10 Most Hated TV Finales Of All Time
3. Lost - ‘The End’
Towards the end of Lost’s final sixth season (ironically, in an episode designed to reveal a good chunk of backstory), someone says, “Every question I answer will simply lead to another question.” The audience at home should probably have been paying attention.
Already slated for years for failing to deliver answers to all of the fans’ burning questions, for the finale showrunners Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof chose to leave even more threads hanging, instead spinning a spiritual coda to the story.
The present-day storyline saw our hero’s sacrifice allow the defeat of the darkness lurking on the island and the escape of his friends. However, the B-story - the ‘flash sideways’ universe - came to the fore right at the end. It turned out that every protagonist in Lost’s six year history had been brought together after death to reconnect with one another in this ‘sideways’ waiting room, before moving on to whatever part of the afterlife was next.
Lost was never really about uncovering the mysteries of the island, any more than Mad Men was a show about advertising. ‘The End’ suited the elliptical, mystical narrative and show-not-tell style of the show down to the ground - and those that understood that, found it incredibly moving.
However, it was most emphatically not what the majority of the audience was after. Frustratingly, it appeared that Lost would take its secrets to the grave.