Best Series Finales Ever: and those that were horribly unsatisfactory

[Bob_McMillan]

All my entries for Best have been mentioned already so Imma go straight to worst.

Voltron: Legendary Defender - This genuinely could have been the next Avatar. But no, they had to just fuck everything up. I have yet to bother watching the final seasons, and I don't think I ever will. What a waste.

How I Met Your Mother - I'm not even a fan, I've just seen a few episodes here and there from when family or friends would watch. But when I just HEARD about the ending, I was genuinely shocked. How could you possibly screw things up that badly? I mean, it doesn't even live up to the title of the show.

 

[Hawki]

All my entries for Best have been mentioned already so Imma go straight to worst.

Voltron: Legendary Defender - This genuinely could have been the next Avatar. But no, they had to just fuck everything up. I have yet to bother watching the final seasons, and I don't think I ever will. What a waste.

Wait, if you never watched the final seasons, how did you watch the finale?

 

[Bob_McMillan]

Wait, if you never watched the final seasons, how did you watch the finale?

The usual way, a few clips of the final seasons were suggested to me on YouTube, which lead me down a rabbit hole of summaries, video essays, analyses, and reading the wiki. Even ended up consulting my younger sister who had finished the series. Perhaps not the fairest way to judge things, but after learning what they did to Shiro there's no fucking way I'm wasting my time.

 

[laggyteabag]

For me, it has got to be Game of Thrones. I know that the show's hate is rather tired now, but this one really sucks. I don't necessarily think that the last episode is particularly bad by itself, but the last season as a whole is dreadful.

I think as soon as we were two episodes into the final season, and nothing had actually happened, was what tipped me off to this being a train wreck waiting to happen. Game of Thrones was slow show - not because nothing happened - but because the show liked to build up to, and space out, the big moments - yet we now had 4 episodes to conclude the White Walker conflict, as well as Cersei and Kings Landing, and also wrap up the stories of all of the other major characters. There just wasn't enough time to do all of this. People were teleporting from one side of the continent to the other, in seemingly no time at all, characters became idiots, or acted out of character, and everything was just rushed or skipped completely, just to get so much done, in so little time.

Honestly, it is so bad for me, that 7 seasons of the show that I enjoyed very much, are now completely worthless to rewatch, because I know that all of the intrigue and suspense goes nowhere.

Otherwise, im seeing a lot of comments putting The Legend of Korra in the worst finale category, and that actually quite surprises me.

I understand that Korra isn't a well-liked show for a lot of people, but I always quite enjoyed the finale. At the very least, I thought it was fine, but nowhere near bad.

And yes, I understand that I have a Korra avatar, but my thoughts on the show have matured since it became my avatar on the old sitee. I am aware of its flaws, and despite still really liking the show, I am nowhere near the Korra fanboy I used to be. At this point, im just worried that changing my avatar will reduce whatever recognition I actually have in these forums.

 

[gorfias]

Just adding a few:
Good
Babylon 5. Touched on everyone important. Rounded everything up. Showed where everyone was going in the future.

Scrubs (not Scrubs 2.0) Similar to B5

Ok
DS9. They did Dumar right, something similar should have happened to Gul Dukat. Making him the rando big bad was... bad

Eureka. They went off the rails in the last season. Nicely wound up but couldn't care for the entire season

Stargate SG1. If this ended in season 8 or oven 7, it would have been good. As it stands its okay

I cannot remember the ending of Community. I can remember part of the last season but not the ending. Thats the only reason it goes here.

Bad
Atlantis and Voyager. Rando way to get home that was sort of seeded but not really built up? Yeah no thanks

Also no to Seinfeld

Still blows me away:

Spoiler

 

[BrawlMan]

Voltron: Legendary Defender - This genuinely could have been the next Avatar.

That's impossible expectation to meet. That's your mistake right there. I get where you're coming from, but I already knew Voltron would never reach that height. Legend of Korra did not even come close of reaching it, so Voltron was never going to reach it as well. Avatar was a cultural phenomenon and lightning in a bottle. I know most fans hate Seasons 6 & 8 and like to pretend they don't exists. There are a set of fans that only consider the first two seasons canon, because the writers admitted that only the 3rd season happened due to executive meddling and that they were writing by the seat of their pants.

 

[Hawki]

Otherwise, im seeing a lot of comments putting The Legend of Korra in the worst finale category, and that actually quite surprises me.

I understand that Korra isn't a well-liked show for a lot of people, but I always quite enjoyed the finale. At the very least, I thought it was fine, but nowhere near bad.

For me, it's not so much the finale, just that the last 5-10 minutes are insanely rushed.

Certainly seasons 3 and 4 elevated LoK in my eyes, but judging the finale in of itself, then yes, it's an issue for me.

 

[BrawlMan]

Otherwise, im seeing a lot of comments putting The Legend of Korra in the worst finale category, and that actually quite surprises me.

I understand that Korra isn't a well-liked show for a lot of people, but I always quite enjoyed the finale. At the very least, I thought it was fine, but nowhere near bad.

And yes, I understand that I have a Korra avatar, but my thoughts on the show have matured since it became my avatar on the old sitee. I am aware of its flaws, and despite still really liking the show, I am nowhere near the Korra fanboy I used to be. At this point, im just worried that changing my avatar will reduce whatever recognition I actually have in these forums.

It's not only that, but the writing is really bad in the seasons 1 and 2. Sure, it improves, but there are still a multitude of problems. Certain characters from the original series suffering from character derailment (Toph and Aang), really bad and time wasting "romance" of day time soap operas, useless side characters that amount to being either annoying, boring, or wasted potential. I hate the Spirits for being karma houdinis you fucking cowards. I hate Suyin Beifong even more. Kai was a waste of everyon's time, because he barely shows up in Season 4, though I am grateful, because I despise the brat who got way more screen time than he should. Prince Wu was annoying from the beginning and they forced a character to be "funny" when I was not that inthralled with to begin with. They are just a metric ton of issues, problems, and egregious retcons. All I have ranted about back in the V1 Thread. Not going through that again. While I don't hate LoK as much as use to, I see little to no reason to return, because it's going to open a lot of old wounds for me again.

 

[happyninja42]

Best:

Babylon 5. While a bit lumpy due to some executive meddling in seasons 4/5, the final episode resolved everything well. It wrapped up the bits that needed wrapping up, put a bow on the story that was being told, and was an excellent ending point.

Avatar: TLAB - Don't really need to elaborate, if you've seen it, you know why.

Decent/Meh:

Jeremiah. Another project of JMS after B5, it tells the tale of a post apocalypse, where a global plague wipes out everyone who is an "adult" (basically having completed puberty). A really good show in my opinion, with some really solid acting by Luke Perry, and Malcolm Jamal Warner. Along with a really awesome cast of supporting characters. But yeah, the ending felt rushed, as the show got canceled if I recall. But they wrapped up the bits relatively well as I remember.

Legend of Korra. I actually don't really have much of an issue with the ending of Korra, since that's specifically the subject of the thread. I think the show itself is REALLY bad overall. But, the resolution is....eh? I mean it's ok I guess? I don't recall being genuinely angry at the finale like I was with a multitude of episodes throughout the show, it was forgettable, as I'm sitting here unable to remember any details other than the last shot before credits, of Korra and....the other woman...damn can't remember her name, holding hands. Beyond that, it's been left on the refuse pile of memories, along with most of the show.

Bad:

Hmm, I'm honestly having trouble with this one, because I haven't really watched many shows in a long time.

I guess Game of Thrones, as it really did just completely fall all over itself in the resolution of the plot elements, without any of it being satisfying.

I really just don't bother remembering stuff like this as I get older. I just find it not really worth my time. Bad TV happens, more often than not to be honest. So the fact that some show didn't stick the final landing is...to be expected I guess? So I just shrug, and move on with life.

 

[BrawlMan]

Legend of Korra. I actually don't really have much of an issue with the ending of Korra, since that's specifically the subject of the thread. I think the show itself is REALLY bad overall. But, the resolution is....eh? I mean it's ok I guess? I don't recall being genuinely angry at the finale like I was with a multitude of episodes throughout the show, it was forgettable, as I'm sitting here unable to remember any details other than the last shot before credits, of Korra and....the other woman...damn can't remember her name, holding hands. Beyond that, it's been left on the refuse pile of memories, along with most of the show.

Korra ends up hooking with Asami. Which was definitely an ass pull. And I hate to use the term, but it was basically there earned diversity points and a pat on the back without doing much. What does not help is that there are other shows that superseded LoK in this department , when it comes to characters that are lesbian or gay. And the craziest thing is that it did not take long for this to happen.

 

[Samtemdo8]

The Worst/Bad

• 
  
• Death Note

Is it partly because you kinda wanted Light to "win"?

 

[BrawlMan]

Is it partly because you kinda wanted Light to "win"?

It's less that and more so how he lost that aggravates me. Is that he lost in a really dumb manner and the story pretty much had to turn him into a complete idiot. The fact that the author replaced L with a character that's almost exactly like him, but super less interesting made his death really pointless.

 

[happyninja42]

Korra ends up hooking with Asami. Which was definitely an ass pull. And I hate to use the term, but it was basically there earned diversity points and a pat on the back without doing much. What does not help is that there are other shows that superseded LoK in this department , when it comes to characters that are lesbian or gay. And the craziest thing is that it did not take long for this to happen.

Asami! Yes that's her name, thank you. Was drawing a blank on it. And yes I'm aware they hook up with each other, I'm just saying I didn't really find the ending to that show "bad". To me at least, it was just a resolution to an already bad show. The post credit "yes they're romantically involved" , (I refuse to say they are gay since they both dated and were attracted to a guy, so to me they're bi, and there is a lot of bi-erasure in media), was a bit eye rolling in how cowardly it was. But, to be fair, they are under a lot of regulations from the producers, and it might not have been possible for them to directly imply it in the show. Like I recall them specifically talking about the ambiguity for Jet's death/not death in the commentaries, because Nickelodeon prohibited them from having actual death on the show. So his end was vague (and lampshaded in the episode with the fire nation play). And it was also why they came up with Energy Bending in the finale (again mentioned in their commentaries). Because again, "how are you going to beat the Fire Lord if you refuse to kill him?" And Nick was like "kid's show, nobody dies" So it wouldn't surprise me if they were also told "Kid's show, no-homo" as well, but wanted to hold off until literally the last frame, in a tiny bit of defiance. *shrugs*

Which again, doesn't really bother me? So as a "bad" ending, it doesn't really rate for me. It was just sort of a lame ending that sort of crawled across the finish line. For me, it's like footage of various long distance runners, that end up shitting themselves, and still running, and then drag themselves across the finish line. To me, the fact that the whole thing before is covered in feces is more of an issue than "they didn't finish strong."

 

[BrawlMan]

. But, to be fair, they are under a lot of regulations from the producers, and it might not have been possible for them to directly imply it in the show. Like I recall them specifically talking about the ambiguity for Jet's death/not death in the commentaries, because Nickelodeon prohibited them from having actual death on the show. So his end was vague (and lampshaded in the episode with the fire nation play). And it was also why they came up with Energy Bending in the finale (again mentioned in their commentaries). Because again, "how are you going to beat the Fire Lord if you refuse to kill him?" And Nick was like "kid's show, nobody dies" So it wouldn't surprise me if they were also told "Kid's show, no-homo" as well, but wanted to hold off until literally the last frame, in a tiny bit of defiance. *shrugs*

Which makes it all the worst in hindsight, because you had Cartoon Network with Steven Universe and its obvious lesbian undertones and were mostly obvious about it. A year or two later, you have a gay men married couple portrayed positively (with a kid) and no negatives stereotypes in Loud House. Showing how full of shit the execs are about offending a bunch of conservatives that don't even watch this shit. As far as Asami and Korra go, it's not the worst thing, but it is a pat-on-the-back asspull. A symptom of the some the worst problems with LoK when it came to the lame soap opera romance that got in the way of the story and plot. Mainly S1 and S2. Not so much S3 & S4.

 

[happyninja42]

Which makes it all the worst in hindsight, because you had Cartoon Network with Steven Universe and its obvious lesbian undertones and were mostly obvious about it. And then a year or two later, you have a gay men married couple portrayed positively (with a kid) and no negatives stereotypes in Loud House. Showing how full shit the execs are about offending a bunch of conservatives that don't even watch this shit. As far as Asami and Korra go, it's not the worst thing, but it is a pat-on-the-back asspull. A symptom of the some the worst problems with LoK when it came to the lame soap opera romance that got in the way of the story and plot. Mainly S1 and S2. Not so much S3 & S4.

I agree, it's not a great example of LGBTQ representation, not by a long shot. But the choice wasn't likely up to them, so I can at least appreciate them trying within the confines of the contract. And plenty of people DID take a positive reaction to it, so I can't say it's a bad thing. It could've been better, but it still was a good thing, if incredibly limited. If it helped even one kid feel more secure in their own identity and sexuality, then I'm fine with it. Honestly I'm fine with it even if nobody had a life change from it, as I personally find it fairly benign of an aspect of the finale. But for a lot of people it really mattered, both positively and negatively. And since people did have a positive reaction to it, my overall thoughts are just "*shrug* eh, it's fine, glad someone felt validated by it or whatever" For me, the ending is forgettable, in that I truly can't recall any details of it, other than that final shot. So it wasn't bad or good for me personally, it was just an ending to a series, hence the "Meh/Mediocre" category on my list.

 

[BrawlMan]

I agree, it's not a great example of LGBTQ representation, not by a long shot. But the choice wasn't likely up to them, so I can at least appreciate them trying within the confines of the contract.

Even if they were obvious, spelling it out and were allowed to in the contract, it's still an ass pull from a writing and character perspective. That is where my problem lies. If those goals were met, they still would have been surpassed.

And plenty of people DID take a positive reaction to it, so I can't say it's a bad thing. It could've been better, but it still was a good thing, if incredibly limited. If it helped even one kid feel more secure in their own identity and sexuality, then I'm fine with it. Honestly I'm fine with it even if nobody had a life change from it, as I personally find it fairly benign of an aspect of the finale. But for a lot of people it really mattered, both positively and negatively.

I am glad it did help people, but I do show concern that they might learn that it came somewhat from a dishonest place. That should not change how those were affected by KorraSami, nor invalidate who they are or help them discover who they are. I just dislike movements done with dishonesty or not for the right reason.

So it wasn't bad or good for me personally, it was just an ending to a series, hence the "Meh/Mediocre" category on my list.

I understand. I don't hate season 4 as much as 1 and 2, but there are myriad of problems with it for me. As said before, it mainly boils down to useless or annoying side characters and the handling of certain other characters. I've been down that road already so I won't go through those rants again.

 

[Trunkage]

Thought of Continuum. I’m going to put it at good. The protagonist has such an ending, and it was clearly outlined before the show even started. Except you have to trawl through the last season which clearly doesn’t really match the ending and seems to be filler until the real ending started

 

[stroopwafel]

The Americans had a great ending. Imo it had the best last episode of any TV show ever. They could have continued the storyline but they neatly concluded it with the real world events of 1989. It also ended bittersweet for the characters on a personal level.

A lot of people would mention Breaking Bad but I disliked that entire last season. Without the cat & mouse game between Walt and Gus the entire show just ran completely out of steam. The entire season just felt redundant and dragged the entire series down.

 

[Hawki]

Thought of Continuum. I’m going to put it at good. The protagonist has such an ending, and it was clearly outlined before the show even started. Except you have to trawl through the last season which clearly doesn’t really match the ending and seems to be filler until the real ending started

Um, really?

I've no doubt that Continuum had some element of a plan, but it was an increasingly convoluted one. I mean, any time travel story usually is, but the problem is that we kept getting more and more 'stuff' added, so that come season 4, where everything has to be wrapped up over a reduced episode count, it feels like a sudden stop. This being a show where it was originally planned to be 7-10 seasons. I'm not sure where you can point out the beginning of the 'real ending,' because the invaders (did they even have a name?) are defeated, and Kiera heads back to 2077 in the same episode.

I'll grant that the ending is certainly bittersweet for Kiera, but hardly a best or a worst of all time. That Kiera was prevented from ever going back to 'her' 2077 was foreshadowed pretty early on, so as bittersweet as her seeing her alternate self with her alternate son is, it's hardly a revelation.

 

[Breakdown]

Banshee was interesting in that the final season was the weakest, but it did give all of the characters the endings they deserved, so in that respect it did feel like a strong finale.