*Spoiler alert* This post contains several spoilers. Read at your discretion.  

TV show finales are a big deal. They could either make the fans love the show even more long after it is finished, or it could make the fans hate it with so much passion even after spending countless hours invested in the characters’ plights. How many TV shows can you think of that disappointed you because of how quickly the writers wrapped up the show or how they forgot about a character’s development arc?   

Case in point, Penny (Kaley Cuoco) from The Big Bang Theory. The writers did an episode about her not wanting to have a child even if her husband, Leonard (Johnny Galecki) wanted to. But in the show’s finale, she’s pregnant. Then there’s Haley Dunphy (Sarah Hyland) from Modern Family. Before the finale, she was in this wonderful relationship with Andy (Adam DeVine), and she had a career in fashion which she fought tooth and nail to have. But when we got to the show’s ending, she had none of those.

We’re not demeaning her character ending up as a mother, but it seemed the writers were building her character up to be this successful career woman and she ended up with her on-and-off first boyfriend, Dylan (Reid Ewing).  

Grieving Your Favorite TV Show Finales

Of course, the writers can’t please all the show’s viewers. Nevertheless, giving the characters that audiences welcomed to their homes a proper sendoff is a responsibility the director shouldn’t take lightly. Believe it or not, mental health professionals have said that grieving after a show ending is a feeling that’s all too real, as reported by NBC News.   

According to Brian Kong, a Chicago-based psychologist mentioned via HuffPost, “Even when it’s fantasy, there’s a genuine investment in the outcome of a story and the state of the various characters.” He added, “People feel so connected, and in some cases like they have ownership over something.”  

Here are some TV show finales that provided fans with an emotional experience that stayed with them long after the credits rolled.  

• Friends - The Last One (2004)

  Friends has a massive following even 20 years after the finale. The show wrapped up the characters’ stories nicely, Monica and Chandler going home with their twins, Phoebe ending up with Mike, Joey’s acting career taking off and Ross and Rachel finally getting together again. The way they say goodbye to one another and the memorable moment when they each leave their keys to the apartment and go for a cup of coffee for the last time in their favorite coffee shop is bittersweet.

• How I Met Your Mother - Last Forever (2014)

  The ending of How I Met Your Mother is controversial, and it seems fans still haven’t forgiven the creators for the way it ended. In a way, it’s memorable because the fans disliked it so much. Why wouldn’t they? The premise of the show is Ted telling his kids how he met their father with several seasons building up to his and Tracy’s love story, only for the viewers to find out that Tracy passed away and Ted ended up with Robin (again). The finale sparked debates about fate, destiny, and love and a portion of the fanbase defended the creators’ take on the ending. Whatever the impression it left, it’s a finale that’s memorable and will surely be talked about even in the years to come.

• Game of Thrones - The Iron Throne (2019)

  Game of Thrones has another controversial ending; well, it seems the whole final season is controversial. So, Jon Snow killed Daenerys because she was heading the same path as the Mad King, Arya was the one who killed the Night King instead of Jon, Bran Stark became King, Sansa Stark was crowned Queen of the North, Arya left, and Jon was again sent to Castle Black. What the f— right? However, fans still approved of the sheer scale of the storytelling and the visual effects, although the end of the characters’ story arcs are debatable.  

• The Good Place – Whenever You’re Ready (2020)

  The ending of The Good Place is a rare one because it’s a series that, in some ways, you’re happy to end. You see the characters’ journeys from the beginning when they realized they were actually in the “bad place” until they eventually ended in the “good place.” It’s a series that ends with a lesson on how to live a meaningful life and that we all find fulfillment at our own pace.  

• The Originals – When The Saints Go Marching In (2018)

  How do you end the story of immortals? This is perhaps the question in fans’ minds before The Originals, a Vampire Diaries spin-off, aired its final episode. In its last season, Klaus made the ultimate sacrifice to save his daughter, Hope. He absorbed the entity, the Hollow, but by doing so, dark magic began to destroy him. Klaus intended to stake himself and die with the Hollow’s magic so as not to endanger his daughter again. Elijah, being loyal to his life’s purpose to redeem his brother, dies alongside him with both their ashes spreading across New Orleans, their home.  

  We prefer the ending of The Originals to The Vampire Diaries because of Klaus’ redemption. Both series highlighted brotherly love, Stefan and Damon of TVD and Klaus and Elijah of The Originals. Even if Stefan died for Damon to have a happily ever after, seeing Elijah choose to be with his brother until the end feels more poignant. 

   

• The Umbrella Academy – End of the Beginning (2024)

  Another TV show ending that received negative comments from fans is the recently concluded The Umbrella Academy. In the finale, the Hargreeves siblings let the “Cleanse” absorb them, technically the marigold inside them that gave them their powers, to create only one singular timeline and prevent the Apocalypse from happening all over again. In this singular timeline, their families and friends exist, except for them and they have no memories of the siblings. The finale may not be what the fans liked but there seems to be no other way to end it except to erase the siblings that shouldn’t have been born in the first place. So, in a way, the ending just corrected the problem from the pilot episode.  

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