Well, to me, the ending was unexpected. Personally, I'm a big fan of sci-fi in general, so upon entering that place, my reaction was in the vein of "Woah, awesome!" Well, the scene could be interpreted as a fantasy setting as well, but my impression was sci-fi.
What that thing actually is, is still left unknown, and that's good, that's cliffhanger material. Just as the flash, perfect example of a cliffhanger ending. Zoey too became cliffhanger material, which is why she'll be a recurring topic until the next update.
Yes, the ending was abrupt, but, again, cliffhanger! That is how you do it right, exactly when you think something happens, but that split second before it does happen.
And, with this proper cliffhanger, I think each week or episode should be its own seperate executable. That way, people who start playing later will get to experience the cliffhanger too. Darn, what? It ended? Quick start the next executable! That way, the cliffhanger gets to sink in for another minute, causing the players mind go wild over all the possibilities, before the next episode is started and the appropriate savegame is loaded. (hmmm, make sure the player saves, and that saves can transfer between the two excecutables)