My first post in a couple of months- but anyway, this thread got me thinking.
From reading a number of the posts above, I gathered we like continuity, lots of action, perhaps a less mac-centered story, no kidnappings, no cliches and no love interest/ cheesy fan-fic endings. Also I think a nice major Adam or Sid storyline could be good as we've hardly seen them this season. So I came up with this arch which hopefully addresses most of these wishes.
Towards the very end of the season- maybe third or fourth last episode (though doesnt necessarily have to be season 6)
Sometime at the end of the episode
Mac gets reinstated into the Marines and has to report in immediately. (Although this highly unlikely in reality- but for the sake of entertainment, when has this show/ tv in general ever confined itself to plausible, real-life scenarios?) This ensures the final will not be completely Mac-centered, but it also gives Mac fans something to be excited for - Marine!Mac. Plus I think someone mentioned that Gary's contract could be up soon and that leaves doubt in the audience's mind if he'll be written off. One more thing- Gibbs and also be reinstated into Mac's unit aaannnnnddd....NCIS crossover!!! I know, as if. But one can dream.
Season finale:
1. Mac is gone obviously. The team has hardly ever worked without Mac and this could be interesting in terms of who would lead. Could bring Stella to the spotlight or possibly bring in a really good guest star as a temporary supervisor/ boss. Meanwhile, the team can be working on a seemingly routine case....
2. Haylen makes a reappearance, thus allowing an awesome Adam centric finale. However, back where ever Mac was deployed, he somehow stumbles on a massive twist- something along the lines of Haylen being an undercover terrorist/ assasin or whatever who's mission is to take down some important figure - could even be the President, etc. Something way out of the blue I know- but seeing as we never really got to know Haylen and the fact that she wasnt popular with most of the audience, it could work. Story could be that she applied for the job to gain more info or the trust of the authorities. And the reason she joined the FBI could also be for that, etc etc. But somewhere along the line, she and Adam can have some sort of computer/ science nerd show down and of course the ending must include the team in action trying to save whoever was targetted. Actually, maybe an important international conference thing at the UN where all the world leaders are gathered could be the target...that would be cool.
3. After all that has happened and all the chaos is over, the team can relax. But then, they find out - either over the news, by phone call, etc - that Mac gets injured in a roadside bomb or something simliar. So it could be left as a cliffhanger, or they can resolve it and say they are shipping Mac back home.
Then in the opening episodes of the next season, Mac can be dealing with his injuries AT HOME. Because we don't want more of Danny's 'its ok, I'm in a wheelchair, but I can still work in a high risk workplace' drama earlier this season. Then Mac can make a decent enough recovery and be back at work maybe in the third episode if we keep the timeline that the new season is set after the summer, leaving a plausible recovery time.
End rant. Just shows how 'busy' I am at the moment. Gotta love holidays... Hope you liked it.
Tee