TV

5 Grand Finales That Were Final Nails in Their Shows’ Coffins

5 Grand Finales That Were Final Nails in Their Shows’ Coffins
Image credit: HBO/BBC America, NBC, Showtime, CBS

After several seasons of build-up, the disappointing endings can make you wonder what the point was of spending time with these shows in the first place.

A well-written conclusion to a long TV series can elevate the project to new heights, making the journey even more meaningful than it initially seemed and resolving all (or at least most) of the lingering plot threads.

Unfortunately, a hacky finale can have the exact opposite effect, undermining the entire story you've been watching over the course of several seasons and making you feel like you've spent all that time for literally nothing, which only adds to the disappointment.

So let's take a look at five TV show finales that made watching them practically pointless.

Game of Thrones

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The rise and fall of HBO's legendary TV series is as epic as its fantasy story, as what was hailed as one of the greatest shows of all time ended in a terrible mess that left fans outraged.

While some fans believe the series has been on a slow decline since around season 5, when the show ran out of source material and the writers took the story in their own direction, season 8 was a complete disaster.

Not only did the writers try to squeeze in drastic character developments in only six episodes, but those developments came out of nowhere, were completely unconvincing, and destroyed many of the character arcs.

How I Met Your Mother

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After nine seasons of development, it was suddenly revealed that the titular mother, who only entered the scene in season 8, had actually died six years before Ted told the story to their children, which was an absolutely baffling turn of events that went against the very title of the show.

In addition, several story arcs that took several seasons to develop were simply thrown out the window, such as Barney and Robin's marriage, which only further infuriated fans.

Dexter

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Although the show about the fan-favorite serial killer was well past its prime by the time season 8 rolled around, few could have predicted how devastating and insane the finale would be.

After Dexter's sister falls into a coma, he kidnaps her from the hospital, throws her into a hurricane, and then leaves his son in the care of another serial killer... to become a lumberjack.

The 2021 Dexter: New Blood did little to clean up the mess, ending the character for good in an equally disappointing manner.

Seinfeld

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Not only did the main characters end up in prison for the stupidest reason ever, but the whole story felt completely forced, the characters acted inconsistently, and it felt more like a clip show, with the funniest parts taken from previous episodes of the series.

Killing Eve

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After three great seasons, the show's final season 4 felt like an outright insult to the fans.

The decline was obvious throughout the entire run, and the final episode, which featured an absolutely unnecessary and undeserved death of one of the main characters, was the final nail in the coffin of a once great TV show.