All of my friends and other fans I've come across are not disappointed, nor are we upset with Joss. We hate that this kind of stuff has to happen because he is so good at being able to really get us to care about these characters. But we by no means disagree with his storytelling. In fact, this is the style of a typical greek tragedy or better yet, the origin of supervillian. So I'd say the storytelling is quite solid and less questionable. Now, if he had made it happy - I think you'd see MANY more fans upset/disappointed.

The article reads like a watered-down summary with no analysis. Also, I believe the villain's name is Captain Hammer.

For someone who claims to be writing on behalf of the majority of Buffy fans, you obviously have no idea what Buffy fans really feel. This entire series, especially the finale, has been one of the most wonderful creations Joss Whedon has ever produced. As with all of his work, the fun and laughs come with a hefty dose of reality which makes us relate to the hero (or in this case villain) even more. If you were hoping for a boring ending where everyone lives happily ever after, I suggest you try Disney. The Whedonverse is not for you.

I think "disappointed" is the wrong word. Shocked, yet not shocked. Heartbroke. Sad for Billy... yes. Disappointed? No.

From what I've seen, it's more sadness over Penny's death than being upset with Joss. In fact, most fans realize that it isn't rare to see similar thing in Joss's workand it does have a point. at the end, we realize we've been watching a origin story all along and that it all fits together, it was always going to end up like this.

I don't think you got it what the 'disappointed' meant on the threads after the ACT 3 was aired. And the words seems quite off used here. We tend to be very passionate about Whedon-projects, and the first response is equalily passionate, so we end up using words that don't really mean what an outsider might think. I, for one, said I hated

Saying the fans are disappointed give the impression that the entire series was not loved and appreciated as a story and that, from all that I have read of the reactions, is simply not the case. There is some sadness at how the story unfolded, but the majority of people whose comments I have read still loved the story.

I don't know who told you they were disappointed, but I sure wasn't! Doctor Horrible is awesome, and I'll be buying the DVDs for all my friends and family!

I think you'll find most fans are disappointed with the ending because that means it's over. Not because they didn't like the ending....

I think Whedon fans, in general, are more thoughtful and intelligent than you give them credit for. In fact, I think it would fair to say that *you* want happy, watered-down stories, not his fans. Mr. Whedon stands out because he tells us things we weren't expecting to hear, and that's why his fans love him. Please try to analyze the situation rather than inject your preferences into it. It's revealing that you should call Whedon a "self-appointed parent". Besides, although it's rather a cautionary tale, it is not without its heroism. I suggest you watch it again.

I'm sad for Billy, but like someone else said, this is not Disney, and I did not expect a typical happily ever after.

Seconding the responses, above, that argue this article only represents some of the reaction to Horrible. If it was so disappointing, why is there still a thread going at whedonesque.org that now has over 700 comments? Whedon isn't a "parent," but he is a damn fine auteur.

Was I expecting a Disney ending? No, not really. But I feel that my article speaks for itself. Were many fans dissappointed in the ending? Yes. I never said that "all" fans were dissappointed in the ending (or that they hated the series as a whole). But when I looked around the internet before writing this article, "many" were. (Using troll logic, many is somewhere between one and lots) Sure, upon reflection some of those same fans may not be as dissappointed now. But the gut reaction was dissatisfaction. Personally, I was expecting the ending (although I hoped for more. Whedon set Dr. Horrible up with more depth than your average stock bad guy. So I was personally a little sad that his ending was no more than that of a stock bad guy). Penny was virtuous and innocent, characteristics that never bode well for Joss' characters. I later said that the story works. It works as a morality piece. It works as an exercize in tough love on the fans. I think that Whedon is consistent in taking the cliche and turning it on it's ear. In comics such as spiderman, the hero is moved to greatness by the death of a loved one. Whedon has shown us that even the bad guy can be motivated by the death of a loved one. I think that a large part of Whedon's popularity has come from turning cliches inside out, snarky social commentary, and (at least in the past) always giving us what we least expected. But killing off beloved characters and torturing the ones he hasn't killed is also something that he does on a consistent basis. He does this often enough that I consider him an auteur, one of those rare geniuses who give us an overall message through their complete body of work. However, I do think he runs roughshod over us with the angst and the torture and the death. Over time, it's lost a lot of the shock value because we've come to expect it. That's why the ending is dissappointing, I think. Because it was at least partially expected as Whedon's signature brand of tough love. Some of the thoughts that I've read from other fans betwen parts II and III are in the vein of "What's going to happen to Penny? Will she be evil, or will she die?" There was a gut-level clenching, as if in anticipation of getting kicked there. I think that the dissappointed fans expected more of whedon. Sorry if I'm not bursting with golden praise over the ending of Dr. Horrible. For me, it worked. Nothing more.

I liked Dr. Horrible. I thought it was funny and engaging and my niece has been calling me shallow like pie all evening. But seriously, am I really the only other person besides the writer of this article that ran into disappointed fans? Really? I saw people who said that they were disappointed that Penny died, some that were unhappy with the change in tone that they thought Act III had, and quite a few who were debating whether Penny served as an example of the “Women in Refrigerators” trope or a send up of it. And, believe me; the people who thought she was an example were definitely disappointed in the ending. Meh, some people liked it, some didn’t. For the record, I’m betting the majority did. I sent the link to people. And there are many articles that underscore its popularity. So I think that it’s kind of nice to see the last part of this series of reviews speak to the alternative point of view.

Nice review, but I strongly disagree. "Doctor HOrrible's Sing Along Blog" was exactly what a good show should be: an experience that leaves the audience somehow better for watching. Though I did feel there wasn't enough "blogish" feeling in the final act. But overall, a really great show.

I've loved Joss Whedon's series, but where he might think he's being clever, he's actually getting predictable! WOW Joss, you killed off another lovable innocent character! Gee, didn't see that coming! YAWN! Typically, he took something light and fun, and turned it into something dark and sad. This is how he killed Serenity. Most fans saw it once in the theater, morned Wash, and didn't go back! Dumb!!!

Wrong topic ! The more interesting question in my opionion is, did Whedon just change the way how to market a tv series, movies, you name it, FOREVER. He did it completely independently, on his own risk, with his own money, a lot of friends and family, all supported by his huge fanbase around the globe that was dying for new material from the Whedonverse. I think since FOX slaughtered the best TV series ever FIREFLY, people where waiting for a chance to fight back those self absorbed networks like FOX. The browncoats did for a long time and I have the feeling this was the final showdown. It was their way of saying, we don´t want and NEED you anymore. The fact that although the musical was available to be watched for free, people decided to download it from I-tunes and PAY for it profes the point. It landed at the No. 1 in the download charts immediately. Of course now the project has to demonstrate, that it can actually make money trough DVD´s, merch, broadway and maybe a movie, but honestly, I don´t have any doubt, that this will happen. People WANT to pay for good art, and Whedon always comes up with something unexpected, exciting AND entertaining. All of his projects had a heart, a strong sense of bravery and are related to our real lifes. Thats what makes them so unique and that´s what people can relay to. So, dissapointed, no, why? The reason why we all love Whedons work, its witty and most of all its not predictable. The only thing thats sort of a recurrent theme in all of Whedons work: If 2 of the characters fall in love - they are doomed ;) - I wouldn´t want to have it any other way...

I think the truly disappointing ending would have been what's come to be known as the "Super-Happy Ending", where Billy learns his lesson, drops his life's ambition, and everyone has a good laugh. Instead, I felt the story symbolized a bit of "be careful what you wish for". I for one, loved it.

The problem with "Dr Horrible" is the same problem with all of Whedon's work since Season Two of Buffy. The emotional climax of "Becoming" -- Buffy having to kill Angel to save the world, and doing so just as he's regained his soul -- was gut-wrenching and powerful. Whedon has been trying to recreate that same level of drama ever since, which unfortunately results in what should have been great work getting marred by Joss' personal cliches. "Dr Horrible" was original and funny for the first two acts, but then Joss had to try and play those same notes again, and what worked phenomenally the first time and not badly the second has become trite and predictable. It shouldn't be. Whedon's a better writer than this. But as long as the fans keep saying "No! He's a genius!" every time he pulls the same trick at the end, he's never going to have any incentive to show us.

Dr. Horrible was an awesome breath of fresh air, especially as it was offered to the public FREE. I elected to buy the webisodes, as I'm sure many many MANY others have done or will do. The ending was classic Whedon. We've come to expect no less from the genius that is his mind. Neil Patrick Harris and Nathan Fillion were icing on the cake. As Zack Whedon so nicely said - the rest is gravy. Disappointed? By Joss Whedon? Not in this lifetime.

I am probably one of the oldest Whedon watchers, and I am still discouraged that most fans just dont pick up on the deeper, much, much, MUCH deeper opinions, meanings, lessons and warnings that are being presented to you. I do say this with the utmost respect, but most of what the "fans" say or do is more like the three groupies in this series, only looking for the glam or autograph, or "I think they are geniuses, so that must make me smarter too" They ARE geniuses, people, so pay closer attention to what is being said and shown you in a most subliminal way.....the characters and situations and drama are borrowed from past and now unfolding history. Now that you are aware, go back and rewatch this series, Firefly, Serenity, Buffy, et.al., and you may , at last understand what is being presented to you..........what?......no....not yet, I'm almost finished......In a MINUTE, OK??? I gotta go take my meds now and put my aluminum pith helmet back on...........................................

I feel like some people are being way too defensive in their Whedon love. Now, I think the man's a genius, but that doesn't mean he doesn't have flaws. Some are acting like pointing out those flaws is blasphemy. I have mixed feelings on the death. I agree that it does work as a tragedy. But let's be honest, do you think anyone decided to watch something called "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog" looking for great tragedy? I like that Joss Whedon blends genres, but this just seemed unnecessary and not the right tone. But I get the reason behind it, and it did leave me feeling shocked and sad, in the same way the similar endings to "Little Shop of Horrors" and "Sweeney Todd" made me shocked and sad. (For everyone who's saying the end was "unique," those two other musicals, as well as everything Joss has ever done, shows that it was actually quite cliche. ) And to those who say the disappointed fans wanted a "Disney" ending, that is very patronizing and ignorant. I'm sick of the mistaken view that character deaths automatically make more "realistic" storytelling. You know what? Sometimes people DO get to have happy endings. Joss refusing to allow any couple lasting happiness is just as unrealistic as having everyone hold hands and sing songs. Yes, this is a dark world, but it is also a light world. Joss sees that, but he always seems to end with darkness. It's become predictable of him. And some fans who are disappointed with Penny's death didn't want a happy ending at all, they just didn't think her death was at all necessary for that. He could have killed Captain Hammer and she could have been furious at him for that. Voila, no running off into the sunset, and no repetitive character death. It may not be as tragic as what happened, but NOT EVERYTHING NEEDS TO BE TRAGIC. I like tragedies, I do. But with this, I wanted a light escape. I was happy to see that it explored deeper issues, but in the first two acts it did so with humor and satire and heart. Penny's death did not do that, and was a complete tonal change. I'm going through a tough time right now. Everything going on the world right now is depressing. We flock to films like "The Dark Knight" to see those issues explored, but there has to be room for things like "Dr. Horrible" to make us feel better about ourselves. Instead, the last act just left me feeling more hopeless than ever. So while I can admire it as a great tragedy, I still have the right to be bitter that I can't even find a happy ending in a damn internet superhero musical.

Have to agree. I didn't like the ending. It's not that I'm not a Whedon junkie -- I've seen everything the man's ever done multiple times and own the DVD's of most (all?) of it. (I even have the godawful original BtVS movie on VHS.) And it's not that I like Disney endings. I don't -- I like things dark. (I ran a Buffy RPG campaign for 3 years and it was *seriously* dark.) But... The "twist" ending felt very abrupt. We went from light romantic comedy (Acts I and II) to high tragedy. It just feels wrong. I just watched Act III for the second time (after spending all day Friday watching I & II over and over again) and I don't feel *quite* as gob-smacked as I did the first time, but it still feels wrong.

I found the archetypal shadow side of relationship in act 3 very interesting. What Penny was LISTENING to through her ears was all lies. The I-phone ended up in her SOLAR PLEXUS symbol of the emotional body. The words said by both men represented over whelming killer types of feeling for Penny. Seems like a number of women lie to themselves about relationship. The men especially lie to their own sub-personalities inside themselves. The main sub-personality or archetype is their own inner woman, which is almost always projected on a physical woman. I mean Fairy Tales and Folk Tales tell the unbearable truth to a culture that no other type of ancient story dares tell the population. Joseph Campbell loved telling those stories. So does Robert Bly. I like seeing those stories move across the screen of my imagination where I can see glimpses of the cultural lie. Conscious Relationship whats that...? Penny left me with a good question to ponder.

Who could possibly complain about such a perfect ending? Sure, it's sad -- but a sappy, happy ending would have just left a bad taste in your mouth. People think they want a happy ending, but the movies that endure are the ones that don't give in to that. Think Casablanca, Citizen Kane, etc -- Happy endings make for a quick-fading warm-feeling and a quickly forgotten film.

As a first-off, to review the review, it wasn't really useful. It didn't explain why "Dr. Horrible" merely "worked", nor why the ending was what the fans "needed". The parent metaphor was condescending, to be honest, and honestly, if you are going to review a piece that is only 45 minutes long and only has three main characters, shouldn't you be able to get the name "Captain Hammer" correct? It is a carelessness that is reflected in the tone of the entire review. I liked "Buffy" the movie, though I was never much a fan of the series. I can't say that I've ever been a Joss Whedon fan; frankly, I've not seen much of what he has done nor have realized he was the one who created things I did see. That said, I wasn't expecting a specific ending; however, I did enjoy the ending. It was sad what happened, because I liked Penny and I liked the geeky Dr. Evil, and I really wanted to see Captain Hammer bite it. But it was a damn fine ending, and not "parental" at all.

In response to Comment #25: Happy endings make for quickly forgotten films? What about The Wizard of Oz? My Fair Lady? Oliver? There are plenty of films with happy endings that are memorable, many of which have won Best Picture awards. As to the ending of Dr. Horrible, I wasn't surprised. Whedon is very entertaining, but his habit of killing off innocent characters is bordering on the pathological now. He understands that by doing so, he can affect his audience. That's important for any storyteller, but it's not exactly subtle. I agree that the tonal shift between Acts II and III was jarring. I still enjoyed Dr. Horrible, but I wish it had a different ending. Not because I hate tragedy, but because it was just what I've come to expect from Whedon, and I really wanted to be surprised.