Better get the tissues ready as long running Aussie drama Winners & Losers is sadly, after five seasons, coming to an end on Monday night in massive double episode filled with tears, friendly faces, more tears, many laughs and even more tears.

With Channel 7 pushing out double episodes on a weekly basis since the shows return, they’ve decided to call Monday nights epic finale a ‘movie length send off’ while in reality, the first of the two final episodes is a follow up to last weeks cliff-hanger and takes a close look at Sophie’s (Melanie Vallejo) love triangle with Luke (Nathin Butler) and his brother Alex (Scott Smart) while Jenny (Melissa Bergland), who has discovered she’s finally pregnant, must find the right way to reunite with Gabe (Nick Russell) after she chose to pretty much end their marriage after his kiss with co-worker Riley (Demi Harman)

Thankfully it’s not all woe and drama wtih Frances (Virginia Gay) and Pete (James Saunders) deciding to take a romantic ‘mini moon’ after their sudden nuptials….in a fancy hotel, in the city…..but find themselves struggling to keep up with the fast paced youths running rampant in the same hotel and Riley discovering her ex is about to get married and toys with the idea of going to said wedding and making a scene to prove a point.

It’s not until the loose ends involving Sophie and Jenny are done and dusted and a sneaky little glimpse at a 15 year high school reunion invitation that we make our way into the final ever episode (insert tears here).  Jenny, Sophie and Frances are to be interviewed for a documentary on lotto winners five years on from their win, just how much their lives have changed and are they happier now than before they won.  It’s a smart way to push the newly inserted Riley out of the story line (she’s off with Gabe working on the presentation of the SpoilSport app) and allow the three remaining lead characters take the spotlight together for one last time while they take in their lives now and where they started off.

Familiar faces including the entire Gross clan – Trish, Brian and Patrick Gross (Denise Scott, Francis Greenlade and Jack Pearson) and former nemesis Tiffany Turner (Michala Banas) are a very much welcome return but don’t be expecting much more than that.  For a show that offered up a slew of recurring characters over its five seasons, sadly, there is virtually no reference to those we loved who have come and gone like Bec (Zoe Tuckwell-Smith), Doug (Tom Wren), Flynn (Tom Hobbs) or Sam (Katherine Hicks).

But, that’s not what this Winners & Losers finale is about.  The aim is clearly to give a massive send off to who we have left standing and to celebrate the big changes coming their way as we say goodbye to the girls we’ve come to know over the past five years.

Tissues will be needed and lots of them, but probably not until the last 15 or so minutes because that’s when it all gets real and we know the end is coming.  It’s always tough to give a show a respectable farewell and the final few scenes are actually a perfect way to say goodbye to Jenny, Frances and Sophie as we’re offered a perfect little glimpse into their lives after it’s all said and done.  The only thing that may rub fans wrong is that said ‘non mention’ of long gone series favorites.

I can honestly say for Jenny, Sophie and Frances, I wouldn’t have had this finale any other way.

The Winners and Losers series finale starts Monday night, September 12th at 8:50pm on Channel 7.