The musical should have ended with Beetlejuice going to therapy. I hope there's a dead therapist out there who can give him the help he needs

I think the writers of the musical didn't create a sympathetic Beetlejuice ---- the actor created a sympathetic Beetlejuice. So, of course, the writers didn't make him part of the "extended family". Your take on this is because of Alex's portrayal. A different actor, with different direction (but the very same script), with just subtle differences in some line readings, would have made Beetlejuice quite a bit more sinister.

It's not so much that he wants to leave at the end, it's that he doesn't have a choice - he's recently deceased. He has to proceed directly to the Netherworld. He's really just putting a brave face on it.

I actually thought that the musical was almost a perfect prequel to the cartoon series. Imagine this: right after they're done cleaning up at the end, Lydia goes up to her room. And who does she see in her mirror? :D Just a thought, but I always liked to imagine it that way.

My theory was that BJ himself was too ashamed of what he did and didn’t think THEY’D want him around anymore. And no one really objects to it cuz he did do some pretty messed up stuff and none of them know him well enough… except for Lydia. I think it does make sense that he has to leave and give them all time to heal before he comes back. And it’s pretty much cannon at this point that he DOES come back (what with all the fanfic)

I'm guessing maybe the producers were aware of how the culture at large interprets Beetlejuice's relationship with Lydia (srsly there are so many couples who dress as them for Halloween or even at their wedding) and didn't want to feed into that. Hence the whole creepy old guy number, explicitly going against a romantic reading. I'm guessing that's also why they played up Beetlejuice's flirting with Adam and why Beetlejuice couldn't just stay and live with Lydia and her family in the end. I'm really not sure tho

Said every Beetlejuice the Musical artist/fanfiction writer EVER!

I think it just needs an "I'll be back" added. As you said Beetlejuice never wanted freedom for freedoms sake, but now that he has it it'll be nice having a place he can return to

"I see you. I accept you. I fear for my safety around you." - BJ lol

I agree. In my opinion, the only reason to have Beetlejuice's mom as a character at all is for him to have a redemption arc. He didn't need to stay with the family, exactly. He could have been heading into the netherworld and Lydia say she'll miss him and he reply, "Yeah. I finally found a place I belong and now it's time to leave. Bye, dorks."

I feel like they could have done something like before Beetlejuice leaves Lydia says like "your always welcome here though" but then he rejects the offer for now to find his father or something but then sings a reprise of say my name with the lyrics saying like if you ever need my help you can always call for me

Ok I really agree with most of the video but maybe, it was actually more in character...? Like, imagine the house one year later, Lydia and her parents go on with their life as a family, the Maitland are friends with them and support them while they explore themselves trying new things, but how would be everyday life to beetlejuice? Probably his happiest moment in the musical is in "that beautiful sound", when he has a friend, but he also has the opportunity to scare people and be caotic, which he would lose if he tried to completely fit with the rest of the family. I would also argue that without counting the time he spent stalking them, he knew the other characters just for two days or so, and since he can be seen thanks to Lydia, he could easily make new friends. While family is for sure and important theme in beetlejuice, moving on with your life is too, and even if it's not clearly expressed I think that he actually wants to see the world, and that he has some responsibility to face in the neitherworld.

I was kind of sad when he left, him and Lydia are such fun best friends and it doesn’t feel right with him just leaving lol

Honestly, I don't really think the focus is much on family. We're told multiple times "this is a show about death", and that really is the main focus. It's not just death, though, but also coming to terms with death, acceptance, and moving on. Like there's definitely a family subplot going on, but it's not the main focus.

I would argue that almost exorcising Barbara in order to blackmail Lydia would probably make it a little harder for the Maitland's to forgive him, but I get your argument. Also, I think they didn't want people to get distracted from the ending number by Beetlejuice, since Lydia is still the main character so it's only right to finish the musical with her.

He did threaten to kill them multiple times, some of them he had no reason to. And when he does get revived he immediately wants to go on a murder spree. So Beetlejuice is right, it would be weird for them to forgive him completely. I think the awkward goodbye is the perfect send off for him. Sort of like a "we don't know how to feel about you, but good luck!"

As someone who saw the DC version. It made a lot more sense him leaving. He was more sinister and the whole show had a darker tone.

eddie perfect literally said, talking about the demos, that the producers/whoever reviewed the music immediately shut down his redemption song. in the dc production, beetlejuice is much more like the movie version as his goal is to be free and is much more violent/selfish. to change the ending between dc and broadway i think might've been too much of a change for them. plus, producers might've just seen this as "redeeming bj?? he's the gross villian!" and i believe eddie has said that the focus of the story would be on lydia.

I agree 100%

What they probably needed to establish in the musical is that BJ was banished, functionally trapped in the house, but being recently dead again meant he could go through the netherworld to other ghost-appropriate locales - so he got his freedom, but in a way that didn't mean he had to get on with the rest of the cast.