All that time invested for nothing.
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00Investing time into a TV series is a major, major commitment, especially if you're going into a show that has several long seasons to its name,
00:08which is why endings are so important.
00:10I mean, who wants to watch 100 hours of action only to be let down at the last hurdle,
00:14often by writers who've lost control of their story?
00:18Well, nobody, but sometimes bad endings actually get worse the more you think about them,
00:24as you slowly realize implications that passed you by in the moment.
00:28So, with that in mind, I'm Josh from WhatCulture.com, and these are 8 TV show endings that get worse the more you think about them.
00:358. Teen Wolf – The Wolves of War
00:37Teen Wolf will probably never be mistaken for a great show, but it did make the most of its absurd supernatural drama to popular effect,
00:45with each season forming an epic mystery complete with well-paced reveals, violent twists, and effective red herrings.
00:52It was a massive shame then when the final season, and specifically the final episode, failed to capitalise on that potential.
00:59Titled The Wolves of War, the finale finds the McCall pack heavily outnumbered as they attempt to take down Gerard Argent and his supernatural-hating army,
01:08plus the rogue creature spreading fear through town.
01:11From a premise standpoint, it couldn't be more quintessentially Teen Wolf,
01:15but it ruins everything by trying too hard to do something different and epic,
01:19ending on an ambiguous note that implies the pack are now caught in the midst of a worldwide war between the supernatural and everyone else.
01:27It's a fairly unhappy ending at its core, made all the more frustrating by various character moments being wasted.
01:34Worst of all, after six seasons of waiting for Stiles and Lydia to end up together,
01:38we don't even get one glimpse of them as a couple once they do, which is a total, total waste.
01:44Number 7. 13 Reasons Why, Graduation
01:4713 Reasons Why spent its four-season run as the most controversial show on TV,
01:52and its finale did very little to fix the horrifying drama before it.
01:56Graduation follows Clay and his embattled classmates as they finally leave high school,
02:01which should have finally put the group's trauma to an uplifting end.
02:05But unable to shed its controversial image, the finale instead leans into its implausible melodrama,
02:10killing off fan-favourite Justin, just as he beat his addiction and found peace as the adopted brother of Clay.
02:17His death causes everyone to leave school heartbroken, wasting years of build-up to a happily ever after.
02:23Justin's literal character assassination is both left-field and horrible,
02:28ruining four seasons of development in a last-ditch effort to break audiences' hearts.
02:32Worse still, his cruel demise is coupled with Jessica forgiving murdered bully and rapist Bryce for his past deeds,
02:39and even thanking him for allowing her to grow.
02:42Killing Justin and having Bryce go from unforgivable villain to misunderstood victim
02:46betrays the entire spirit of 13 Reasons Why's tale of hope, accountability, and growth,
02:51and hammers home just how terrible a show it really was.
02:54Number 6. St. Elsewhere, The Last One
02:57St. Elsewhere did two major things no other show achieved.
03:00It changed the face of television forever with its twisting serialized storylines,
03:04and it ended with such a colossal WTF thud that everything beforehand was completely overshadowed.
03:11With a strong ensemble cast, including a young Denzel Washington,
03:14St. Elsewhere took place in a struggling Boston hospital,
03:17and thrived as a gritty, tragic, and realistic medical drama.
03:21Dark and thrilling, the show could have ended its run as an all-timer,
03:24but at the very last second went one step too far, revealing, and brace yourself for this,
03:30that the entire series took place inside a snow globe dreamt up by a child.
03:35It's a ridiculous twist that makes everything before incredibly problematic.
03:40I mean, are we really supposed to accept that this child imagined so many harrowing incidents,
03:45including episodes about addiction, AIDS, suicide, and terrorism?
03:49It's unsavoury to say the least, and makes everything that came before feel incredibly icky on re-watchers.
03:55Number 5. Castle Crossfire
03:57During its run, Castle was a surprisingly fun rom-com mixed with a bracing procedural drama,
04:02always exciting despite its predictability.
04:05In Castle, the basic theme was that good would triumph,
04:08and that Castle and Beckett would eventually live happily ever after.
04:11With the finale though, this wholesome, almost comforting edge was stripped away.
04:15Torturing and seemingly killing Castle and Beckett in one last stand against overarching villain Loxet,
04:21Crossfire ends with a jarring epilogue that finds the couple alive and well, eating breakfast with their kids.
04:27So the question is, is it heaven? Is it a dream shared by the two dying lovers?
04:31Or is it a lazy, happy ending squeezed in by the writers, unsure that they'd get another season?
04:37The sheer ambiguity is unlike anything the show had tried before,
04:40and the more you think about it, the more you realise that nothing could possibly make it feel right.
04:45If they're dead, it's far too unhappy, and if they survived, it's just cheap, rushed emotional manipulation.
04:51Put simply, Castle and Beckett deserved better.
04:53Number 4. Buffy the Vampire Slayer Chosen
04:56Unlike other finales on this list, Buffy the Vampire Slayer is actually fairly awesome.
05:01Still, Chosen's flaws, easy to miss or overlooked as they may be,
05:05do make it far from the flawless vision that it could have been.
05:08For one thing, there's a massive villain problem.
05:10The Turrican, previously portrayed as indestructible vampire killing machines,
05:14become nothing more than mindless, easy to dispose of goons in the final fight,
05:18wasting half a season of intense threats.
05:21Also, the first evil, the last season's unseen big bad, can't die,
05:26and so when reformed vampire Spike gives his life to destroy Sunnydale,
05:30the first hasn't actually been defeated, because such a thing is impossible.
05:35So is Buffy's victory really a victory, or is the first destined to come back and finish the job?
05:41Also, the biggest moment of the finale, Spike's aforementioned inspirational sacrifice,
05:45was kinda nullified by the fact that producers had already let it slip
05:49that he'd be appearing in the next season of Angel, fully resurrected.
05:52It makes for an awesome moment, sure, but it doesn't quite pack the punch it's aiming for,
05:56considering it gets reversed almost instantly.
06:01In the world of sitcoms, Friends is at the pinnacle of popularity,
06:04and its extended season 10 finale, The Last One, is often regarded as a brilliant send-off for the gang,
06:10all of whom are given the chance to move on to the next chapter of their lives.
06:14But it's not as sweet as it may appear.
06:16In the closing moments of the show, Rachel famously gets off that plane,
06:20taking her to her new life in Paris, and instead races to be with Ross.
06:24It's played as romantic and perfect, and it's easy to get swept up in the moment,
06:27but it's also hard to shake the fact that she's just given up the life
06:31that the rest of the season has been building up to,
06:33to be with a man who's never really taken her career seriously.
06:37It's honestly kinda disheartening that Rachel seemingly gives up the next chapter of her career for Ross,
06:43and their reunion is kinda hard to buy,
06:45especially when you really think about how poorly they always were as a couple
06:48throughout 10 seasons of turbulent will-they-won't-they drama.
06:52Now, this might sound harsh, but watching the finale and its kinda manipulative twist
06:56serves as a reminder of how badly written Friends' biggest romance really was.
07:01I'm sorry, part of me does love Ross and Rachel, but, you know, rewatching it, it's kinda-
07:05they're just not great for each other. I'm sorry.
07:10Game of Thrones suffered through its final season,
07:12losing sight of its tightly plotted execution, countless characters, and numerous conflicts,
07:17and it dropped the ball to an almost unforgivable degree with its closing hour.
07:21There are truly too many mistakes to list off here,
07:24but the most egregious, from Dany's assassination, Bram becoming king, and Jon returning to the Wall,
07:29are all brought to life in the most unwanted ways imaginable.
07:32Wasting years of development, The Iron Throne forces fans to accept Dany's madness,
07:37with media scenes of build-up that feel completely off-base with the rest of the series,
07:41and fail to take into account her relationship with Jon, or her previous portrayal as a just and liberating leader.
07:48On top of that, there's also the loose ends the episode leaves hanging.
07:51The most confusing of which is surely Dany's dragon, Drogon,
07:54flying off into the night, never to be seen or mentioned again.
07:58I mean, are we really supposed to accept the fact that Drogon just escapes death
08:01without being hunted down or wreaking havoc across Westeros,
08:05or that Tyrion can create a new government whilst a prisoner of war?
08:09So many of the twists were implemented simply to subvert expectations,
08:13but subverting expectations also means ignoring so much of what was set up previously,
08:19and kind of nullifies the enjoyment of watching that journey.
08:25Honestly, criticising How I Met Your Mother's controversial farewell is kind of like beating a dead horse at this point,
08:31but still, come on, how in the world can one finale mess up in so many different ways?
08:36In a series of increasingly shocking reveals, Last Forever announces that the eponymous mother is dead,
08:42and that Ted is actually telling this long story so he can get his kids' permission to ask Robin out again,
08:48now that he's done grieving.
08:50The last second twist almost single-handedly destroys nine seasons worth of character development and emotional investment,
08:57from fans eagerly awaiting for Ted and Tracy to settle down and live happily ever after.
09:02It also kind of makes Ted look like a monster, manipulating his kids to grovel for his ex yet again,
09:07just to get their permission to run off.
09:09There are other issues here, of course.
09:11I mean, spending a whole season waiting for Barney and Robin to get married just to have them divorce at the last hurdle
09:16is a major time waster, but nothing will ever sting more than Ted treating his true love like a footnote in her own story.
09:23For shame, Mosby. For shame.
09:26So that's our list. I want to know what you guys think down in the comments below.
09:28What did you think about these TV finales, and did they get worse for you as well the more you lingered on their implications?
09:34While you're down there as well, could you please give us a like, share, subscribe, and head over to WhatCulture.com
09:38for more lists and news like this every single day.
09:40Even if you don't, though, I've been Josh. Thanks so much for watching, and I'll see you soon.