Why The Final Scene of The Hills Was Genius

MTV' series ended with a surprising final scene

Last night, MTV's stain on the face of recent pop culture came to an end last night.

The Hills, which followed the vapid exploits of a bunch of privileged young people in Los Angeles, aired its series finale amidst a schnazzy red-carpet party at The Roosevelt Hotel. The last episode attempted to answer many questions about the lives of Kristin Cavallari, Audrina Patridge, and Lo Bosworth, but the biggest question of all was finally given a definite answer.

Was The Hills fake?

Many of the cast members, including former lead Lauren Conrad, have all implied that the show wasn't as real as MTV would want you to believe. Ultimately, the real question was, how fake was the show? How staged were the fights, the tears, and the parties? Was there any iota of truth this hyper-reality? Despite years of speculation, the producers had the last say in the final moment of the series. Kristin Cavallari and on-again, off-again boyfriend Brody Jenner shared an emotional goodbye (complete with montage) as she prepared to head off to Europe to "find herself". As the car drove away, the camera pans out to reveal a solitary Brody... in front of a Hollywood backdrop on a soundstage with cameramen, production workers, and all the makings of a relatively expensive looking cable network show. Seconds later, Kristin comes out of the car that was supposedly headed for LAX and hugs Brody as the camera pulls further away to show what "the hills" really are.

It can be debated forever (hopefully not that long) whether the ending was MTV copping out to the obvious truth, or having a tongue-in-cheek. Either way, the ending of history's fakest reality show was sort of brilliant. While I'm sure many fans are either feeling devastated or betrayed if they believed this show was real, I thought the ending was refreshing for a show that took itself way too seriously, even to after it's end (with the god-awful reunion special). Sure, MTV should be sent to the gallows for holding the lives of millions of people hostage over a farce, convincing Lauren Conrad she could have a sustainable career outside of looking pretty, and introducing Spiedi into the American lexicon.

But, at least The Hills, which was never good television to begin with, can say proudly that they offered up a satisfying conclusion.