From "Riverdale" To "The Good Place" – Five TV Series Finales That Flopped Hard, And Four Others That Were Just Perfect

New Line Cinema

Netflix

Many would argue (me included) that Riverdale flopped long before its finale. But that doesn't mean the finale itself wasn't disappointing for those loyal fans who stayed with it. Fans had their own idea about what the endgame would be, and having Betty, Archie, Jughead, and Veronica in a quad relationship wasn't it. One fan described it as "the stupidest thing Riverdale has ever done" – which is saying a lot!

NBC

I know, I know – the show wasn't the same after Michael left. They even could have finished it there and it probably would also have been perfect. But I have to say, they absolutely nailed the finale. They did Michaels' returning cameo so well – I mean his first line back was, "that's what she said". His final line in the show was iconic, too: “I feel like all my kids grew up, and then they married each other. It’s every parent’s dream.”

ABC

The thing that's so annoying about the ending of Scrubs is that I can't even remember it, because the final season should never have been a thing. The season eight finale was a perfect and fitting end for the show, and that's how the creator, Bill Lawrence, wanted it to be. But noooo, after pressure from ABC, another season was born – one that Scrubs fans can agree was a real flop all round. 

NBC

I'm NGL, I was pretty nervous as to how they were going to end the show – I mean, how do you close out a show where the characters are in the afterlife with immortality, so to speak?  Well, I needn't have worried. Yes, it was emotional, but that's exactly how it should have been! 

Ron P. Jaffe / CBS

It felt rushed. Very, very rushed. Perhaps the reason it felt so scrambled together was because they decided to unravel everything they'd been building towards during the whole season, particularly with Barney and Robin. Also, the whole thing with the mother, and going back to Robin just felt very 'meh' and unnecessary. 

AMC

It was a brutal ending, but one the show deserved. Jesse finally being released from Walt's destructive persona was incredibly cathartic, but also emotional. After all Jesse had been through, and how evil Walt had ultimately become, it felt like an apt way to bring the series to a close. 

HBO

There's really not too much to add about the finale, and the entire final season of GOT. It's been dragged ever since it came out, and thus must have a place on this list. It just felt so rushed, so random, and so wrong. There were so many avenues to go down, but it seemed like they knew how many theories there were about the final season, and decided to go in a totally different, and ultimately ridiculous direction. 

Amazon Prime Video

Look, I'd have liked The Expanse to continue the story further, but once a show doesn't get renewed (again), there's not much it can do about that. What's rare, is that the show managed to wrap things up in a satisfying way despite the story being cut short. It could have so easily ended things unresolved, or with a cliffhanger, but it managed to tie the storylines together nicely, and for that I am thankful. I'm still holding out for another season though!

Netflix

The main issue I, and other fans, had with the finale was what they did with Ruth. I mean, she really did deserve so much more. After seasons of character development, it just felt like they let her down. While some fans thought that ending was perfectly fitting for the show, I was certainly not in that camp.