I know it’s been several months since the finale aired, but I still am not fully recovered from Game of Thrones. If the mental health community hasn’t yet identified a strain of PTSD strictly related to horrible series finales, it’s about time they do. Yes, this is the definition of a #FirstWorldProblem, but there is really nothing worse than investing years of your life watching a series, investing time and energy into the character’s and their development, only for it all to crash and burn at the end. Game of Thrones is just the most recent of a long, unfortunate list of TV series that started out extremely promising, but couldn’t stick the landing and ruined the show’s legacy with a crappy finale. That said, luckily not every brilliant series goes the Game of Thrones route, and there are plenty of notable shows that were able to offer fans a satisfying ending to their character’s journeys.
On that note, here are the 5 best series finales in TV history, along with the 5 worst.
Best Of:
- Breaking Bad. Someone should make a case study on this finale about how to properly close out every character’s arc in a way that aligns with their development throughout the series (and force the Game of Thrones writers to read it daily).
- Parks and Recreation. A poignant farewell to one of the best sitcoms in TV history.
- Rachel got off the plane, and all was well.
- The Office. Will this show should have ended when Michael left, the finale made up for NBC dragging it out for a few more seasons than necessary. Michael’s final, perfectly timed “that’s what she said” joke is an iconic TV moment.
- Six Feet Under. This show was always about facing our own mortality, and the near-perfect finale faced the great beyond head-on in its excruciatingly beautiful last sequence, which flashed forward to the deaths of all the main characters – predictable, tragic or absurd.
Worst of:
- Game of Thrones. Self-explanatory. #JusticeForKhaleesi
- Seriously? He becomes a lumberjack? Leaves his son with a murderer? Just do yourself a favor and pretend Dexter ended after season 4.
- How I Met Your Mother. The show about how Ted met the kid’s mother is actually not about how he met their mother.
- So many storylines that went nowhere, so little time.
- Gossip Girl. The big, stupid, desperate reveal that Dan is Gossip Girl leaves more plot holes than it closes. We’re supposed to believe ‘Lonely Boy’ signs off with “You know you love me XOXO Gossip Girl?”
