Don't know if I have decided. I was perfectly happy with it ending with Cassie saying 'See you soon' and then fading out. The whole end sequence coupled with the red leaf has me confused. Someone asked Terry Matalas point blank and his answer was that he is an optimist and he's going with Cole is alive. Of course, you could just say 'Nature!' and it was Fall and that just happened to be the first leaf to turn.
Now, I remember during the countdown part that I was saying loudly 'don't do the stupid stop at 1 sec troupe'. I immediately noticed they never showed the actual stopping point but thought nothing of it until someone on Twitter posited that Cassie never actually stopped it.
So, I don't know. The ending I wanted, like I said, was Cole being wiped and everything going on nicely. But, how does Cassie remember Cole? It seems that no one else does.
It's like they gave us a choose your own adventure finale. My first thought upon viewing the red leaf was that Cole was in the forest. That Jones found some way to put him there, but even I don't really think that makes sense. As you can you, I am conflicted. This is something that will be endlessly debated among the fan base, and that's a good thing.