MovieChat Forums > Wizards of Waverly Place (2007) Discussion > Unsatisfied with the ending

Unsatisfied with the ending

posted 13 years ago by Joletta
42 replies | jump to latest

I felt so, sooo bad for Max. I thought it was unfair that Max doesn't get to keep his powers when both his siblings do. They should have just stuck with one Russo sibling winning. Yeah it would have been bittersweet but now it just feels awkward. I guess I'm biased though because I was always rooting for Max--Justin is obsessed with winning and being the best, Alex uses magic to make her life easier but Max is the only one who seems to love magic for itself. Poor Max always gets the short end of the stick and is always the isolated one out of the three siblings. I would have liked to see him on top in the end :(

[–] NYSiciliana 13 years ago

OMG! I felt the same way! Personally, though Max IS my favorite, I wanted ALL the Russo kids to keep their powers. Or, as you said, just have ONE win. I felt also that Max always gets the short end of the stick and I hate how the show made him so "stupid". Of course, Alex and Justin always get what they want. I always thought they were spoiled brats...just my opinion. In real life, I'd rather be friends with Max then with Justin or Alex. Just my OPINION though:)

"You never know what's in the water...You wouldn't want something pulling you under..." Cleo--H20: Just Add Water. Love mermaids? Watch it!

[–] Tastyeye 13 years ago

Max can be happy without magic. Besides he has Talia, he should've mentioned Talia and tell her about his future sandwhich shop then make her miserable for the rest of their livves.

[–] bluebaybeach 13 years ago

agreed

[–] CookieNCreams 13 years ago

I know right? I felt the exact same way too about Max. But hey, at least Justin gets to be the next professor. I never thought that job would suit him a lot better than being the family wizard. (I was rooting for both Justin and Max. No offense to Alex though. It's good that she became the family wizard...even though it feels a little predictable.) I'm glad that Justin still gets to keep his powers, but I'm a little sad that Max gets nothing. (Running a family restaurant is not good enough... compare to having magical powers anyways!)

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[–] slater-charley 13 years ago

Well I think the only reason that Justin gave Alex his family powers is:

1. She cannot live without magic, as shown in "Lucky Charmed".
2. If Alex doesn't have her magical powers, then she can't be with Mason.

But it would've been nice for 1 wizard and 2 mortals, since that's the original plan of the wizard competition.

[–] jmatrixrenegade 13 years ago

"Max is the only one who seems to love magic for itself."

I never got the idea that he cared that much about magic, surely not that he "loved" it in particular. Alex uses it to make life easier; Max (see the episode with the ring that removed fears) is so happy go lucky that he wouldn't really mind not having it. Alex could probably survive, ala the rich girl on Two Broke Girls, w/o it (she has the smarts to hustle) but it matters more to her.

Justin needed it for satisfaction but still he made the ultimate sacrifice here for his sister (he repeatedly did this, showing his love for her) while clearly having the brains and responsibility to run the school. So that makes sense too.

And, here the dad, who is a lovable schmuck himself, gets something too plus the mom, who is a full mortal. It works out in the end really.

[–] bob-583-344388 13 years ago

Justin needed it for satisfaction but still he made the ultimate sacrifice here for his sister (he repeatedly did this, showing his love for her) while clearly having the brains and responsibility to run the school. So that makes sense too.

It wasn't sibling love that prompted him to concede at the end. It was his sense of himself as a man of honor. Same reason his duplicate of himself confessed in Wizard Court.

___
I think we all believe I could do something that stupid.

[–] jmatrixrenegade 13 years ago

Eloquently put there.

The sacrifice benefited his sister but as you note it was not truly "for" her but in promotion of his sense of integrity and honor. This, along with sibling love, affected his choices regarding Alex in particular.

Alex also had her sense of integrity along with sibling love though it was more "natural" in that it was basically a feeling of conscience and what feels right. Justin had more introspection and being torn over such matters. It made him a good fit for being a professor with all the responsibility that entails.

This is what seems to be the case regarding her helping Justin with the tree branch. I also think she also deep down saw how important it was to him etc. For someone less important, a trivial reason for losing might not have been a big deal for her. Her brother or Harper, something like that would not "feel right" to her. This gut ability to do right is promoted on the show to prove she is a good person & perhaps why she is a worthy family wizard.

[–] zandylovesRISK 13 years ago

And, here the dad, who is a lovable schmuck himself, gets something too plus the mom, who is a full mortal. It works out in the end really.

What did the dad get?

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[–] jmatrixrenegade 13 years ago

For Max to follow in his footsteps.

[–] ldddhunter 13 years ago

i agree w/your whole post -- i think you hit it on the NAIL! Justin def deserved the position as Justin is extremely smart and will be an excellent professor; teaching other wizards is a perfect job for him and he gets to keep his powers.

Max - well while he's so adorable, I don't think he was ready to be the "wizard of the family". i did want him to have at least a "little" power but oh well -i think he will be fine and also will do fine running the family business one day.

Alex - yes she deserved to be the "family wizard" and carry it on. she has matured a lot over the years, and i think that she will use her powers wisely and not for her OWN gain. Also, Justin will always be there for Alex bc he does love his lil' sis, he will always help her if she needs it and never abandon her.

All in all, I will miss this show a lot, it was the only show left on Disney that I watched. Jesse (love the actress) is a cute show but I don't watch it all the time, so no more good shows are left; Good Luck Charlie is ok-- love the actress as well. All of the actors on WOWP will do fine, Max (the actor) already guest starred on L&O: SVU, Justin - i have seen him on other things and he is doing a voiceover for an animated movie coming out. Alex (Selena Gomez) will go on to be on the big screen w/more movies-- wish she would dump Justin Bieber, sorry no offense but Selena deserves SO much better -- its like she's only known as Justin Bieber's girlfriend when you read diff magazine articles and those Entertainment shows..AND Selena is SO much more than that bc she is so gorgeous, talented-- she can sing, act and dance; i hope she doesn't waste it and i hope she gets some decent scripts her way real soon.

[–] jmatrixrenegade 10 years ago

Caught the show the other day so saw this message.

It is a bit amusing that "Max" now is on "The Fosters," but then various Disney stars pop up on ABC Family, often in more mature roles.

I think "I Didn't Do It" is a decent show -- it has some potential though didn't reach the mixture of humor and heart this show has yet. I also like the actress on Jesse but not the show. I guess I like it somewhat less than you there. She was great on Suite Life. She needs better writing.

[–] nunyabiznesskay 13 years ago

If Max would have come out of the mist, then they did the tree root scene I probably would have bought it a little more, but they all just used a teleportation spell, so Justin getting caught in a tree root was just weird.

[–] Glee_Fan20 13 years ago

I don't know why they didn't just have Justin grant Max full wizard powers too since they made 2 of 3 keep their powers, might as well have stuck with all 3 keeping their powers.

[–] ThatsAShocker 13 years ago

Justin does not have that kind of power, and the ONLY reason Justin was granted wizard powers by Professor Crumbs was so that he could retire and Justin could replace him as the Headmaster at WizTech.

[–] PotterFan1029 13 years ago

I also thought it was a bit unfair that Max got nothing. Sure, I think he'd be okay without it, but I don't like the idea of Max always seeing Alex and Justin with magic, knowing he can't have it, on top of how he isn't always treated equally. I kind of wish it had been only one of them, because it just feels more right.

Before I watched the finale, I thought about the possibilities of who could win: Alex, Justin, Max, none of them, all of them, or someone else (Harper, Jerry, etc.) and it turned out to be none of those choices! Lol

[–] ThatsAShocker 13 years ago

Before I watched the finale, I thought about the possibilities of who could win: Alex, Justin, Max, none of them, all of them, or someone else (Harper, Jerry, etc.) and it turned out to be none of those choice! Lol

Yes, that is because of excellent writing in this case. The show ended in a way that virtually no one predicted.

[–] Great_Gazoo 13 years ago

That had to be the most stupid ridiculous 'sacrafice' in the history of sitcoms.

Justin fell on a flippin' tree branch. His shoe was caught in a damn tree branch!?!?! If anything they could have made Alex's sacrafice meaningful like if Justin was about to be killed or the tree branch was attacking him. But no, she sacrificed her win so her brother's shoe wouldn't be caught in a dead tree branch.

[–] ThatsAShocker 13 years ago

I agree, but maybe Disney didn't want to scare little kids too much and also show you should help your sister or brother even if it is something minor.

[–] magolding 13 years ago

thatsashocker wrote:

"I agree, but maybe Disney didn't want to scare little kids too much and also show you should help your sister or brother even if it is something minor."

If Disney didn't want to scare little kids too much:

1) Why did they sow the griffin flying off with Harper and Zeke and have someone say it was going to eat them?

2) Why did they show the bones of the monster hunters?

3) Why did they make Justin say it was too late to save Zeke?

4) Why did they have Mason say that he was going to eat fifty hamburgers so he wouldn't get hungry and eat Alex? Mason admitted that he didn't trust himself to not eat people when he got hungry - even people he loved.

"...and also show you should help your sister or brother even if it is something minor."

If Disney wanted to teach kids good ethical lessons why did they show the protagonists violate the biggest rule of all and get away unpunished? Why did they show Alex, Justin, and Max commit murders without any consequences?

[–] Taisora 13 years ago

LOL @ Schizo_Frog - I totally agree! I wouldn't say that's good writing when the reason Alex didn't win was because she helped her brother get up. Who cares if he didn't pass the finish if he didn't win anyway? They would go help him after she won. It wasn't well thought out. Also I felt they crammed Alex's character into suddenly being a better wizard AND person. Suddenly she was much more caring and wanted to help everyone, remembered all the wizard answers and spells... Yeah, right. Well, the whole competition didn't make sense to me. In the end, what did the points matter with the jeopardy/quiz thing? What was the point of that? It came down to a race that any of them could win, so how is that for the person most deserving...? Anyone could have won.

Overall, I am disappointed with the ending. It was rushed, and now that Alex's character is getting more mature (or matured all in this episode alone) the show is over so you can't see the aftermath of what it actually means to be the family wizard- what DOES it mean? And what will Justin's teaching adventure be? I would love to see a spin-off of this series with all of them and then some new younger characters that Justin teaches, or something.

[–] lferrigon-1 13 years ago

I loved that unlike Jerry's family the Russo kids are still close.