/agree.

Or Penny is actually Bait n' Switch, whichever.

No.
Though it is a testament to the power of the work that this person is going through the 'denial' stage of loss. In works of entertainment and – more importantly – real life we loose people we love and care about. But to make up a new ending  is to deny the truth. You can't cope with loss by pretending something else happened – you need to accept it, terrible as it is.

Absolutely not!  The "Penny Saves the day ending" would have totally missed the point and would have been at best a cop-out.

In many ways Penny is Billy's mirror.  Based on her songs she was in Billy's place at one time but instead of withdrawing and choosing a darker path, she opts to take action in another way.  She is what Billy might have been (and before the ending could be) had he made other choices.  Without Penny's death, we can't see the result of Billy's choices.  An ending that fails to climax without payment for "evil" is one that denies ones own humanity. 

As much as it might pain the viewers to see Penny's death and the tragedy that befalls Billy, it is the eventual and necessary outcome of his choices.  I've posted in another thread that Penny doesn't die alone on that floor; Billy dies with her.  Dr. Horrible is more nuanced than traditional super villians in comic books.  His back story actually speaks to a lot of viewers who may have had their own painful dealings with others.  We cheer on Billy because he reminds us of us.  Captain Hammer is the jock many geeks/nerds/introverts knew in school who is a jerk but always gets the girls whereas Billy is us.

However, where many of you have chosen a life which ultimately enriches others, Billy chooses to become Dr. Horrible.  He embraces "evil" in the misguided belief that he can affect social change that will ultimately end his suffering.  Sadly, he is correct in that assumption but for the wrong reason.  In his quest, he kills "Billy"; the part that was suffering.  Billy was the part that had all the emotion and the humanity.  In his death, Billy took with him everything leaving numbness and emptiness.  Trying to "happy this up", you miss the point of the story and the lesson about choices.  No matter how you spin it, any other outcome fails to recognize the finality of poor decisions.

The "death" of the Billy portion of his character does not imply that there cannot be some fiery resurrection.  It simply means that "Billy" as we know him has ceased to exist (hence the numbness).  Could there be some future where he becomes an average person again?  Unlikely, but Sci-Fi/Fantasy has always left room for wiggling.  After all, Spock's katra was saved and his body resurrected.  Why not Billy?

empimp said:

Such a solution still provides the storyline consistent solution that neither Horrible or Hammer end up with Penny and frankly is much more fateful about it because not only do they not end up with her, but she's constantly in their face reminding them of their respective inadequacies.

I stand by my belief that having Penny live and become the true hero, abandoning both Hammer and Horrible not only doesn't miss the point, but makes the 'good vs evil' point with spot on precision that the original ending doesn't.

And ignoring the whole 'Penny dies plot' and after several subsequent reviews, I still don't think Act III has the overall quality that Acts I & II have.  Act III was not only a plot disappointment, but a quality disappointment also.  As a result, I won't be sharing any of it with friends.

Dr. Science made some excellent points.  The story isn't without its statements on good/evil though.  When you look at the characters, they're shaded by their desires.  When we look at Billy, he's portrayed as an evil Doctor who has a good side.   We see Captain Hammer as the super hero with a bad side.  One can even look at Penny as someone who had to make decisions about good/evil. 

Ultimately though, everything was about choices (as Dr. Science stated).  There were some choices Dr. Horrible made that had no implied moral imperative, but ultimately resulted in who he became.  The story also speaks to missed opportunities and the tragedy of failing to recognize those opportunities. 

Frankly, we've often given Penny a pass on her choices by focusing primarily on Dr. Horrible.  However, she was dating Captain Hammer despite her disatisfaction with the relationship.  She was obviously aware that at some level he wasn't right and that he didn't truly care for her.  She didn't immediately act on that awareness.  Instead, she appeared to be seeking some sort of outside vindication for her feelings.  Perhaps she was even willing to ignore those feelings because of the things Captain Hammer could bring to the table (like the new homeless center).  Sadly, there may have actually been some level of usuary between Captain Hammer and Penny (though she was unwittingly being used to hurt Billy).

My point is – choices are always a factor.  Even if you choose to do nothing, you're still making a choice.  Depending on how deep you want to look, you can see choices being made all throughout the show.

patronise said:

No.
Though it is a testament to the power of the work that this person is going through the 'denial' stage of loss. In works of entertainment and – more importantly – real life we loose people we love and care about. But to make up a new ending  is to deny the truth. You can't cope with loss by pretending something else happened – you need to accept it, terrible as it is.

So I take it you're not a fan of fanfic, huh?

I think people can enjoy and interact with a piece of fiction any way they find satisfying. If people want to write fanfiction and explore other possibilities, more power to them.

I also don't agree at all that Billy has “ceased to exist”. I thought the whole POINT of the ending is that while he's embraced his “Dr. Horrible” role, strutting around and trying to convince himself that he doesn't feel anything, deep down inside he IS Billy — he'll ALWAYS be Billy, and he'll always be in pain. He can never escape that.

Also, people keep saying it’s about “choices,” and Dr. H’s choice to embrace evil led to the tragic consequence. Yet Dr. Horrible ultimately did NOT choose to kill Captain Hammer. At the moment of truth, he didn’t go through with it…yet still got the tragic ending. So to me, the “choice” theme fails there.

I think, if the point was about choices and consequences, and if Penny HAD to die to show that, then at the very least, after his moment of hesitation, he should have steeled himself, said “I HAVE to do this, there’s no other way,” and pulled the trigger. It doesn’t mean Captain Hammer would have to die; either the gun could have exploded because it was faulty (rather than dropped), OR the freeze ray could have failed at the SAME moment he started to pull the trigger, and Captain Hammer could have knocked the gun aside, making the shot go wild and hit Penny.

In that case, I still would have been upset that it was a tragic ending, but I would have considered it much “fairer” and more justified than the way it played out. At least in that case, Billy would have CLEARLY chosen evil, and Penny’s death would have been a DIRECT consequence of that choice.

As it is, the “message” is muddled IMO.