Spoiler Alerts for Star Wars: Rogue One and Back to the Future


Back To The Future Day is upon us. Even prior to Back To The Future Day, The Back to the Future saga has been receiving quite a bit of airtime during this era of social distancing. Perhaps it is considered, rightfully so, to be an excellent movie to watch while stuck at home.

Usually I’m not one to complain about a happy ending. I’m not one of the many people that prefer Rogue One’s tragic ending to the shelved ending where some of the main characters survive.

At the end of Back to the Future 3, the final movie, at first we think Doc Brown is stuck in the past with his romantic interest. Marty discovers all that’s left of his relationship with Doc Brown, a torn photograph of the Doc. In the last minutes of the movie…Doc Brown shows up again in a time traveling locomotive, just in time to deliver a happy ending, as well as a gift for Marty: a framed picture of the two of them in front of a clock in the old west. He reminds Marty, Jennifer(and of course the audience)that the future is not yet written and is whatever you make it. A perfect ending to a perfect series, right?

Let’s speculate for just one minute what Back to the Future 3 would look like if it featured a more bittersweet ending, more along the lines of Toy Story 3, Toy Story 4 or Avengers: Endgame. What if Doc Brown did in fact stay in the old west and never did re-appear? What if Marty’s time traveling days(as well his relationship with the Doc) really were over? What if the Doc really did leave Marty to create his own future and focus on the present? At the end of Back to the Future 2, the Doc sends a message from the old west to Marty (who was in the 1950s at the time). What if the Doc sent the picture of the two of them in front of the clock the same way he sent the message? And he could include a letter reminding Marty that the future is whatever you make it. How would this ending make you feel? Would this ending be better? Great Scott, what am I saying? Our time traveling heroes and the audience deserve more closure than this bittersweet speculation. This movie is about the future being whatever you make it, and therefore deserves to end on a more positive note.


After re-watching Back to the Future 3’s final scene several times, it is clear the last scene is perfect the way it is. Despite the fact that Doc deserves to be happy, Marty and Doc, as well as the audience, also deserve closure. Furthermore, Doc and Marty owe it to each other to make sure they know they are ok, and to say a real good-bye.


Besides, without this ending(the real ending), we would be deprived of the greatest ending line any movie series ever delivered. When asked if he is going back to the future(pun intended), Doc Brown replies “Nope, already been there.” This line also perhaps tells the audience we’ve been there done that with the saga.