All Good Things... (The Hills)

Plot

As Audrina, Lo, Stephanie find themselves content with their lives, Kristin is unsure whether she should pursue her future endeavors. Brody believes that he can maintain a friendship with Kristin, though Frankie and Taylor are concerned that she may still have romantic feelings towards him. That evening, Kristin tells Stacie that she has decided to move to Europe, wanting to have a "new beginning", though Stacie is concerned that she is seeking revenge against Brody.

Meanwhile, Audrina purchases a home in Hermosa Beach, while Stephanie begins a romantic relationship with Josh. To the surprise of the guests, Brody attended Kristin's farewell party that evening. He confesses that he is saddened by her move, but she maintains that the decision is in her best interest. The next day, after much prior deliberation, Lo moves into her boyfriend Scott's house and begins unpacking her belongings.

Brody visits Kristin and Stacie as they pack the last of her belongings before leaving for the airport. After giving their final goodbyes, Brody sees Kristin's limousine off while it drives off her street. As Kristin looks out of the window, a montage of archived footage from the series' earlier seasons is shown. In the final scene of the series, with the camera on Brody, the Hollywood Hills backdrop is pulled away, while the camera pans back to reveal that the entire scene was filmed on a backlot. In reality, the vehicle had not driven off and Kristin stepped out of the vehicle to hug Jenner.

An alternate ending to the series was broadcast in August 2013. The scene depicts Brody returning to his apartment after seeing Kristin's limousine off to Europe. Lauren Conrad is revealed to be sitting on his couch, and comforts him that "it's hard to say goodbye" to a "friend of [his]", before the camera focuses on a smiling Lauren.

Production

"All Good Things..." was produced by Adam DiVello, Michael Friedman, Liz Gateley, Josh Lansky, Kristofer Lindquist, and Sara Mast. The sixth season was first announced in December 2009, and was confirmed to be the final season in March 2010. Upon the announcement, speculation arose that original focal point Lauren Conrad would return for the finale. Her former boss Lisa Love suggested that a scene could be filmed of the pair reuniting in Paris, while series creator DiVello wished to see Conrad getting married, presumably to her then-boyfriend Kyle Howard. Cavallari stated that it would be "amazing" to see Conrad return, adding that her appearance would provide the program with "closure". Ultimately, Conrad did not appear in the final episode, but was featured in the live aftershow, The Hills Live: A Hollywood Ending.

DiVello stated that two versions of the final installment were filmed. He provided the MTV with both episodes, and added that he was unaware which version had been selected until it was broadcast. In July 2010, Jenner stated that he had filmed an alternate ending of the series with Conrad, where "I [would] come back home, and basically Lauren's at my place [and I tell her about saying goodbye to a friend]. We filmed this whole lovey-dovey scene as if me and Lauren had been together this entire time", which she confirmed that September.

Upon the conclusion of their month-long morning marathon of The Hills, titled "RetroMTV Brunch", MTV aired the alternate ending to the series on August 9, 2013, which was revealed to be the clip Conrad and Jenner had previously mentioned. DiVello had stated that he preferred the second ending, and upon learning that MTV had not selected it as the original finale, persuaded the network to broadcast the clip.

Reception and release

"All Good Things..." was met with generally mixed reviews from critics, many of whom were ambivalent towards the final scene. Despite criticizing the episode's recurring theme of moving on, Emma Rosenblum from Vulture appreciated the ending as an "interesting twist". Andy Dehnart of Reality Blurred felt that, from a production standpoint, the final scene was "really well-done" and appeared realistic despite being filmed in a backlot. In contrast, Chadwick Matlin was displeased to see producers "capitalizing" on the controversy surrounding longtime scripting allegations, which he felt exploited its naive teenage fanbase. A writer for Daily News described the episode as "bittersweet" and "emotional", but felt that the program "overstayed its welcome". Megan Friedman from Time called the ending "surprisingly smart", but felt it did not leave an impact on viewers who were already skeptical of the series' truthfulness.

Similarly, critics were ambivalent towards the alternate finale. Jenna Mullins from E! praised Conrad's return as being "shocking and glorious at the same time", and felt that "clearly [viewers] should all prefer the ending with Lauren Conrad." Kaitlin Reilly from Bustle described the suggestion of another love triangle involving Conrad and Cavallari to "[feel] vaguely like the ending to a horror movie" in that "it's starting again", but nonetheless appreciated the ending as "a wink to loyal fans". Billy Niles from Zap2It noted that there was "no winking nod to a soundstage", and opined that "nothing that freaking awesome happened." Sonya Sorich of the Ledger-Enquirer preferred the original conclusion, commenting that the revised clip was not as "startling" as the first. Lindsey Weber from Vulture suggested that the footage felt like a "total soap opera" in that it seemingly acknowledged that portions of the series were fabricated.

In its original broadcast in the United States on July 13, 2010, "All Good Things..." was watched by 3 million viewers. In doing so, it became the peak viewership of the season. In the country, the sixth season was released as a two-disc DVD set on September 21, 2010.