Spoilers TV Shows with Great Endings

[pukunui]

The X-Files had 9 seasons, a lot of episodes can be marked for me as do not watch even story arc ones. Excise complete new season ending. Keep old one.

I never bothered to watch the two reboot seasons (or even the second movie) ... in large part because I did not like the original ending to the series. It felt like a cop-out.

Add second season for me, but definitely goes off rails in season three.

I actually rather liked season 3 of Westworld and even season 4 in large part ... but since they wanted to do a fifth season to bring the series to a proper conclusion, I wouldn't say it even had a proper ending, satisfactory or otherwise.

I think the old 24 episode seasons and appointment TV allowed a lot more experimentation that lead to a lot of hit and miss episodes. Sometimes I miss it, but sometimes when I rewatch I realize probably not as much as I think.

In terms of The X-Files specifically, I think there was a lot of hit-and-miss because the writers were literally making it up as they went along.

Game of Thrones.....just kidding

I think the actual ending was fine. It was just the rushed way in which they got there that was the problem.

"The Bad Batch" has the best ending I remember seeing recently.

Yes! Rebels also has a good ending. I think the Star Wars animated shows are seriously under-rated.


On a completely different note, while I do think the US version of The Office went on too long, I did like the way it ended with Dwight and Angela's wedding. And I appreciated how Steve Carell chose not to say anything during his cameo because he'd been off the show for so long by that point and didn't want to steal the limelight from the others.

 

[Ryujin]

Wow. I love this post. It's pretty much the antithesis of my OP.

Does a show without an official ending ever actually end? Even it's been off air for decades? Is Skippy still hopping about the bush, saving Sonny from his own stupidity? <mind blown emoji here>

I can't believe that I actually got that reference, a lifetime later

 

[Bedrockgames]

I think the actual ending was fine. It was just the rushed way in which they got there that was the problem.

I agree. The rush job is what did it

 

[Zardnaar]

I admit I didn't get into The Sopranos. I know, I'm bad people. But I think the ending is pretty awesome. (I have seen the ending.)

Sopranos isn't for everyone. I love it but they're all awful really.

 

[Zardnaar]

I never bothered to watch the two reboot seasons (or even the second movie) ... in large part because I did not like the original ending to the series. It felt like a cop-out.


I actually rather liked season 3 of Westworld and even season 4 in large part ... but since they wanted to do a fifth season to bring the series to a proper conclusion, I wouldn't say it even had a proper ending, satisfactory or otherwise.


In terms of The X-Files specifically, I think there was a lot of hit-and-miss because the writers were literally making it up as they went along.


I think the actual ending was fine. It was just the rushed way in which they got there that was the problem.


Yes! Rebels also has a good ending. I think the Star Wars animated shows are seriously under-rated.


On a completely different note, while I do think the US version of The Office went on too long, I did like the way it ended with Dwight and Angela's wedding. And I appreciated how Steve Carell chose not to say anything during his cameo because he'd been off the show for so long by that point and didn't want to steal the limelight from the others.

Star Wars Disney animated being good is fairly common opinion online.

Rebels has picked up a lot of fans since Disney+ launched. I watched it back in the day and loved it.

80% hit rate on animated live action sub 50% or even 40%.

 

[DrunkonDuty]

Sopranos isn't for everyone. I love it but they're all awful really.

Yeah, I think it's the all awful characters that makes it difficult for me.

 

[Zardnaar]

Yeah, I think it's the all awful characters that makes it difficult for me.

It's a dark show.

Seen the Wire or Justified?

 

[DrunkonDuty]

No, neither.

I get a similar vibe from them.

 

[Retros_x]

No, neither.

I get a similar vibe from them.

The Wire is worth it! Contrary to the Sopranos its an study of a particular milieu which gets expanded from season to season. After all 5 seasons you have an interesting but pretty disheartening view on the war on drugs at the example of Baltimore. And while all characters are flawed, I think only a minority are truly awful. Many of them have good intentions and I was rooting for at least some of them. Sopranos characters feel like caricatures compared to the cast of the Wire that feels (with some exceptions) like it consists of real, deeply human characters.

Definitely a much different vibe to Sopranos IMO and could be worth a watch by you. I would give the first season a try. But a bit of a warning, the show episodes rarely rely on cliffhangers an such and often feel more like chapters in a book. Its a slow burn.

 

[AnotherGuy]

I agree with the OP poster Black Adder Goes Forth is a gut punch of note.
It is a comedy turned into an instant tragedy.

After that there are a lot of other great show endings all of you have mentioned (many I have seen but quite a few I have not) but for me what sticks out in my mind and just from an emotional point of view
The Leftovers - frustrating beginning to end
The Shield - That confession scene.
Justified - we dug coal together