View Full Version : Most horrendous series finales in your memory?
ramairthree
05-09-19, 01:01
I don’t mean seasons that ended on a cliff hanger and never got picked up.
I mean series that actually completed their run.
On a very dissatisfying or worse not.
I was never invested enough in a series over a run of years,
But recall mentions of St. Elsewhere, Lost, SciFi channel Battlestar Galactica, etc, over time.
If Game of Thrones goes down in flames, it will be the first time I have watched a series from first year to last year and got hosed.
Other series, I may have caught a few seasons but never kept up with them over the years, missed a bunch of episodes, etc. Stuff like ER, Friends, Seinfeld, Miami Vice, I never got through. Even series that I liked because they were from a big franchise when I was a kid, and remember coming out when I was an adult, like Deep Space Nine and Voyager, I never quite kept up with. Stuff like X-Files that was popular I also kind of stopped watching after a few seasons.
So,
What series did you watch over years and stuck with it did you feel like you got shafted at the finale?
Hands down the Sopranos, followed closely by Deadwood.
The Soprano's simply going black, as if the viewer was whacked, was just f-ing stupid and a bunch of writing thinking they were clever. It was the most appalling lack of talent and ideas on a once great show that was already slipping and grasping at straws.
Similarly Deadwood, was nothing but buildup, a few minor incident and then the main antagonist simply leaves town. WTF, are you kidding me? Could have possibly been the best HBO series ever produced but it just went nowhere, as if they shut down production.
And of course every single Battlestar Galactica that ever existed. The 70s vintage where it was like they ran out of video tape and just called it a day.
Then the complex reboot with a conclusion that seemed like a fan script from a 6th grader. And don't even get me started on Blood and Steel Part I with no Part II ever done even though it looked like "third time is the charm and they are gonna finally slam dunk this series for all time."
Lost.
I really enjoyed that show even though in the middle it got kind of odd and off track. And just when they seemed like they were getting it back in the right direction and I was enjoying it at the end the last episode ot two just blew it.
Almost wish I never saw the last episode and just left it as a cliff hanger.
Honestly I thought St Elsewhere had a brilliant end.
But for me it was The L Word. It could have been a brilliant final season but just didn’t pan out.
I can’t really name any one show but shows with oodles of sexual tension that never comes to fruition anger me. Just let em bang get married and find a house in the country
Quantim Leap. So pissed, twenty years later, still angry!
Firefly, still heartbroken.
Quantim Leap. So pissed, twenty years later, still angry!
Actually that didn’t bother me. He used his one wish to help his friend keep his wife whom he sacrificed and stayed captured to save Sam’s brother. It was a brilliant call back most people missed.
It was next level Doc and Marty type stuff.
JAG pissed me off with the coin toss.
Oddly enough, Flashpoint went out on a high note.
But The Unit was always a tease until Strike Back. The Unit made me sooooo mad. 10 minutes of guys killing Charlie or Achmed with SR-25s while mix and matching camo to 40 minutes of wives and their girl problems that nobody cares about
Firefly, still heartbroken.
Serenity kind of cleared it up.
I of all people used to be mad for years about Firefly but really it was too ahead of its time and if it kept going Joss Whedon’s white guilt would have ruined it. Especially considering how the whole premise is about Unreconstructed Confederate veterans in space saying Eff The Man who are the space ChiComs.
It was glorious to see first run even if out of order.
I was kinda pissed that Brisco County Jr didn’t take off.
Also Friday the 13th the series. I LOVED it as a kid. It was genuinely creepy and I remember reading in Fangoria how they planned to finally have Jason in the finale but it never happened.
ETA and War of the Worlds. It had the Mexican dude from Predator as the Colonel overseeing a covert war against aliens. It was like X Files but not homosexual. More than a few times they whipped out M60s and CAR-15s with like old Vietnam War starlight scopes to kill aliens who seemed to prefer UZIs. Then it got lame and stupid when they tried to make it post apocalyptic but not really. Lame.
They had a Ranch where the black nerdy dude was trying to perfect energy weapons and the aliens took to grave robbing to find hosts.
Farscape.
I'm not talking about the "cliffhanger" ending to Season 4 just before SciFi cancelled it either. I'm talking about the "Peacekeeper Wars" miniseries that came out sometime later to try and wrap up the loose ends that were left hanging at the end of Season 4.
I appreciate the effort by the cast and crew of the show but the miniseries missed the mark quite badly.
Inconsistent special effects, weird character performances, plot holes.....it was not great when it first came out and has, in my opinion, aged much worse than the series itself has.
Sons of Anarchy (AKA the All About Gemma Show) ended poorly too in my opinion, but that show was on a severe downward spiral from about season 5 on I think, so I was basically hate-watching it anyway.
I mean, during Jax's death ride even the CGI crows were bad, and that forced Jax-as-Christ imagery..come on! And there just happens to be bread on the side of the highway? What?
"But muh symbolism!"
Although the fact it was probably Vic Mackey from The Shield who ended up (inadvertently) killing the protagonist was amusing.
Dexter! It's like they just wanted to quit, got tired of writing and said F it, let's just make him a lumberjack
Iirc I read somewhere Deadwood shut down unexpectedly didn’t it?
Lost wasn’t that bad, just could’ve been better.
Its been a while But I remember the semi post apocalyptic show Jericho being a tremendous let down. A few great seasons of build up with good characters then apparently the plug got pulled and there was a giant rush to wrap it all up.
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militarymoron
05-09-19, 07:33
The Walking Dead. Oh wait, it's still going on.
Adrenaline_6
05-09-19, 08:07
Yeah, Lost was a full elephant turd ending. It's like the writers got lost themselves. Firefly was a bummer, but Serenity did help the disappointment.
As it's going now though, GOT is on it's way to beat everyone out.
Doc Safari
05-09-19, 09:26
Jericho. In a perfect parallel universe that show would have run longer than all the other series put together.
The good news is that the fan uproar caused them to go back and make a handful of episodes to "sort of " end it when it was canceled abruptly.
Trouble is, they got over-optimistic and ended it with a looming civil war about to start in the hopes that the show might be picked up for movies or more episodes.
That just meant that the abrupt cancellation cliff-hanger was replaced by the hope for future shows cliffhanger.
Not really an ending in my book.
______________
The original ending to the X-Files. You call Mulder and Scully more-or-less being "on the run" an ending?
But that's not all.
Somehow I knew that even when the cigarette smoking man got incinerated in the cave that he'd be back.
He was.
Luckily the "ending" to the revived series was a little more satisfying. The cigarette smoking man is finally dead.....oh wait......
___________________________
ramairthree
05-09-19, 09:40
Actually that didn’t bother me. He used his one wish to help his friend keep his wife whom he sacrificed and stayed captured to save Sam’s brother. It was a brilliant call back most people missed.
It was next level Doc and Marty type stuff.
JAG pissed me off with the coin toss.
Oddly enough, Flashpoint went out on a high note.
But The Unit was always a tease until Strike Back. The Unit made me sooooo mad. 10 minutes of guys killing Charlie or Achmed with SR-25s while mix and matching camo to 40 minutes of wives and their girl problems that nobody cares about
The episodes with him in Vietnam trying to save his brother, but not saving his Friend from becoming a POW stand out to me decades later as some very well done TV.
Tied in, poignant stuff like that may be common and expected now, but was very unusual then.
Plus a hot redhead photojournalist and stoner MGs
ramairthree
05-09-19, 09:57
Quantim Leap. So pissed, twenty years later, still angry!
That was supposed to be a cliffhanger season finale.
The series was canceled and they tried to whip up a series finale out of it at the last minute.
While it sucked,
That kind of falls into the shitty last episode cancelled show category instead of intended, planned finale that sucks.
I believe that is what happened with Deadwood also.
(Never saw it when it was new)
They were not getting another season and tried to pull a finale out of their ass, per friend’s that we’re fans and following it when new.
I just need to know how you guys time manage to get so immersed in various movies and series and still get anything done?
Just this computer addiction screws me up and I'm retired.
I agree that Lost is the best/worst one that fulfills the criterion of the OP here, but I'm still really pissed about the abrupt and unceremonious ends to Jericho, Revolution and Invasion. WTH? They just went away. No closure.
Iirc I read somewhere Deadwood shut down unexpectedly didn’t it?
Lost wasn’t that bad, just could’ve been better.
Are you kidding? The wife and I almost dropped that series several times, but ultimately stuck through it. When the finale ended, we just sat there going "WTF?" for about a half hour. It was bloody awful and stupid.
Deadwood was bad, but understandable. The Sopranos was just weird and stupid.
I agree on Revolution too, just abrupt like Deadwood.
One I haven't seen mentioned yet is the sitcom How I Met Your Mother. The entire premise of the 9 season show was simple, how the narrator met his kids' mother. They blew that one really bad and everyone who watched it was pissed.
ramairthree
05-09-19, 10:44
I agree that Lost is the best/worst one that fulfills the criterion of the OP here, but I'm still really pissed about the abrupt and unceremonious ends to Jericho, Revolution and Invasion. WTH? They just went away. No closure.
That happened with the terminator show. Cliffhanger end of season.
Done.
ramairthree
05-09-19, 10:47
Are you kidding? The wife and I almost dropped that series several times, but ultimately stuck through it. When the finale ended, we just sat there going "WTF?" for about a half hour. It was bloody awful and stupid.
Deadwood was bad, but understandable. The Sopranos was just weird and stupid.
I agree on Revolution too, just abrupt like Deadwood.
One I haven't seen mentioned yet is the sitcom How I Met Your Mother. The entire premise of the 9 season show was simple, how the narrator met his kids' mother. They blew that one really bad and everyone who watched it was pissed.
I saw a few dozen episodes of that, my wife and some of my kids followed it. They were not pleased.
There seems to be a pattern of shows that once they get over five seasons or so, they just kind of get bad and people lose interest.
Doc Safari
05-09-19, 10:50
I think a lot of what's discussed in this thread is why I don't watch much TV anymore.
I'm tired of investing years in a series only to watch the creators wipe their ass with it.
My votes are: the x files, lost the sopranos and black sails. I think black sailed was the worst, like a different writing crew came in and wanted to say f u to the audience.
I thought I heard somewhere recently that Deadwood is coming back.... ??
I'm not a big fan of most endings and how they get hyped beforehand.
I think a lot of what's discussed in this thread is why I don't watch much TV anymore.
I'm tired of investing years in a series only to watch the creators wipe their ass with it.This, I doubt Ill make an effort to get into a show again after GOT. I really liked Battle Star Gallactica, and while it did get a bit odd toward the end I would say I still enjoyed it and found the ending rather appropriate.
Jericho was a major let down and after watching folks grouse about the poor endings with many of these mentioned shows, I was hesitant to engross myself in GOT but did as it was based on existing books. Then come to find the story was not only still being written but the series would soon overtake the author I knew then that failure would likely be the future of the show.
I never watched Lost but saw a few episodes. Im convinced there was never a plan, the writers just rode the wave of popularity until they ran out of juice then folded camp and took their winnings home.
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Man you guys really get emotionally involved in there shows, don't you? I just watch until it's over or no longer interesting. One goes, another one comes, there's always something on TV for a little bit escapism
So far I feel like we're right in the middle of it with Game of Thrones.
Sopranos
Magnum PI (first finale, 2nd was GTG)
Dexter
Americans
Jericho
Deadwood
Sons Of Anarchy
Shield
I loved Lost. The show was so entertaining because it was so convoluted. I knew that they'd never be able to wrap everything up so I made peace with the fact the end would suck long before it actually happened. And then when it happened I didn't care. It's just TV.
I've never really gotten into any other television shows enough to follow them through to the end except Breaking Bad......which had an incredible ending.
The Walking Dead. Oh wait, it's still going on.
Nah, that show actually DID end at the end of season 2/early season 3, the rest happening is just a fever dream of Ricks' after he got bit by a zombie clearing the prison... :rolleyes: :laugh:
Honestly, I could never really get into TWD- they did so much dumb shit, even starting in season one, I was rolling my eyes. By season two I found myself in full "OH COME ON GUYS!?!?!" mode ranting at the screen, and being pissed at the totally predictable ending I called on day one of them finding the farm. I reluctantly stuck out season 3 hoping for some satisfaction after 1 and 2, but it just went full shitwaffle and I disgust-quit at the end of 3 and have never looked back.
What a disappointment.
My votes are: the x files, lost the sopranos and black sails. I think black sailed was the worst, like a different writing crew came in and wanted to say f u to the audience.
Yep. First 2 seasons of Black sails- Epic and awesome
Season 3- Oh noes, tell me we're not starting this again... but still like 50% ok.
Season 4- ...that's it? Talk about going out with a whimper.
sundance435
05-09-19, 15:40
Its been a while But I remember the semi post apocalyptic show Jericho being a tremendous let down. A few great seasons of build up with good characters then apparently the plug got pulled and there was a giant rush to wrap it all up.
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Yeah, they threw the last season together because production was in doubt - the finale was still terrible, though. There was talk of Netflix or something picking it up, but it never happened. I loved that show.
MountainRaven
05-09-19, 17:47
I thought I heard somewhere recently that Deadwood is coming back.... ??
I'm not a big fan of most endings and how they get hyped beforehand.
HBO has a movie coming up here soon that's going to be a sort of sequel to the series.
Breaking Bad. An M60 on a spring loaded articulating mount that kills all the bad guys in the room? Come on, that was just moronic.
Sopranos
Magnum PI (first finale, 2nd was GTG)
Dexter
Americans
Jericho
Deadwood
Sons Of Anarchy
Shield
I forgot Dexter. Hated that stupid ending. No F'in way that guy just stops doing his thing. Its a compulsion. That one made me mad. Him sitting there alone in the PNW...
Breaking Bad. An M60 on a spring loaded articulating mount that kills all the bad guys in the room? Come on, that was just moronic.
I found it a bit much too.
Breaking Bad. An M60 on a spring loaded articulating mount that kills all the bad guys in the room? Come on, that was just moronic.
Made me laugh. Good to see you post, brother. Still recovering from spinal fusion, but being aggressive. Mike(TSC) has a 21A1, 23E/21E, G3, and 51 coming to me very soon. As in will be flying back east to get some personal instruction on multiple fronts within 6-8wks. Want to be able to switch sear b/w hosts and trouble shoot by self. Sear will also go into SP5K's worked over by Mike. Will pick up another sear this yr. Tammy is having back surgery any day now so his output will be stopped/slowing very soon. Sent him today an expensive package. So glad to hear you have the 07/02. Kiss my ass.:lol:
Breaking Bad. An M60 on a spring loaded articulating mount that kills all the bad guys in the room? Come on, that was just moronic.
But the writers thought it would be EPIC!!!!
Diamondback
05-10-19, 02:13
Burn Notice's last seasons were an utter letdown IMHO. :(
I watched BB after years of not doing so and the M60 deal wasn’t bad. Walter wasn’t a gunslinger and I thought it was neat. It would have been more out of character if he tried to be Rambo
Sopranos
Magnum PI (first finale, 2nd was GTG)
Dexter
Americans
Jericho
Deadwood
Sons Of Anarchy
Shield
I didn’t think the end of The Shield was that bad. I actually thought at the time they were leaving it open to a spin-off. Which obviously they didn’t.
FYI apparently Michael Chiklis has a new show coming on Paramount where he’s a Border Patrol agent.
I didn’t think the end of The Shield was that bad. I actually thought at the time they were leaving it open to a spin-off. Which obviously they didn’t.
FYI apparently Michael Chiklis has a new show coming on Paramount where he’s a Border Patrol agent.
At the time it aired, I had mixed feelings about the Shield finale. However I basically view it as Vick being trapped in a personal hell of his own creation - Desk job, family he'll never see, friends dead or in jail because he threw them under the bus, loathed by his former colleagues who once idolized him....
Actually that didn’t bother me. He used his one wish to help his friend keep his wife whom he sacrificed and stayed captured to save Sam’s brother. It was a brilliant call back most people missed.
It was next level Doc and Marty type stuff.
JAG pissed me off with the coin toss.
Maybe.... I was 14 when it ended so I certainly could have missed the subtlety.
Anyone watch Reaper? Or some show where everone in the world blacked out at once? Season ended with everything shutting down since another event was coming.
Saw season videos of both when deployed and never saw either ending.
sundance435
05-10-19, 09:35
I watched BB after years of not doing so and the M60 deal wasn’t bad. Walter wasn’t a gunslinger and I thought it was neat. It would have been more out of character if he tried to be Rambo
Yeah, I thought Breaking Bad had one of the better series finales. The M60 was a deep callback to a previous season where Walt buys an M60 and seemingly forgets about it. Fits in with his "man with the plan" persona.
At the time it aired, I had mixed feelings about the Shield finale. However I basically view it as Vick being trapped in a personal hell of his own creation - Desk job, family he'll never see, friends dead or in jail because he threw them under the bus, loathed by his former colleagues who once idolized him....
That's where I'm at with it. He got what he wanted, but it turns out to be a living nightmare. Perfect ending for that character. No blaze of glory, no perp walk, etc.
No love for Magnum, P.I.?
Died the end of one season and brought back the following season to rejoin the Navy.
Diamondback
05-10-19, 11:56
I watched BB after years of not doing so and the M60 deal wasn’t bad. Walter wasn’t a gunslinger and I thought it was neat. It would have been more out of character if he tried to be Rambo
And as a bonus, the Mythbusters tested it and confirmed it COULD work, and woulda had about the same effect as shown on screen. :)
I agree with many that have been said, but the ending that pissed me off the most was Dexter.
I really enjoyed the HBO series The Leftovers, but was hoping for a little more with the ending. But i guess it was somewhat fitting.
sundance435
05-13-19, 10:29
I really enjoyed the HBO series The Leftovers, but was hoping for a little more with the ending. But i guess it was somewhat fitting.
I loved that show. The ending was kind of "WTF?", but it fit with the overall vibe of it.
Sons of Anarchy (AKA the All About Gemma Show) ended poorly too in my opinion, but that show was on a severe downward spiral from about season 5 on I think, so I was basically hate-watching it anyway.
I mean, during Jax's death ride even the CGI crows were bad, and that forced Jax-as-Christ imagery..come on! And there just happens to be bread on the side of the highway? What?
"But muh symbolism!"
Although the fact it was probably Vic Mackey from The Shield who ended up (inadvertently) killing the protagonist was amusing.
I quit SoA about midway through the first season when they had a shoot out with a rival gang that would have made the A-Team proud. There were about a dozen guys on both sides, standing behind their bikes, and shooting whole magazines at each other. Not a scratch on anybody. I turned it off, and never watched another episode.
As far as being disappointed with how a series ended, for me it was Sherlock. The whole thing with his sister being some kind of criminal mastermind and national threat that had to be secretly locked away was ludicrous.
Doc Safari
05-13-19, 11:50
I quit SoA about midway through the first season when they had a shoot out with a rival gang that would have made the A-Team proud.
The A-Team's poor accuracy was perfectly understandable. They were using Mini-14's after all. I always thought not being able to hit a damn thing was part of the show. It's certainly part of the Mini-14's specs.
Yeah, I thought Breaking Bad had one of the better series finales. The M60 was a deep callback to a previous season where Walt buys an M60 and seemingly forgets about it. Fits in with his "man with the plan" persona.
No, he got it in the final season-
>>>>>SPOILER for anyone who hasn't ever watched the show>>>>>>
After things go to shit with his business and Frank gets killed in the previous season, He flees to a hideaway in the mountain with his last barrel of cash, an his cancer is back so he's alone in the cabin with his cancer meds and he's pissed and depressed.
Anyway, something happens and he's like "F this" and goes back to town to make everybody pay.
He buys the M60 on the black market (although this happens as a flash-forward at the beginning of the season) coerces his rich ex-friends to hold the money in trust for his son, then links up with the guys that have Jessie and does the ambush with the machine gun.
I thought it was a decent end to the show (even though I too found the "gun-in-a-box" thing a bit odd), as it was, in a way a call-back to the first season- he returns to his original motivations to get "payback for the little guy" .
sundance435
05-13-19, 14:44
No, he got it in the final season-
>>>>>SPOILER for anyone who hasn't ever watched the show>>>>>>
After things go to shit with his business and Frank gets killed in the previous season, He flees to a hideaway in the mountain with his last barrel of cash, an his cancer is back so he's alone in the cabin with his cancer meds and he's pissed and depressed.
Anyway, something happens and he's like "F this" and goes back to town to make everybody pay.
He buys the M60 on the black market (although this happens as a flash-forward at the beginning of the season) coerces his rich ex-friends to hold the money in trust for his son, then links up with the guys that have Jessie and does the ambush with the machine gun.
I thought it was a decent end to the show (even though I too found the "gun-in-a-box" thing a bit odd), as it was, in a way a call-back to the first season- he returns to his original motivations to get "payback for the little guy" .
Yep, you're right, it was episode 1 of the last season. I thought it was earlier than that.
The A-Team's poor accuracy was perfectly understandable. They were using Mini-14's after all. I always thought not being able to hit a damn thing was part of the show. It's certainly part of the Mini-14's specs.
Think that was one of the things about that show. No matter how big the explosion or how bad the crash was... you always saw them limping away. For all the action the body count was relatively low.
Diamondback
05-13-19, 18:37
Think that was one of the things about that show. No matter how big the explosion or how bad the crash was... you always saw them limping away. For all the action the body count was relatively low.
Then again, The A-Team WAS basically a live-action cartoon for children... as cheesy and stupid as it was, I still smile when I pull out one of the DVD's because it was part of my childhood, and it reminds me of simpler, better times.
Ooops posted movie rant in wrong place!
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