And Cut: The Best And Worst TV Finales Of All Time

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And Cut: The Best And Worst TV Finales Of All Time
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Sometimes running for several years and hundreds of episodes, TV shows can become a fixture in our lives and introduce us to characters we welcome into our hearts – so the way we say goodbye to them is as important as how we discover them. And while some series nail their finale and live forever, for others, a bad ending can overshadow the entire show. We’ve put together what we believe are the best and worst TV finales of all time, encompassing a number of countries and genres. We’ve mostly excluded shows that were significantly continued with big-screen adventures (so no Sex and the City or Firefly). Agree with our choices? Let us know!

By Victoria Luxford

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And Cut: The Best And Worst TV Finales Of All Time.
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Best: The Wire (“-30-”, 2008) – A symphony of fine performances and tone, The Wire’s bittersweet message all along is that no one person can change the system, and that cycles of behaviour have a way of continuing. This is never more evident than in the final case of the show’s anti-hero, McNulty (Dominic West), whose tampering with a case is exposed. We also see misdeeds swept under the carpet, and new generations taking up the mantle of criminality. It’s a hard pill to swallow, but a finale that perfectly encapsulates what the show is about (ending with the first series’ theme to show we have come full circle). There is one glimmer of light, however, in a beautiful scene where drug addict Bubbles appears to have found a way out of his cycle.

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And Cut: The Best And Worst TV Finales Of All Time.
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Worst: Game of Thrones (“The Iron Throne”, 2019) – Where do we begin? Whether it was the final destination of Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke), the unsatisfying resolution of who should sit on the Iron Throne, or the baffling implication that Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage) is somehow accountable for the mess Westeros is in, few who had followed the show’s many twists and turns were satisfied with the ending they had waited nine years for. The HBO show was always bleak, but rarely ever this bland.

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Best: The Bridge (Season 4, Episode 8, 2018) – Detective dramas tend to end one of two ways: our hero goes down in a blaze of glory, or walks away from the job, burned out from the horrors they’ve seen. The Bridge always leaned towards darker moments, but even they couldn’t kill off lead Saga Norén (Sofia Helin). After resolving her final case and making things right with partner Henrik (Thure Lindhart), Saga leaves town, stopping only to throw her badge off the titular bridge and indicate via a phone call that she is leaving to find something new. A sombre, but hopeful end to a celebrated character.

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Worst: Broadchurch (Season 3, Episode 8, 2017) – Maybe ‘worst’ is harsh, but there is something disappointing about the end of the hit UK show, where detectives Hardy and Miller (David Tennant and Olivia Colman) simply say “see you tomorrow” after solving their case, implying that their world just carries on. The show captivated audiences the world over, and while some would argue that this is the right and most realistic way to go, this – plus some unanswered questions from the series – left things feeling unfinished.

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Best: I am Not Okay With This (“Deepest, Darkest Secret”, 2020) – If you’re going to be cancelled, go out with a bang! This Netflix series about a young woman with telekinetic abilities was unfairly scrapped after just one season, however the final moments make sure fans will never forget it. At the school dance, hero Sydney (Sophia Lillis) is confronted by the school bully, Brad (Richard Ellis), who has her diary. Before he reveals her deepest, darkest secrets, she makes his head explode, before she runs off in the night lamenting: “I tried. I tried to be normal.” It’s a gorgeously chaotic ending that deserved a follow-up, but feels satisfying nonetheless.

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Worst: Dinosaurs (“Changing Nature”, 1994) – Family shows rarely have a rounded ending, given that the episodes tend to be more self-contained. Dinosaurs was a kid-friendly sitcom, suspiciously similar to The Simpsons but featuring live-action animatronic dinosaurs. The finale was shockingly depressing, as the clan face an Ice Age brought on by environmental damage that will ultimately end their species. Despite the worthy message, it’s a harrowing watch even today, with many who grew up casually watching the show as children unaware that the series ended so dramatically.

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Best: Breaking Bad (“Felina”, 2013) – A series where the main character has a terminal illness could perhaps only end one way, but the final episode proved to bring some balance to the dangerous world of the US crime drama. Bryan Cranston has never been better as the chemistry-teacher-turned-drug-kingpin Walter White AKA Heisenberg. Tying up the loose ends in a way that saves his allies and punishes his enemies, it is the final stand of a TV icon. While a little bit too neat for some, it offers a moment of TV magic where Walt finally confesses to his wife, Skyler (Anna Gunn), that his crimes were not selfless, because he enjoyed it.

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Worst: Skins (Season 7, 2013) – We include the entirety of the final season of this British TV show that fired up television in the mid-2000s and gave us the breakthrough of a number of successful actors, including Nicholas Hoult and Dev Patel. The final season caught up with characters from all three generations of the show (which changed casts every two seasons). The sense that these characters had not moved from their past troubles, or had walked into new ones, was slightly unsatisfying and perhaps an indication why the show rotated stories so frequently.

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Best: Fleabag (Season 2, Episode 6, 2019) – Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s searingly honest look at family and relationships ends with both tears and smiles, as the title character breaks up with The Priest (Andrew Scott) in a beautiful bus stop confessional. Playing out to a song that quite literally tells us “it’s gonna be alright,” Fleabag grins at the camera and shakes her head, implying the fourth wall we’ve been breaking for two seasons is now closed. A fittingly emotional end to one of the biggest shows of the 2010s.

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Worst: Seinfeld (“The Finale”, 1998) – How do you end a show about nothing? Not like this, that’s for sure! Critics at the time found the classic comedy’s ending oddly devoid of humour, and a bit of a let down as Jerry and the beloved cast were sentenced to a year in prison. It was a damp squib for the two-part episode, which became an event that saw 76 million Americans tune in. Even other channels paid tribute – US station TV Land refused to put any programming on while the show was airing.

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Best: Spaced (“Leaves”, 2001) – A bit of a cult pick, but a show that launched the careers of Simon Pegg, Nick Frost and director Edgar Wright as they portrayed the lives of twenty-something slackers living in a flat in London. Using pop culture homages and Star Wars references before it was cool, the show only lasted two seasons but ended on a high note as our favourite characters returned to what made them happiest. We were also teased about the romance between Tim (Pegg) and Daisy (Jessica Hynes) without it being spelled out for us. Gentle and heart-warming.

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Worst: My Name Is Earl (“Dodge’s Dad”, 2009) – Less heart-warming was the abrupt ending to this 2000s American sitcom about a man who misinterprets the concept of karma by making a list of all the bad things he’s ever done in his life and correcting them one by one. The finale to Season Four ended on a cliffhanger, with the identity of one of Joy’s (Jaime Pressly) children in doubt, but the mystery was never resolved as the show was unexpectedly cancelled. More than the storyline conclusion, it is somewhat infuriating that a show about a man needing to complete a list ends before he does it. Luckily, Earl’s fate is alluded to in another series from the same producers, Raising Hope.

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Best: The Office (UK) (“Christmas Special Part 2”, 2003) – While David Brent would be seen again on the big screen, the original version of The Office gave fans what they wanted – albeit with a message that nothing is certain. The long-standing flirtation between Dawn (Lucy Davis) and Tim (Martin Freeman) was concluded with a kiss, a moment so touching that even the permanently awkward Brent can’t ruin it. Ricky Gervais’ most famous character also gets a brief moment of joy as he connects with a love interest, but overall it’s a little more considered than the US remake, which ended on a very happy note (although neither fan bases were complaining).

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Worst: Lost (“The End”, 2010) – JJ Abrams’ series had a convoluted and troubled run that resulted in the series losing nearly half its viewership from series one to six. The finale, however, revealed that the dimension called the ‘Flashsideways’ was some kind of portal preparing the island’s survivors for death, and congregated the show’s cast for an emotional farewell as we saw series lead Jack (Matthew Fox) pass away. Confusing, depressing and unrewarding was the consensus at the time, although there are some who defend it as a misunderstood triumph.

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Best: Friends (“The Last One”, 2004) – How do you end one of the most popular shows ever made? Well, the creators stayed true to the spirit of the series, giving happy endings to married couple Chandler and Monica (Matthew Perry and Courtney Cox) while bringing back together the eternally on-again, off-again Ross and Rachel (David Schwimmer and Jennifer Aniston). Despite many hints at a comeback, thus far this is the official ending to the show, and we’re not complaining!

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Worst: How I Met Your Mother (“Last Forever”, 2014) – Sometimes a question goes on for so long that it ceases to become important. The premise of this smash hit sitcom was the show’s narrator explaining to his children how he met their mother, and the explanation was never going to be worth waiting nine seasons. Nonetheless, the twist ending emerges that the whole story has been a way for series star Ted (Josh Radnor) to explain to his children how he still has feelings for former love Robin (Cobie Smulders), leading to a reunion that was unsatisfying for many – considering it came after Robin’s divorce from series favourite Barney (Neil Patrick Harris). So strong was the reaction, some asked if it was an April Fools’ Day joke, having been broadcast on March 31st.

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Best: Mad Men (“Person to Person”, 2015) – This slick, cynical retro drama built up an army of loyal fans who demanded that the final episode do right by the characters they have grown to love. The writers obliged, with characters such as Elizabeth Moss’s Peggy and Christina Hendricks’s Joan striking out on their own, while the original Mad Man himself, Don Draper (Jon Hamm), appears to have found peace at a retreat. However, in the final moments, an inspiration for a famous ad implies he may not have changed that much after all.

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Best or Worst: The Sopranos (“Made in America”, 2007) – Here’s one that will divide TV fans perhaps forever. Set to the strains of ‘80s classic “Don’t Stop Believin’”, Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) and his family ruminate on their current situation in a café, before Tony turns around and the screen cuts to black. Opinion is split as to whether this is a clever interpretation of Tony’s death, or perhaps just a purposely vague ending, or as some have claimed, a blatant insult to the fans. Creator David Chase denies the latter, but has been reluctant to give an exact explanation. He has, however, argued in the past that there is more than one way of looking at it.

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And Cut: The Best And Worst TV Finales Of All Time

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