Sam Smith: The Soundtrack to Teen Show Season Finales?

I want to write about something very near and dear to my heart, and that is Sam Smith’s songs being used in the season finales of teen shows. Now when Love, Victor season 2 ended with a great sequence set to Sam’s cover of Time After Time, I was truly impressed. I was so taken by this ending that I wrote a whole post about it. When Genera+ion’s first season ended with their song Young I was doubly moved, because of the song and the cliffhanger. Reaching the last episode of Never Have I Ever season 2 (in the same day it came out) and hearing Love Goes at a crucial moment is when I gasped. It is so specifically Sam Smith’s songs in the season finales of these shows that there really is a pattern here, and I am absolutely loving it.

When I first listened to Sam Smith’s third studio album, Love Goes, I was absolutely blown away. Being very much a fan of their first two albums, for me Love Goes was another amazing addition to their discography. It is genuinely crazy how much it is underrated, as it was most definitely in my eyes one of the best of 2020, and never seemed to be mentioned in conversations about the best albums of that year.

So, let’s break down what each song brings to these scenes, starting with the one I’ve previously written about from Love, Victor. Not a song from Love Goes, but instead a cover of a timeless classic, Time After Time. If you’ve ever listened to Smooth Radio or watched Parks and Rec, you most definitely know this Cyndi Lauper song. I’m pretty convinced that there is no song that wouldn’t sound good as a Sam Smith cover — especially after hearing this one. This song fits so well as the soundtrack that it suggests each character is finding their person after being lost, and will continue to find them, time after time. With Felix, it is that he finds himself at Pilar’s door after discovering she left Swedish Fish for his mum in his jacket pocket, and realising that he likes her. Victor’s parents, Armando and Isabel, have both grown and changed for the better, and so finally find each other once again after their troubles throughout both seasons. For Mia, she finds that her dad has let her down once again, but that Andrew, who always seems to be there for her is there once again, and this time it is him being with her as they go find her mum. Victor is the only one that doesn’t get this satisfactory “finding” moment, as the finale is left on a cliffhanger. I would argue that the show and the song suggest he has chosen Benji, as he is finding something that he knows and that has been there time after time, which is Benji.

Genera+ion had the most chilling and dramatic use of one of Sam Smith’s songs, and that song was Young — the opener of Love Goes. The song is already quite striking, with it being acapella. The ending scene features Chester at the rooftop, once again climbing the sign that he loves to sit on and look at the city from. He calls Sam to apologise, and asks him if it would be okay if he stayed on the phone and didn’t say anything, to which Sam says yes. Chester sits for a while before saying thank you to Sam and ending the call. He stands up, as if to leave, and hears footsteps. Turning around to see who it is, Chester simply says “it’s you”. We never see who it is, and instead the credits begin, as well as Young. The lyrics of Young represent the show in that these queer teens want to live wild and young, and don’t want to be judged for it. The song itself tells us how Sam Smith feels about wanting to live their own queer life without judgement, and so it also fits the show. Like in Love, Victor, this is a cliffhanger where we don’t get to see who is there. The needle drop use of the song here makes this cliffhanger even more dramatic. The sad part is that unlike Love, Victor, we won’t get to see who has come to Chester at the rooftop because the show wasn’t renewed.

Two's a coincidence, and three's a pattern. Love Goes, the title song, playing during the school dance in Never Have I Ever’s season two finale was what made the pattern really clear to me. Devi finds herself alone at the dance and decides to leave, only to be hit by a car, which turns out to be Paxton’s. He has shown up to the dance after all, for Devi as her boyfriend, and they kiss. At this point we hear the triumphant horns in the song, and the couple walk into the dance holding hands. The words “Say that one day I’ll be back/Don’t hold your breath/Just know I own a place for you always” seem to reflect how Devi has finally moved on from Ben. The connection they had didn’t really align, as they just missed each other due to mistakes or miscommunication - and that’s how love goes. Instead, this is the moment that Devi and Paxton have finally both grown enough on their own to be able to work well together.

I don’t really know why this specifically keeps happening, but I am most definitely not complaining, as Sam’s songs make great soundtracks. The crucial finale moments in these shows just wouldn’t be the same without their songs. I’m really glad that the universe has conspired to appreciate these songs through these various, gorgeous television moments, and conversely that the scenes have been elevated because of them.

If you have an hour to spare and a Netflix subscription, you need to watch Sam Smith: Love Goes - Live at Abbey Road Studios. It is the most heart-warming, chill and fun live performance there is out there. You can hear the gorgeous Time After Time cover that was used in Love, Victor sang live, as well as Love Goes, the track used in Never Have I Ever. Hearing Sam and their singers live, as well as the live instruments all together, is really beautiful. I promise you won’t regret it.