Stranger Things was once one of the most popular shows of the 2020s. The showrunners would sadly lose a majority of their fanbase after the series’ more than lackluster finale. Tragically, Stranger Things is far from the only series to choke at the very end. Several amazing franchises, like LOST, never got the endings fans expected.
Many of the worst television endings find the main character or cast suddenly going down the deep end. With especially terrible finales, it becomes clear that the showrunners weren’t sure how to conclude their series. Instead of giving their characters a climactic ending, several shows choose to end their lives instead. While this isn’t always the case, it has become a sadly common practice.
10
Seinfeld’s Finale is a Clip Show that Literally Sends the Four Main Characters to Jail
Their Antics Receive a Permanent, and Judicial, Ending
The key cast of Seinfeld are not good characters, but they aren’t malicious either. If anything, Jerry, George, Kramer, and Elaine are selfish people who just don’t care enough about their fellow man. Through all of their antics, they barely receive any punishment. That is, until the finale decides to change everything. After surviving a literal plane crash, the main cast finds themselves in another life-changing situation.
‘My Childhood’s Getting Demolished’ Stranger Things Fans Mourn the End of an Iconic Location
As fans prepare to say hello to Stranger Things Season 5, they also wave a sad goodbye to one iconic location.
This time, the characters refuse to interject in a man’s carjacking and are arrested due to a new “Good Samaritan Law”. The judge ends up throwing the book at them, and the characters end up facing justice for several seasons worth of injustice in a glorified clip show. The whole situation feels entirely out of place, and the bad ending is even referenced in Larry David’s other popular sitcom Curb Your Enthusiasm.
9
Two and a Half Men’s Finale Feels Like a Half-Hearted Apology
A Key Character Makes a Quick, But Unprecedented Return
For the majority of Two and a Half Men’s runtime, the show was carried by the erratic but hilarious Charlie Sheen, who plays a character by the same name. Unfortunately, his off-screen antics made it impossible for the studio to continue working with the actor. He was swiftly replaced by Ashton Kutcher, who did his best to fill Sheen’s seedy but humorous playboy archetype. Sadly, fans were less than ecstatic about the change and the show began to rapidly lose its original viewership.
Netflix’s Stranger Things Spinoff Needs To Be Radically Different In Order to Be Successful
Stranger Things season 5 is coming in 2025, and after watching the conclusion to this epic story, fans are curious what the spinoff could be like.
When Kutcher replaced Sheen, it was originally decided that Charlie’s character had died, but the finale completely throws that idea out the window. In the Two and a Half Men finale, Charlie’s brother, Allen, discovers that Charlie is in fact alive and has been abducted by another character, Rose, the whole time. The police save Charlie, he shares a disingenuous reunion with the rest of the cast, and the series ends. The entire plot felt like the showrunner had absolutely no idea how to end the show and simply used Sheen to draw in more fans.
8
The Roseanne Finale’s Controversial Death Was Redone With a Retcon
The Decision Is So Unpopular It is No Longer Considered Cannon
Many sitcoms backtrack and uncanonize key events that take place within their various episodes. This decision is usually heavily criticized, but it still happens relatively often. One of the biggest examples of this is the once popular show, Roseanne. The season 9 finale reveals that the entire ninth season had simply been Roseanne’s coping mechanism to somehow deal with the loss of her beloved husband. Dan’s death was later undone again, in the reboot, Meet the Connors, but the moment left a bad taste in many fan’s mouths.
The fact that one of America’s most beloved sitcom father’s suddenly kicked the bucket was a hard loss for watchers everywhere. Moreover, the fact that the series would attempt to undo this death years later just made the whole decision feel even more spur-of-the moment. It’s one thing to admit that The Connor’s winning the lottery was a little much, but it’s a completely different story to kill off one of the franchise’s most popular characters.
7
The Umbrella Academy’s Ending Feels Like a Slap in the Face to Dedicated Fans
The Popular Main Characters Are Erased From Existence
When it comes to Superheroes, the Umbrella Academy siblings are less than orthodox. Throughout the series, this remains a large part of their charm and fans slowly fell in love with them over the show’s four seasons. Each of the main cast has proven they are willing to do what’s right and even sacrifice themselves for the greater good. Moreover, a heroic sacrifice isn’t completely out of the question for a finale, but it is weird when the entire main cast sacrifices themselves.
None of the Umbrella Academy crew survives the finale. They sacrifice themselves to save their loved ones and preserve a new timeline without their existence. Many fans were extremely upset that showrunners couldn’t find a way to end the story without ending the main characters. This heavily deviates from the source material comic book, which has not ended.
6
The Finale of The Sopranos Rubbed Many Fans the Wrong Way
The Final Episode Remains Up to Interpretation
“You don’t even hear it when it happens.” These are the famous words that Bobby Baccalieri says to Tony Soprano towards the end of the fantastic series. The beloved mob-based drama has always relied heavily on the audience’s interpretations, and the finale is no different. As Tony Soprano is dining with his family, he suddenly looks up and the camera fades to black. For many fans it was immediately clear that Tony had been killed, as he had ordered done so many times before.
In contrast, many fans felt this moment was somewhat muddled. Tony Soprano is far from someone with any moral high ground, but that hasn’t prevented some fans from deciding he deserved a happy ending. Now that the creators have confirmed the main characters’ fate, the debate is no longer about whether Tony Soprano is dead, but whether he had to die.
5
Dinosaurs’ Ending Takes a Surprisingly Morbid Turn
The Sitcom Demonstrates What Killed the Dinosaurs
Dinosaurs is one of the most interesting comedy sitcoms of its period. It features a completely fictional cast of puppeteer dinosaurs who still somehow manage to make audiences fall in love with them. Sadly, the Dinosaurs are an example of yet another beloved cast of characters who doesn’t make it through the Dinosaurs. Scientists have long questioned what could have ended the ancient beast’s reign of terror, and the sitcom seemingly provides an answer.
The final episode of Dinosaurs would feature the family slowly freezing to death as they witness a sort of apocalypse. The ending is controversial for two reasons. Not only does the show kill off its main cast, but the fact that one of its members is a literal infant doesn’t do the ending any favors. Brutally killing off a show’s characters is one way to deal with a cancellation, but that doesn’t mean the decision will sit well with fans.
4
Many People Still Don’t Understand the Finale of the Beloved Lost
Several Fans Are Still Asking Themselves If the Island Was Ever Real
Lost is an absolutely breathtaking series full of discovery, action, emotional growth, and hardship. However, the ending of the series is so confusing that many fans were certain the show took place within everyone’s mind. This isn’t completely the case, but the finale is so jumbled fans cannot be blamed for their conclusion. The finale has the main character, Jack, sacrifice himself to save the island and its inhabitants.
It is then revealed that every character who has died on the show has waited to pass on until they could all move on together. This is the moment that caused many to believe the entire island was simply a purgatory-like place. Unfortunately, this couldn’t be further from the truth and the cast was still subjected to the island’s unimaginable horrors. Thankfully, everyone manages to find peace before they ascend to the afterlife, which is at least somewhat comforting for fans.
3
Game of Thrones’ Finale Fell Extremely Short of Audience Expectations
The Series’ Completely Ruins the Hype It Had Built Up Over 8 Seasons
Game of Thrones is an incredible series which never stops building. From the very beginning, plot threads were laid which were supposed to come to fruition in the final season. Instead of just the final episode being bad, many fans cite the entirety of season 8 as a rushed mess that completely ruined everything it had set before. Characters like Jamie Lannister and Daenerys Targaryen are outright character assassinated while key players like Jon Snow are basically removed from the picture.
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Every character’s fate seems less than they deserved, and the entire season is a terrible send-off to what could have been one of the greatest fantasy series of all time. Now, Game of Thrones is considered a relatively good show that simply couldn’t stick the landing. The poor ending has made every attempt to rewatch the show somewhat more difficult, as fans are forced to watch a build-up that doesn’t actually lead to anything significant.
2
The Finale of Dallas Was So Unpopular It Was Retconed With a Movie
The Main Character’s Death Is Later Undone
Dallas is a popular soap opera that is heavily grounded in reality, until the finale ruined everything. The main character, J.R. Ewing, is visited by a literal demon who attempts to convince the main character that his life is meaningless. The series ends with J.R. apparently having taken his own life. Yet, this decision was later overturned with a soft film reboot.
Stranger Things Season 5, Episode 9 Gets New Update & Release Date As #ConformityGate Intensifies
The new release date for Stranger Things Season 5, Episode 9 has been moved to January 12, 2025 – if Conformity Gate is actually real, that is.
The series’ ending left fans feeling horrible and the admission that it never truly happened only made them feel worse. It’s one thing to unceremoniously kill a show’s main character, but later reversing the decision is a completely different story. Fans were happy to find J.R. alive, but furious showrunners would even attempt to kill him off to begin with.
1
Sherlock Fans Had a Similar Conformity Gate After the Series “Ended”
Fans Were Convinced There Was a Secret Final Episode
Surprisingly, Stranger Things fans aren’t the first to go through a conformity gate. The ending of Sherlock is so unexpected and disjointed that many of its fans expected an additional secret episode. This never came to pass and the series’ reputation was forever tarnished by what could be the world’s greatest detective’s worst showing since Sherlock and Watson.
What was once a relatively grounded detective series turned into an all-out action show. The ending is devoid of everything fans have come to love for the show and what wasn’t supposed to be the series ending became its gravestone. Season 4, Episode 7 of Sherlock completely ruined the series’ reputation and all but confirmed the franchise was ending.
Stranger Things
- Release Date
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2016 – 2025-00-00
- Network
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Netflix
- Showrunner
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Matt Duffer, Ross Duffer
- Directors
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Matt Duffer, Ross Duffer, Andrew Stanton, Frank Darabont, Nimród Antal, Uta Briesewitz
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Millie Bobby Brown
Jane ‘Eleven’ Hopper
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Finn Wolfhard
Mike Wheeler
