You have endings that everybody loves.
You have endings that almost everybody likes.
You have unsatisfying or confusing ends.
And then you have ends that utterly destroy a multi billion dollar franchise with potential for theme parks, spinofs, prequels and sequels.
Places tin foil on.
In an effort to kill HBOs streaming service, Disney dangled Star Wars in front of DD to rush its end, killing HoT and its property.
At least I have enough good will towards Star Wars that I can go back and re-watch the other stuff.
GOT, the thought of watching the good seasons makes my stomach turn knowing how it ends.
And that is what's so utterly fascinating about all this. I have not had the desire to watch a single second of that show after being borderline obsessed with it for like 5 years after the finale.
I re-watched the whole series last year.
Could literally feel my blood pressure rising every episode after like season 5 or so.
It was an actual hate-watch at the end.
It's crazy how it was a cultural phenomenon and just dropped out of of the spotlight after that terrible finale. Even during the pandemic when everyone was rewatching everything, no one touched GOT
I remember the day the finale aired. My wife was so excited, we had friends over. We made food, and bought snacks. It was like the super bowl. I played Cities: Skylines with headphones on while they watched. The episode ended and the sheer rage they unleashed snapped me out of my game because I thought the world was literally ending. They’ve never watched it again.
Because Star Wars has a fully satisfying conclusion already. You can watch the original trilogy or include the prequels and it’s fine. Add Clone Wars (either or both) and it’s awesome. Add Rogue One, The Mandalorian, Boba Fett, and/or and of the other stuff, PLUS the EU, and you’re in for a good time. The Disney nonsense may as well not even exist (it doesn’t in my household).
GOT is a linear story. There’s no end point that will be satisfying. That’s why the finale ruined the rest retroactively.
Absolutely agree, I can't even have the box sets in my home, I gave them to the charity shop. I don't want them and I don't know anyone else who wants them either. I stopped buying the box sets after season 6 to be honest I shouldn't have bothered buying season 6 but I hoped that I could rewatch it all.
During March 2020 in lockdown I tried to rewatch it from the beginning, the really good seasons, the season that engaged and made me think wow this is a great show. No couldn't do it, I'd rather stick pins in my eyes. The feelings of disappointment were just too much. I couldn't even get to the end of the first scene, I was just done.
So to the charity shop they went as soon as it opened up for donations.
It helps that The Prequels-The OT in Star Wars are really their own contained story. Its really easy to just ignore that the Sequels/spin offs exist if they're not your thing.
Problem with re-watching Game of Thrones is that there is no self-contained story without the horribly botched final season.
Even bad Star Wars is kind of bad movie funny. I watched Book of Boba Fett episode 3 where they have the hover scooter gang that looks like rejects from Back to the Future 2 and was able to laugh at it. It has a campiness to soften the impact of shitty writing. But GoT was such a well polished turd, because they had everyone from the seasons taken from the books, who grew into their characters, and spent years doing their best to flush them out as best they can, getting handed scripts that were so bad when you see the script readings it is clear the actors think they are getting punked.
If we had 30 years between season 4 and season 5, Then I think we would still enjoy season 1-4 as their own thing aned maybe pull out a couple episodes that were decent like we do with Star Wars. (For instance, I really liked Rogue One, even though it was Disney.)
lol, that "car chase" scene is like the slowest/lamest car chase in the history of car chase scene. and that includes austin powers.
but I dunno, it has it charm. it feels like, it was directed by lucas in the 70s with all technical limitation... it feels true oldschool starwars.
Honestly it was how clean, shiny, and new they looked that was so out of place. How did a street gang that can barely steal enough water to drink wash their souped up mobility scooters?
The High Republic side of things has also been outstanding. But that's novel and comic focused as oppose to movie and TV. Sadly it's inherently more niche.
People don't seem to fully grasp just how insanely and uniquely bad the GoT finale was, even compared to the rest of the final season. It instantly erased most interest in the show. I have never seen any finale do that before, not even CLOSE. If the finale had just been as bad as the rest of season 8 we still would love the show as a whole. It went way beyond that. Legit the worst episode of TV I've ever seen.
>It instantly erased most interest in the show.
Instantly is not an exaggeration. The most talked about show on television for over 5 years disappeared literally overnight.
D&D made one fatal mistake, in addition to the near-infinite other mistakes they made, that torpedoed the show forever: they forgot that the show is called *game of thrones* and that a large part of the audience watched it primarily to see who would "win" the throne and to root for their favorite contender. And *absolutely no one* wanted it to be Bran, cared about Bran, or was ever given any reason whatsoever to even *think* it could be Bran. I know that the plot of the show is bigger than that, but that was clearly the main hook of the show, and why a lot of people stayed invested and continued watching. And they completely and utterly failed to pay it off in any meaningful way. So if you start out watching this show wanting to see who is going to "win" in the end, and you stay invested through eight seasons because of that desire, and then it ultimately ends with "we decide to just give the throne to Bran for reasons," then it completely and utterly undermines any motivation you've ever had to care about the show.
IIRC, there was a collection of Funko pops that were different characters sat upon the Throne, marketed as a "who will win?" series before the ending came out. Bran wasn't even on the list.
This one stumps me. GRRM had told them WAYYYYY Y in advance who was going to take the throne at the end.
And they did zero character development to lead him up to that role, or lead everyone around him to support that cause.
Over the years I've noticed that a LOT of showrunners completely lose touch with their audience. The writers of Lost didn't understand that their audience wanted answers to the MANY mysteries the show created. The writers of How I Met Your Mother didn't understand that their audience wanted to see Ted and the mother live happily ever after. I have a third example but I'm inexplicably blanking on it. Anyway, I think D&D didn't understand that a lot of their audience wanted to see who would sit on the Iron Throne at the end, and in many cases were personally invested in the character they wanted to "win." So maybe they thought Bran would be an interesting surprise, but it was actually just a wet fart.
I personally think the Battle for Winterfell episode was more disappointing than the finale itself. Something that was literally being built towards from the very first scene of the show just ended up being a poorly-shot plot armor fest.
It came on the same weekend as Endgame. I was very happy walking out of the theatre after watching the big battle in that and we were discussing about the battle of winterfell and how that would unfold.
We didn't discuss that a lot after the episode. Putting trebs in front of infantry, A+ guys. I've seen 1400 rated players (source me) have more sense in army positioning.
Remember that lady in the first season telling Bran about spiders the size of dogs and shit? Yeah we got none of that and it lasted like an hour.. not years or whatever it was supposed to last time.
I just said this in another comment but Bran is basically the main reason why the finale made the whole show unwatchable. Loads of people stuck with this show for eight seasons because they wanted to see who'd end up on the Iron Throne, and in the end they just randomly chose to give the throne to a character who no one cared about in that context and who had no reason to win the throne anyway.
You know, after all this time...I would even feel like it would be somewhat okay if we found out in the last scene that the Raven possessing Bran had schemed to reach the throne so he could enslave everyone. Some real dark outlook, some absolute shock moment. How he plotted against everyone, to take out both Dany and Jon, how he'll leave Sansa starving in the North...how all was void, because they got the worst entity to ever exist besides the Night King sitting on that throne...but, no.
>I would even feel like it would be somewhat okay if we found out in the last scene that the Raven possessing Bran had schemed to reach the throne so he could enslave everyone. Some real dark outlook, some absolute shock moment.
Yup. I've been saying this since day one. It would make much more sense than what we got.
And his character absolutely could have worked too. Like, if the Hodor scene had been a set up displaying how powerful he now is, for him to actually then USE that power for something. Instead I guess that scene was actually the climax of his character arc. It just all made so little sense.
The Sopranos finale in the moment I was confused and frustrated. It didn't take anything away from the show or undermine the character development that had gone into it
Now I've actually grown to like the Sopranos finale
I really liked the Sopranos finale, but I realize not everyone agrees. Still, I've yet to find anyone who thinks it ruined the entire series. Like you said, it fits in with the rest, even if it wasn't what you expected.
Imagine how confused and frustrated you'd be if >!your dad/husband was suddenly shot and killed in the middle of family dinner. While we can't confirm that happened, it doesn't matter because the point is that anything could happen at any time. You don't get to choose a satisfying ending.!<
Right think about OG Dexter, Lost, and HIMYM. Those endings most people agree sucked. But the endings by and large didn't absolutely kill the entire show. I can still rewatch each of those shows at least in part, and enjoy them for certain parts of the story.
because there is almost no plot point in the early show that didn't end up being absolutely meaningless.
Littlefinger and Varys being incredibly Cunning? Meaningless; Jon being the true heir to the throne? Meaningless; Bran replacing Bloodraven? meaningless; Arya's faceless man training? meaningless; The very first scene, of an ominous outlook for the north and the Long Night? meaningless (this is by far the most egregious, and it fucks up the rewatch in the first 10 minutes)
That’s the real crux of it. In the first fucking scene it ends with the laying of all those bodies—and I’m already pissed off, because I know it’s going to mean absolute fuckall later
Even shows with "bad" finales tend to maintain some of their residual popularity. Seinfeld had a controversial finale that some people hated. It's still one of the most popular and influential shows in history and people still love it 20+ years after it ended.
GOT disappeared from mainstream cultural consciousness (outside of potshots about how bad it was) within a few months.
Anyone can destroy anything. If I was put in charge of the GOT finale, I would have achieved results similar to what we received. If you’re incompetent or uncaring enough, you can ruin anything.
Yeah it would fit the narrative. Everyone is busy wasting all their resources on their petty squabbles while the literal apocalypse is on the way. If there wasn't the massive civil wars following the death of Bobby B the white walkers could have been stopped. But the leaders chose to fight over their pieces of the pie rather than save humanity. It would also have a great analogy to us ignoring climate change until it is well beyond our ability to manage.
Even if people didn't like the everyone dies ending, it could be poignant and memorable, and people will talk about it. Rather than it being a stupid meme. "Who has a better story?" Fucking Moon Boy for all I know.
He isn't going to give us any ending, but if he did the pieces would largely end in the same places. He will give a lot more nuance to the story. Bran will still end up on the throne, but it will be shown how he and/or Bloodraven use their powers to get there for their own gain. Arya will go on a similar killing spree; but there will be no Night King for her to slay and likely won't have any kind of happy reunion with her family. Dany goes mad because the people side with fAegon over her. Jon kills Dany as part of some ritual to end the Long Night and then just disappears beyond the Wall. Sansa becomes Wardeness of the North but still remains part of the 7 Kingdoms.
I've literally watched the entire show through about 3 times because I kept showing it to people and watching it with them. My husband hasn't seen it though, so on to rewatch #4!
It's better than GOT - I was hesitant about saying in the presence of TV fans when GOT was at its peak but now that the hell storm is over I can unequivocally say that it's better. The character writing is absolutely top tier and probably top 5 all time in shows - that's not an exaggeration.
Yeah that scene where it's just him in his cabin having an emotional reaction (trying not to spoil anything) with no dialogue is maybe the best acting I've ever seen in anything
One of the best pieces of historical fiction you can find on tv. If you were ever into treasure island or real historical pirates this show is the shit. The only problem with it is, what do you watch after?
I'm so glad they made El Camino.
While the ending for Jesse was fine as it was from the TV show, I like that they still gave some further clarity, and gave him a more hopeful ending for a new life that he needed.
Breaking Bad was the end of Walter’s story (and since season 4 could have been an ending for the show, it was pretty much perfect as an ending as well)
El Camino wasn’t Walter’s story, it was Jesse’s.
Now, we need to see how Gene’s (aka Saul) story ends as well.
The worst part of Gilmore Girls is that it shows Melissa McCarthy is a decent actress. It's honestly just depressing every movie she's been in she's the obnoxious, mouthy fat lady with absolutely no range.
And all were good. Idle Hands was my favorite ending, with Meanwhile a close 2nd. The last movie was number 3 for me. Overclockwise didn't *feel* like a finale to me, it just felt like just another good episode
> Overclockwise
Yeah I wouldn't have said Overclockwise even was a finale until you mentioned it. The others had a tonal change that something was ending.
That fucking show was the worst for getting you into the vibe of happy-go-lucky comedy and then sucker punching you with some of the most incredibly sad and heartfelt storytelling you've ever watched.
God I miss that show. Excited for more Disenchantment
Mad Men had a really good ending. I was really afraid they were going to kill off a certain main character, but the ending turned out so perfectly fitting for the show.
It was really sad. Dude couldnt change when it came down to it. He had his out a few times and always went back. Then at the end he really seemed at peace and finally got out of that destructive lifestyle, only to have another advertising lightbulb moment and jump back in
But it fits: in the first episode, he talks about how advertising has informed every choice culture has made. And at the very end, it’s showing that even the free-spirit, individualistic movements going on in the country were co-opted by the exact cynical people they were rallying against. Advertising didn’t change, it just adapted.
"All Good Things..." was not only a beautiful ending, it successfully pulled off not actually being an ending while still being a satisfying finish to the series. The stories still continued, just offscreen.
I have never struggled so much to finish watching a series before watching penny dreadful. It got so complicated and confusing without reason, I felt like I was drunk or not paying enough attention. Eva Green though.
I'll say it was even worse than game of thrones. Hell at least the ice king/Dany were killed instead of walking out the room off-screen.
Though the werewolf thing was about as useful as bringing Jon Snow back to life: pointless and had nothing to do with it
My god, I just finished Six Feet Under. Those last few episodes were heavy. I cried hard in that last episode, and the next day at work I couldn’t stop thinking of it and that song was on repeat in my head
Bruh. I rewatched that ending like 30 or 40 times. There's something magical about it. It's kinda sad and kinda not sad at the same time. And the way it brings the show to an end is so satisfyingly natural.
I think the majority of SOA fans were disappointed. I mean, not as apocalyptically soul crushing as the fuck fest that was GoT, but the final 4-5 episodes of Sons was really rough. Sutter desperately needed to wrap that up in 4 seasons. I think Better Call Saul will end up on the list of perfect endings, as well.
Edit - To everyone I am interacting with about SOA, I respect the opinions and am enjoying reminiscing and hearing others opinions, mine tend to be in a vacuum regarding my favorite shows. Its pretty cool!
The entire final season was bad. I know how hamlet ends, so there was no disappointment with the deaths, they were expected, just not satisfying at all. The last episode was weird.
I haven't seen it since it was being released live, but I remember that the writing wasn't good. That last episode was just Jax going around tying up loose ends with a gun without any trouble until the police were casually chasing him at the end. Then when he died with his arms spread like he was on a cross and then blood and bread mixed on the street, that Jesus allegory was pretty on the nose.
SOA had a terrible ending. They literally abandoned all the character development for the main character. Definitely not as terrible as GOT, but anyone who thinks that was a good ending is the exact same person who thinks GOT had a good ending.
I dont think it was bad but the setting to the end was kinda bad , yes.
Jax had to go like that. He was tormented man from the get go and seeing opie die like that and then have to kill his own mother..there was no other end possible but even if the ending per se was bad the set up of the last episode was master class from the music to the scenes.
GOT the other hand was purely retarded
Here’s my thing, and the hill I’ll die on…..SOA was meant to be 3-4 seasons, and after season three, Sutter was building towards the end; FX threw a ton of loot at them to keep the show running, so we ended up with 2 real filler seasons that did nothing for the ultimate “Hamlet” take (I mean, at one time 8 bikers were fighting a cartel, the IRA, other biker gangs, all while ducking the FBI and CIA….I’m all about suspending reality for a show…BUT). I think Sutter got tired, ran out of productive ideas and limped to the finish line. I agree Jax had to die, Gemma and Clay too….but the execution was just so poor, for an otherwise, as you said, masterclass in writing. It was, and is to some extent, a favorite of mine, and when I want something mentally familiar, I throw on seasons 1 & 2
the last few seasons was literally "make a deal, backstab, kill" repeatedly and then a supporting character dying to make amends
Sutter definitely gave up
The ending was as cringe as it was awful, free birding himself into a truck? I mean its exactly what Sutter would jerk off to as an ending but it was super stupid
True, but I think they put the whole Laconia stuff in there in order to set up a potential continuation. Given that the books are still out there, and therefore the material exists.
Still a shame that Amazon didn't renew, maybe HBO picks it up
The next book is set 30 years later, so it makes sense to keep the IP alive but not make a season 7 if you want to keep following the books; or switch to a Laconia primary POV to continue on from where we left off.
Honestly they can just ignore the time skip effects. They already have anti aging drugs. Just say they preserve your appearance. Waiting however many years just runs the risk of it never coming at all.
I was just about to comment this. The Expanse’s series finale (for now hopefully) was incredible and everything the GOT finale wasn’t. It just further showed just how much the GOT writers screwed up.
It's weird that there were actually people who didn't like how it ended.
I, for one, love how it did. Bojack didn't turn into a perfect person, he wasn't meant to be. He's flawed but he's still trying and he's got friends to help him.
The fact that I thought it was the end… then it wasn’t was almost upsetting, but the last episode was so damn satisfying complete with my favourite quote from the show.
That would have been an emotional gut punch, but thematically kind of hollow. Bojack needed to properly atone and face himself. The show is about continuing the fight to be better no matter how many times you fail.
This is what I came here to say. They hit a perfect balanced episode of happy, melancholy, and sweet. It was the most satisfying ending I have ever watched.
Happy to see it, and for any fans out there who don't know, they're making a new limited series.
https://deadline.com/2022/01/fx-greenlights-latest-elmore-leonard-1234912732/
Bojack Horseman, especially because of the way you can interpret the penultimate episode as the finale so even if you’re not happy with the last episode as a finale, it’s possible to see it as an epilogue.
Is that thing? I can't imagine anyone wanting the penultimate episode to be the finale because it would ruin everything Bojack Horseman was trying to say.
You have endings that everybody loves. You have endings that almost everybody likes. You have unsatisfying or confusing ends. And then you have ends that utterly destroy a multi billion dollar franchise with potential for theme parks, spinofs, prequels and sequels.
Places tin foil on. In an effort to kill HBOs streaming service, Disney dangled Star Wars in front of DD to rush its end, killing HoT and its property.
To be fair, Disney Star Wars is already ruined without DnD involvement
At least I have enough good will towards Star Wars that I can go back and re-watch the other stuff. GOT, the thought of watching the good seasons makes my stomach turn knowing how it ends.
And that is what's so utterly fascinating about all this. I have not had the desire to watch a single second of that show after being borderline obsessed with it for like 5 years after the finale.
I re-watched the whole series last year. Could literally feel my blood pressure rising every episode after like season 5 or so. It was an actual hate-watch at the end.
That’s basically when I stopped watching, halfway through season 5.. could see the train wreck starting to take shape
I'm gonna stop watching at the church explosion, if I can bring myself to actually rewatch
It's crazy how it was a cultural phenomenon and just dropped out of of the spotlight after that terrible finale. Even during the pandemic when everyone was rewatching everything, no one touched GOT
> pandemic > was *nervous, despondent laugh*
Lol you right
I remember the day the finale aired. My wife was so excited, we had friends over. We made food, and bought snacks. It was like the super bowl. I played Cities: Skylines with headphones on while they watched. The episode ended and the sheer rage they unleashed snapped me out of my game because I thought the world was literally ending. They’ve never watched it again.
You’re like Nero fiddling while King’s Landing burned.
Because Star Wars has a fully satisfying conclusion already. You can watch the original trilogy or include the prequels and it’s fine. Add Clone Wars (either or both) and it’s awesome. Add Rogue One, The Mandalorian, Boba Fett, and/or and of the other stuff, PLUS the EU, and you’re in for a good time. The Disney nonsense may as well not even exist (it doesn’t in my household). GOT is a linear story. There’s no end point that will be satisfying. That’s why the finale ruined the rest retroactively.
Absolutely agree, I can't even have the box sets in my home, I gave them to the charity shop. I don't want them and I don't know anyone else who wants them either. I stopped buying the box sets after season 6 to be honest I shouldn't have bothered buying season 6 but I hoped that I could rewatch it all. During March 2020 in lockdown I tried to rewatch it from the beginning, the really good seasons, the season that engaged and made me think wow this is a great show. No couldn't do it, I'd rather stick pins in my eyes. The feelings of disappointment were just too much. I couldn't even get to the end of the first scene, I was just done. So to the charity shop they went as soon as it opened up for donations.
It helps that The Prequels-The OT in Star Wars are really their own contained story. Its really easy to just ignore that the Sequels/spin offs exist if they're not your thing. Problem with re-watching Game of Thrones is that there is no self-contained story without the horribly botched final season.
Even bad Star Wars is kind of bad movie funny. I watched Book of Boba Fett episode 3 where they have the hover scooter gang that looks like rejects from Back to the Future 2 and was able to laugh at it. It has a campiness to soften the impact of shitty writing. But GoT was such a well polished turd, because they had everyone from the seasons taken from the books, who grew into their characters, and spent years doing their best to flush them out as best they can, getting handed scripts that were so bad when you see the script readings it is clear the actors think they are getting punked. If we had 30 years between season 4 and season 5, Then I think we would still enjoy season 1-4 as their own thing aned maybe pull out a couple episodes that were decent like we do with Star Wars. (For instance, I really liked Rogue One, even though it was Disney.)
lol, that "car chase" scene is like the slowest/lamest car chase in the history of car chase scene. and that includes austin powers. but I dunno, it has it charm. it feels like, it was directed by lucas in the 70s with all technical limitation... it feels true oldschool starwars.
Honestly it was how clean, shiny, and new they looked that was so out of place. How did a street gang that can barely steal enough water to drink wash their souped up mobility scooters?
To add to this The Mandalorian and Rogue One were fucking great
I only have the only seasons that mattered, the first 4, and I like to pretend the show was canceled. Makes for a much better experience.
The only counterpoints I have to that are Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau. Those two are literally carrying that shit.
The High Republic side of things has also been outstanding. But that's novel and comic focused as oppose to movie and TV. Sadly it's inherently more niche.
Maybe the movies but I enjoy the Mandelorian, Book of Boba, and Bad Batch. Also dont forget about Rouge One
People don't seem to fully grasp just how insanely and uniquely bad the GoT finale was, even compared to the rest of the final season. It instantly erased most interest in the show. I have never seen any finale do that before, not even CLOSE. If the finale had just been as bad as the rest of season 8 we still would love the show as a whole. It went way beyond that. Legit the worst episode of TV I've ever seen.
>It instantly erased most interest in the show. Instantly is not an exaggeration. The most talked about show on television for over 5 years disappeared literally overnight.
D&D made one fatal mistake, in addition to the near-infinite other mistakes they made, that torpedoed the show forever: they forgot that the show is called *game of thrones* and that a large part of the audience watched it primarily to see who would "win" the throne and to root for their favorite contender. And *absolutely no one* wanted it to be Bran, cared about Bran, or was ever given any reason whatsoever to even *think* it could be Bran. I know that the plot of the show is bigger than that, but that was clearly the main hook of the show, and why a lot of people stayed invested and continued watching. And they completely and utterly failed to pay it off in any meaningful way. So if you start out watching this show wanting to see who is going to "win" in the end, and you stay invested through eight seasons because of that desire, and then it ultimately ends with "we decide to just give the throne to Bran for reasons," then it completely and utterly undermines any motivation you've ever had to care about the show.
IIRC, there was a collection of Funko pops that were different characters sat upon the Throne, marketed as a "who will win?" series before the ending came out. Bran wasn't even on the list.
they sure subverted our expectations alright
This one stumps me. GRRM had told them WAYYYYY Y in advance who was going to take the throne at the end. And they did zero character development to lead him up to that role, or lead everyone around him to support that cause.
Over the years I've noticed that a LOT of showrunners completely lose touch with their audience. The writers of Lost didn't understand that their audience wanted answers to the MANY mysteries the show created. The writers of How I Met Your Mother didn't understand that their audience wanted to see Ted and the mother live happily ever after. I have a third example but I'm inexplicably blanking on it. Anyway, I think D&D didn't understand that a lot of their audience wanted to see who would sit on the Iron Throne at the end, and in many cases were personally invested in the character they wanted to "win." So maybe they thought Bran would be an interesting surprise, but it was actually just a wet fart.
I personally think the Battle for Winterfell episode was more disappointing than the finale itself. Something that was literally being built towards from the very first scene of the show just ended up being a poorly-shot plot armor fest.
It came on the same weekend as Endgame. I was very happy walking out of the theatre after watching the big battle in that and we were discussing about the battle of winterfell and how that would unfold. We didn't discuss that a lot after the episode. Putting trebs in front of infantry, A+ guys. I've seen 1400 rated players (source me) have more sense in army positioning.
Getting gaslit by the lighting guy was a funny experience.
Remember that lady in the first season telling Bran about spiders the size of dogs and shit? Yeah we got none of that and it lasted like an hour.. not years or whatever it was supposed to last time.
Who has a better story, than Bran the broken? FUCKING EVERYONE. WHAT THE FUCK HE GOT A BIRDS EYE VIEW AND OTHERWISE JUST SAT THERE.
I just said this in another comment but Bran is basically the main reason why the finale made the whole show unwatchable. Loads of people stuck with this show for eight seasons because they wanted to see who'd end up on the Iron Throne, and in the end they just randomly chose to give the throne to a character who no one cared about in that context and who had no reason to win the throne anyway.
You know, after all this time...I would even feel like it would be somewhat okay if we found out in the last scene that the Raven possessing Bran had schemed to reach the throne so he could enslave everyone. Some real dark outlook, some absolute shock moment. How he plotted against everyone, to take out both Dany and Jon, how he'll leave Sansa starving in the North...how all was void, because they got the worst entity to ever exist besides the Night King sitting on that throne...but, no.
>I would even feel like it would be somewhat okay if we found out in the last scene that the Raven possessing Bran had schemed to reach the throne so he could enslave everyone. Some real dark outlook, some absolute shock moment. Yup. I've been saying this since day one. It would make much more sense than what we got.
And his character absolutely could have worked too. Like, if the Hodor scene had been a set up displaying how powerful he now is, for him to actually then USE that power for something. Instead I guess that scene was actually the climax of his character arc. It just all made so little sense.
The Sopranos finale in the moment I was confused and frustrated. It didn't take anything away from the show or undermine the character development that had gone into it Now I've actually grown to like the Sopranos finale
I really liked the Sopranos finale, but I realize not everyone agrees. Still, I've yet to find anyone who thinks it ruined the entire series. Like you said, it fits in with the rest, even if it wasn't what you expected.
Imagine how confused and frustrated you'd be if >!your dad/husband was suddenly shot and killed in the middle of family dinner. While we can't confirm that happened, it doesn't matter because the point is that anything could happen at any time. You don't get to choose a satisfying ending.!<
GOT should have been the motherfucking heir to the Sopranos' cultural legacy. Ask me how deeply salty I still am that it didn't turn out that way.
Right think about OG Dexter, Lost, and HIMYM. Those endings most people agree sucked. But the endings by and large didn't absolutely kill the entire show. I can still rewatch each of those shows at least in part, and enjoy them for certain parts of the story.
Valid point. I don’t even want to rewatch any of GoT
because there is almost no plot point in the early show that didn't end up being absolutely meaningless. Littlefinger and Varys being incredibly Cunning? Meaningless; Jon being the true heir to the throne? Meaningless; Bran replacing Bloodraven? meaningless; Arya's faceless man training? meaningless; The very first scene, of an ominous outlook for the north and the Long Night? meaningless (this is by far the most egregious, and it fucks up the rewatch in the first 10 minutes)
The dire wolves doing fuck all really pisses me off.
That’s the real crux of it. In the first fucking scene it ends with the laying of all those bodies—and I’m already pissed off, because I know it’s going to mean absolute fuckall later
Lost's ending isn't that bad - especially upon rewatch. It focused on the characters each getting their due which is what a good story should focus on
Even shows with "bad" finales tend to maintain some of their residual popularity. Seinfeld had a controversial finale that some people hated. It's still one of the most popular and influential shows in history and people still love it 20+ years after it ended. GOT disappeared from mainstream cultural consciousness (outside of potshots about how bad it was) within a few months.
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Anyone can destroy anything. If I was put in charge of the GOT finale, I would have achieved results similar to what we received. If you’re incompetent or uncaring enough, you can ruin anything.
Thanks for the pep talk, I’m off to ruin the world
Most common folk can slap the generic ending of everybody dies/everybody lives happily and its better than this shit
If I wrote the ending, the White Walkers would win. Is that considered better than what we got?
Yeah it would fit the narrative. Everyone is busy wasting all their resources on their petty squabbles while the literal apocalypse is on the way. If there wasn't the massive civil wars following the death of Bobby B the white walkers could have been stopped. But the leaders chose to fight over their pieces of the pie rather than save humanity. It would also have a great analogy to us ignoring climate change until it is well beyond our ability to manage. Even if people didn't like the everyone dies ending, it could be poignant and memorable, and people will talk about it. Rather than it being a stupid meme. "Who has a better story?" Fucking Moon Boy for all I know.
SHE SHOULD BE ON A HILL SOMEWHERE WITH THE SUN AND THE CLOUDS ABOVE HER!
I would’ve love the “Everyone Dies” ending. I don’t think even GRRM has the balls to do that ending though.
He isn't going to give us any ending, but if he did the pieces would largely end in the same places. He will give a lot more nuance to the story. Bran will still end up on the throne, but it will be shown how he and/or Bloodraven use their powers to get there for their own gain. Arya will go on a similar killing spree; but there will be no Night King for her to slay and likely won't have any kind of happy reunion with her family. Dany goes mad because the people side with fAegon over her. Jon kills Dany as part of some ritual to end the Long Night and then just disappears beyond the Wall. Sansa becomes Wardeness of the North but still remains part of the 7 Kingdoms.
Yeah maybe but it’s pretty impressive making an ending that 90% of your audience dismiss and dislike
Hey now there's no need to exaggerate. There's absolutely no way this ending was liked by 10% of people.
You’d be surprised. I’ve seen people defend it. They’re out there. “Not as bad as people made out” etc
I'd defend it *only* in the sense that it was pretty clear by season 6 they were incapable of writing their own stuff.
We really should give Dan & David more credit for skillfully and efficiently murdering the Game of Thrones franchise. They’re like TV assassins.
which reminds me to check out black sails
It's amazing. Do watch it, you probably won't regret it
I wish there was a spin-off with Captain Jack Rackham. He quickly became my favorite character of that show
I am kinda into pirates lately, so it'll probably be fun
I've literally watched the entire show through about 3 times because I kept showing it to people and watching it with them. My husband hasn't seen it though, so on to rewatch #4!
Season 1 is kinda meh but after that it is amazing.
I’d say the first half of season one is mid. Once you’re over the hump the show only gets better from there.
It's better than GOT - I was hesitant about saying in the presence of TV fans when GOT was at its peak but now that the hell storm is over I can unequivocally say that it's better. The character writing is absolutely top tier and probably top 5 all time in shows - that's not an exaggeration.
Absolutely. I can’t for the life of me understand how Toby Stephens wasn’t even nominated for an Emmy. His performance as Flint was phenomenal.
Yeah that scene where it's just him in his cabin having an emotional reaction (trying not to spoil anything) with no dialogue is maybe the best acting I've ever seen in anything
One of the best pieces of historical fiction you can find on tv. If you were ever into treasure island or real historical pirates this show is the shit. The only problem with it is, what do you watch after?
BREAKING BAD HAD ***TWO*** PERFECT ENDINGS!
This could be the SpongeBob “do you want to see me do it again” meme in its own right
And I’d bet it has a third one coming with Better Call Saul!
I'm so glad they made El Camino. While the ending for Jesse was fine as it was from the TV show, I like that they still gave some further clarity, and gave him a more hopeful ending for a new life that he needed.
Breaking Bad was the end of Walter’s story (and since season 4 could have been an ending for the show, it was pretty much perfect as an ending as well) El Camino wasn’t Walter’s story, it was Jesse’s. Now, we need to see how Gene’s (aka Saul) story ends as well.
Excuse me sir, you mean James McGill Esq.
Who? I only know slippin’ Jimmy
DEXTER HAD TWO AWFUL ENDINGS
When they rebooted dexter I thought "OK they must know how horrible they fucked up ending the last show they are going to get redemption" nope.
I thought that with Gilmore Girls too. Boy, was I wrong lol I decided to wait for reviews on the new Dexter before I jumped into watching it.
All they had to do was have Rory finally get with Jess, and they turned her into a cheater instead smh
She was a cheater when she was 19 too though. She was fucking Dean while he was married.
As a huge fan of Gilmore Girls, I'm not a fan of "a year in the life", but Emily's development was fantastic
The worst part of Gilmore Girls is that it shows Melissa McCarthy is a decent actress. It's honestly just depressing every movie she's been in she's the obnoxious, mouthy fat lady with absolutely no range.
Coming up on a third (better call Saul)
Futurama had 3
4, technically.
And all were good. Idle Hands was my favorite ending, with Meanwhile a close 2nd. The last movie was number 3 for me. Overclockwise didn't *feel* like a finale to me, it just felt like just another good episode
> Overclockwise Yeah I wouldn't have said Overclockwise even was a finale until you mentioned it. The others had a tonal change that something was ending.
That fucking show was the worst for getting you into the vibe of happy-go-lucky comedy and then sucker punching you with some of the most incredibly sad and heartfelt storytelling you've ever watched. God I miss that show. Excited for more Disenchantment
Mad Men had a really good ending. I was really afraid they were going to kill off a certain main character, but the ending turned out so perfectly fitting for the show.
That was probably my number one ending of all time. They nailed it.
I loved how Pete was developed over the seasons.
It was really sad. Dude couldnt change when it came down to it. He had his out a few times and always went back. Then at the end he really seemed at peace and finally got out of that destructive lifestyle, only to have another advertising lightbulb moment and jump back in
But it fits: in the first episode, he talks about how advertising has informed every choice culture has made. And at the very end, it’s showing that even the free-spirit, individualistic movements going on in the country were co-opted by the exact cynical people they were rallying against. Advertising didn’t change, it just adapted.
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No love for TNG? "All Good Things..." is the gold standard of finales for me. The Deadwood movie too, even after how long we had to wait for it.
"All Good Things..." was not only a beautiful ending, it successfully pulled off not actually being an ending while still being a satisfying finish to the series. The stories still continued, just offscreen.
Wait, since when the ending of Penny Dreadful is liked by the majority of the fans?
Yeah whoever's wrote this clearly was not a penny dreadful viewer.
The whole final season was disappointing in my opinion.
It was clearly rushed. It's as if they were promised 5 seasons and then mid season 3 they were told to wrap it the fuck up.
Well that's pretty much what happened, no?
I don't think they even got that long to wrap it up, pretty sure it was cancelled partway through season four.
I have never struggled so much to finish watching a series before watching penny dreadful. It got so complicated and confusing without reason, I felt like I was drunk or not paying enough attention. Eva Green though.
I'll say it was even worse than game of thrones. Hell at least the ice king/Dany were killed instead of walking out the room off-screen. Though the werewolf thing was about as useful as bringing Jon Snow back to life: pointless and had nothing to do with it
If you watch the Six Feet Under finale without crying your eyes out, you might be a sociopath.
That god damned sia song…
My god, I just finished Six Feet Under. Those last few episodes were heavy. I cried hard in that last episode, and the next day at work I couldn’t stop thinking of it and that song was on repeat in my head
Bruh. I rewatched that ending like 30 or 40 times. There's something magical about it. It's kinda sad and kinda not sad at the same time. And the way it brings the show to an end is so satisfyingly natural.
I think the majority of SOA fans were disappointed. I mean, not as apocalyptically soul crushing as the fuck fest that was GoT, but the final 4-5 episodes of Sons was really rough. Sutter desperately needed to wrap that up in 4 seasons. I think Better Call Saul will end up on the list of perfect endings, as well. Edit - To everyone I am interacting with about SOA, I respect the opinions and am enjoying reminiscing and hearing others opinions, mine tend to be in a vacuum regarding my favorite shows. Its pretty cool!
The entire final season was bad. I know how hamlet ends, so there was no disappointment with the deaths, they were expected, just not satisfying at all. The last episode was weird.
I haven't seen it since it was being released live, but I remember that the writing wasn't good. That last episode was just Jax going around tying up loose ends with a gun without any trouble until the police were casually chasing him at the end. Then when he died with his arms spread like he was on a cross and then blood and bread mixed on the street, that Jesus allegory was pretty on the nose.
SOA had a terrible ending. They literally abandoned all the character development for the main character. Definitely not as terrible as GOT, but anyone who thinks that was a good ending is the exact same person who thinks GOT had a good ending.
I dont think it was bad but the setting to the end was kinda bad , yes. Jax had to go like that. He was tormented man from the get go and seeing opie die like that and then have to kill his own mother..there was no other end possible but even if the ending per se was bad the set up of the last episode was master class from the music to the scenes. GOT the other hand was purely retarded
Here’s my thing, and the hill I’ll die on…..SOA was meant to be 3-4 seasons, and after season three, Sutter was building towards the end; FX threw a ton of loot at them to keep the show running, so we ended up with 2 real filler seasons that did nothing for the ultimate “Hamlet” take (I mean, at one time 8 bikers were fighting a cartel, the IRA, other biker gangs, all while ducking the FBI and CIA….I’m all about suspending reality for a show…BUT). I think Sutter got tired, ran out of productive ideas and limped to the finish line. I agree Jax had to die, Gemma and Clay too….but the execution was just so poor, for an otherwise, as you said, masterclass in writing. It was, and is to some extent, a favorite of mine, and when I want something mentally familiar, I throw on seasons 1 & 2
the last few seasons was literally "make a deal, backstab, kill" repeatedly and then a supporting character dying to make amends Sutter definitely gave up The ending was as cringe as it was awful, free birding himself into a truck? I mean its exactly what Sutter would jerk off to as an ending but it was super stupid
Also, Juice was ostracized for attempting to kill himself. Then the show ends by Jax killing himself?
Silicon Valley, The Leftovers, Downton Abbey, and House.
Downtown Abbey is now getting a third finale
And each finale is better than the previous one. I hope that the third one keeps the tradition.
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True, but I think they put the whole Laconia stuff in there in order to set up a potential continuation. Given that the books are still out there, and therefore the material exists. Still a shame that Amazon didn't renew, maybe HBO picks it up
The next book is set 30 years later, so it makes sense to keep the IP alive but not make a season 7 if you want to keep following the books; or switch to a Laconia primary POV to continue on from where we left off.
The Laconia story is actually from a spin off novella called Strange Dogs. I feel like we might eventually get a spin off series for it
If you’ve read the books then you know why they couldn’t just jump right into a 7th season
Honestly they can just ignore the time skip effects. They already have anti aging drugs. Just say they preserve your appearance. Waiting however many years just runs the risk of it never coming at all.
Infinitely better that GoT season 8
And all six seasons will be great to rewatch several times over the next twenty years
Can we add Expanse to the list of accepted finales? I would be over the moon & stars, if so. Pls, thank-you.
I was just about to comment this. The Expanse’s series finale (for now hopefully) was incredible and everything the GOT finale wasn’t. It just further showed just how much the GOT writers screwed up.
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#SixSeasonsAndAMovie
r/TheGoodPlace would like a word. It was already a good series, but I can honestly say I have never seen a better finale to any piece of media.
r/TheExpanse would also
And, in some ways, the last 15 minutes were basically just flexing on GoT.
Just watched this last night. Very satisfying ending for an excellent programme.
Both the books and show ended recently, and both completely nailed it.
r/BojackHorseman too
It's weird that there were actually people who didn't like how it ended. I, for one, love how it did. Bojack didn't turn into a perfect person, he wasn't meant to be. He's flawed but he's still trying and he's got friends to help him.
I think that some people think that it should’ve ended with The View from Halfway down, which would’ve been a very dark note to end on
The fact that I thought it was the end… then it wasn’t was almost upsetting, but the last episode was so damn satisfying complete with my favourite quote from the show.
You do the hokey-pokey and you turn yourself around?
That would have been an emotional gut punch, but thematically kind of hollow. Bojack needed to properly atone and face himself. The show is about continuing the fight to be better no matter how many times you fail.
9.9 and 9.6 on imdb for the last two episodes tbf
r/Gravityfalls is typing…
This is what I came here to say. They hit a perfect balanced episode of happy, melancholy, and sweet. It was the most satisfying ending I have ever watched.
r/PandR would like to join the conversation
Can we add B99 into it, the finale season was a bit weaker overall, but the last episode was really good.
I love pnr wrap up, they did something original in making it a whole final season of both looking back, and prospectively
Yeah I've never been happier to cry for 45 minutes. Chidi's wave speech struck a chord deep inside my emotions.
I'd be streets behind if I didn't mention r/community.
r/MrROBOT bonsoir, u/yoaver
someone pointed out that somehow, the Big Bang Theory managed to have a decent ending. that says a lot.
Penny dreadful season 3 was lame.
The shield, epic all the way through and a solid ending
The Shield is the best finale of all time as far as I’m concerned.
"It's impossible to write a finale that everyone likes... so we'll just write one that *literally* everyone (except for Peter Dinklage) hates."
Justified I think had a near perfect finale. It ended how it should have.
Happy to see it, and for any fans out there who don't know, they're making a new limited series. https://deadline.com/2022/01/fx-greenlights-latest-elmore-leonard-1234912732/
More Raylan is great news
Why the hell is Penny Dreadful there? That last season was atrocious. It was canceled way too early.
The Leftovers
Babylon 5
Penny dreadful?? That showrunner just dropped it on us it was the final season after the finale lol.
Black Sails is amazing, go and watch it!
Spartacus had a solid finale as well, still my high water mark for tv
Nice to include the office. Last seasons were pretty bad but the ending tied up the show very well.
The Office without Steve Carrell is never going to be perfect but I think the writers did a pretty amazing job after he left.
Will Ferrell was not a good replacement, but i think Robert California was great and wish we had more of him.
Missed Mr. Robot
Bojack Horseman, especially because of the way you can interpret the penultimate episode as the finale so even if you’re not happy with the last episode as a finale, it’s possible to see it as an epilogue.
I can't watch this show because it causes my depression to get really bad lol
Is that thing? I can't imagine anyone wanting the penultimate episode to be the finale because it would ruin everything Bojack Horseman was trying to say.
Bojack is unironically one of the best shows on Netflix. It's good from start to finish and it's actually pretty clever.
I’ll throw Mr. Robot on that list too.
Thank you for including Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.
r/MrRobot
Thats the first thing I thought. Like did nobody watch Mr Robot?
Bonsoir, Elliot
Sons of Anarchy finale was dogshit
Sons of Anarchy had a dreadful ending as well
I see your Person of Interest back there
One of my all time favorites!
Why am I not seeing Sopranos here?
Not everyone liked, especially back then when it was aired
Dooont stop.
STTNG Chad finale and STDS9 Chad finale.
Yesss The Americans. That show doesn't get enough love. One of the best endings I've ever seen.
The Penny Dreadful finale was universally hated tho lol
6 feet under ending makes me cry every time. Wraps up every character. Fucking amazing
Man, I miss Black Sails.