All great TV series deserve a great ending, but not all of them get one. Imagine eating a hot, juicy burrito, enjoying the multitude of flavors only to notice that the last bite is all mushy and smells weird. You’re still going to eat it, but it’s not quite the same. There are many reasons why things didn’t work out at the end. Angry actors, lazy writers, poor ratings, and a dozen more things, but the fact still remains.
Not all series finales were created equally, so here are some spectacular TV shows with horrendous final episodes.
1. Smallville
It’s a bird! It’s a plane! No, it’s Super…meh?
Since season one, the fans have been waiting to see their favorite superhero soar through the sky and beat up some bad guys, wearing his iconic blue and red suit. But, either the writers or the WB execs above them, had decided to give us the worst ending imaginable – Clark Kent ripping his shirt apart to reveal the iconic “S” symbol on his chest and then flying off into the stratosphere. What was that? A teaser for next season? Nope, the series finale! Bon appetit.
2. Seinfeld
Jerry and his crew witness a mugging of a severely obese guy, and instead of helping him or calling the police, they film the whole thing and laugh. Turns out there’s a new law that can put them all in jail for not helping. And so the court drama begins, showing us countless guest stars pouring buckets of poop on our heroes, solidifying that all 4 of them are the worst. And then they go to prison. How’s that for a finale?
3. Heroes
There is an opinion that the series should have ended with the death of Peter Petrelli in the first season, but the fans wanted to see what happened next, and the producers were happy to oblige since the ratings were sky-high. As a result, we got a completely scrambled season 4 without Zachary Quinto. Then the final villain decided to change all of a sudden, so that was a huge waste of time. And don’t even say a word about Heroes Reborn.
4. Game of Thrones
To be frank, the last season sucked. But the final episode was like a black hole of contrived plot lines and failed character motivations. So many questions that we’ll never get answers to, so much unnecessary flip-flopping, it’s just not a great series finale. Visually stunning, but hollow on the inside.
5. Lost
In the past ten years, both JJ Abrams and Damon Lindeloff have explained their decision many times, saying that so many fan theories have been posted on the internet that any ending would have been a disappointment or even worse – some random user’s fan fiction. And this one, with Purgatory and death, was at least the most unexpected. Yes, don’t give us good stories, we want unexpected TV diarrhea.
6. How I Met Your Mother
Unlike “Friends,” who did an amazing job wrapping up the story, HIMYM only partially delivered. In the final season, the three hours of the wedding were stretched into twenty episodes, where we met the mother, had kids with the mother, and even sort of watched the mother die. The twist is that all this time our beloved architect Shmosby was retelling the kids the stories from his youth so they could give him the green light to date the one that got away – Robin. It’s pretty messed up.
7. Dexter
The creators of the story about a maniac hunting maniacs suddenly decided that a happy end for a serial killer is out of the question. Let’s just fry him on an electric chair! Well, it’s definitely a pity, we got very attached to Dex and his brand of justice. That is why, apparently, in the final episode, there was a distant-faraway forest and a sad-pungent lumberjack. The finale was extremely unsatisfying.
8. Lethal Weapon
Lethal Weapon was a rare case when a TV adaptation of a movie was even better than the original. It was mainly due to the chemistry between the new Murtaugh and Riggs. Crawford sometimes went too far in terms of psychopathy, but Damon Wayans reliably played the aging cop who was getting too old for this or that stuff. However, after Crawford had a meltdown on the set, the producers decided to get rid of him for the good of the show. Apparently, getting rid of the titular “lethal weapon” did not mean that the show was done. They just slapped a new actor and thought we’d love it that way. Sean William Scott, yes, the guy from American Pie was supposed to play the badass special agent guy. And to tell you the truth, he was actually good, but he and Wayans did not have that spark. After shooting season 3, Wayans just left the series. Good riddance!
