The following contains spoilers for Halloween Ends, in theaters and streaming on Peacock now.
Halloween Ends is exactly what it sounds like, completing the storyline that arguably "began" in 2018's Halloween but truly started with the 1978 movie. Coming after the 2018 film and its sequel, Halloween Kills, it acts as the final part of the "H40 Trilogy" that ignores every other film in the franchise beyond the first. Unfortunately, it gets its own continuity muddled by way of a seemingly reversed narrative.
The plot development of the H40 Trilogy makes no sense given the trajectory of its characters, namely ultimate final girl Laurie Strode. Given how the latter two films were received, it would have been better for the plots of the last three Halloween films to have been reversed. Here's how switching around the H40 Trilogy would have likely resulted in more than one well-received movie.
The H40 Halloween Trilogy Has Only One Well-Received Entry
The 2018 Halloween movie was something of a shocker for how well-received it was, both by critics and longtime fans of the franchise. It also came out at a time when horror movies had long since stopped being dominated by slasher movies, with the subgenre seen as somewhat long in the tooth. That was especially the case for classic killers such as Freddy Krueger, Jason Vorhees and Michael Myers, none of whom had received good movies in years. Jamie Lee Curtis' pained and paranoid new take on Laurie Strode was a breath of fresh air. Unfortunately, that quality didn't stick around Haddonfield for too long.
2021's Halloween Kills was seen on the whole as being a drastic step down in quality compared to its predecessor. Many saw it as a sort of unnecessary filler episode to get to Halloween Ends, which matches up with the original intention of the reboot series simply being a duology. The worst part is that many are now disappointed with Halloween Ends, as well, with some of the choices made with the characters being the biggest issue. When it comes to the devolution of how Laurie Strode and Haddonfield as a whole are written, it would have been better if the trilogy's stories were told in reverse order.
The New Halloween Movies Came Out in the Wrong Order
A better way for the new Halloween movies' story to be told would have been for Halloween Ends to swap plots with the 2018 film. The story could've started with Laurie Strode and Haddonfield having long moved past the events of the original movie, with Laurie writing a book as her final catharsis. The basic premise of Corey Cunningham becoming a "new" Michael Myers could still be kept, imitating Michael's actions throughout the story before being killed by the real deal (who finally returns after lasting being seen in 1978). Halloween Kills could've picked up directly after, with Laurie and Allyson escaping the wrath of a returned Michael. Instead of being focused on the mob mentality of Haddonfield, the story could've seen the town's residents not believing Laurie Strode and casting aside her concerns over Myers.
Finally, Halloween Ends could've been based around the plot used in the 2018 movie, with Laurie having become a paranoid prepper and hoping to have one last showdown with Michael. The impetus for this could've been the town not believing her, as well as the deaths of her daughter, Karen, her son-in-law and perhaps even her granddaughter, Allyson. Seeing how much Michael has poisoned the town and haunted it even under the surface, Laurie could've become determined to kill him and possibly die with him. Having the storyline of the latest three Halloween movies be told in this manner would have retained the themes that the trilogy contained, all while making certain developments more plausible.
For instance, the Laurie seen in Halloween Ends is in no way the same character from the 2018 movie. While it can be argued that she's trying to move on past Michael, by that point, he had killed her children. Thus, her being a paranoid prepper in the final movie makes much more sense than in the 2018 film, where she had only one fateful encounter with Michael. Similarly, Myers had only killed a few people in the original Halloween, so Haddonfield, and Laurie in particular, still being so haunted doesn't make that much sense. Unfortunately, it feels like the H40 Trilogy wasn't planned very far beyond the 2018 movie, resulting in a one-hit horror wonder that failed to do Michael and Laurie justice.
To see how the H40 Trilogy concludes, Halloween Ends is now playing in theaters and streaming on Peacock.