There's nothing like a great TV finale: one conclusive episode which gives a show's characters
and stories - not to mention the viewers who've faithfully followed along - a truly satisfying
send-off.
Unfortunately, however, there are plenty of finales - often to really great shows - that
just can’t stick the landing.
From controversial conclusions to all-out storytelling disasters, these episodes rank
among the most frustrating TV finales ever made.
The Sopranos
A prestige HBO hit which heralded the dawn of television’s golden age, The Sopranos
brought the medium to new heights, blurring the long-standing lines between the small
screen and the large.
After six seasons - and countless twists and turns - only one question remained to round
off the show: what would be the fate of Tony Soprano?
The finale’s final scene is one of TV’s most notorious: Tony, whilst out at dinner,
notices a man walk into the restaurant.
Is he just a fellow diner, or a hitman out for blood?
Are any of the other patrons of the restaurant out to get him?
The tension builds as his family arrives and sits at the table one-by-one, but, just as
the scene appears to be moving towards a climax, the screen abruptly cuts to black.
Tony's fate is left unresolved.
The Sopranos’ ending is jarring to say the least, and, while many appreciate its subversive
brilliance, it's hard to not empathize with anybody who doesn’t.
Dexter
Showtime’s flagship crime drama had already fallen pretty far off the rails by the time
it came to an end.
At this point, the show had wandered into a bizarre final storyline and managed to botch
the only good thread the show had left to follow - Dexter's terrible secret being discovered.
Instead of any kind of definitive ending for the character, Dexter fakes his own death
and escapes to Oregon, where he begins working as a truck driver.
It was a bizarre, bitter, and inconclusive letdown for the few remaining fans of a once-great
show.
Seinfeld
A precursor to some of today’s most popular comedies about gangs of horrible people, Seinfeld
built its brand on an uncomfortable kind of humor led by characters far more loathsome
than your typical protagonists.
In the process, it became one of television’s most iconic and subversive shows.
The series finale, however, is notorious for all the wrong reasons.
Seinfeld’s final episode found Elaine, Jerry, George, and Kramer on trial for laughing at
a man who was being held at gunpoint.
During the trial, every person they've wronged over the course of the series testifies against
them, putting into perspective just how odious each character is.
By the end of the episode, they're all in jail.
A popular series ending with a glorified clip show was a highly unusual move, and the finale
was deeply divisive amongst fans.
Even Seinfeld himself admitted,
"I sometimes think we really shouldn't have even done it."
“Very good, very good.
You know something?
No soup for you!
Come back, one year!
Next!"
How I Met Your Mother
Kind of spells it all out in the title, doesn't it?
No matter how long the show ran, how many detours it took or how many characters it
followed, it was always going to be the tale of how Ted, the protagonist, met the mother
of his children.
As long as it answered that question in a gripping and believable fashion, viewers were
going to be left happy.
Spoiler alert, though: they weren’t.
Rather than take the satisfying route, the show’s writers decided to tack on a last-minute
stinger, explaining that the mother passed away shortly before Ted started telling the
story to his kids, who insist that, the whole time, he's actually been in love with his
friend Robin.
“No, this is a story of how you're totally in love with Aunt Robin."
This was a romantic pairing the show had attempted earlier, before Robin moved on and married
Neil Patrick Harris' character Barney.
To make matters worse, the show’s creators actually filmed a happier ending, minus the
whole death thing, and for some reason decided to go with this one instead.
It could have been so good.
True Blood
When the entire premise of your show revolves around a single, major choice a character
has to make, you’d better make sure you wrap things up in a satisfying manner.
To say True Blood failed to do this is an understatement.
Anna Paquin's Sookie Stackhouse - the small-town waitress who finds herself wrapped up in the
world of the supernatural - spends the whole series trying to decide where her heart truly
lies.
Is it with Bill, the vampiric southern gentleman?
Or with Eric, the icy Nordic vampire lord?
Or maybe she'll end up with Alcide, the jacked werewolf construction worker.
Sookie, as it turned out, ended up with none of the above.
Alcide and Bill are both dead by the time the show has come to an end, while Eric has
just moved on.
Instead, she ends up with... some human dude.
Viewers, predictably, weren’t happy.
Can you blame them?
Penny Dreadful
Penny Dreadful’s finale was, in many ways, actually pretty great.
It wrapped up every character arc and convincingly resolved most of the show’s plotlines - and
with such a large ensemble cast, it was no easy task.
So why was this episode so frustrating?
Because nobody knew it was a finale.
Some controversy exists as to just why Penny Dreadful ended when it did, but the important
thing to know here is that the show’s third season was never marketed as its last.
It was only after the final shot had faded out and the words “The End” appeared on
the screen that viewers realized they’d just seen their last episode, ever.
For the show’s many die-hard fans and followers, it was a painful and sudden demise - which,
considering the show in question, does seem like a pretty apt way to end things.