It’s hard to get the ending of a story right. As a community of writers, we at Spoiler TV are well aware of that. It’s especially challenging when producing a TV show with an audience of several million people per episode, each with their own ideas about how the finale should unfold. It’s impossible to please everyone – someone will always be unhappy, complaining that their favorite character’s arc felt weak or that the actors weren’t given a worthy send-off.
But then there are shows where the finale is such a disastrous letdown that the majority of the audience agrees that it’s a trainwreck with no survivors, a final act of self-destruction. Everything the show spent years building is destroyed in the final episode(s), leaving the audience feeling betrayed after investing so much time and emotion into the series. Some finales almost seem to mock viewers for staying loyal through all those seasons and years. It feels as if the final storyline was deliberately crafted to punish fans for shipping a couple that was never meant to be or for rejecting a character the creators were determined to push. Other shows, however, collapsed under the weight of their own ambition, trying too hard to create the perfect ending, only to buckle under pressure, rushing the finale or cramming in too much at once.
We at SpoilerTV have come together to compile a list of the shows we believe were robbed of a satisfying conclusion.
Dexter – Cristina
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| Michael C. Hall © All Rights Reserved. |
The Dexter series finale, "Remember the Monsters?" (Season 8, Episode 12), is widely considered one of the most disappointing endings in TV history because it failed to deliver a satisfying or logical conclusion to Dexter’s journey. Throughout the series, Dexter Morgan carefully balanced his double life as a blood-spatter analyst and serial killer who followed “The Code.” But in the finale, he makes irrational, uncharacteristic choices—especially in how he handles Debra’s fate and his own supposed “self-exile.” Debra (Jennifer Carpenter), arguably the show’s emotional core, is shot and left brain-dead after a rushed and poorly executed shootout with Saxon. Instead of letting her die with dignity, Dexter decides to unplug her life support and dispose of her body in the ocean—just like his victims. This not only contradicts his love for her but also feels cold and senseless.
After dumping Deb’s body in the sea, Dexter steers his boat into a hurricane, seemingly committing suicide. However, the show inexplicably reveals that he faked his death and is now living as a lumberjack in Oregon. Why? The reasoning is unclear. Dexter just decides he brings doom to everyone he loves, so instead of being with his son Harrison (whom he just abandoned to Hannah, an ex-lover on the run), he isolates himself in the woods. It felt lazy, unearned, and completely out of sync with the Dexter we knew.
Oliver Saxon (the Brain Surgeon) was a forgettable, underwhelming antagonist. Compared to past villains like the Trinity Killer or the Ice Truck Killer, he lacked charisma or depth. His final showdown with Dexter was over in seconds, making him feel like a throwaway villain rather than a true final challenge for Dexter.
One of the most frustrating aspects was the lack of closure. Throughout the series, Dexter was always on the edge of being caught—by law enforcement, his colleagues, or even his own conscience. But in the end, he simply walks away, avoiding justice, reckoning, or redemption. It felt like the writers didn’t know how to end his story, so they just… didn’t.
The ending ignored what made Dexter great: its psychological depth and moral complexity. The backlash was so strong that Dexter: New Blood had to come in years later to try and fix it, but by then, the damage was done. Instead of a thrilling or emotional payoff, it left fans scratching their heads—and making a lot of lumberjack jokes.
House MD – Eve
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| Hugh Laurie © All Rights Reserved. |
The final episode of House MD, titled "Everybody Dies," aired on May 21, 2012. The episode received mixed reactions from viewers and critics alike. Some viewers appreciated the introspective nature of the episode, which focused on House examining his life and future while treating a drug-addicted patient. The episode featured cameos from several characters from previous seasons, adding a sense of nostalgia. The decades-long friendship between House and Wilson was highlighted, which many fans found very fitting. However, others felt that the episode was overly sentimental and melodramatic, straying from the darker, more realistic tone of the show's earlier seasons.
Dr. Lisa Cuddy, played by Lisa Edelstein, did not appear in the final episode of House MD. She left the show after Season 7. Lisa Edelstein chose to leave the show due to contract disputes. In the storyline, Cuddy moved away from New Jersey following a violent end to her relationship with House, which included House driving his car into her dining room. This event shocked many fans and the writers received some substantial heat for this. Cuddy’s absence in the finale felt like a significant oversight, especially given her importance throughout the series and her meaningful relationship with House. The underwhelming response to the finale episode and even the complete final season triggered an ongoing debate between fans about the finale's effectiveness and its place in the series' legacy.
Major Crimes – Julia
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| Robert Gossett, Kearran Giovanni, Phillip P. Keene, Tony Denison, Mary McDonnell, G.W. Bailey, Raymond Cruz, Michael Paul Chan, Johathan Del Arco and Graham Patrick Martin © All Rights Reserved. |
The first show that immediately comes to mind when I think of butchered series finales is TNT’s Major Crimes. As a spin-off of The Closer, the crime procedural ran for six seasons, only to end with the main character’s death and those closest to her disregarding her values and everything she had stood for. Commander Sharon O’Dwyer Raydor, the head of LAPD’s Major Crimes division, mother of three and a newlywed, was needlessly killed off four episodes before the series finale, seemingly mainly to remove her rule-following, principled presence from the equation.
While the show consisted of an ensemble cast, Sharon Raydor was essentially the show's central figure. As it became clear that Major Crimes likely would not get renewed for another season, season 6 was written with the understanding that it would be the final chapter. The creators chose to end the show by pushing aside the woman who had carried the series for six seasons and shifted the focus to a character who had become increasingly disliked by a significant portion of the audience, a fact they were undoubtedly aware of.
To make matters worse, they killed Sharon Raydor in the most uninspired way possible: they gave her a heart condition and had her ignore her doctor's orders (which was very much out of character for her) until she collapsed and died. The moment she took her last breath, her adopted son and colleagues wasted no time in disregarding everything she had stood for, unraveling her legacy. As the final slap in the face, they removed the actress’s name from the opening credits faster than one could blink. Great show – awful ending. Sharon Raydor deserved better, the actors deserved better and so did the fans.
Sherlock - Anjali
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| Martin Freeman and Benedict Cumberbatch © All Rights Reserved. |
Anyone who has ever watched BBC’s Sherlock (2010-2017) knows that it was one of the best modern adaptations of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s titular detective, Sherlock Holmes. For the first two seasons, everything was absolutely praise-worthy, from the writing to the acting to the stories that were given a modern-day twist and the hype turned into a full-fledged internet phenomenon which exploded amongst audiences who were not only completely invested in the “Johnlock” mania of the duo, but in the fandom trying to solve one of the biggest mysteries when Sherlock seemingly faked his death in season 2 which sent Tumblr (and the entire internet as a collective whole) into a frenzied chaos for two years until the third season aired.
In the beginning of season 3 Sherlock makes his triumphant return, reuniting with John after being presumed dead. While Watson’s anger, devastation, and shock at seeing his best friend again were focused on the "why" rather than the "how," the mystery of Sherlock’s survival remained entierly unanswered. Instead, every explanation was turned into a parody. Even Andersen’s character became a comic relief, acting as a stand-in for the audience. Obsessed with figuring out how Sherlock survived, he joins a fan group and creates a conspiracy board filled with photographs and strings, trying to connect the dots and make it make sense. It came across as the showrunners brushing off the question about Sherlock’s survival as unimportant and every theory becoming irrelevant, which in turn, suggested that all the fandom’s time and effort and dedication into something they had truly enjoyed immersing themselves in was for nothing.
There’s also the issue of Eurus Holmes, a sibling of Sherlock and Mycroft that did not exist for the entire previous episodes and seasons, until suddenly, she was conjured out of thin air. She had a very convoluted backstory and ties to Moriarty and a grand plan to destroy her brother's lives and John's as well – but by the end of the series, everything felt more of a letdown than each episode that preceded it. Andrew Scott’s portrayal of Jim Moriarty casts a long shadow, as no other villain matched his brilliance. The show started to feel divided into two halves, before season 2 and after.
The magic was gone, that lightning in a bottle feeling which was captured twice, didn’t work a third or fourth time and even though Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman's chemistry continues to be the talk of the fandom, even years after the show “ended” (though never officially renewed or cancelled last season 4, the show is considered finished) it's safe to say that Sherlock had had its swan song with the finale of season 2 which was a peak television experience.
The X-Files – Elena
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| David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson © All Rights Reserved. |
“Not only the worst X-Files episode of all time, but the worst television my eyes have ever had to see.”
“There (are) some TV series that (I) don't think know when to end.. This eleventh @thexfiles season is a remarkable example.”
“Worst tv series finale? The X-Files finale ruined me.”
Need I say more?
The season 11 finale, “My Struggle IV” raised more questions than it answered, namely, why Chris Carter was writing yet another pregnancy storyline for Scully, who was in her mid-fifties. Between Cigarette Smoking Man insisting he was William’s biological father, William’s death, and Scully telling Mulder they are expecting a baby, it’s safe to say that fans were left confused and disappointed. This show’s handling of fertility and conception left much to be desired, but in a show about the paranormal, writers have a certain amount of leeway, which they have used unsparingly.
It must be said that at a certain point in the original run, Chris Carter and other writers of the X-Files had lost their vision regarding the mytharc and the “truth” that guided the characters and their decisions. He also received criticism from many viewers for the way in which he handled Mulder and Scully’s relationship after such a slow-burn romance. Many fans believed the show should have ended in season 8, as references to the pilot and previous episodes were made, and they felt the story had come full circle.
There is much to be said about showrunners extending a series beyond its rightful end, whether for profit or legacy. In this case, it seems that the revival did not garner the appeal of the original fans in the same way.
In a November 2024 episode of David Duchovny’s podcast, Gillian Anderson says about the revival storyline, “It felt like Scully’s trajectory was no longer one of strength and agency, it felt like it was beholden to an old idea of what a woman is and that’s all she could talk about, literally.” referring to the return of their son William, who went by Jackson Van De Kamp.
Unfortunately for the producers and actors, if the X-Files reboot should ever become a reality, they will never escape the shadows of their predecessors, and any attempts, no matter how renewed and ambitious, would ultimately be futile.
My advice? Rewatch the original series and movies! Nine seasons is way more than the average these days, and though the series finale was truly despised by many, most argued that the two revival seasons featured some fun monster-of-the-week episodes, and they enjoyed being able to watch Mulder and Scully grow together through another period of their lives.
The 100 – María Sol
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I started watching The 100 a few years after it originally premiered, and soon I became obsessed with it, making it an instant favorite. The first seasons were amazing, full of twists and turns that kept us engaged, with great character development for almost everyone. The characters were always facing dilemmas that sometimes led them to do good, but other times took them to a dark place.
I can appreciate seasons 5 and 6, even though they weren’t the best. However, I think things started to go downhill in season 7, where they introduced too many plotlines, almost one in every episode, sending the characters to different planets. This didn’t help much in closing the story, which ideally should happen in the final season of a show.
But the main issue for me was Bellamy’s journey. They turned him into some sort of villain, which went against everything we had seen in his character development. The peak of this was his death—not the fact that he died, as I kind of imagined that could happen in the end, but the how and why of his death. It felt like a betrayal for Clarke to kill him after everything they had been through. I understand she did it to protect Maddie, but in the end, it was completely useless since she couldn’t help Maddie either.
Anyway, even though I’m not a big fan of how the story concluded, I still think The 100 is a great show worth rewatching. Though, maybe I'll just pretend that last season never existed.
Which TV finale left you the most disappointed? Share your thoughts in the comments!
