Disappointing endings to TV shows

Euron popping out of the sea is the highlight of those terrible last few episodes for me.

Wrathy wrote:The underlying plot behind GOT is fine for me, it was just told in a truly poor manner. If they had paced the season out to be 2 full sets of 10 episodes with all the usual character development and slow burn politicking, nobody would have really had so much of a problem with it. If it had explained why Euron Grayjoy wasn't just a magic plot fixing machine and gave him some sort of explanation for existing, then a lot of the problems surrounding him would have been solved. Dany committing war crimes with Dragons had been hinted at for seven seasons so I truly don't believe her ending was unexpected; but the speed of her descent into Targaryianism just made no sense whatsoever, because it happened so quickly and so rapidly that it felt like it was just written as the quickest ending rather than a sensible one.

Anyway, How I Met Your Mother, and it isn't even close.

Yeah Euron was always there to solve issue XYZ, you’d be right that if it had another couple of seasons of development, making the white walkers an actual threat before turning to Kings Landing. As you said, the actual ending isn’t god awful, just how we got there was.

Mafro wrote:

Robbo-92 wrote:Honestly the bit where GoT went from piss poor to bloody woeful was Rhaegal getting no scoped off rocking boat behind a cliff while her was probably a mile or two away

Obviously it had plenty of terrible moments before this, but this one sticks in my mind the most

The mass seething over that was great. Horrible episode.

No idea how I completely forgot about the How To Bait & Switch Your Mother ending.

It just made no sense, even more so how he pulled that off yet an episode later all of the weapons are utterly useless

Cuttooth wrote:Euron popping out of the sea is the highlight of those terrible last few episodes for me.

Then just arriving on the beach at the same time Jamie rocks up

Poor old Bran Flakes.

I don't understand how Lost can be mentioned, it's finale was the lone bright-spot of the final season.

Slate the final season all you like but the finale was ace.

Ironhide wrote:Battlestar Galactica

I hated that it had to end, but I thought the way they did it was pretty good, all things considered. Could've really used an extra season to get it all done, though.

Cuttooth wrote:Euron popping out of the sea is the highlight of those terrible last few episodes for me.

The plot armour on that banana split. Bloody hell, completely forgot how bad it was.

My main issue with the last few episodes is Dany's immediate transformation from 'potential future tyrant' to 'full blown pyromaniac lunatic war criminal', there's also the utter gooseberry fool that is Bran being king and Jon getting sent to the wall.

Chocolate-Milk wrote:Mad Men. Everyone's an enormous twat and nobody gets the comeuppance they deserve.

Who did you think deserved comeuppance?

The end of Twin Peaks, while chillingly bleak, didn't make any sense to me. Bloody Lynch.

Ironhide wrote:My main issue with the last few episodes is Dany's immediate transformation from 'potential future tyrant' to 'full blown pyromaniac lunatic war criminal',

Could have been done brilliantly over two seasons.

They did it mainly between two episodes.

Ironhide wrote:My main issue with the last few episodes is Dany's immediate transformation from 'potential future tyrant' to 'full blown pyromaniac lunatic war criminal', there's also the utter gooseberry fool that is Bran being king and Jon getting sent to the wall.

While I definitely agree about the pacing problem, it’s easy to forget the character’s progression. She spent 8 seasons threatening to burn cities to the ground, explicitly as early as Season 2 if you allow for S1 to show her progression from a meek nobody to someone with independence. It wasn’t really that much of a surprise when she burnt a city to the ground; the problem is we aren’t used to seeing sympathetic characters committing war crimes.

more heat than light wrote:No-one's said Dexter yet?

That turned to gooseberry fool long before the end and so doesn't really count for this thread.

OrangeRKN wrote:I loved the ending of Quantum Leap! It's a really great final episode and the ending text is striking and iconic. While it's not a Hollywood perfect ending, I think it really suits Sam's character - the selfless decision to keep leaping because of how many people he can help. It's braver and better for it.

I take your point but I disagree in the final scene. The exchange at the end between Sam and God goes like this

Sam: "Even priests can quit"
God: "That's true, but they can also take sabbaticals, especially before embarking on a new assignment"

That bit of the conversation tells me that even after all the good he'd done Sam wants to quit. It's in the tone of his voice, he's ready to finish. And there's nothing wrong with that, good people do good things all the time but can get worn down and need a break. It's already been established earlier in the episode that the person who causes Sam to leap is Sam. And he shows he now controls it when he visits Als first wife as himself. God also gives him an out, even if it's a temporary one.

Sam: "Are you telling me the leaps are going to get tougher?"
God: "Where would you like to go Sam?"
Sam: Crying "Home, I'd like to go home. But I can't, can I? I've got a wrong to put right for Al"

Leaping has obviously taken its toll on Sam, he's ready for it to end, he's ready for a reprieve, he's ready to go home. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with him wanting to fix Al's life. Which he does. And since he does that there is no reason he can't go home. God gave him an out, even a temporary sabbatical, he clearly desperately wants to go home. And since he controls the leaps there is nothing stopping him. And since it's time travel there is nothing to say he can't take a day, a week, a year to go back home and see his wife. Those issues that need fixing in the past? He's literally got all the time in the world.

I don't blame the writer for this, they were in a tough situation. Scripts and photos have turned up that had a slightly different ending, one where Al, still married to his first wife, was going to leap himself and try and find Sam to bring him home. Presumably this would have been the basis for the next season.

I do totally get that for some people the ending was great and people don't always want neat happy endings. I think for me, because I liked Sam, I wanted it, he was a character I was rooting for and I wanted to see him finally make his way home

Blue Eyes wrote:The end of Twin Peaks, while chillingly bleak, didn't make any sense to me. Bloody Lynch.

The original two seasons ended on cliffhangers that were meant to be resolved but it got dropped, and the new season was David lynch trolling us all, I quickly lost what the hell was going on but was down for the ride. That end scream though

Memento Mori wrote:

Chocolate-Milk wrote:Mad Men. Everyone's an enormous twat and nobody gets the comeuppance they deserve.

Who did you think deserved comeuppance?

Pretty much every main character except Peggy, Joan and the kids. And I suppose the art department guys. The rest were utter shitheels of the highest order, who never seem to face any real consequences for their actions. At least, none that actually stick.

Don't get me wrong, I like them as characters, but I spent half the series wishing someone would punch half the cast square in the jaw.

Edit- Actually, I'll concede that Betty got completely strawberry floated over at the last minute. I never liked her, but she didn't deserve to get it as bad as she did.

Moggy wrote:

more heat than light wrote:No-one's said Dexter yet?

That turned to gooseberry fool long before the end and so doesn't really count for this thread.

Nah. Series 6 and 7 were perfectly watchable. Series 8 was a bit dump, but nothing compared to the final episode.

Game of Thrones final season was so gooseberry fool I wish The Night King won.

Dexter's last few seasons were not good but that final episode was unbelievably dumb. It's better to just watch the first 4 seasons and pretend it finished at that stage.

more heat than light wrote:

Moggy wrote:

more heat than light wrote:No-one's said Dexter yet?

That turned to gooseberry fool long before the end and so doesn't really count for this thread.

Nah. Series 6 and 7 were perfectly watchable. Series 8 was a bit dump, but nothing compared to the final episode.

Yes. Everything after the Lithgow season was pretty much garbage.

Anyone who mentions the Sopranos should not be allowed to watch TV again.

Outrunner wrote:

OrangeRKN wrote:I loved the ending of Quantum Leap! It's a really great final episode and the ending text is striking and iconic. While it's not a Hollywood perfect ending, I think it really suits Sam's character - the selfless decision to keep leaping because of how many people he can help. It's braver and better for it.

I take your point but I disagree in the final scene. The exchange at the end between Sam and God goes like this

Sam: "Even priests can quit"
God: "That's true, but they can also take sabbaticals, especially before embarking on a new assignment"

That bit of the conversation tells me that even after all the good he'd done Sam wants to quit. It's in the tone of his voice, he's ready to finish. And there's nothing wrong with that, good people do good things all the time but can get worn down and need a break. It's already been established earlier in the episode that the person who causes Sam to leap is Sam. And he shows he now controls it when he visits Als first wife as himself. God also gives him an out, even if it's a temporary one.

Sam: "Are you telling me the leaps are going to get tougher?"
God: "Where would you like to go Sam?"
Sam: Crying "Home, I'd like to go home. But I can't, can I? I've got a wrong to put right for Al"

Leaping has obviously taken its toll on Sam, he's ready for it to end, he's ready for a reprieve, he's ready to go home. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with him wanting to fix Al's life. Which he does. And since he does that there is no reason he can't go home. God gave him an out, even a temporary sabbatical, he clearly desperately wants to go home. And since he controls the leaps there is nothing stopping him. And since it's time travel there is nothing to say he can't take a day, a week, a year to go back home and see his wife. Those issues that need fixing in the past? He's literally got all the time in the world.

I don't blame the writer for this, they were in a tough situation. Scripts and photos have turned up that had a slightly different ending, one where Al, still married to his first wife, was going to leap himself and try and find Sam to bring him home. Presumably this would have been the basis for the next season.

I do totally get that for some people the ending was great and people don't always want neat happy endings. I think for me, because I liked Sam, I wanted it, he was a character I was rooting for and I wanted to see him finally make his way home

I can understand that! I think the ending text being how it is leaves a lot to the viewer for how you interpret why he never returned home

Moggy wrote:

more heat than light wrote:

Moggy wrote:

more heat than light wrote:No-one's said Dexter yet?

That turned to gooseberry fool long before the end and so doesn't really count for this thread.

Nah. Series 6 and 7 were perfectly watchable. Series 8 was a bit dump, but nothing compared to the final episode.

Yes. Everything after the Lithgow season was pretty much garbage.

I disagree. I know it's hardly the definitive verdict on such things, but IMDb has most episodes at the 8-9 mark until the last few of series 8. It's certainly not 'garbage'.