The quality of acting is the only thing a lot of the time that separates drama from melodrama.

The Leftovers for example can be very melodramatic at time but the acting is so good that you can give it a pass.

Watching that episode I legit didn't believe it was a finale until I saw there was no "next episode" cue.

It was so bad, and it sucks because it was such an easy finale to pull off. The entire show was teasing the Federation being created and we didn't even get to see it?