ST Was an additional scene needed at the end?

I've seen The Force Awakens three times now, and since I am a huge Star Wars fan and read online about it all the time, I know that Kylo Ren, General Hux, and Captain Phasma escaped Starkiller Base at the end and that Kylo Ren is on his way to Snoke to finish his training.

But for the casual movie watcher, I think it's hard for them to realize this. My uncle didn't pick up on it. He asked me after the movie if Ren died; he wasn't sure. I said no; Hux rescued him and they left Starkiller Base, along with Phasma and many others.

But thinking back, I don't think there was any scene that directly showed that. And for the casual Star Wars fan/movie watcher, I worry that this isn't clear enough.

Should a scene showing Ren being rescued and Hux and the others leaving Starkiller Base have been included?

 

I think so. It definitely wasn't clear to me. Even a 30 second scene showing them leaving Starkiller Base would have been helpful. Unless they wanted it to be a cliff hanger or something.

 

Almost everyone I went with over the course of both my viewings thought they were all dead.

 

The film stupidly makes it look that way. There should have been just a little snippet showing Kylo, Hux and Phasma on Kylo’s ship. No dialogue would be needed. The film literally makes it look as though all the bad guys died, especially Phasma.

 

Yea, I reckon that a scene showing Hux and Ren aboard a shuttle could've been featured after the shot of Rey and Leia hugging and before the one where Chewie is agonizing over Han's death. Though featuring Phasma in that scene would be tricky since the audience would then be wondering how she was able to get out of that trash compactor...

 

Trilogy rule #1 If main characters don't die on screen then it's a good bet that they aren't dead.

 

Should be, Rey talks off on Falcon, and then show a Star Destroyer in space with Ren, Hux, and Phasma, cut back to Falcon coming out of hyperspace, Rey finds Luke, credits.

-C