Winnie Cooper herself, Danica McKellar, argues for better ending to The Wonder Years

Last Updated on December 26, 2024

Many of us, myself included, grew up with Kevin, Paul and Winnie. In a way, it was like their unnamed neighborhood was ours, so devoted we were to who they were and what growing up in American suburbs meant. Going into the series finale of The Wonder Years, there was one question we all had: will Kevin and Winnie end up together? As we found out in the closing narration, they did not, with it being revealed that Kevin married someone else and had a kid. It seemed unnatural yet, in a way, perfect. But Danica McKellar, who played Winnie Cooper on The Wonder Years, thinks things could have changed with the passing decades.

Remembering the ending to The Wonder Years, which some fans felt was sang out of tune, McKellar echoed the older Kevin’s closing voiceover, saying, “Most of our lives don’t turn out the way we wanted them to, or thought they were going to, so in that same way, Kevin and Winnie did not end up together. I like to say, though…All we know is what the narrator said happened…He had a baby with his wife and they were the first to greet me off the plane.” With that, we have to assume that that is where the rest of Kevin and Winnie’s separate lives went. But McKellar has some hope for the two, adding, “That’s only the beginning of the story. Personally, I am divorced and remarried and a lot of people are. Maybe Kevin and Winnie ended up together after all.”

With nothing to support that – after all, we do have to go with how the show ended, not what our imagination feels like conjuring up – we do just have to accept that Kevin and Winnie didn’t end up together on or after The Wonder Years…and that Paul is still allergic to everything.

The series finale of The Wonder Years, which aired as a two-parter in May 1993, may have struck some controversy during its initial airing, but it is one of the most beautifully handled finales ever. And to me, the show itself is one of the greatest ever, even though it’s conspicuously absent from far too many “best of” list. It was also for too long unavailable to see due to music rights, something I was writing about a dozen(!) years ago for JoBlo.com. Thirty years on, you could stream it on Hulu and Disney+, but I would recommend tracking down StarVista/TimeLife’s incredible 26-disc box set…even if it still contains knockoffs of The Doors.

What did you think of The Wonder Years finale when you first saw it? Is it a fitting conclusion or should Kevin and Winnie have ended up together?