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From lumberjacks to mad queens, some shows just couldn't stick the landing! Join us as we explore TV finales that left fans feeling betrayed, confused, or downright disturbed. Our countdown features beloved series that built years of goodwill only to crush viewers' spirits with shocking final episodes that completely missed the mark.
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00:00For so long, all I wanted was to be like other people, to feel what they felt.
00:05Welcome to WatchMojo, and today, we're counting down our picks for the top 10 TV shows with unsettling, shocking, or disturbing finales.
00:15Beware, there will be spoilers.
00:17Maybe the decision about what's best for everyone should be left to, well, everyone.
00:26Number 10, Twin Peaks.
00:28Sheriff, it's Pete Martell up at the mill.
00:31I'm going to transfer to the phone on the table by the red chair, the red chair against the wall.
00:37It's true that Twin Peaks seasons 1 and 2 can't be pinned down to just one feeling.
00:42With its quirky small-town humor, dreamlike strangeness, and burst of horror, it's at times joyful, sad, weird, and even terrifying.
00:50One moment you're laughing at Andy and Lucy, the next you're unsettled by Bob crawling on the couch.
00:55But the revival strips away most of that quirky charm, leaning into the darker side.
01:00You got the wrong house, mister.
01:03You're saying you're not Laura Palmer?
01:07Laura who?
01:09No, I'm not her.
01:11Dale Cooper had been trapped in the Black Lodge for 25 years, while Laura Palmer has been dead just as long.
01:17Meanwhile, Bob, through Cooper's doppelganger, has been roaming free, rising as a kingpin.
01:22There's still humor here and there, but it's overshadowed by the horror, trauma, and despair best understood after Fire Walk With Me.
01:419. Ozark
01:43You don't have to do this.
01:47You can be something else.
01:53She knows.
01:54We know life isn't a bed of roses and that bad things happen.
01:58Still, it's hard to understand why Ruth Langmore had to die.
02:01This sharp-tongued underdog was a fan favorite who has endured so much in her young life.
02:07Yet, what did she get in the end?
02:08A bullet from Javi's mother.
02:10How'd you find out?
02:18Clear shots only.
02:20This move isn't just tragic.
02:21It's cruel and cynical.
02:23While the birds walked away untouched, Ruth had to pay the ultimate price after losing her entire family and Ben too.
02:30Wait.
02:31Close your eyes.
02:34Wait.
02:37This is a dream.
02:38Perhaps it was the show's way of reminding us there's no lasting happiness in the world of Ozark, but why couldn't that harsh truth apply to the birds too?
02:46We can pay you.
02:47Anything you want.
02:49I don't want your money.
02:50Name your price.
02:51You can change your life.
02:53You can change anyone's life you want.
02:55Honestly, if anyone deserved a happy ending, it was Ruth.
02:59It's nothing new for so-called gritty shows to build up characters we love only to kill them off in the name of realism.
03:07The Walking Dead became notorious for this.
03:09You can breathe.
03:11You can blink.
03:13You can cry.
03:15Hell, you're all gonna be doing that.
03:18At first, the brutal unpredictability made it gripping since you never know who'll be next.
03:23But as more beloved characters died, it began to feel pointless.
03:27In fact, long before the finale, many fans had already given up on the show.
03:31I know that I probably owe you more than this, but I am so sorry.
03:39Then came the ending, which should have tied everything together.
03:42Instead, it offered no closure and felt like a setup for other spinoffs.
03:46Daryl?
03:47Yeah?
03:49You deserve a happy ending too.
03:55I'll be back.
03:56After more than a decade of investments, viewers got no resolution, no satisfaction.
04:02Just another hanging thread and a bleak weight over the series.
04:05Even Rick Grimes' last happy moment wasn't enough reward.
04:10We're the ones who live.
04:16We're the ones who live.
04:18Number 7.
04:19True Blood.
04:20You ever pretend to be one of us again?
04:24And I'll kill you.
04:26Got it?
04:29Yeah.
04:32Have a nice day now.
04:34From the start, True Blood thrived on its campy-style supernatural chaos and unapologetically sexy vibe.
04:40It was over the top and proudly wowed, and that's why fans loved it.
04:45I'll be in hell having a three-way with the devil.
04:48Your words are hollow.
04:50I can see the love and pain in your eyes.
04:53But toward the end, it seemed to lose its nerve.
04:56So instead of sticking to its daring nature, it played it safe.
05:00The clearest example?
05:01Sookie Stackhouse.
05:02Sookie being a very stupid girl.
05:04Who asked you?
05:04I can take care of myself.
05:06I don't think so.
05:07Mac could have seriously cut you up.
05:08How did you know what Mac would have done?
05:10Once known for her fiery independence and dangerous attraction to the supernatural, she ends up killing Bill and settling with some random guy.
05:17That's totally off.
05:18Sure, some characters got their happy endings, but someone like Tara deserved better.
05:24They killed Tara.
05:25After everything, she was killed off-screen as if the writers had no plans for her.
05:35Overall, the show abandoned the very spark that made it special.
05:39Are you?
05:40What?
05:42Are you asking for advice from me?
05:46No.
05:47Not really.
05:48Good.
05:49Because I got no idea what to tell you to do.
05:51Number six, Dinosaurs.
05:52The ending of Dinosaurs wasn't just bittersweet.
05:56It was downright devastating.
05:58Somebody's in trouble.
06:00Good morning, everyone.
06:01Isn't it a beautiful day?
06:03Oh, have you looked outside?
06:05That spray of yours killed every plant on Earth.
06:08For four seasons, this show remained goofy and satirical as it revolved around a family of dinosaurs in an otherwise typical sitcom setting.
06:16Instead of closing with laughter, it chose a somber message about our actions having dire consequences.
06:22Maybe we went a little overboard with the poison.
06:25A little?
06:26Your stupid spray killed all plant life.
06:29Hey, what are you complaining about?
06:31You never liked salads anyway.
06:32The well-meaning but bumbling Earl Sinclair has set off a chain of environmental disasters while working for We Say So Corporation.
06:39The series ends with Sinclair confessing to his wrongdoings as the family huddles together while snow begins to fall.
06:45Considering the thickness of the cloud cover, scientists predict it may be tens of thousands of years before the sun shines over Pangaea again.
06:53The camera pans out to a news report of the world ending.
06:56There's no miraculous escape, no lighthearted resolution, just extinction.
07:01Well, no.
07:03There's no place to move to.
07:05This is the only world we got.
07:08Well, what's going to happen to us?
07:11It's honestly one of the darkest notes any sitcom has ever ended on.
07:15Number five, Lost.
07:16ABC's 2004 mystery show has one of the most misunderstood finales.
07:21Well, to be honest, Doc, I'm kind of wondering what the hell just happened up here.
07:26That makes two of us.
07:28Can you blame viewers left totally confused by its ambiguous end?
07:32For seasons, the show piled on mysteries, cryptic numbers, time travels, smoke monsters, and more.
07:38I got another one over here.
07:40Someone leaving the rest here.
07:42I don't know.
07:44Where would they come from?
07:45Didn't you guys shoot a polar bear last week?
07:48Yeah.
07:49Where'd that come from?
07:50As such, fans expected every detail to be explained in clear and logical manner.
07:55Instead, we got a flash sideways that made us believe the characters were dead all along
08:00and that nothing happened for real.
08:01What is happening to me?
08:05Who are you?
08:08I don't...
08:09I know.
08:10You don't understand, Jack.
08:11Hardcore fans have explained that the island was real
08:13and everything that happened did happen.
08:16Still, couldn't there have been a better way to wrap things up without leaving so many
08:20viewers lost?
08:21Where are we, Dad?
08:24This is a place that you all made together so that you could find one another.
08:29In the end, it wasn't even about the mysteries.
08:32It was all about the character's spiritual journey.
08:35We should have known.
08:37Number four, 13 Reasons Why.
08:39This teen drama could have been a powerful, self-contained story if it had ended in one
08:43season.
08:44All the creators had to do was stop where Jay Asher's book did.
08:59But instead of closing the book, the story dragged on into a second season, third, and
09:05even a fourth.
09:06And nothing makes sense.
09:10And all the pieces are just scattered all over the floor.
09:15At this point, it felt less and less like healing and resolution and more about piling
09:19up trauma.
09:20With school shootings, police brutality, and increasingly graphic violence, the show leaned
09:25more on shock value than thoughtful storytelling.
09:27I promise you no one will hurt you.
09:31Just give me the gun.
09:35You can talk to me.
09:37Characters like Clay Jensen spiraled into a deeper instability, while Justin Foley, after
09:42everything, contracted HIV and died in the final episode.
09:46In all, the show's ending wasn't cathartic.
09:48It just left viewers feeling emotionally drained.
09:51He's my positive influence.
09:53He's the reason I'm alive and able to write this college essay in the first place.
10:01Number three, Dexter.
10:03For eight seasons, fans followed Dexter Morgan, the charming blood splatter analyst who moonlighted
10:08as a serial killer.
10:09I've always sensed there was something off about him.
10:16Like he's hiding in plain sight.
10:18Much of the tension came from whether he'd be caught or meet a dramatic ending fitting
10:22the dark legacy he created.
10:24Along the way, good cops died because of him, LaGuerta, Doakes, and even Debra.
10:29I destroy everyone I love.
10:33And I can't let that happen to Hannah.
10:36To Harrison.
10:37Rather than have Dexter face the consequences of his actions, we get lumberjack Dexter.
10:42He fakes his death and abandons his son.
10:44Then Debra, who should have found some respite, is left brain dead only to be finished off
10:50by Dexter.
10:51Years later, Dexter New Blood arrives and ends with Harrison killing his father.
10:55You have to take the safety off.
11:02Just like I showed you.
11:04Sure, Dexter deserved a fitting downfall, but was turning Harrison into a killer really the
11:09best way to do it?
11:10Number two, Game of Thrones.
11:12Sons of Kings can be cruel and stupid, as you well know.
11:17This will never torment us.
11:19The finale of Game of Thrones is one we can't forget, and not for good reasons.
11:25The series began as one of TV's greatest sagas, pulling us into its sprawling story of power,
11:30prophecy, and survival.
11:31The characters were so compelling, we became fully invested in their fates.
11:45But when the finale arrived, everything fell apart.
11:48After seasons of being framed as the liberator, Daenerys suddenly becomes the mad queen.
11:53We break the wheel, together.
11:59You are my queen.
12:02Now, and always.
12:05Jon Snow kills her, only to be exiled back to the Wall, while Brandon Stark is crowned
12:10king of the Seven Kingdoms.
12:12What?
12:13The truth is, fans weren't just left unsettled by who lived or survived, they were stunned
12:18by how sloppy and disjointed it all felt.
12:20I'm sorry I wasn't there when you needed me.
12:23You were exactly where you were supposed to be.
12:27After all that investment, the end was both disappointing and disturbing.
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12:48Number one.
12:49How I met your mother.
12:50Kids, I'm going to tell you an incredible story.
12:54The story of how I met your mother.
12:56Are we being punished for something?
12:58No.
12:59Yeah, is this going to take a while?
13:01Yes.
13:02How I met your mother began as a heartfelt sitcom and pulled the rug from the audience
13:07in a way that felt more cruel than clever.
13:09The entire hook was Ted telling his kids the long, hilarious story of how he met their mother.
13:14And that, kids, is how I met your mother.
13:19That's it.
13:21That's it.
13:23No, I don't buy it.
13:25Tracy was warm and perfect for Ted, only for the finale to shatter it all.
13:29Turns out, Tracy was already dead and the story wasn't really about her, but Ted's true love,
13:35Robin.
13:35This is a story about how you're totally in love with Aunt Robin.
13:40And you're thinking about asking her out and you want to know if we're okay with it.
13:42I can't believe this.
13:44The show tried to frame Ted's pursuit of Robin as romantic, but it made no sense, especially
13:48since she had already divorced Barney.
13:51Shouldn't the so-called kids be traumatized by this tragic tale disguised as a love story?
13:55What?
13:56I just, just call her up on the phone and ask her out on a date?
14:00Yes!
14:02And that, that's something you guys would want?
14:04Yes!
14:05Seriously, the whole setup makes the journey feel hollow and unsatisfying, not heartwarming
14:10in the slightest.
14:12Which of these finales disturbed you the most?
14:14Let us know in the comments down below.
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