See 18 of the Most Controversial Series Finales

Joyann JeffreyThu, September 24, 2026 at 12:30 PM UTC

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Michael C. Hall as Dexter Morgan in ‘Dexter’ and Emilia Clarke as Daenerys Targaryen in ‘Game of Thrones’Credit: SHOWTIME; Helen Sloan/HBO

Sometimes, the hardest part about making a great television show is figuring out how to end it.

Shows like Game of Thrones and Pretty Little Liars have become cultural phenomenons over the years, thanks to their now-famous casts and dramatic plot twists. However, for original viewers and new fans alike, it can be hard to discuss the shows without talking about the unexpected directions their series finales took.

After nine seasons of Seinfeld, the sitcom’s finale sparked backlash for various reasons, including its focus on punishment, as some viewers thought the characters had paid enough for their bad behavior. As for Game of Thrones, some fans are still shocked over who got to rule Westeros in the end.

Below, here are 18 television shows with controversial series finales that fans are still talking about today.

Warning: spoilers ahead.

01 of 18

Game of Thrones

Emilia Clarke as Daenerys Targaryen in ‘Game of Thrones’Credit: Helen Sloan/HBO

Game of Thrones aired on HBO from 2011 until 2017, ending with its eighth season. The final season of the series was highly-anticipated, as fans were finally going to see who would sit on the Iron Throne after Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) made it to Westeros with her dragons.

Daenerys ultimately became a villain, torching King’s Landing and killing many innocent people in the process. She was later killed by her lover, Jon Snow (Kit Harington).

In the aftermath, Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner) successfully negotiated independence for the North, subsequently becoming its queen. Meanwhile, Westeros’ leaders chose Bran Stark (Isaac Hempstead Wright) to be the new king of the Seven Kingdoms, with Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage) serving as his hand.

Though many people disagreed with this ending, saying they wanted Daenerys to take the throne instead, Kristian Nairn, who played Hodor in the series, told PEOPLE in October 2024 that he agreed with how the story wrapped.

“I honestly don’t think you could have a better person [as] your king,” Nairn told PEOPLE in an October 2024 interview. “He can do anything, he can see everything. He’s going to be wise.”

02 of 18

Lost

The cast of ‘Lost’Credit: Reisig and Taylor/Disney General Entertainment Content/Getty

Lost followed the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815 after they crashed into a remote island. However, things took a turn when the survivors learned that the island they crashed into is home to “The Others.” The ABC show ran for six seasons, from 2004 until 2010.

When the show ended, many fans felt as though much of the island’s mysteries remained, including why no babies could be born on the island and why there was another faction of The Others. In response, co-showrunner Carlton Cuse told Vulturein February 2021 that they simply didn’t have enough time to get to the bottom of every story line.

“There was no way to answer all the open questions that existed across the prior 119 episodes of the show,” Cuse said. “We sort of tried a version of that with the episode that was a couple before the end, ‘Across the Sea,’ which was this very mythological episode about the origins of Jacob and the Man in Black. That was sort of what answers look like. And I don’t think it was great.”

Not only that, but with one scene suggesting that all of the characters had gone to the afterlife, many viewers assumed that the Oceanic Flight 815 passengers had been dead the whole time and that the events of the seasons prior might have all been a dream. The final credits also showed plane fuselage on the beach as it appeared in the pilot episode, which many believed echoed the idea that they had all actually died in the crash.

Cuse, however, told Vulture that “was not the intention” of the footage, explaining that it was used as a way to ease viewers out of the show.

“The intention was just to create a narrative pause,” he said. “But it was too portentous. It took on another meaning. And that meaning I think, distorted our intentions and helped create that misperception.”

Cuse echoed this during Paleyfest in March 2014 and put the dream theories to rest: “They were not dead the whole time. ... [The] characters definitely survived the plane crash and really were on a very real island,” he said, per Digital Spy.

03 of 18

Seinfeld

The cast of ‘Seinfeld’Credit: NBC/Getty

NBC’s Seinfeld ran from 1989 until 1998. After nine seasons, fans were expecting the show to go out with a bang, but some were disappointed when the main cast ended up in a jail cell after they refused to help a man in need. In the season 9 finale, Jerry Seinfeld rocked an orange jumpsuit and performed standup for his fellow inmates in prison, though only Kramer (Michael Richards) and George (Jason Alexander) laughed.

Critics, including Entertainment Weekly’s Ken Tucker, argued that the overarching message of the Seinfeld finale undermined the previous seasons, in which the characters had already faced consequences for their bad behavior.

In October 2017, Seinfeld — who both created and starred in the sitcom — said that he sometimes regrets the show’s ending.

“I sometimes think we really shouldn’t have even done it,” he told the audience during an appearance at the New Yorker Festival, per Vulture. “There was a lot of pressure on us at that time to do one big last show, but big is always bad in comedy.”

He explained that comedy is best when it’s “small and cheap and quick.”

“That’s why TV is always funnier than movies, because you don’t have that much time and that much money,” Seinfeld continued.

04 of 18

The Sopranos

The cast of ‘The Sopranos’Credit: HBO

The Sopranos aired on HBO in 1999, running for six seasons until its 2007 finale.

At the end, Tony (James Gandolfini), his wife Carmela (Edie Falco) and son A.J. (Robert Iler) met up for a meal at Holsten’s Diner while waiting on Meadow (Jamie-Lynn Sigler). Several suspicious characters, including someone in a “Members Only” jacket, then walked through the doors of the diner. As Tony looked toward the potential threats, the scene suddenly cut to black, leaving many to wonder if Tony died.

The ending sparked backlash from fans who said they had an issue with its ambiguity, something that former HBO CEO Chris Albrecht stood by in the HBO documentary Wise Guy: David Chase and The Sopranos.

“The ending is whatever you want it to be. He died an old man. Somebody came out of the bathroom and shot him in the head,” he said in the HBO documentary Wise Guy: David Chase and The Sopranos.

Meanwhile, creator David Chase spoke to PEOPLE about the series finale in January 2024 and seemingly maintained his decision to not have a clear ending.

“I really hate spoon-feeding the audience,” he said. “I really don’t like it.”

05 of 18

Girls

The cast of ‘Girls’Credit: Mark Seliger/HBO

Girls ran for six seasons, beginning in 2012 and ending in 2017. The final episode of the HBO show saw Hannah Horvath (Lena Dunham) enter a new chapter after welcoming a baby boy. After spending most of the finale trying to breastfeed her newborn, the audience saw a moment of joy and relief come across her face once he finally latched towards the end of the episode.

Some fans have argued that the pregnancy story line was too traditional of an ending for Hannah, who lived her life in an unconventional way in the seasons prior.

However, Dunham — who also created the show — said that this story line was crucial because Hannah needed to experience motherhood in order to mature.

“Some people find it really beautiful, and some people say that Hannah being pregnant feels isolating to them,” she told The New York Times in April 2017. “Whether Hannah is opening her legs to her boss or telling lies to Adam, people have always had a polarizing reaction to her: ‘Yes, that’s me,’ or ‘I would never.’ It feels only right that the final choice she makes in the series be just that confounding.”

Dunham also stood by the ending, saying, “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

06 of 18

Dexter

Michael C. Hall as Dexter Morgan in ‘Dexter’Credit: Randy Tepper/SHOWTIME

Showtime’s Dexter aired for eight seasons from 2006 until 2013. Michael C. Hall, who played the titular character, agrees with some fans that theseries finale could’ve gone differently. At the ending of the show, Dexter faked his own death and abandoned his life as a serial killer to live a solitary life as a lumberjack in Oregon.

“I want to find out what happened to the guy just as much as everybody else,” he told Entertainment Tonight in January 2021, adding that he could understand why viewers felt “frustrated” by Dexter simply staring into the camera and not saying anything in the end.

Thankfully, Dexter’s story line continues in the sequel, Dexter: Resurrection.

07 of 18

Gossip Girl

The cast of ‘Gossip Girl’Credit: Andrew Eccles/The CW

Gossip Girl aired on The CW in 2007, running for six seasons until 2012. In the series finale, the anonymous blogger who constantly terrorized Manhattan’s elite with their salacious posts was identified as none other than Dan Humphrey (Penn Badgley).

The reveal felt so out of place that executive producer Joshua Safran admitted that “Dan was not my intended Gossip Girl.” When he spoke at Vulture Festival in 2019, Safran said he wanted it to be Serena’s (Blake Lively) little brother, Eric (Connor Poalo), but had to change gears once The New York Post wrote an article outing his plans.

“So, we were like, ‘We got to scratch that,’ ” he said.

Safran ultimately left the show after 85 episodes, causing the producers to hone in on Dan being the mysterious blogger, even though Safran felt like Nate (Chace Crawford), who never sent a Gossip Girl blast in his life, would’ve been a better fit.

“I like to joke that Dan was Gossip Girl because I had left the show by then,” he said. “But, I understand why Dan was Gossip Girl. I just had my heart set on Nate.”

08 of 18

Roseanne

The cast of ‘Roseanne’Credit: ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty

Roseanne aired on ABC in 1988. Nine seasons later, its 1997 series finale was a rather grim one. In the show, Roseanne revealed that much of the final season had been a figment of her imagination, meaning her beloved husband Dan didn’t survive his heart attack and was actually dead. As it turns out, Roseanne was writing a book about her family and using her fictionalized version to cope with Dan’s death.

However, ABC’s 2018 revival of the show undid that story line and brought Dan back to life. In a March 2018 interview with E! News, John Goodman, who plays Dan in the series, said he was “overjoyed” to rejoin the show.

09 of 18

Pretty Little Liars

The cast of ‘Pretty Little Liars’Credit: Andrew Eccles/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty

Pretty Little Liars premiered in 2010 on ABC Family, now known as Freeform, and ended in 2017 with its seventh season. Fans of the show still can’t get over the huge twist at the end of the teen drama. As it turned out, the girls’ last tormentor was revealed as Spencer’s (Troian Bellisario)twin sister, Alex Drake, whom the audience knew nothing about.

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“I wish that we had gotten to introduce Alex a lot earlier,” Bellisario said at an Epic Cons panel in March 2024. “My only frustration was that it felt like a total bait-and-switch because we waited until the very last episode. So it wasn’t as fun, I imagine, for audience members as when it was CeCe Drake (Vanessa Ray).”

10 of 18

And Just Like That…

The cast of ‘And Just Like That...’Credit: HBO Max

Between shows, spinoffs and movies, Carrie Bradshaw’s (Sarah Jessica Parker) romantic life has seen plenty of ups and downs. But when And Just Like That… came to an end in August 2025, Carrie embraced her single life. The HBO Max series premiered in 2021 and ran for three seasons.

While some viewers felt as though the show had an unfulfilling conclusion for Carrie, executive producer Julie Rottenberg responded to fan backlash during an August 2025 conversation withTV Line and said “it felt like the most honest way to end” the show.

“She’s gone back, in a real way, to relationship-land,” executive producer Elisa Zuritsky added. “She’s decided that she’d rather be on her own than in a not-ideal partnership and, like so many women we know, are really quite happy in their own space, in their own home, in their own friendships.”

In the series finale, fans also noticed that Carrie and her best friends — including Miranda Hobbes (Cynthia Nixon) and Charlotte York Goldenblatt (Kristin Davis) — didn’t have any scenes together. They also questioned the plumbing emergency scene, which saw Miranda’s toilet completely overflowed with poop.

“We cannot take ourselves too seriously,” showrunner Michael Patrick King said of the moment to Variety.

“For the gorgeousness of Carrie’s pink, sparkly top and tulle skirt — that’s the high — the low is a toilet filled up with s---,” he said. “Because guess what? Being single, there’s a lot of s---, and relationships are a lot of s---.”

As for why fans didn’t see Carrie, Miranda and Charlotte together, Rottenberg shared a theory while speaking with TV Line, saying, “I think the idea is the whole series is based on the strength of those friendships. So even if you’re not in the same room … we have those bonds, and we feel the support and strength of those friendships.”

11 of 18

How I Met Your Mother

Josh Radnor in ‘How I Met Your Mother’Credit: CBS

How I Met Your Mother premiered in 2005 on CBS. After nine seasons, the seriesended in 2014 with a finale that left fans divided. While viewers learned that Ted (Josh Radnor) met the titular mother, Tracy McConnell (Cristin Milioti), at the Farhampton train station, it was revealed that she died after a prolonged illness following the birth of their two children.

Years later, Ted’s kids encouraged him to reconnect with his former love interest Robin Scherbatsky (Cobie Smulders). The show ended with him standing outside Robin’s apartment, holding the blue French horn — a full-circle moment from the pilot episode where their love story began.

The ending sparked debate for fans, with many feeling as though the revelation that Tracy died was unsatisfying for a show that centered around how he met her. Not only that, but many critics and fans argued that the show reversed much of the work it had done in prior seasons to prove why Ted and Robin shouldn’t be together.

Co-creator Craig Thomas opened up about how the birth of his son Elliot, who was diagnosed with a rare genetic disorder, made him realize that life doesn’t always go to plan, and ultimately, influenced the ending.

“I look back on it, and I look at the ending as an exploration of the fact that no matter how much Ted Mosby wanted to plan everything in life, it was never going to go according to plan,” he told PEOPLE in January 2025. “But if you go through life with an open heart, you can find a new plan in the end.”

12 of 18

Mr. Robot

Rami Malek as Elliot in ‘Mr. Robot’Credit: Sarah Shatz/USA Network

USA Network’s Mr. Robot ran from 2015 until 2019. After three seasons, fans felt like they knew exactly how the thriller was going to end when it entered its final chapter. That was, until the two-part series finale premiered in 2019 and they learned they didn’t know the protagonist well at all.

As it turned out, Elliot (Rami Malek), who had struggled with mental health issues since the beginning, was not the real Elliot at all. To protect himself from harm, Elliot created another personality who had been masquerading as him the entire time. This new persona fought corporate corruption and protected himself from his childhood trauma.

Though the ending received some backlash from viewers, Malek said he liked the way that the show’s creator Sam Esmail chose to end the series.

“I trust Sam implicitly, so if that is the way he thought he could close out this story line, then I’m with him,” Malek told Entertainment Weekly in a March 2019 interview. “I can say this, it is a very impactful, emotional, and I think clearly well thought out way to end this story and this series. It’s remarkable. I’m in awe of the man and what he has done this season.”

13 of 18

Riverdale

The cast of ‘Riverdale’Credit: Art Streiber/The CW

Riverdale, which ran from 2017 until 2023 on The CW, had seven seasons. The show began as high schoolers trying to solve a murder mystery but gradually evolved into a supernatural drama.

In the end, Archie (KJ Apa), Betty (Lili Reinhart), Jughead (Cole Sprouse) and Veronica (Camila Mendes) all went their separate ways, but each of their fates were revealed as a series of time-jumps took place. Betty, who was the last of the Core Four to survive, looked back on their final year at Riverdale High, revealing that she and her friends were in a polyamorous relationship with each other.

In an April 2023 interview with Variety, Riverdale executive producer Sarah Schechter said she liked the ending because it was “modern and fitting.”

“Each of these characters have such big lives that they were meant to lead — I do think it was such a brave and interesting choice. Them not ending up together, in a way, is more honest,” she said. “It also helps you remember that each one of these relationships isequally important in its moment. [...] There’s a maturity to it that I love so much.”

14 of 18

St. Elsewhere

The cast of ‘St. Elsewhere’ in the series finale.

St. Elsewhere premiered on NBC in 1982. The show came to an end in 1988 with a finale that some viewers felt unraveled the past six seasons of the Emmy-nominated drama.

In the final scene, Donald Westphall’s (Ed Flanders) son, who had autism, looked into a snow globe that contained a mini version of the hospital, implying that the entire show had actually been imagined — a plot twist to both viewers and cast members.

Chad Allen, who played Dr. Mark Craig, told Entertainment Weekly in October 2012 that he was “shocked” when he read the “provocative ending” in the final script.

“A surprise to everybody. Some people liked its provocativeness. Other people didn’t care for it at all,” he said. “I think a lot of the cast didn’t care for it at all. But they did want to end the show, and not have little St. Elsewheres coming after it.”

Bonnie Bartlett, who portrayed Ellen Craig, echoed that the decision came from writers who wanted a true ending to the show so that it couldn’t be brought back with reunions. “I thought it was terrible. A terrible ending!” she said.

15 of 18

Mad Men

Jon Hamm in the series finale of ‘Mad Men’

AMC’s Mad Men premiered in 2007 and went on to have seven seasons. Don Draper’s (Jon Hamm) story came to an end with theseries finale in May 2015, but fans are still debating the meaning behind its ambiguous final scene. After traveling across the country and arriving at a spiritual retreat in California, Don smiled as a meditation bell sounded, before the screen cut to Coca-Cola’s famous 1971 “Hilltop” commercial.

While some interpreted the scene as Don having found the peace and enlightenment that the famous ad was trying to sell, others believed it to mean he had created the ad himself.

During a conversation with The New York Timesfollowing the finale, Hamm emphasized that although its “a little bit ambiguous,” he had his own interpretation of how the character’s story ended.

“My take is that, the next day, he wakes up in this beautiful place, and has this serene moment of understanding, and realizes who he is. And who he is, is an advertising man,” Hamm said. “And so, this thing comes to him. There’s a way to see it in a completely cynical way, and say, ‘Wow, that’s awful.’ But I think that for Don, it represents some kind of understanding and comfort in this incredibly unquiet, uncomfortable life that he has led.”

Days later, creator Matthew Weiner shared his interpretation at an event in New York, saying that Don did write the ad.

“The idea that some enlightened state, and not just co-option, might’ve created something that is very pure” was an attractive way to end the series, he said, per TV Line. “To me, it’s the best ad ever made, and it comes from a very good place.”

16 of 18

Battlestar Galactica

Kate Vernon and Michael Hogan in the series finale of ‘Battlestar Galactica’Credit: Paramount

Battlestar Galactica — which was a reboot of the original 1978 franchise of the same name — premiered in 2004 on the Sci Fi Channel and ran for four seasons. It came to an end in 2009 with a three-part series finale that not only left some unanswered questions, but divided viewers over its lasting message.

The ending saw the surviving humans and Cylons finally settle on a planet they name Earth, revealing that the events of the series were ultimately part of God’s plan. The finale sparked a polarized response, with some viewers arguing that the show’s long-running mysteries were resolved through divine intervention instead of the logical and scientific storytelling that had been present throughout much of the show.

Creator Ronald D. Moore said at San Diego Comic-Con in 2024 that he wanted the series to have a “definitive ending,” per ScreenRant. “I felt strongly at the time that I didn’t want to then try to put the gang back together later on, so I destroyed the Galactica, sent this fleet into the sun, landed them on Earth, and said, ‘This is the end.’ ”

However, Moore expressed some regret over the series finale, saying that “there’s a part of [him] that wishes [he] hadn’t done that” because it would have been “fun” to get the cast together again.

17 of 18

Quantum Leap

Scott Bakula in the series finale of ‘Quantum Leap’

NBC sci-fi drama Quantum Leap aired in 1989 and followed a physicist, Dr. Sam Beckett (Scott Bakula), who involuntarily leaps through spacetime in the bodies of other people to fix mistakes in history. After five seasons, the series came to a close in 1993 after being abruptly canceled.

In the final episode, Sam leaped into a mysterious coal town on the day of his own birth. There, Sam realized he had been subconsciously controlling his leaps all along. Rather than return home, he chose to make one final leap to help his friend, suggesting that he willingly continued his mission.

In the final title card, viewers are told that Sam never returned home — and when a reboot aired over three decades later, Bakula did not reprise his role.

Years later, Bakula told Vulture in March 2019 that he imagines Sam is “still out there doing his thing.”

“Is it sad that he never gets home? Yes. But sometimes, there’s greater work to be done,” he said.

18 of 18

Dinosaurs

Robbie Sinclair, Charlene Sinclair, Fran Sinclair and Earl Sinclair in ‘Dinosaurs’Credit: ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty

ABC’s Dinosaurs premiered in 1991 as a project from Sesame Street creator Jim Henson. The show continued with a new creative team following his 1990 death, though four seasons later, it ended in 1994 with a rather dark series finale in which one of the dinosaurs accidentally starts a nuclear war.

Kirk Thatcher, who was credited as the writer on the final episode, told Polygon in April 2026 that they originally planned to give the series a more typical ending. However, once the writers heard the show was being canceled, they decided to take a bold turn.

The episode ends with Earl Sinclair (Stuart Pankin) apologizing for helping destroy the planet.

“Our show was notorious for taking strong political stances,” Thatcher said. “It’s funny. Now, when 40-year-olds come up to me and talk about the finale, they’re like, ‘I was so sad as a kid. You devastated me.’ And I’m like, ‘Well, do you recycle?’ ”

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