When they announced that S7 & 8 would be shorter, I tempered my expectations, just to be safe (not that I equate length to quality). When I saw the decline of quality in S7, I prepared myself for S8 to decline further. As I watched S8, I was prepared for the final episode to be awful. From that mindset, I wasn't too disappointed. Still, I can remember how I felt during the best moments of earlier seasons and part of me was hoping the show would go out on such a note. Oh, well...