- 6 minutes ago
All that time invested for nothing.
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:00Investing time into a TV series is a major, major commitment, especially if you're going
00:04into a show that has several long seasons to its name, which is why endings are so important.
00:10I mean, who wants to watch 100 hours of action only to be let down at the last hurdle, often
00:15by writers who've lost control of their story? Well, nobody, but sometimes bad endings actually
00:21get worse the more you think about them as you slowly realise implications that passed you by
00:27in the moment. So with that in mind, I'm Josh from WhatCulture.com and these are 8 TV show endings
00:32that get worse the more you think about them. Number 8, Teen Wolf, The Wolves of War.
00:37Teen Wolf will probably never be mistaken for a great show, but it did make the most of its absurd
00:42supernatural drama to popular effect, with each season forming an epic mystery complete with
00:48well-paced reveals, violent twists, and effective red herrings. It was a massive shame then when
00:54the final season, and specifically the final episode, failed to capitalise on that potential.
00:59Title, The Wolves of War, the finale finds the McCall pack heavily outnumbered as they attempt
01:04to take down Gerard Argent and his supernatural hating army, plus the rogue creature spreading
01:10fear through town. From a premise standpoint, it couldn't be more quintessentially Teen Wolf,
01:15but it ruins everything by trying too hard to do something different and epic, ending on an ambiguous
01:20note that implies the pack, and now caught in the midst of a worldwide war between the supernatural
01:26and everyone else. It's a fairly unhappy ending at its core, made all the more frustrating
01:31by various character moments being wasted. Worst of all, after 6 seasons of waiting for
01:36Styles and Lydia to end up together, we don't even get one glimpse of them as a couple once they do,
01:42which is a total waste. Number 7, 13 Reasons Why, Graduation.
01:4713 Reasons Why spent its 4 season run as the most controversial show on TV, and its finale did
01:53very little to fix the horrifying drama before it. Graduation follows Clay and his embattled
01:58classmates as they finally leave high school, which should have finally put the group's trauma
02:03to an uplifting end. But unable to shed its controversial image, the finale instead leans into
02:08its implausible melodrama, killing off fan favourite Justin just as he beat his addiction and found peace
02:15as the adopted brother of Clay. His death causes everyone to leave school heartbroken,
02:20wasting years of build up to a happily ever after. Justin's literal character assassination is both
02:26left field and horrible, ruining 4 seasons of development in a last ditch effort to break
02:31audiences hearts. Worse still, his cruel demise is coupled with Jessica forgiving murdered bully and
02:36rapist Bryce for his past deeds, and even thanking him for allowing her to grow.
02:42Killing Justin and having Bryce go from unforgivable villain to misunderstood victim betrays the entire
02:47spirit of 13 Reasons Why's tale of hope, accountability, and growth, and hammers home
02:52just how terrible a show it really was. Number 6, Saint Elsewhere, The Last One.
02:57Saint Elsewhere did two major things no other show achieved. It changed the face of television forever
03:02with its twisty serialized storylines, and it ended with such a colossal WTF thud that everything
03:08beforehand was completely overshadowed. With a strong ensemble cast including a young Denzel Washington,
03:14Saint Elsewhere took place in a struggling Boston hospital and thrived as a gritty tragic and
03:19realistic medical drama. Dark and thrilling, the show could have ended its run as an old timer,
03:24but at the very last second went one step too far, revealing, and brace yourself for this, that the
03:30entire series took place inside a snow globe dreamt up by a child. It's a ridiculous twist that makes
03:37everything before incredibly problematic. I mean, are we really supposed to accept that this child
03:42imagined so many harrowing incidents, including episodes about addiction, AIDS, suicide, and
03:48terrorism? It's unsavory to say the least, and makes everything that came before feel incredibly
03:53icky on rewatches. Number 5, Castle Crossfire. During its run, Castle was a surprisingly fun rom-com
04:00mixed with a bracing procedural drama, always exciting despite its predictability. In Castle,
04:05the basic theme was that good would triumph, and that Castle and Beckett would eventually live happily
04:10ever after. With the finale though, this wholesome, almost comforting edge was stripped away. Torturing
04:16and seemingly killing Castle and Beckett in one last stand against overarching villain Loxet,
04:21Crossfire ends with a jarring epilogue that finds the couple alive and well, eating breakfast with their
04:26kids. So the question is, is it heaven? Is it a dream shared by the two dying lovers? Or is it a lazy,
04:32happy ending squeezed in by the writers, unsure that they'd get another season?
04:37The sheer ambiguity is unlike anything the show had tried before, and the more you think about it,
04:41the more you realize that nothing could possibly make it feel right. If they're dead, it's far too
04:46unhappy, and if they survived, it's just cheap, rushed emotional manipulation. Put simply, Castle and
04:52Beckett deserved better. Number 4, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Chosen. Unlike other finales on this list,
04:57Buffy the Vampire Slayer is actually fairly awesome. Still, Chosen's flaws, easy to miss or overlooked as
05:04they may be, do make it far from the flawless vision that it could have been. For one thing,
05:08there's a massive villain problem. The Turrican, previously portrayed as indestructible vampire
05:13killing machines, become nothing more than mindless, easy to dispose of goons in the final fight,
05:18wasting half a season of intense threats. Also, the first evil, the last season's unseen big bad,
05:25can't die, and so when reformed vampire Spike gives his life to destroy Sunnydale,
05:30the first hasn't actually been defeated, because such a thing is impossible. So is Buffy's victory
05:36really a victory, or is the first destined to come back and finish the job? Also, the biggest
05:41moment of the finale, Spike's aforementioned inspirational sacrifice, was kinda nullified by
05:46the fact that producers had already let it slip that he'd be appearing in the next season of Angel,
05:51fully resurrected. It makes for an awesome moment, sure, but it doesn't quite pack the punch it's
05:55aiming for, considering it gets reversed almost instantly. Number 3, Friends, The Last One.
06:01In the world of sitcoms, Friends is at the pinnacle of popularity, and its extended season 10 finale,
06:06The Last One, is often regarded as a brilliant send-off for the gang, all of whom are given the
06:10chance to move on to the next chapter of their lives. But it's not as sweet as it may appear.
06:16In the closing moments of the show, Rachel famously gets off that plane, taking her to her new life in
06:21Paris, and instead, races to be with Ross. It's played as romantic and perfect, and it's easy to
06:26get swept up in the moment, but it's also hard to shake the fact that she's just given up the life
06:30that the rest of the season has been building up to, to be with a man who's never really taken her
06:36career seriously. It's honestly kinda disheartening that Rachel seemingly gives up the next chapter of
06:41her career for Ross, and their reunion is kinda hard to buy, especially when you really think
06:46about how poorly they always were as a couple throughout 10 seasons of turbulent will they
06:50won't they drama. Now this might sound harsh, but watching the finale and its kinda manipulative twist
06:56serves as a reminder of how badly written Friends' biggest romance really was. I'm sorry, part of me
07:02does love Ross and Rachel, but you know, rewatching it, they're just not great for each other. I'm sorry.
07:07Number 2, Game of Thrones, The Iron Throne. Game of Thrones suffered
07:11through its final season, losing sight of its tightly plotted execution, countless characters,
07:15and numerous conflicts, and it dropped the ball to an almost unforgivable degree with its closing hour.
07:21There are truly too many mistakes to list off here, but the most egregious, from Dany's assassination,
07:26Bran becoming king, and Jon returning to the wall, are all brought to life in the most unwanted ways
07:31imaginable. Wasting years of development, The Iron Throne forces fans to accept Dany's madness with
07:37Mia scenes of build up that feel completely off base with the rest of the series, and fail to
07:42take into account her relationship with Jon or her previous portrayal as a just and liberating leader.
07:47On top of that, there's also the loose ends the episode leaves hanging. The most confusing of which
07:52is surely Dany's dragon Drogon flying off into the night, never to be seen or mentioned again.
07:58I mean, are we really supposed to accept the fact that Drogon just escapes death without being hunted down or
08:03wreaking havoc across Westeros, or that Tyrion can create a new government whilst a prisoner of war?
08:09So many of the twists were implemented simply to subvert expectations, but subverting expectations
08:15also means ignoring so much of what was set up previously, and kind of nullifies the enjoyment
08:21of watching that journey. Number 1, How I Met Your Mother Last Forever
08:25Honestly, criticizing How I Met Your Mother's controversial farewell is kind of like beating a dead
08:30horse at this point, but still, come on. How in the world can one finale mess up in so many different ways?
08:36In a series of increasingly shocking reveals, Last Forever announces that the eponymous mother is
08:42dead, and that Ted is actually telling this long story so he can get his kids' permission to ask Robin
08:47out again now that he's done grieving. The last second twist almost single-handedly destroys nine
08:53seasons worth of character development and emotional investment. From fans eagerly awaiting for Ted and
08:58Tracy to settle down and live happily ever after. It also kind of makes Ted look like a monster,
09:04manipulating his kids to grovel for his ex yet again just to get their permission to run off.
09:09There are other issues here of course, I mean spending a whole season waiting for Barney and
09:13Robin to get married just to have them divorced at the last hurdle is a major time waster, but nothing
09:18will ever sting more than Ted treating his true love like a footnote in her own story. For shame Mosby,
09:24for shame. So that's our list, I want to know what you guys think down in the comments below,
09:28what did you think about these TV finales and did they get worse for you as well the more you
09:32lingered on their implications? While you're down there as well could you please give us a like,
09:36share, subscribe and head over to whatculture.com for more lists and news like this every single day.
09:40Even if you don't though, I've been Josh, thanks so much for watching and I'll see you soon.
Be the first to comment