It’s tough to perfect the end of any series, especially one that’s been running for a long time or one that’s already deteriorated in quality in later seasons or had its main characters leave before the finale. There’s a great deal of pressure on shows to wrap up loose ends and give fans a satisfying conclusion, but some shows fall short and risk ending up being some of the worst TV show endings. The genre of the programme doesn’t matter, neither does the official ratings of the ending. What matters is whether viewers loved or despised the ending.
Here are some of our picks of the Worst TV show endings:
13 Reasons Why
As if viewers didn’t already have plenty of reasons to dislike 13 Reasons Why, the series’ conclusion severely shattered any aspirations of a happy ending. Clay looks to be in a state of madness, Jess is compelled to forgive Bryce, and no one ever discovers the truth about the teenagers’ crimes.
Furthermore, at a time when they should be coming closer together, the circle of friends have lost all respect and trust in one another. There’s also Ani’s mysterious disappearances and, of course, Justin’s death to add to the mess.
Skins
If the season finale of each generation wasn’t depressing enough, the show decided to add another cycle of despair and misery. Season 7 takes the series’ tradition of taking off each generation’s most adored and pure characters (Chris, Freddie, and Grace) to a whole different extreme.
When viewers were yearning for some closure on their beloved characters, the show delivers the polar opposite. Season 7 is divided into 3 parts and follows Effy, Cassie, and Cook as adults, a few years after the events of the previous seasons. Effy gets sent to prison, Cassie has a stalker, and Cook is still involved in drugs and crime. The episodes are depressing, and the endings are hopeless.
Lost
There’s very few shows whose demise has been derided as much as Lost’s. The show suddenly lost momentum during its fourth season, despite being one of the freshest and most captivating stories ever seen on TV. Fans anticipated, though, that the series would have a decent conclusion up its sleeve. Unfortunately, they were wrong.
The entire show was revealed to be part of some nightmarish judgement, a discovery that not only had already crossed everyone’s mind but also tarnished years of rich, complicated history.
Scrubs
The final episode of Season 8 of Scrubs seems to have been a fair send-off for the characters, with J.D. envisioning himself and Elliot marrying and spending holidays with Dr. Cox and Jordan, but the programme opted to return for a ninth season.
Season 9 intended to introduce a number of new characters while relegating fans’ favourite characters to the background for the season finale. Furthermore, the season finale didn’t even feel like the final episode, and most viewers decided not to watch the entire ninth season again.
How I Met Your Mother
Fans awaited nine seasons to see the eponymous mother, only for her to succumb to a fatal illness shortly after. To top it off, Barney, who has grown tremendously as a character over the seasons, regresses back to his childish ways, and he and Robin divorce. Ted and Robin eventually return to each other after their lengthy back-and-forth, and yet nothing made sense.
Game of Thrones
While the HBO series has been hailed for years for its story and character development, many viewers were dissatisfied with the eighth and final season. Fans were astounded to see Daenerys massacre thousands of helpless civilians in King’s Landing, and much more so when Jon Snow stabbed her. To finish it off, Drogon destroyed the Iron Throne, and the remaining lords and women chose Bran Stark as the new ruler. Thousands of enraged fans immediately signed a petition demanding that the last season be redone, but no series can satisfy everyone.
Dexter
While fans and critics everywhere admired Dexter in its first four seasons, the show gradually began to fade in its latter seasons, missing much of its allure and intriguing narrative.
The programme could be forgiven for not living up to the high expectations established by the fourth season, which starred John Lithgow, but by the time Dexter’s last season – and, especially, its final episode – rolled around, viewers were ready to be done with the serial killer tale. Dexter then drove his boat into the middle of a storm, likely killing him, in order to kill Debra with as little fuss as possible. Even worse, the show’s post-credits segment indicates that Dexter is still alive and kicking, working as a logger somewhere in the middle of nowhere.
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Did you agree with our picks of the worst TV show endings ever? There’s nothing more infuriating than devoting years of your life to your favourite TV show and the ending being bitterly disappointing. We feel your pain. We might not be able to predict how a new TV show is going to end, but we can tell you whether it’s worth watching in the first place. Ready Steady Cut reviews all the newest TV shows, so make sure you come to us before starting a new series!
