The 10 Worst TV Series Endings Of All Time, According To Our Readers

I'm the first to admit that when I get into a show, I binge-watch it for hours. It’s like I have to know how it ends before I can move on with my life. Most TV series go on for multiple seasons, so you’d expect the ending to be something epic or fulfilling. But not every TV series ends how you’d hope. Here are the 10 worst TV series endings of all time, according to our very own readers. If you keep reading, beware that this article contains major spoilers!

1. Game of Thrones

This was, by far, the most common answer. The series came out in 2011, and had eight seasons, ending in 2019. Throughout each season, several main characters died, and the plot of the last season was met with harsh criticism. 

The show takes place on an island named Westeros. There are nine noble families who fight for control of the Island of the Seven Kingdoms and the Iron Throne. But an ancient enemy arises from thousands of years ago, and their mission is to kill the humans. 

In the final season, Jon Snow, Daenerys Targaryen and other main characters meet at Winterfell, where they battle the Dead. Arya destroys the Night King, and the White Walkers are defeated. Cersei Lannister stays in King’s Landing and sets a trap for Daenerys, who claims she is the rightful ruler of Westeros. Then, Daenerys assaults King’s Landing, defeating Cersei and her brother Jaime. Jon ends up killing Daenerys because she has gone insane, and her dragon Drogon flies away with her body and destroys the Iron Throne. Bran Stark is chosen as king of the Seven Kingdoms, and Sansa Stark is made Queen in the North. Arya sails west, and Jon leads the Wildings to the north of the Wall. 

People were in disbelief that so many main characters survived the practically apocalyptic battles in the last season (especially after the show set a precedent of killing off main characters). Viewers were also upset that Bran was named king because it hadn’t been set up at all, so it felt random and unbelievable. It felt like the writers prioritized a surprise ending over solid storytelling. 

2. Lost

Lost was definitely in the running for worst endings. The suspenseful TV series which went from 2004 to 2010, is about a group of people who survive a plane crash that lands on a remote island in the Pacific. The passengers discover many mysterious things as they try to survive on the island. They find a small population referred to as “the Others” and bunkers from scientific researchers who seemed to have recently occupied the island. Every episode left viewers with a cliffhanger. After six seasons, the finale came as a disappointment to many.

In the final episode, it is revealed that they are actually dead in what is called the “flashsideways,” which seems to be an alternate timeline in season six, where the survivors can move together to whatever is next. Yahoo describes the flashsideways scenes as “an afterlife that the characters constructed for themselves due to the fact that their time on the island – which was completely real from start to end – was the most important part of their respective lives.” Fans weren’t thrilled to find out that the passengers were actually dead after Juliet (Elizabeth Mitchell) detonated a hydrogen bomb back in the 1970s at the very end of season five.

3. How I Met Your Mother

The nine season TV series, How I Met Your Mother, is narrated by the main character, Ted Mosby, who is telling his children the story about meeting their mother with flashbacks of his life as a single man with his four best friends. Throughout each season, the five best friends – Ted, Robin, Lily, Marshall, and Barney – are trying to find love in New York City. Ted falls for Robin early in the series, and they date in season two, but decide to go their separate ways. The show continues as Ted goes through several relationships, leaving viewers to wonder which one is the mother. 

In a shocking twist, Barney, the womanizer of the series, ends up marrying Robin. Fans of the show were unsettled by this conclusion. In the final season, the identity of the mother is revealed, but she ends up passing away, leaving behind Ted and their two children. Robin and Barney get divorced, and Ted and Robin are reunited. Critics of the finale seemed to dislike the ending because the entire show builds you up to meeting the mother, only for the writers to kill her off. 

4. Gilmore Girls

This cozy fall TV show, set in the early 2000s, is still popular today. But the ending wasn’t what many of us hoped for. The series is about a young single mother and her teenage daughter, both navigating life and love in the small town of Stars Hollow. There is an unbreakable bond between Lorelei and her daughter Rory, and they face the world’s challenges together. 

Throughout each season, Lorelei is trying to sort out her love interests with Max, Christopher, and Luke. She gets engaged to Max, but calls off the wedding. In the last few seasons, she is trying to decide if she wants to be with the father of her child, Christopher, or the diner owner Luke, who has always been there for her. First she marries Christopher, but they end up divorcing. In the last episode, she reunites with Luke, but they don’t get married. 

Rory also juggles her love interests throughout the series. Dean is her first love and is her safe place. But she falls in love with Jess, who is fun and dangerous. Then, when she gets into college, she meets Logan, who ends up proposing to her in the final season. She declines his proposal, and ends the show being single, moving away from Stars Hollow for a job. Viewers are unhappy with the lack of closure and finality for Lorelai’s love life and with Rory’s character arc – she went from everyone’s favorite good girl to an entitled, selfish brat.

5. Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life

In 2016, just short of 10 years after the Gilmore Girls series ended, A Year in the Life came out with many of the original cast members. Fans of the show were hoping to see who Lorelei and Rory ended up with and where life had taken them over the years. But people were not satisfied with this show’s ending either. 

Lorelei is still with Luke, but not married. They end up getting married by the end of the series, which fans are happy about. But Rory comes back to Stars Hollow and she is dating a man named Paul, who she doesn’t care for and plans to break up with. While in a relationship with Paul, Rory has been sleeping with Logan when she visits London for work, even though he is engaged to another woman. In Stars Hollow, Rory runs into Dean at the supermarket and finds out his wife is expecting their fifth child. She tells him he was the best boyfriend she ever had. Jess also makes an appearance, and they seem to have a spark. The series ends with Rory finding out she is pregnant, but it’s unclear who the father is. 

There is debate over which guy Rory should’ve ended up with, but the show concludes with her as a soon-to-be single mother, just like her mother. Fans were not thrilled with the ending, as they waited 10 years to find out who her true love was and hoped to see a healing – not a perpetuation – of generational trauma. 

6. Chuck

Chuck is a TV series about an average computer nerd, named Chuck, who gets an encoded email from an old friend from college who now works for the CIA. He accidentally downloads critical government information into his brain, and now the CIA and NSA have assigned an agent to protect him and use his newfound skills in their top secret missions. 

The five season series ends with his final mission. He has to stop Nicholas Quinn from destroying everything he has built. He also tries to get his wife Sarah back after she lost her memory, but she doesn’t believe him. In their search for Quinn, Sarah starts to fall in love with Chuck all over again as they reminisce together about things that have happened. Chuck goes in for a kiss, hoping it will help Sarah to remember their love for each other, and the screen goes black, ending the series. Some fans were not happy that the writers chose to erase Sarah’s memories in the final episodes and that you don’t know for sure if she does get them back, and they felt that the show could’ve done more with Quinn. 

7. Seinfeld 

The TV show Seinfeld was enjoyed by many, and still is popular today. It ran from 1989 to 1998. Jerry Seinfeld plays himself in the show, a comedian. The comedy series is about Jerry and his friends’ everyday lives in New York City, their friendship, and finding love. Though the sitcom was something people found relatable, some found the finale to be disappointing. In the last episode, Jerry gets an offer from NBC to create a show. They lend Jerry a private jet, and the gang gets together to go to Paris to celebrate, and that’s it. 

8. Psych

If you were a big fan of the show Psych, then you were probably invested into the plot of this TV series. Throughout eight seasons, Shawn and Gus have a friendship like no other and solve crimes in the most unconventional ways. Shawn is very skilled at picking up on clues thanks to his police detective father’s life lessons, and he has convinced the Santa Barbara police department that he is able to solve cases because of a psychic ability. 

Shawn falls for Juliet, who is a detective for the department. As the seasons progress, he and Juliet date several other people before finally becoming a couple in the later seasons. When she discovers he was lying about being psychic, she leaves him. However, they eventually reunite. In the last season, Juliet is offered a job in San Francisco, which she accepts. Gus leaves his corporate job, and he and Shawn move to San Francisco. In the last episode, Shawn proposes to Juliet. He makes videos of himself confessing to his coworkers that he isn’t really psychic. Fans say the ending didn’t do Shawn and Gus’ friendship justice. 

9. That ‘70s Show

The very popular comedy, That ‘70s Show, had viewers hooked for all eight seasons. But not everyone loved the ending. The show is set in Wisconsin and revolves around a group of six teenage friends who are doing life and coming of age. Some say that when Ashton Kutcher and Topher Grace left before the final season, the show declined, and the last season was too weak for the writers to continue the series. 

In the last episode, it’s New Year's Eve, and the characters are rushing to resolve their issues before the countdown to the New Year. By the end of the night, Jackie and Fez become a couple, Kitty and Red decide not to move to Florida, Kelso comes for New Year's, and Eric comes back before Donna goes to college. There is a tearful goodbye. But many viewers argue that the ending could’ve been better. 

10. Pretty Little Liars

In the mysterious drama Pretty Little Liars, the ringleader of a group of five high school best friends goes missing. One year after her disappearance, the friends start investigating what could’ve happened to her as an anonymous source starts threatening to reveal their darkest secrets. There are several suspects throughout the series, one being Alison, the ringleader who went missing. But as secrets and lies are brought forth, the ending reveals the antagonist. 

After seven seasons, “A.D.”, the antagonist, turns out to be the British twin of Spencer, who is one of the five girls. Spencer didn’t know that Alex Drake, her evil twin, existed until the finale. Their mother sent her to England when she was born, and she had a miserable life, in and out of foster care. She eventually ran away. When she grew up, she worked in a bar, where she met someone that led her to finding out about Spencer. She was jealous of her life, and wanted to torture her and her friends. She also wanted to avenge Charolette, who was murdered. But the girls cornered Alex, and Mona imprisoned her and Mary, another antagonist, in her own life-sized doll house. 

Viewers thought the literally last episode introduction of the evil twin as the antagonist was lazy writing and gimmicky. Many also felt that Alex’s backstory was lame and sloppy. They didn’t feel emotionally invested enough in Alex, not knowing until the end that she was supposed to have impersonated Spencer at times throughout the show.

Closing Thoughts

Let these 10 examples of the worst TV series endings of all time be a warning: finding the perfect ending for a series that has run for several years can be challenging. Viewers have become invested in the plot and characters and expect to feel closure at the end of a series, which is why writers need to know the ending they’re aiming for when they begin.

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