10 Most Controversial Series Finales In TV History
Part of the journey is the end, but it’s not always the most popular part of it.
TV finales tend to have the pressure cranked up, especially for massive shows with a huge following. A certain HBO show recently found that out in the worst way, as the once great series utterly crumbled in its final season, leading to one of TV’s most controversial endings ever.
It’s not just the poorly received send offs which are controversial though. David Benioff and D.B. Weiss famously (and in hindsight, rather foolishly) said they hoped Game Of Thrones’ ending would be like Breaking Bad, where people are debating whether it’s an A or an A+.
While that ‘debate’ isn’t enough controversy to land it a spot here, some critically revered finales generated huge discussion and plenty of disagreement amongst the fan base.
It’s hard to let go of something, especially when it’s been part of your life for so long. It leads to expectations which shows sometimes fail to deliver on. That’s often what drives these controversies: wanting to hold onto the show’s magic as long as possible fuels debates which can rage on for days, weeks and months.
Some these finales were great, others were terrible, but all of them got their fans talking.
10. Game Of Thrones
Game Of Thrones is the most recent example of a controversial finale, with the entire six-episode run of Season 8 a rushed mess that fumbled many character arcs and abandoned the intelligent dialogue the show had previously been known for.
The events of the season weren’t the problem, it was how fast they were thrown at the viewer. The Night King’s death, Daenerys’ descent into madness, and Bran becoming King could all have worked if given room to breathe.
That’s not even mentioning that the finale includes only 17 minutes of dialogue, despite its increased runtime. The whole season was poor, but the finale was the low point.
From around episode 3 onwards, the final season was generating huge amounts of backlash online. A petition was launched to redo the season entirely, though this was mainly a symbolic gesture.
Other fans have claimed the discontent is only down to fans not getting what they wanted. While some are disappointed in how Jon & Daenerys were treated by the final season, the backlash reaches way beyond this.
One good thing to come out of it though is the same fans who launched the petition have turned their attention to fundraising for Emilia Clarke’s charity.