontations are slapstick humor.

Also, it's important to realize that I didn't come into this with "Mutant Enemy oh no it's going to end badly". A great friend of mine gave me the link and said "you have to watch this, it's pure genius" and I did. I didn't over analyze. And I LOVED IT. I truly loved it, the first and second episodes. It was and is pure genius. They brightened my day and were adorable and built exceptional excitement and anticipation. The music was beautiful and the comedy lighthearted even with the subjectmatter. Had it been labeled as Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, a dark comedy, I might not have ever watched it depending on my mood, or at least I would have been warned that it was not apt to be a happy ending.

People change, things change, and happy endings CAN happen in real life too. They just don't do it that often. Going into everything assuming because it has happened before it has to happen again, isn't giving the artist a chance. It wouldn't have hurt to have a happier ending. What I need is not what others may need, and so forth. Joss is a genius, and the first and second episodes brightened my day. Even with all the foreshadowing, "unhappy endings" don't have to always end in shock and death.

All I'm ultimately saying is that I could enjoy the ending for what it is if I had some glimpse or foreshadowing or hint that this little Jossiverse was continuing and there was some hope of Penny's coming back and love maybe actually being realized, or something more upbeat. I need hope. Not just another miserable ending to greatness. We have enough of that in reality.

Sincerely,

Hope

TheGamut says "Joss gives people what they need". I think it would be more accurate to say he gives people what he thinks they need. My film lecurers at uni are fond of saying that by 1970 Jean-Luc Goddard, "didn't like his audience very much". I think the same can be said of Joss (to a lesser extent) but like all things in his world the sentiment is filled with contradictions. He gives us what he knows we'll all like (acts 1&2), then hits us with what he thinks we need to see (act 3). IMO this is because as an artist & a person, Joss is seeking an answer to what it means to be human, to have a soul & how that soul is capable of great kindnesss or unspeakable evil. Even Toy Story explores those themes. I'll leave you with a quote, which won't soothe Hope (this clearly was not the ending for you & that's totally cool) but which I found quite appropriate for Joss' work:

“If life is just a stage, then we are all running around ad-libbing, with absolutely no clue what the plot is. Maybe that's why we don't know whether it's a comedy or tragedy.”

Bill watterson, creator Calvin & Hobbes.

sloppy said:

Just watched it again, even though last night I swore I wouldn’t see it again.

The thing that struck me at the very end, is how while Dr. Horrible is singing as he sits down in the meeting, the final word is sung by Billy dressed casually in front of his computer.

Now it’s got me wondering if Billy wasn’t just imagining the whole thing, even from part 1. Those casual clothes are throwing me.

When you say it, it can be true that he just imagining it happen. But it's wierd that he imagining it ending so sad, so after all, it could be real.

But the way I really wanted it to end was that this stupid Captain Hammer died or something and that Penny turned Dr. Horrible to just Billy and that they two lived happily ever after. But that's a kind of obvious way to end it, so I guess the end was ok anyway.