10 Most Divisive TV Finales, Ranked (original) (raw)

Published Feb 7, 2025, 5:05 PM EST

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Content Warning: The following article contains spoilers for the shows mentioned.It's not easy to wrap up a television series in not just a satisfying manner, but it pleases both audiences and critics, as well. This gets even harder when it's a world-renowned series that has a reputation for being stellar, wrapping up a plot of dozens of plot threads built up over the years of a show's run.

This can lead to even the best shows out there having pretty divisive finales. So much so that it can almost ruin a show's reputation because of it. Whether it be because a show ends on a cliffhanger, has a terrible ending, or is just overall confusing, it's extremely difficult to wrap up a series in a way that pleases its fans. Some of the best series of all time can be tarnished by simply one episode.

10 "Person to Person" - 'Mad Men' (2007–2015)

Created by Matthew Weiner

Image via AMC

When a series has run for as long as Mad Men did, a whopping 10 years, the hype builds up for the finale to such a point that it can feel almost impossible to deliver a finale that actually makes people happy. The ending is very ambiguous and leaves people feeling very conflicted with their thoughts about the way the writers decided to wrap everything up in this 1960s-set television show.

There's a considerable group of fans that actually do like the ending, but almost the same number don't think the same. But if there's one thing that the majority of people do agree upon, it's that the one character that actually did get a great ending, is Don Draper (Jon Hamm). People were quite pleased with how they wrapped up his character, amidst what they were unhappy with about the rest of the story.

Mad Men

Release Date

2007 - 2015-00-00

9 "Till Death Do Us Part" - 'Pretty Little Liars' (2010–2017)

Created by Ina Marlene King

The girls of Pretty Little Liars, Lucy Hale's Aria, Ashley Benson's Hanna, Shay Mitchell's Emily, Troian Bellisario's Spencer, and Sasha Pieterse's Alison, hugging in the series finale.

Image via Freeform

For quite some time, Pretty Little Liars was the most notorious network television series on the air. The opinions on Pretty Little Liars range from it being a "guilty pleasure" to genuinely enjoyable television. However, as the series continued onward, the mystery behind the plot began to grow and make the writers' lives harder, as it meant there was a lot more to find a way to make sense of in the big reveal.

So, when the finale came around, people expected some complex and layered storytelling to bring the plot to a final wrap-up. But, no one expected the writers to pull what may be known universally as one of the most lazy and/or uninspired plot devices in storytelling: the long-lost twin. There definitely are parts about the final episode that people enjoyed, though, praising the way each primary Pretty Little Liars character's lives were brought full circle. There's no denying that the reveal of a secret twin, never brought up before, at the very last second, made this a very divisive finale.

8 "Remember the Monsters?" - 'Dexter' (2006–2013)

Created by Jeff Lindsay

A closeup of Michael C. Hall as Dexter with shaggy hair and a beard looking blankly ahead in Dexter.

Image via Showtime

Dexter is one of the most renowned crime/drama series of all time. The tale woven over the course of its 8 (mostly) great seasons won viewers over and built up a lot of height about just how the story of Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall) was going to come to an end. It suffered from an issue that was a huge nail in the coffin of people already not enjoying Dexter Season 8's writing: going in a direction that didn't make much sense.

Almost every show faces the potential situation of not having enough time to bring all the stories it is telling to a close in a way that feels natural. Dexter, especially, hit this road bump. There's a pretty clear "endgame" set up in the very concept of the series itself, which would lead to Dexter getting found out and trying to escape the consequences. The writers chose to take a complete 90-degree turn away from that premise and do something that audiences ended up feeling very unhappy about, as the obvious ending was right in front of their noses the whole time. Many blame this on the writers simply not having enough time to do so and decided to take a route that just felt rushed, instead.

Dexter

Release Date

2006 - 2013-00-00

7 "Daybreak" - 'Battlestar Galactica' (2004–2009)

Created by Glen A. Larson

Jamie Bamber as Apollo in the Battlestar Galactica finale

Image via SYFY

It's hard to be even a little invested in the science fiction genre without knowing the title, Battlestar Galactica. It's a defining project of the entire genre and is noted by many as one of the best sci-fi television projects ever made. It lost some points with its finale, though. It definitely divided viewers by about an 80/20 split, with the majority absolutely hating what the crew decided to run with when ending the series. Battlestar Galactica Season 4, Episode 20, "Daybreak," much like Pretty Little Liars' finale, suffers from an infamous plot device that often cannot be saved: the notorious deus ex machina.

This is a storytelling tactic that finds a way to make one thing a "fix every problem at once" device. One of the most popular examples can be seen when Tony Star (Robert Downey Jr.) blows up the Chitauri ship to kill all the aliens at the end of The Avengers. Not to mention, it really beats viewers over the head with its religious themes that had never truly been implemented in the series prior.

6 "New York, I Love You XOXO" - 'Gossip Girl' (2007–2012)

Created by Josh Schwartz & Stephanie Savage

Penn Badgley and Blake Lively in formal wear in the Gossip Girl finale

Image via The CW

Oh, Gossip Girl, how fabled you are. Gossip Girl's ending is often spoken of when the topic of television finales is brought up. The last episode, Gossip Girl Season 6, episode 10, "New York, I Love You XOXO," begs the question of whether the shock of a twist is worth a plot point not making sense. The reveal of the mysterious "Gossip Girl"'s identity was not just a shocker, but massively confusing.

The truth of none other than Dan Humphrey (Penn Badgley) actually being the peculiar Gossip Girl all this time made little sense to viewers. His character arc really just didn't align with the more malevolent nature of the Gossip Girl identity. Additionally, his pairing with Serenavan der Woodsen (Blake Lively) came off as forced. Worst of all, these factors seemed as if they overshadowed the closing of everyone else's arcs.

5 "The Finale" - 'Seinfeld' (1989–1998)

Created by Larry David & Jerry Seinfeld

George, Jerry, Kramer, and Elaine in a jail cell during the 'Seinfeld' series finale.

Image via NBC

Seinfeld is one of the most popular television series ever made. The characters of Jerry Seinfeld (Jerry Seinfeld), Kramer (Michael Richards), Elaine Benes (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) and George Costanza (Jason Alexander) became some of the most lovable on television, with people almost immediately growing attached to them. So when the final episode to send them off ends up being a bit uncharacteristic for them, people were certainly thrown off.

The series typically delivers entries full of goofy and whimsical fun and jokes. The ending, though, decides to seemingly try to deliver some sort of moral message and throws the characters in jail for their undoings, which doesn't really fit who they are as characters. The show's humor is built on it being a show with no consequences to keep it lighthearted, so trying to deliver serious consequences at the last-inning run is way too much of a 180.

4 "The Iron Throne" - 'Game of Thrones' (2011–2019)

Created by David Benioff & D. B. Weiss

Daenerys Targaryen with her dragons wings unfurled behind her in the Game of Thrones series finale

Image via HBO

Holding a record as one of the most expensive television series ever made, Game of Thrones had a very high reputation and a lot riding on its big finale. It had one big problem from the very start, though: the books that the show is based on have not yet finished, even to this day. So how on Earth were they going to finish the show in a way that works for the characters, plot and pay respect to the world that George R. R. Martin built? No one knows, because it never really happened.

Due to George R. R. Martin's writing pace, the show quickly caught up to the books and, eventually, needed to wrap things up. There's speculation that the network ordered the show to end, because the final season (and this last episode, especially) was paced miles faster than the rest of the series, giving it an extremely rushed feeling. Which is a disappointment for people who fell in love with these characters.

3 "Last Forever" - 'How I Met Your Mother' (2005–2014)

Created by Craig Thomas and Carter Bays

Ted Mosby holding a blue French Horn and smiling up from a street below in How I Met Your Mother.

Image via CBS

How I Met Your Mother has a very—no, extremely—unique reason and consequences for being so divisive. After the airing of How I Met Your Mother Season 9, episode 24, "Last Forever," fans were not happy about the ending of Ted Mosby (Josh Radnor). The outrage was so passionate, that it sparked something that not many series end up doing or getting to do in the first place.

The creators of How I Met Your Mother, Craig Thomas and Carter Bays, decided that they were going to give audiences what they wanted and released an alternate ending that was catered more toward what viewers seemed to have wanted. Lo and behold, even the most dedicated fans of How I Met Your Mother embraced this new finale with open arms, making it divisive in a whole new way.

2 "The End" - 'Lost' (2004–2010)

Created by Jeffrey Lieber, J. J. Abrams, and Damon Lindelof

Matthew Fox as Jack Shephard, lying bloodied on the ground next to a dog in Season 6 of Lost

Image via ABC

The journey through the series known as Lost is one that's a bit of a roller coaster. The show had one of the strongest starts in network television history. People adored Lost and considered it one of the best drama shows to hit screens in decades after its debut in 2004. As the show continued on, however, it became the clearest definition of letting a good thing go stale.

As the finale came around, people simultaneously didn't have high hopes, but wondered if it would find a way to redeem the faults of the story since the 4th season. Some people genuinely consider Lost Season 6, episode 18, "The End" to be one of the worst television finales to ever air. With how jaded the viewers left watching became, some actually found solace in the ending of Lost. The series and characters they once found so much love for were finally being put to rest. So, call it a love/hate relationship.

Lost

Release Date

2004 - 2010-00-00

1 "Made in America" - 'The Sopranos' (1999–2007)

Created by David Chase

Tony (James Gandolfini) looks up from a tabletop jukebox in the finale of 'The Sopranos'

Image via HBO

The Sopranos Season 6, episode 21, "Made in America" is the king of divisive television finales. Many people continue to argue and debate about what the meaning of this finale is to this very day. The Sopranos has one of the most open-ended conclusions in television storytelling. Leaving viewers feeling tense and uneasy, waiting for something to happen to the iconic Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), the ending scene cuts before its climax can hit.

Rather than showing something that audiences may have seen dozens of times over throughout the series' tenure, or even letting him off easy in life, the crew behind the show decided not to give them the satisfaction or closure of either of those things happening. It's a painful, yet fitting end to a series of The Sopranos' nature.

NEXT: The Most Satisfying TV Show Finales That Tied Every Loose End, Ranked