What's to be resolved in 13 episodes?

At the most simple--graduating any or all of them from school seems the most obvious.

But I couldn't have imagined one single episode of this show, so I'm not going to say that any idea of mine is at all relevant. I just think that giving any writing crew a clearer idea of when their last episode is, as well as giving time to work up to it is never a bad thing.

The back half of this season was written (and filmed) into a vacuum. This is less of one.

I don't know, if this is what they do in a vacuum, maybe more vacuum is the way to go.

But I think I'm confusing what you originally meant. I was taking "Now they'll have time to end properly" as the motivation for the 13 episode order, which I can't see, but if it is just that having a final 13 episodes will allow for a tidy wrapping up, then I am understanding.

Most of the articles I've read have said that the 13 ep order will give them a chance to write to a deliberate end. NBC doesn't give a fuck, but the writers are now afforded that opportunity.

OK. I still don't find that a comforting thought, but I get the concept.

What's to be resolved in 13 episodes?

At the most simple--graduating any or all of them from school seems the most obvious.

That, plus Jeff and his dad, which has been teased all 3 seasons. (Though without Harmon, that might be a plot line that's dropped.) Maybe Jeff and Annie will hook up.

I think Troy and Britta are more in need of resolution right now. Jeff and Annie are in a stable place right now, as I see it. Troy and Britta are teetering on the edge of something undefined.

Oooh, that, too.

Interesting perspective on the Harmon situation: [link]

I like that post. It's reasonable and sounds like they know what they're talking about. It's dispiriting how many commenters I saw taking extreme positions while conflating Sony and NBC (not even presuming collusion, just not distinguishing between the two relationships to the show).

I know that's a mistake I was making, conflating the two. And sorting that out made everything make a lot more sense. That post is very clear and agrees with a lot of the conclusions I've been coming to, and I always like that.

I'm very pleased that Megan Ganz seems to be sticking around, she wrote some great episodes - Lupine Urology and at least one other standout, I think.

Really, I'm still sad that Harmon won't get a chance to surprise me by making an even better 4th season (and by better I mean more satisfying and rewarding to me personally) than 3rd season, but I have to recognize that it would have been a surprise just because this 3rd season was so damn good.