This was probably the kind of ending I least expected, due to it being just so obvious and somewhat uncreative.
I haven't read the book, therefore I can't say a think about the storyline or the ending, for that matter.
But there were so many chances where one could've built in a couple of awesome plot twists that would've made the entire thing not only a whole lot more enjoyable, but much more fitting to the whole complex thing that the concept of time travel is.
For example: Since they set the focus so heavily on the fact that time doesn't want itself to be changed, they could've easily changed the storyline in a way that doesn't really change the past in such a hard way.
What if Lee Harvey Oswald wasn't the one responsible for the assassination of JFK, but Mr. Amberson himself? What if Lee Harvey Oswald was nothing more than a patsy and the FBI or whoever else was actually the one responsible for the shooting? What if, that, after changing the past in a rather impactful way, there was no way of going back through the rabbit hole, since said change dismissed the fact that the rabbit hole existed in the first place?
These are just a couple of 'what ifs' that I've asked myself at the beginning and throughout the series, 'what ifs', that I figured the writers and producers of this show also must've asked themselves when being presented with a plot that's so diverse and changeable in such numerous ways.
And, sadly, these 'what ifs' are nothing more than, well, 'what ifs', since it seems like this huge amount of possibilities was just too huge an amount for the people creating this show to actually explore them, at all.
So the actual ending itself appeared to me as nothing more than way too straight-forward, obvious and rather uncreative, running adrift to being a slightly cheesy love story ending.
Review by Nerve33BlockedParentSpoilers2016-04-06T20:11:33Z
I'm sorry but WTF? Is everyone gonna ignore the fact that he just left the love of his life to marry her abusive husband just because a crazy man told him so? It doesn't make any sense! [flips the table]
Why the heck would Sadie die? If she didn't die in the original timeline then wouldn't her dying be the change that the hat guy says is impossible? And btw - we do know that it is possible to change the past (i.e. Sadie's death) - Jake DID save JFK! Goddammit, Stephen!
In all honesty, the ending seems unfinished. It's like Stephen King just went "Eh. Good 'nuf." Although I sincerely hope that the book ending was better fleshed out.
And yeah, I know that Sadie's husband "dies unexpectedly in a car crash" (real convenient btw) and that she's lead a good life all things considered. But it just seems like a shame Jake doesn't want BOTH of them to be happy. I mean if that is a possibility. And I also do get the main idea about the dark and the light. But this little titbit just ruins it for me. Such a positive message ruined by a small incongruity in the plot. I actually really enjoyed the mini-series right up to that point.
P.S.:Oh, and one more thing, the part with the alternative future was kind of ham-fisted. I mean, we get it: don't mess with the past too much. But the apocalypse? I mean, really?