20 TV Show Finales That Are Totally Flawless
9. 30 - The Wire
The Wire morphed its image so much during its five-season run that the thought of ending it was a daunting one. How could one of the greatest shows of all time possibly tie-up all its loose ends, considering how many it had amassed over the last 60 episodes?
Created by former crime reporter David Simon as a "TV novel", The Wire was simultaneously about the ineffective War on Drugs, police corruption, generational poverty, drug empires, broken school systems and gang warfare - and that's just the tip of the iceberg.
In 30, named after the journalist term for "end of story", troubled detective Jimmy McNulty (Dominic West) is revealed to have faked the presence of a serial killer in Baltimore, and a real killer starts to make their mark.
Though season five is the weakest of the show, 30 is a high point in a show with many, allowing every major character time to shine and move on (though not all of them in a good way), and ending with a striking sense of ambiguity that teases the fact that nothing's really changed since day one.