One of the Golden Girls from the popular 1980s NBC sitcom found herself hitched in the most unexpected way in the 1992 series finale.
The hit sitcom The Golden Girls originally aired from 1985 to 1992, becoming a staple of NBC’s Saturday night line-up with no equal on rival networks. The hilarious antics of four older women living together in a Miami home enchanted audiences for seven seasons before finally coming to an end.
The show followed Rose (Betty White), Blanche (Rue McClanahan), Dorothy (Bea Arthur) and Sophia (Estelle Getty) as they dealt with day-to-day life while growing older. Episodes were centered on multiple topics, with a few about the women’s current love life (or lack thereof), their past relationships/marriages, their children and their dependence on one another as friends and family. The series finale revisited all these themes while wrapping up the story and setting up the short-lived sequel The Golden Palace.
The Golden Girls Finale Gave Dorothy a Huge Development
Throughout Golden Girls, Dorothy, like her fellow housemates, navigated the struggles of dating as an older woman. In the series finale, “One Flew Out of the Cuckoo’s Nest,” Blanche’s Uncle Lucas came to visit the same day Blanche has a date. She decided to dump her uncle on Dorothy, with Dorothy under the impression that Blanche wrote flattering letters about Dorothy to her uncle. Initially, Dorothy and Lucas did not hit off. However, they learned that Blanche lied to both of them about wanting to meet the other. They decided to trick Blanche for revenge by saying they fell madly in love and wanted to marry. The two staged a fake proposal in Blanche’s home with Dorothy accepting.
Of course, this major change in the household had an effect on the other women. Sophia, Dorothy’s mother, assumed she’ll move in with Dorothy and Lucas until Blanche pointed out that the couple may not want her with them. She dressed up as and spoke like a traditional American southern woman to try to gain Lucas’ favor and move in with the couple. Rose also questioned if she should leave the house and move in with her daughter.
How Dorothy and Lucas’ Scheme Spiraled Out of Control
Blanche reacted exactly as Dorothy and Lucas hoped, buying into their ruse and getting upset that the two were “getting married” and destroying the family the four women created. Over the course of the trick, Dorothy and Lucas realize they had developed actual feelings for one another and decided to marry for real. Blanche came around to the relationship after accepting that their love was genuine.
Lucas agreed to let Sophia live with him and Dorothy. The night before Dorothy’s wedding, while trying to figure out how to say goodbye, Blanche and Sophia convinced Rose to keep living with Blanche. The next day, Dorothy was on her way to her wedding in a limo only to learn her ex-husband Stan was the limo driver. He ultimately blessed Dorothy’s new union and the two reconciled their past love for one another.
As she walked up the aisle, Dorothy realized she had finally overcome her desperation and was marrying a man she truly loved, a core theme of her character throughout the course of The Golden Girls. Dorothy and Lucas married in a beautiful church ceremony with her friends and family there to celebrate with her.
How The Golden Girls’ Bittersweet Ending Provided Closure
Sophia ultimately decided to stay with Blanche and Rose, realizing Dorothy needed to be alone with her new husband and not have Sophia in their way. Having become a mother figure to Blanche and Rose, Sophia believed they still needed her guidance. Dorothy and Sophia’s mother-daughter relationship was a key part of the show’s dynamic, and the finale offered a satisfying goodbye between the two. After seven years of living together, the four women shared a tear-jerking goodbye, with Dorothy comically coming back into the house two times after leaving to keep hugging the others. After she finally set off, Rose, Blanche and Sophia embraced one last time as the story came to a close.
The Golden Girls finale brought one of the greatest sitcoms of all time to an end while managing to focus on all the key elements that defined it. The relationship of the women was the driving force of the show, and it’s only right that it ended with a final goodbye between the four friends-turned-family.
