Don’t you just hate it when the show you’ve dedicated so much time binge watching decides to half-ass their series finales? Sometimes, the underwhelming last episodes make me feel like even I could make it as a writer in Hollywood because what the hell was that?
A bad finale doesn’t just end a story. It also cheapens everything that came before it. Character growth gets undone, emotional payoffs evaporate, and fans are left trying to gaslight themselves into believing it “wasn’t that bad”.
I’d like to be clear that this rant is specifically for shows that ended naturally. Shows that were cancelled don’t qualify because they did the best they could with what little time they had.
Spoilers ahead so read at your own risk!
Out of the countless shows I’ve watched, the ones that I felt the biggest betrayals from their horrendous endings are:
How I Met Your Mother
This was my guilty pleasure show. I was a politically correct teen growing up but I let all morals leave my body when I watched Barney’s misogynistic behaviour and Robin’s pick-me attitude.
How it ended
After 9 whole seasons of buildup, we finally get to meet Tracy McConnell AKA the Mother in season 8, and she’s everything that Ted promised she’d be. Warm, quirky, emotionally intelligent. Best of all, gets along with every single one of his gang. Perfect, right?
Then they just kill her off. Just like that.
The final moments jump back to Ted standing outside Robin’s apartment with the blue French horn, implying that after everything (and I mean everything), Ted and Robin were endgame. Meanwhile, Robin and Barney’s marriage (yes, the one they spent a whole season on) collapses almost instantly.
So what was the point of 9 seasons? To tell us that Ted loved Robin all along? We already knew that. They could have wrapped it up in season 1 for real.
Why it didn’t work
- Tracy became a plot device instead of an actual person.
- Barney’s whole character development was erased.
- Ted’s entire arc loops back instead of moving forward.
The show spent years telling us that timing matters, that love evolves, and that you don’t force a relationship that doesn’t fit. Then proceeded to ignore all of that.
How it should have ended
Ted and Tracy should have lived. Their love story deserved time, not tragedy. No death scene to make way for Ted & Robin because wtf is that???
Barney and Robin will always be endgame to me. Their growth made sense. They chose each other after becoming better people. They made each other better. How did they lose the plot so bad?
Robin remains successful and independent. My girl didn’t deserve to be reframed as “the one that got away”. Growing up, I related to her character. She was her own person with her own career and didn’t want to do the settling down and having kids. Now, she has stepkids by Ted and it’s just so messy.
Lucifer
How it ended
Lucifer discovers that his true calling is to help lost souls in Hell. Sounds noble and all, except it comes at the cost of abandoning Chloe, missing his daughter Rory’s entire childhood, and accepting a destiny that causes everyone pain. Just because it’s “meant to happen”.
For a show that spent 6 seasons screaming FREE WILL at our faces, this ending where destiny wins felt kind of like they pulled the rug from right under us. I did not appreciate that at all. The choice of having Welcome to the Black Parade play in the final scene was a pleasant surprise though. But it couldn’t stop my disappointment in the show’s ending.
Why it didn’t work
- Lucifer regresses emotionally, punishing himself to some extent.
- After all that slowburn, Chloe is forced into a lifetime of loneliness.
- The narrative rewards suffering as necessary.
It felt cruel, not profound. Especially for a show that constantly challenged the idea of divine inevitability. But I guess the Catholic guilt was too strong?
How it should have ended
Lucifer deserved to see his daughter grow up. He deserved to stay on Earth with Chloe. He should have changed destiny.
Imagine a Lucifer who proves that growth means rewriting the system, not submitting to it. That would have been the ultimate rebellion and the most on-brand ending possible.
Supernatural
I dedicated 15 seasons to this show. Granted, I binged it in about 3-4 months, but regardless, the ending was an absolute disappointment.
How it ended
Dean dies on a normal, low-stakes hunt, goes to Heaven, has a beer with Bobby, then drives around. Sam lives a long, quiet life with his blurry wife and son Dean Jr, then dies of old age.
The last we see of Castiel was 2 episodes before the finale, when the Empty takes him right after his love confession to Dean. They do mention him in the final episode, when Bobby says “Cas helped” Jack rebuild Heaven but WHERE IS HE?
In the final episode of the whole show that spent 15 seasons telling us “family don’t end with blood”, there was no reunion, no rescue, no acknowledgement of the family they built beyond blood.
Why it didn’t work
- Dean’s death felt small and abrupt.
- Castiel’s sacrifice went unresolved.
- Emotional threads were left hanging.
DEAN WAS GONNA LIVE. HE HAD A DOG, MIRACLE! He would have never given up on Castiel. Worst of all, he’s such an experienced hunter, he wouldn’t die of tetanus. I know that they can’t top his death because this is a show where everyone keeps dying and coming back to life but COME ON! A rusty nail? Really? Not even death by vampire bite?
How it should have ended
My Destiel shipping heart says that Dean saved Castiel, accepted his love, and they’re now living happily ever after with their new baby Miracle.
Jokes aside, I just know that Sam and Dean would have saved Castiel from the Empty, had a proper (messy, emotional, earned) reunion, and chosen peace together. Whether that meant retiring, rebuilding Heaven, or finally resting, it should have been a shared ending. Because that’s the whole point.
A finale isn’t just an ending. It’s a thesis statement. It tells us what the story was really about all along.
These shows taught us about love, growth, rebellion, and family, just to contradict themselves in the final hour. That’s why these endings still sting years later.
We don’t expect perfection. We just want closure. And maybe a little emotional justice.