Nothing is more devastating for television viewers than when a series you’ve watched for years completely messes up the finale. You spend hours upon hours on these characters and storylines and then have the final episode fall apart or, worse, leave you wondering, That’s it? Maybe it’s a random character death, a finale that disregards years of foreplay, or just outright bad writing, but whatever it is, some finales linger in our brains for all the wrong reasons. Here are 10 finales that are still infuriating audiences, numbered in reverse to count down the most jaw-dropping gut punches.
10. How I Met Your Mother
The fans spent almost a decade watching Ted Mosby recount his long and complicated tale of how he met his soulmate. But rather than delivering on that investment, the finale yanked the carpet out from under them: the Mother died, and Ted wound up with Robin after all. For most, this undercut years of character development and rendered the entire concept inauthentic. Although some argued in its favor, the consensus was one of disappointment and the feeling that the show had betrayed its own premise.
9. Lost
No show generated more fan theories than Lost. Polar bears, smoke monsters, and an unexplainable number of fans were hooked. But the finale left fans scratching their heads. The church scene led to endless arguing (“Were they dead the entire time?”), And many were left feeling cheated out of answers to the show’s biggest questions. While some liked the emotional payoff, others were left feeling frustrated that the questions they had fixated on for years were never actually answered.
8. Dexter
Dexter Morgan, the serial killer vigilante, was primed for a jaw-dropping series finale. Rather, the show ended with him leaving it all behind and becoming… a lumberjack. Fans were confused and disappointed by what amounted to an anticlimactic shrug. The backlash was so intense that it resulted in a revival series that attempted to course-correct, though many claim even that couldn’t repair the damage.
7. Game of Thrones
At its zenith, Game of Thrones was the largest show on Earth. Yet, its last season has been infamous for hasty plots, crazy character decisions, and unfathomable pacing. Since there were no more books to base it upon, the showrunners stuffed years’ worth of setup into mere episodes, leaving the audiences with storylines that felt like they missed chapters. The finale wasn’t just disappointing; it was a cultural phenomenon of mass disappointment.
6. The 100
This post-apocalyptic drama took years to examine morality, survival, and humanity. Yet the conclusion appeared to discard it all. The arcs of characters were subverted, and the show’s carefully constructed themes ditched. The finale didn’t simply fail for many viewers; it retroactively spoiled everything leading up to it.
5. Supernatural
Fans anticipated that, after 15 years, the show’s final episodes would do justice to Sam and Dean Winchester. What they received instead was a subdued, anticlimactic conclusion. Both brothers died, but not in the spectacle of fire and glory that people had envisioned. The lack of loved side characters (somewhat COVID-related, somewhat due to creative decisions) left the goodbyes feeling even more hollow. Add in unresolved fan hopes for deeper payoffs, and the result was a finale that felt more like closure for the writers than the audience.
4. Pretty Little Liars
After months of twists, red herrings, and suspense, viewers were expecting a jaw-dropping revelation of “A.D.” What they received was Spencer’s secret British doppelganger introduced at the eleventh hour. The incongruity of the twist made people chuckle more than gasp in surprise. Rather than being clever, the conclusion came across as cheap, as if the creators had cornered themselves and made an arbitrary decision.
3. Killing Eve
This razor-sharp spy thriller was powered by the charged relationship between Eve and Villanelle. Viewers were waiting for their tale to culminate in intensity if not clarity. Rather, Villanelle was brutally dispatched toward the end of the final episode. The shock deprivation deprived viewers of the payoff they had been anticipating, and it made the finale seem empty in comparison to the taut storytelling that preceded it.
2. My Hero Academia
Fans of anime are not exempt from the backlash of finales. My Hero Academia’s final chapter frustrated many with its ending that seemed to invalidate the friendship, growth, and perseverance themes that had run the entire series. Izuku was displayed alone, his relationships with classmates weakened, and his romance arc left hanging. A symbolic but open-ended ending was what fans received instead – specifics that didn’t ring true and left them irate.
1. Veronica Mars
Few finales had upset fans more than Veronica Mars. The revival’s fourth season shocked viewers by killing Logan, Veronica’s long-time love interest, off in the season finale. Fans felt betrayed, terming it a heartless twist that disregarded the show’s foundational relationships. Fans left grumbling, upset, with some vowing to never watch the show again.
These finales are evidence that it’s more difficult to end a beloved show than it appears. A great finale can solidify a series for life, but a poor one will overshadow all the work that preceded it. These 10 examples demonstrate just how much a finale counts, and why fans still can’t stop arguing about those that failed.