Worst TV Series Finales & What Type of Bad They Are

TV writers deal with a lot of pressure. Fans want this, fans want that, fans are asking if this will happen and sometimes, they end up getting it wrong. I've gathered some examples of controversial (and just plain poor) TV show finales that will make you scratch your head and think that those hours of commitment you gave were wasted. There are various types of awful TV endings, so here's my list:

Types of awful: Confusing: finales that make your brain hurt, your soul ache for answers and have you sat staring at the screen while the credits roll wondering if that was super confusing or if you're just a moron.

Unsatisfying: The salad of the TV finale world. You just don't feel full afterwards, it was missing so much and you're still pretty hungry.

Infuriating: When it doesn't go how you had hoped and you feel completely alienated and frustrated that you wasted your time, essentially.

Ridiculous: A conclusion so unbelievable and stupid that you just have to laugh.

***WARNING - this will contain a load of spoilers. If you don't want to know what happened or are too scared to see a show you love but haven't finished yet on this list, approach with caution!***

Controversial: (The ones that divided us)

Lost (S6, Episodes 17 & 18, 2010)

What happened?

One of the most debated and polarised finales in TV history, Lost's finale had fans divided. Some questions got answered, for example the mysterious numbers written on the wall. However, with the purgatory-like ending shots and reference to the initial plane crash in the credits, audiences got confused and the ultimate question began: so was everybody dead the whole time? Was the finale perhaps too sophisticated to understand or did the writer's pull the tragically stupid 'just kidding, this Island is purgatory because everybody died in the plane crash that started this show!'. Ultimately, this finale stirred up more questions than it provided answers and various meanings and clues are still debated to this day - some clarified by the writers and some not.

What type of awful?

Confusing.

The Office US (S9, Episodes 24 & 25, 2013)

What happened? Set a year after the previous episode, this finale is supposed to be bonus footage for the DVD. All of the familiar faces of Dunder Mifflin gather for the wedding of Dwight and Angela and Pam and Jim decided to pursue Jim's dream of working in sports marketing. Steve Carrell also made a brief returning cameo as Dwight's best man, Michael Scott, and everybody came together for interviews and goodbyes. There's little somewhat-satisfying wrap ups such as the success of Dwight's business and Oscar running for state senate. Most people loved the episode and felt they got everything wrapped up nicely, whereas some hated it and thought it the show had moved in a completely different direction than intended. The finale received critical acclaim though, receiving 3 Primetime Emmy award nominations.

What type of awful? Some say it was actually great. I guess it would fall into 'unsatisfying' due to Michael's earlier departure and brief appearance.

Pretty Bad: (The ones that were mostly poor)

Gossip Girl (S6, Episode 10, 2012)

What happened?

Dan Humphrey AKA Lonely Boy was revealed as being the elusive Blogger 'Gossip Girl', which doesn't make any sense. So. Many. Plot. Holes.

He was with Serena when she received attacks from 'Gossip Girl', firstly. He was also hurt by Gossip Girl's actions, too and even spread rumours about his little sister's sex life: “Breaking News – Asher Hornsby overheard bragging that Little J swiped her V card at his register. Didn’t anyone teach you, Little J? You shouldn’t give away the ending if you want him to pick up the book again.” Ew, that's your sister, man.

So, what was the motive? More importantly, how did Serena then MARRY him after this reveal? At least Blair and Chuck got hitched, which was a redeeming moment but what a confusing resolution. Even Penn Badgley & Ed Westwick (Dan and Chuck respectively) confessed their confusion at the 'Gossip Girl' reveal.

What type of awful?

Both confusing and infuriating.

The Sopranos (S6, Episode 9, 2007)

What happened?

Lets start by saying that things got resolved: Tony finally went to see Uncle Junior, peace was restored when Phil Leotardo was taken out, FBI Agent Harris helped Tony and Silvio was still alive. All seems promising. Alas, the finale scene is the one that did the damage.

The final scene involves Tony sitting at a diner, with life continuing on as normal, before cutting to a black screen. After 8 years of commitment to the show, viewers expected a sense of finality that sadly did not come. Many speculated if Tony was dead and this became the most popular theory (it has since been confirmed that he did not die). I mean, a TV show about the Mafia that ends happily in a diner? Of course audiences would be confused. This now infamous scene enraged and confused audiences who were clearly expecting something more than such a lacklustre conclusion - but it has been debated that this was a deliberate choice. I mean, audiences are still stressing out about it 11 years on so he must have done something right.

What type of awful? Confusing and unsatisfying.

Dexter (S8, Episode 12, 2013)

What happened?

Well, Dexter murdered Saxon with a ballpoint pen and Debra died from a stroke after being shot. Dexter then managed to somehow steal her body and escape with it on his boat. He threw her overboard and sailed into an oncoming storm in an apparent suicide attempt. Everybody thought he was dead but surprise - the finale scene reveals that he was actually alive and well and living as a Lumberjack in Oregon. Standard behaviour.

It seems the finale was a cop-out as the writers couldn't land on what audiences wanted. Did we want Dexter to get away with his killings or be apprehended? We'd grown quite fond of him so would we want him to get away with his crimes? It seems they decided to just avoid the issue altogether and instead reinvented him as a wood-chopping angel living under the radar, instead. No wonder we were a bit miffed.

What type of awful?

Unsatisfying.

Two and a Half Men (S12, Episodes 15 & 16, 2015)

What happened?

Basically, everybody in the show thought that Charlie was dead despite anonymous threats, apology notes and a check to Jake and a note saying 'I'm alive' (durr). It turns out Rose was keeping him captive in her basement and rushed to tell everybody the truth once he escaped. Then everybody thinks he's in prison. Whilst everybody celebrated the news with Charlie's cigars and whiskey, a helicopter carrying a grand piano appeared overhead. Charlie (seen only from behind) rings the doorbell and is crushed and killed by the falling piano. The camera then retracts to show writer Chuck Lorre in his director's chair. He uses the catchphrase 'Winning!' before also being crushed by a piano.

The finale wasn't exactly sentimental or in great depth but the bizarre meta comedy of the show at least ran through to the finale. Audiences mostly felt negative about the finale and the lack of appearance from Sheen and the bizarre ending remains a negative amongst fans of TAAHM.

What kind of awful? Just a tad ridiculous.

Literally, Don't Even Waste Your Time:

(The ones that enraged us all)

Pretty Little Liars (S7, Episode 20, 2017)

What happened?

It's safe to say that PLL got somewhat ridiculous. The elusive life-wrecker 'A' was revealed to be various different people throughout the show (is anyone else still confused by the different A's and why there were more than one?) and the plot got messy and confusing often. The show is no stranger to confusing the heck out of audiences and leaving gaping plotholes but this finale was so stupid it's actually laughable.

So who was the newest 'A' or 'AD' (weird) as they were now known?

*Warning: ridiculous ahead*

So Spencer had a secret evil British twin named Alex Drake who wanted to destroy her life and impersonate her because she had a better upbringing. No, I'm not kidding.

At least Emily and Alison had babies together and Hanna revealed she was pregnant. Oh, and Ezra and Aria wrote some super successful book or something. He was pretty much ruined for audiences at this point but at least we had Emily and Alison to ship. In regards to the AD reveal - the show was never going to be a visionary work of art but to commit to a show that has that sort of resolution is just annoying.

What type of awful? Ridiculous & infuriating.

How I Met Your Mother (S9, Episode 24 & 25, 2014)

What happened?

The complete destruction of an entire TV show, that's what. Basically, for 9 years audiences were teased about the identity of 'The Mother' - I mean, the show is literally one big build up to meeting the character. So we meet her for an episode, we really like her and all of the hints and stories about her are tied together and then BAM - turns out, she got ill and died. We are left with about 30 seconds to process this before good old Ted Mosby basically hits us with 'So kids - can I date your Aunt Robin? Even though the writer's swore they would never do this? Even though we're clearly an awful couple? Even though this whole show was about your Mother, now she's corked it, can I doink your Aunt?'

To add insult to injury, the entire season is a build up to Robin and Barney's wedding. Then 10 minutes into the episode following their wedding, we find out they got divorced. We don't get too much explanation but they're very chilled about it all. Everything in this finale felt so rushed, inauthentic and we got a lot of 'here's some information, get over it, we're moving onto the next thing on our list'.

Pretty much all HIMYM fans are in agreement - this finale was horrendous. Do yourself a favour and watch the alternate/edited version instead and try to forget this version exists, like the rest of us. Biggest mistake in TV history.

What type of awful? All of them. Every imaginable type of awful. Infuriating for sure.

I hope you enjoyed (that maybe too strong a word) my list of bad TV series finales. There are many more out there and some that are yet to come - lets just pray they don't happen to the shows that we love because that s*** is soul destroying.

Thanks for reading!