Most Unsatisfying Series Finales by queenofthenorth

GENERAL DISCUSSIONS

Most Unsatisfying Series Finales

POSTED BY: QUEENOFTHENORTH
UPDATED: Tuesday, December 6, 2005 10:05
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Monday, December 5, 2005 2:02 PM

I thought this would be an interesting thing to do, to compare and discuss the shows where the series finales really disappointed you. Firefly doesn't really count, since it didn't actually have a series finale. Of course, it's unsatisfying that it ended prematurely. For me, it'd have to Angel/Inuyasha. Both had extremely similar series finales in which *spoilers* NOTHING really gets resolved AT ALL. The good guys are still chasing after the same ol' bad guys and you don't know if they're ever going to get them or not. It just makes me go ARRGGGHH when I think about it. Disappointing ending to two great shows. Anyways, feel free to add your own.

"Well, then, I believe perhaps that I am, in fact, completely screwed."

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Monday, December 5, 2005 2:18 PM

GROUNDED

The Angel finale was virtually flawless. I don't think there is any other way that show could have ended.

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Monday, December 5, 2005 2:18 PM

STORYMARK

Off the top of my head:

Forever Kinght:

Select to view spoiler:

Everybody dies! Hurray!, Oh, wait. Except the villain, he's okay. Talk about a downer.

Enterprise: I wasn't even a big fan of Enterprise, but they totally screwed the characters, cast, and fans of the show with that finale.

Select to view spoiler:

I watched it as a Next Generation fan, just curiouse to see Riker and Troi again, and to see how they worked it into the story. They didn't. Came off as the worst episode of TNG ever, and was a total disservice to Enterprise.

"Well, my days of not taking you seriously are certainly coming to a middle."

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Monday, December 5, 2005 2:20 PM

PHOENIXSHIP

Overall, the last Cheers ep was pretty good, but I remember the last scene when Sam walked off camera into the billards room and said "I'm the luckiest son of a bitch in the world." I get the sentiment, but it seemed clumsy to me. I think this was the good old days where the concept of the series finale was still sort of unclear. Sure, there was MASH, but who could compare anything to that? That really was the gold standard for finales - maybe it still is? Whenever a show makes you cry, you know you've got something good.

"Why're you arguin' what's already been decided?"
Mal to Jayne, "Jaynestown"

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Monday, December 5, 2005 2:27 PM

PSOLARIS

I have to admit that I was a fan of Enterprise. But the final episode of that was terrible. I didn't like how they played TNG characters into the storyline. I've seen that kind of thing done before, and done well, but this wasn't. I was highly disappointed. I will have to 100% agree with what Storymark says above in his spoiler line.

Psolaris

Ten percent of nuthin' is...let me do the math here...nuthin' into nuthin'...carry the nuthin'

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Monday, December 5, 2005 2:42 PM

AUNTYCHRIS

Quote:
Originally posted by Storymark:
Off the top of my head:

Enterprise: I wasn't even a big fan of Enterprise, but they totally screwed the characters, cast, and fans of the show with that finale.
Select to view spoiler:
I watched it as a Next Generation fan, just curiouse to see Riker and Troi again, and to see how they worked it into the story. They didn't. Came off as the worst episode of TNG ever, and was a total disservice to Enterprise.

I have to agree with that. There was always something different about Enterprise, a little darker for one thing, maybe a little watered down, I don't know, but the inclusion of Riker and Troi was such an obvious ploy to grab viewers (too little too late I might add) that it did totally disrepect the Enterprise cast.

p.s. I only watched because of Scott Bakula.

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Monday, December 5, 2005 2:45 PM

DONCOAT

Just to be contrary, I'm going to mention one of the best series finales ever: Newhart (the show set in the Vermont inn). Absolutely hysterical!

Besides MASH, which was indeed a gold standard, I don't think a series was ever concluded better.

There really haven't been that many shows I've followed faithfully enough to hold an opinion on their finales, though. On the bright side, that means I haven't had too many disappointments...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ain't about you, Jayne. It's about what they need.

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Monday, December 5, 2005 3:02 PM

PHILYBURKHILL

DS9.

They'd been building it up for many years, then BOOM the major fight is Sisko ramming Dukat into a fire.

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Monday, December 5, 2005 3:31 PM

STAKETHELURK

Quote:
DS9.

Yeah, I really felt cheated by that one. It felt like they were cramming three episodes worth of material into just oneshow, so everything got short-shrifted as they tried to tie up all the loose ends. Still worlds better than the Enterprise ending, though. Worst. Finale. Ever.

And I'd like to add that I agree with Grounded in saying that the "Angel" finale was probably the best possible series finale; they really hit it out of the park with that one.

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Monday, December 5, 2005 3:56 PM

CLJOHNSTON108

deleted

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Monday, December 5, 2005 4:08 PM

CHRISISALL

ST DS9's ending was the worst ever. I lived with these characters, and Sisko was thrown out with the trash.
Stupid.
Especially since the premier was so very, very good.

Somebody get Twiki in here to console me.

Biddi- biddi, yer right, Buck Chrisisall

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Monday, December 5, 2005 4:22 PM

CYBERSNARK

I actually liked the DS9 finale. It had closure, ended the Dominion War arc, let Sisko & Dukat go out the only way either of them could, yet still kept the door open for continuations (station's still there, most of the crew's still alive, some are moved to new places, but enough are staying for there to be continuity). Plus it led to the DS9 novel reboot, which gave me my favourite Trek character ever (who it now looks like is about to be killed off in the next novel

).

The one I hated was Voyager's finale. Not only did it effectively guillotine any possibility of post-Voyager stories (barring Christie Golden's narrative gymnastics to pull everything back together), but it was just so out of character. It was like Voyager was taken over by pod-people after Neelix left.

Enterprise's finale was also bad, but I tend to ignore it, because it was preceded by two of the best Star Trek episodes ever: "Terra Prime." As far as I'm concerned, that was Enterprise's finale. That other episode was just Commander Riker's fanfic.

-----
We applied the cortical electrodes but were unable to get a neural reaction from either patient.

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Monday, December 5, 2005 5:52 PM

ALAND

The Prisoner, no contest. Cool show, but the final episode was an unbearable unintelligible experiment in confusion and nonsense. Fans were so outraged that their calls overloaded and blew out the BBC switchboard, while lead actor Patrick McGoohan (who also wrote and directed the episode), had to go into hiding.

60 minutes of my life that I'll never get back.

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Monday, December 5, 2005 6:22 PM

LUCKYSPENCER7

off the top of my head: Dark Angel and John Doe. I don't remember much of them, because it's been a while since I've seen them. but I do remember that both had the effect of leaving me saying "what? that's it? wtf?"

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Monday, December 5, 2005 6:33 PM

ETHAN

I may be dating myself but I have to say Robotech Macross. After kicking countless Zentradi beezwax and being an all around bad-ass (we know EJ Olmos must be a fanboy for his full on impression in BSG), Commander Gloval went out like a chump. Come on, the SDF-1 falling backwards on it's butt and popping our commander like a zit?!? And Laura sure did flush what was left of her dignity down the latrine by taking Rick back, again.

"Oh I thought...that's weird"

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Monday, December 5, 2005 6:40 PM

SARAH

Quote:
Originally posted by Storymark:
Off the top of my head:

Forever Kinght:

i totally agree with you there

Buffy
Angel
The X-Files
and the ending of JAG (just the last minute)

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Monday, December 5, 2005 6:40 PM

SARAH

Quote:
Originally posted by Storymark:
Off the top of my head:

Forever Kinght:

i totally agree with you there

Buffy
Angel
The X-Files
and the ending of JAG (just the last minute)

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Monday, December 5, 2005 7:06 PM

ROCKETJOCK

Quote:
Originally posted by Cybersnark:

The one I hated was Voyager's finale.

What I disliked about this episode wasn't that it was particularly bad (outside of the overused time paradox schtick it wasn't), but that it obviously was not written as a series finale. If the show had been renewed for another season then the episode would have ended as just another near miss, leaving them in the Delta Quadrant, pehaps a few hundred or thousand light-years closer to home, as had happened several times during the last two seasons.

My nominee for the all-time worst finale? (I presume we're limited to SF/Fantasy here?) I'd vote for the entire last two seasons of "Land of the Lost", only because the first season had ended with one of the all-time best closers ever broadcast, "Circle" by Larry Niven and David Gerrold, a tightly-written wonder which not only explained why the Marshalls had been brought into the LOTL in the first place, but also sent them back home -- a fact conveniently forgotten during the vastly inferior second and third seasons.

(Note: This post edited to correct a factual error. Oops.)

"Hermanos! The Devil is building a Robot! Andale!" -- Numero Cinco

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Monday, December 5, 2005 7:30 PM

QUEENOFTHENORTH

It doesn't have to be sci-fi/fantasy. It can be whatever series finale that unsatisfied you (if that was actually a logical sentence). I see lots of people disagreed with me about Angel, but I know lots of people who agree with me too. But you know, everyone's different.

"Well, then, I believe perhaps that I am, in fact, completely screwed."

Like books? Go to this thread: http://www.fireflyfans.net/thread.asp?b=2&t=14862
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Monday, December 5, 2005 7:38 PM

MALSGIRL

I agree with everyone about Enterprise having an awful ending. I was an Enterprise fan, especially Trip. So if you saw the finale you know why I particularly hate that episode. What Trip did was so out of character and how the other characters responded was so so lackluster. Arggg

I generally try not to talk about it because I get so very upset.

I thought X-files had a really crappy ending too. I was one of the few that actually stuck with the show all the way through and then that final episode was just so crap. It's like, after all these years that's all you come up with? Please!

_____________________________

"You will keep a civil tongue in that mouth or I will sew it shut."
~Mal to Jayne

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Monday, December 5, 2005 7:53 PM

KAREL

Flying on duct tape and a damaged registry.

John Doe
Twin Peaks

Can't discuss. If you were there, no need!

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Monday, December 5, 2005 8:11 PM

GRUUL

Seinfeld

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Monday, December 5, 2005 8:47 PM

TMURRIE

Quote:
Originally posted by Gruul:
Seinfeld

YES!! I'm not alone!

Man, I hated that so much too. All of my friends thought I was crazy, but I just found it out of style and tedious to watch. Sure it was great to get all of those actors back for the finale, but who wouldn't go back? It was Seinfeld, it was a huge show, just because these characters came back again wasn't really all that special to me.

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Tuesday, December 6, 2005 3:17 AM

TAPION1IVES

ARE ALL OF YOU FORGETTING QUANTUM LEAP.
THAT SHOW COULDNT HAVE ENDED WORSE.

Murphy: It must have taken a dozen slaves a dozen days to get you into that getup. 'Course your daddy tells me it takes the space of a schoolboy's wink to get you out of it again.

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Tuesday, December 6, 2005 3:38 AM

HAIDON

Quantum Leap's ending wasn't what it should have been; they left it open for a spinoff that never occurred. The problem is they had to retool that episode in a big hurry when they found out they weren't getting renewed; it was supposed to be a cliffhanger. Most series don't even get the chance to fix something like that.

I'd have to say Farscape had a truly horrendous series finale, if only because they got yanked unexpectedly. Nothing worse than a series finale that says "To be continued..." That is just wrong.

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Tuesday, December 6, 2005 5:13 AM

REXJAYNE

Yeah, Farscape had a rough time. That ending hurt. And the Miniseries to end it was so packed full of stuff it was hard to follow. 3 hours of endless action is a little overwhelming. Don't get me wrong, I'm SO glad we got it, closure is a wonderful thing, but it would have been so nice to see all that spread out in another season instead of stuffed into one long episode.

TNG's last episode never impressed me. Time shifting is all well and good, but really, the show wasn't great because of it's bizarre sci-fi ideas. I grew up with TNG and I just wish the ending had been more satisfying. Never could watch Enterprise, I tried and tried, but it was just Quantum Leap in a space ship. It never felt like Star Trek.

---------------
Let's not be excludin' people, that'd be rude.

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Tuesday, December 6, 2005 5:55 AM

GWEK

I'm assuming that we're talking about shows that actually HAD a finale? Right? Rather than just those that were unceremoniously cut?

First, I know folks use "MASH" as the gold standard and I don't disagree. It allows us to say farewell to each of the characters we've come to care about, which, to my mind, is what a good series finale does. Although "Cheers" didn't do it as well, "Cheers" did the same thing. Ditto, to my mind, "BtVS" (each character had their moment in the sun, inasmuch as could be done in one hour).

At the other end of the spectrum, we have "Seinfeld," which, to me, rates as one of the worse, most unsatisfying finales of all times. Sure, we got to see a lot of old bit players, but didn't get to say goodbye to the main characters. Worse yet, the plot they chose to go out with was so ludicrously contrived that it annoys me just to think about it. A show about "nothing" ended with an episode very much about "something", and that something was idiotic. A travesty!

By the way, I think that the endings of "Space: Above and Beyond" and "Angel" (both mentioned previously) were great. I was never the biggest "AtS" fan, but the finale captured what the show was all about, and also gave us a moment with each of the heroes. The finale was about what the series was all about: we fight the good fight, even though it's endless and we will, inevitably, be scarred by it.

"Here's how it might've been..."

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Tuesday, December 6, 2005 5:57 AM

GWEK

Oh, wait, almost forgot: "Enterprise." Horrible. Painful. Although each of the characters does get a "moment", the vehicle these chose for that showcase was a slap in the face to the show's cast and fans. Simply terrible.

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Tuesday, December 6, 2005 6:09 AM

VORTIGUN

I wasn't terribly fond of the last episode of "Dead Like Me".

I mean it was a great episode in itself, but not satisfactory as a finale of a series...

Angel had the same effect... great episode, poor finale.

I really wish the finale of Buffy had been season 5... that would have made an amazing finale to a series.

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Tuesday, December 6, 2005 6:40 AM

GWEK

Being from the "Go, Angel's finale!" camp, I'm curious why the people who didn't like it didn't like it. I'll admit that the story is somewhat rushed, but what are the other gripes?

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Tuesday, December 6, 2005 6:57 AM

PHOENIXSHIP

Quote:
Ditto, to my mind, "BtVS" (each character had their moment in the sun, inasmuch as could be done in one hour).

I was surprised that the BtVS finale was only one hour. It would have been nice to have a more natural, unhurried flow to the storyline. I thought Giles' accidentally stumbling over the "glottal stop" symbol on the Scythe was possibly the longest stretch of the whole series. And why couldn't they have unleashed the power of the Scythe BEFORE they opened the gates o' Hell. I'm just saying...

I think the problem with the Seinfeld finale was the return of Larry David. Yes, he did write some of the best episodes, but as I recall, he had not been with the show for quite a while. I just think he was out of sync with the humor. Imagine jumping in cold on a production like that and producing the finale. Difficult at best.

"Why're you arguin' what's already been decided?"
Mal to Jayne, "Jaynestown"

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Tuesday, December 6, 2005 7:41 AM

GWEK

I agree that the BtVS finale is definitely very rushed, although I think that Whedon and Co did the damned finest job they could in an hour (Perfect? Not nearly, but they crammed an incredible amount into a single hour...)

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Tuesday, December 6, 2005 8:09 AM

VORTIGUN

Quote:
Originally posted by GWEK:
Being from the "Go, Angel's finale!" camp, I'm curious why the people who didn't like it didn't like it. I'll admit that the story is somewhat rushed, but what are the other gripes?

I thought it was a great episode, a great season finale. But as a series finale I though it was lacking. There was so much more stuff to happen. Joss had up to season seven planned. I just didn't like that it ended inconclusively.

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Tuesday, December 6, 2005 8:29 AM

GRAYFURY

St. Elewhere... Your all too young to remember this show. But it was a hospital drama from the 80's. It ran for like 6 years. Anyway, the ending goes like this.... Pan back from the cast going about their bizniz out the window of the hospital, back from the building. Only to find that the building was inside a snow globe held by an autistic child. He made the whole thing up in his head...WTF.

And this doesnt count as an "finale" ....But it must be mentioned, the anti climactic end of the shadow wars from Babylon 5 ..."get the hell out of our galaxy!!!" (...."And the Emmy goes to,.. someone other than Bruce Boxlietner!") ....This is what I waited 3 1/2 years for!?! GYP

"Dear God In Heaven!" - Plastic Dinosaur

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Tuesday, December 6, 2005 8:44 AM

KYLENBLADE

Absolutely worst series finale I ever saw was Evangelion. Anime cartoon, if you guys run into it the series was great (cartoon network has it on adult swim ATM) but for the love of god dont watch the finale, you'll thank me later.

Hey! You're back! And there's your front too!

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Tuesday, December 6, 2005 9:18 AM

GWEK

I'll definitely grant that the finale feels like it's a season in one episode (not entirely unlike the BDM in that respect). Personally, I LOVE the fact that it's inconclusive. Angel has known for a long time (since season one or two) that he's fighting a fight that can't be won, so I thought the last scene was a great way to bring that theme home.

Different strokes and all.

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Tuesday, December 6, 2005 9:33 AM

STORYMARK

Quote:
Originally posted by GrayFury:
St. Elewhere... Your all too young to remember this show. But it was a hospital drama from the 80's. It ran for like 6 years. Anyway, the ending goes like this.... Pan back from the cast going about their bizniz out the window of the hospital, back from the building. Only to find that the building was inside a snow globe held by an autistic child. He made the whole thing up in his head...WTF.

There's a site I found once that was based on that finale. The rationele of the site was, if all of that show was just a dream, then any other shows that crossed-over with St. Elsewhere must take place in that same dream reality. And apparently, that show had a number of crossovers with other shows at the time, including Homicide: Life on the Streets, which eventually did a corss-over with Law & Order, which crossed-over with the X-Files (and so one...) thus tying them (and their spin-off) into the dream reality.

They had all these connections mapped out, and all told, something like 200 different TV shows (old and new, popular and short-lived) that all tied into this boy's dream.

EDIT: Here's the link to the page that explains all these connections. 227 shows in all that take place in the mind of this one autistic child, including everything from Star Trek, Buffy, M.A.S.H, Tha Adams Family, Friends, I Love Lucy, and our very own Firefly. Some connections are pretty rough, like Spike from Buffy and Cancer Man from the X-Files smoking the same fictional brand of cigarettes, or the Yoyodyne (who constructs the starships in Star Trek) and Weyland-Utani (from the Alien series, and manufacturer of weapons used in the battle of Serenity) corporations as clients of Wolfram and Hart (Angel) but it's fun nonetheless.

http://home.vicnet.net.au/~kwgow/crossovers.html

"Well, my days of not taking you seriously are certainly coming to a middle."

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Tuesday, December 6, 2005 9:43 AM

HAZE

Buffy

I have always felt that last season of Buffy was a bit of a mess.

How exactly is an army of a few thousand uber-vamps going to take on and defeat the combined military might of the world?

How is an army of a few thousand uber-vamps going to whip out over 4 billion people?

What are they going to do when the get to an ocean? Swim?

What did the first want with Spike?

Why exactly does the hellmouth being distorted also destroy The First?

--------------------------------------------------
Who do you suppose is in there?

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Tuesday, December 6, 2005 9:52 AM

GWEK

Personally, I enjoyed the last season quite a bit despite it's many failings (basically, I like it, but can't really defend it).

Speaking strictly of the FINALE, though, I think Whedon and his crew did everything they could in the hour allotted.

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Tuesday, December 6, 2005 10:05 AM

ANA

Lemme see. I haven't actually watched a lot of shows' finales. I was by no means a "Friends" fan, but I have to say I didn't really care for the series finale. It felt too much like "been there, done that, got the T-shirt", at least where Ross and Rachel were concerned.

Does it make any sense that I hated "The X-Files" last episode, but loved the last scene? They crammed too much into it, left *way* too many loose ends, and basically annoyed the crap out of all the fans that had been hanging on for something resembling closure. Still, the last few minutes almost made up for the rest. Almost.

I've seen the last ep of "Quantum Leap", and while I think it could have had a little more closure, I have no problems with how it was handled in general. It was very spiritual in its way, and I definitely enjoyed how Sam helped Al.

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