John Oliver Bids a Season Finale F-You to 2020 on Last Week Tonight

You may recall that, back in the "uncommonly sh*tty year" 2016, John Oliver ended his season by giving it a very fiery send-off and blowing it up in a stadium.

2020 has been an even bigger disaster than that, so the season finale of Last Week Tonight took the explosive catharsis a step further and blew up an even bigger 2020, representing the blank white void he's been broadcasting from since the start of the pandemic. 

This segment starts at the 3:49 mark of the video above.

Upon finding a doorway out of the void, he turns around and thanks it before leaving. "You were really great at being white, depressing, and remarkably empty on the inside, and that is game recognizing game."

Once on the outside, he monologued about just how awful 2020 has been.

"This year has been an absolute parade of misery," he said. "In January alone, Australia was being ravaged by wildfires, Kobe Bryant died, and for a few days, it really seemed like America was about to go to war with Iran. That was all this year, and that was before the coronavirus exploded and everything got even worse. Mass unemployment, evictions, that video of those celebrities singing 'Imagine,' it was really terrible. On top of which, this year saw the deaths of Chadwick Boseman, John Lewis, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, plus the confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett. I mean, for f*ck's sake, 2020 made me learn who Carol Baskin is. It made me set up a Google alert for Carol Baskin so I would immediately know if she was ever convicted for that thing we're all pretty sure she did. This year ruined lives, jobs, concerts, and sanity. It also brought a new wave of wrenching videos of police brutality that brought on a national reckoning with race, and a ferocious and depressing backlash, and sure, the presidential election ended well, but it was grim to live through, and Trump won't actually leave office 'til next January. 2020 was absolutely terrible."

Oliver then walked away from the giant 2020 structure in slow motion to triumphant music before revealing a detonator in his hands.

"Let tomorrow be about solutions. Today is about vengeance. F*ck you, 2020. Get f*cked!"

Then... ka-boom, and ka-tharsis. 

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver will return with new episodes in February.

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Andy Hunsaker has a head full of sitcom gags and nerd-genre lore, and can be followed @AndyHunsaker if you're into that sort of thing.