20 TV Shows Everyone Loved… Until the Last Season Ruined Everything

Remember that sick feeling when your favorite show completely betrayed everything you loved about it? You’re not alone. There’s nothing quite like watching years of brilliant storytelling get obliterated by one catastrophically bad final season.

From beloved comedies that overstayed their welcome to epic dramas that forgot what made them special, these shows had us completely invested—until they didn’t. Get ready to relive some of television’s most spectacular crashes and burns.

20. Two and a Half Men (2015)

When Charlie Sheen left the show in 2011, Two and a Half Men was already on shaky ground. But somehow, the series limped along for four more seasons that nobody asked for or particularly enjoyed.

The final season tried to bring back Charlie Sheen’s character through flashbacks and references, but it felt desperate and hollow. What was once sharp, witty comedy had devolved into tired jokes and recycled storylines that made you wonder why anyone was still watching.

The series finale’s attempt at meta-humor and self-awareness came across as mean-spirited rather than clever. Sometimes knowing when to quit is the most important skill in television.

19. Scrubs Season 9 (2010)

Technically, this wasn’t even supposed to be Scrubs—it was meant to be a spin-off called “Scrubs: Med School.” But ABC insisted on keeping the original name, creating one of TV’s most unnecessary final seasons.

With most of the original cast gone and a completely different setting, Season 9 felt like fan fiction written by someone who’d never watched the show. The magic of Sacred Heart Hospital and J.D.’s internal monologues was replaced by generic medical school comedy.

The season was mercifully canceled after just 13 episodes, but the damage was done. What should have ended perfectly with Season 8’s emotional finale was tainted by this awkward, unwanted epilogue.

18. The 100 (2020)

The 100 started as a compelling post-apocalyptic survival story and evolved into something much more complex and interesting. Until the final season decided to throw all of that away for interdimensional body-snatching aliens.

The Bardo storyline and transcendence plot felt like they belonged in a completely different show. Characters we’d grown to love over six seasons were reduced to plot devices in service of increasingly nonsensical mythology.

The series finale’s “happy ending” rang hollow because it required ignoring everything the show had previously established about its characters and world. Sometimes ambition without coherence is worse than playing it safe.

17. Girls (2017)

Girls was never a show that everyone loved, but it had a devoted following who appreciated its unflinching look at millennial life in New York. The final season, however, seemed to forget what made the show work in the first place.

Hannah’s sudden decision to move to the suburbs and become a mother felt completely at odds with everything we knew about her character. The show that once thrived on uncomfortable truths settled for conventional life choices.

The series finale’s time jump and tidy resolutions betrayed the messy, complex storytelling that had defined the show’s best moments. It felt like the writers had given up on their own characters.

16. Weeds (2012)

Weeds had already jumped the shark multiple times by its final season, but somehow the ending managed to be even more disappointing than expected. What started as a sharp satire about suburban hypocrisy devolved into increasingly ridiculous criminal hijinks.

The flash-forward finale revealed that Nancy had learned absolutely nothing from her years of self-destructive behavior. Her children were damaged, her relationships were hollow, and she was still the same selfish person she’d always been.

For a show that occasionally showed flashes of genuine insight into addiction and family dysfunction, the finale’s refusal to offer any real growth or consequences felt like a betrayal of its own potential.

15. Roseanne Revival Season (2018)

The Roseanne revival’s single season managed to both recapture some of the original’s magic and completely destroy it within the span of nine episodes. The show’s handling of contemporary political issues felt forced and divisive rather than insightful.

When Roseanne Barr’s off-screen behavior led to the show’s cancellation, it became clear that the revival was built on an unstable foundation. The attempt to address real-world issues through the Conner family lens felt more like pandering than authentic storytelling.

The season’s abrupt end and transformation into The Conners proved that sometimes you can’t go home again. The original series finale should have remained the definitive ending.

Most people saw this next disaster coming from a mile away…

14. House of Cards Season 6 (2018)

When Kevin Spacey was written out of House of Cards due to personal scandals, the show faced an impossible task: wrapping up a story that was fundamentally about his character. The final season’s attempt to center Claire Underwood fell flat despite Robin Wright’s best efforts.

The season felt like it was written by people who didn’t understand what made the earlier seasons compelling. The political maneuvering became cartoonish, and the dark psychology that drove the show was replaced by generic thriller plotting.

Most frustratingly, the finale failed to provide any satisfying resolution to the show’s central themes about power and corruption. It felt like an ending written by committee rather than a creative conclusion.

13. The Walking Dead (2018-2022)

While The Walking Dead’s decline was gradual rather than sudden, its final seasons were particularly painful for fans who remembered when the show was appointment television. The series became repetitive, killing off beloved characters while introducing forgettable new ones.

The show’s inability to decide when to end became its biggest weakness. Storylines were stretched beyond their breaking point, and the zombie apocalypse premise grew stale through overuse and lack of innovation.

By the time the series actually ended, most of its original audience had already moved on. The finale felt less like a conclusion and more like a mercy killing.

12. Heroes Season 4 (2010)

Heroes was already struggling after its disastrous second and third seasons, but the fourth and final season felt like watching a once-great show slowly die on screen. The complex mythology had become incomprehensible, and the characters had lost everything that made them interesting.

The carnival storyline felt small and inconsequential compared to the world-ending threats of earlier seasons. Characters who once felt like real people with extraordinary abilities became walking plot devices.

The series finale’s attempt to set up future storylines felt delusional rather than hopeful. Heroes had already proven it couldn’t handle the concepts it introduced, so promising more felt almost insulting to viewers.

11. Dexter Original Finale (2013)

Few series finales have generated as much universal hatred as Dexter’s original ending. After eight seasons of watching a fascinating character study of a serial killer trying to be human, the finale reduced everything to lumber jokes and fake deaths.

The decision to have Dexter fake his death and become a lumberjack felt like the writers had given up entirely. It ignored years of character development and plot threads in favor of the most generic possible ending.

The finale was so universally despised that Showtime eventually produced Dexter: New Blood to give the character a proper ending. Sometimes admitting failure is the first step toward redemption.

10. Killing Eve Season 4 (2022)

Killing Eve’s cat-and-mouse game between Eve and Villanelle was electric television for three seasons. The final season somehow managed to drain all the chemistry and tension that made the show special.

The decision to kill off Villanelle in the series finale felt like a betrayal of everything the show had built toward. The complex relationship between the two leads deserved better than a conventional tragic ending.

What made the finale even more frustrating was how close the season came to getting it right. The penultimate episode suggested the show might stick the landing, making the actual ending feel even more like a missed opportunity.

And just wait until you see the absolute disasters in the top 5…

9. How I Met Your Mother (2014)

Nine seasons of buildup led to one of television’s most infuriating finales. After spending an entire final season on Barney and Robin’s wedding, the show undid their marriage in the final episode and killed off the titular mother.

The finale revealed that the entire story had been Ted’s elaborate setup to ask his kids’ permission to date Robin again. This retroactively made the mother feel like a plot device rather than a fully realized character.

Fans were so outraged that an alternate ending was released, but the damage was done. A show about finding love and growing up ended by suggesting that people never really change or move on.

8. Lost (2010)

Lost’s finale divided audiences like few others, but for many fans, the final season’s focus on mystical resolution over scientific explanation felt like a betrayal of the show’s core appeal. The sideways timeline and “church ending” left more questions than answers.

The series had trained viewers to look for clues and solve puzzles, then told them in the end that the mysteries didn’t really matter. Character resolution was prioritized over plot resolution, leaving many feeling unsatisfied.

While some appreciated the emotional focus, others felt cheated by six seasons of intricate mythology that ultimately led nowhere. Lost proved that sometimes the journey is more important than the destination—whether you like it or not.

7. Pretty Little Liars (2017)

Seven seasons of “Who is A?” led to one of the most convoluted and unsatisfying reveals in television history. The final season’s twin storyline felt like the writers were making it up as they went along, which they probably were.

The series finale crammed in so many plot twists and revelations that none of them had time to land properly. Characters behaved in ways that contradicted years of established personality traits just to service the increasingly absurd plot.

For a show that built its entire identity around a central mystery, the resolution felt anticlimactic and overly complicated. Sometimes the simplest answer really is the best one.

6. True Blood (2014)

True Blood’s final season felt like it was written by people who actively hated the show’s fans. Beloved characters were killed off unceremoniously while storylines that had been building for years were abandoned entirely.

The series finale’s time jump revealed that most of the characters had settled into boringly conventional lives that contradicted everything we knew about them. Sookie’s choice to end up with a faceless nobody felt particularly insulting.

What made the ending even more frustrating was how the show had consistently chosen shock value over character development in its later seasons. The finale was just the culmination of years of declining quality.

5. Ozark (2022)

Ozark’s final season felt like it was racing to an ending that the writers hadn’t properly planned. The Byrde family’s descent into moral bankruptcy reached its logical conclusion, but the execution felt rushed and unsatisfying.

The decision to kill off several major characters in rapid succession felt more like clearing the board than organic storytelling. Ruth’s death, in particular, seemed designed purely for shock value rather than narrative necessity.

The series finale’s suggestion that the family had learned to embrace their criminal lifestyle felt nihilistic without being insightful. Sometimes a dark ending needs to earn its darkness through better storytelling.

The final four entries will make you question everything you thought you knew about TV endings…

4. Riverdale (2023)

Riverdale’s seven-season run was consistently insane, but the final season somehow managed to be both completely bonkers and utterly boring. The show’s attempt to return to its roots through time travel felt like admitting that everything after Season 1 had been a mistake.

The series finale’s revelation that the entire show had been an angel’s intervention to prevent a nuclear apocalypse was peak Riverdale nonsense. It somehow managed to make even less sense than the show’s previous supernatural storylines.

For a show that thrived on being unpredictable, the finale’s attempt at meaningful resolution felt completely at odds with everything that came before. Sometimes embracing chaos is better than pretending there was a plan all along.

3. Game of Thrones (2019)

The final season of Game of Thrones might be the most disappointing ending in television history. Eight years of careful character development and political intrigue were sacrificed for spectacle and rushed plotting that satisfied no one.

Daenerys’s transformation into a mad queen happened too quickly to feel earned, while Jon Snow’s true parentage ended up meaning nothing. Bran becoming king felt random rather than inevitable, despite years of setup.

The series finale’s attempt to provide closure for every character felt perfunctory rather than satisfying. A show that had prided itself on subverting expectations ended by meeting the lowest possible expectations instead.

2. Westworld (2022)

Westworld’s fourth and final season was a mercy killing for a show that had lost its way completely. What started as a brilliant exploration of consciousness and free will devolved into incomprehensible mythology and repetitive themes.

The series finale’s attempt to provide closure for the human-host conflict felt hollow because the show had already exhausted its central concepts. The time jumps and reality shifts that once felt meaningful became tiresome gimmicks.

Most frustratingly, the finale suggested that the entire story had been building toward humanity’s extinction, making four seasons of character development feel pointless. Sometimes knowing when to end is more important than having an ending.

1. 13 Reasons Why (2020)

The final season of 13 Reasons Why proved that some shows should never have existed in the first place, let alone continued for four seasons. What began as a controversial but potentially important discussion about teen suicide became a glorification of the very behaviors it claimed to condemn.

The series finale’s attempt to provide uplifting closure ignored the damage the show had done over four seasons of irresponsible storytelling. The characters’ happy endings felt unearned and tone-deaf given the serious subject matter.

Most damaging of all, the show’s final season continued to romanticize suicide and self-harm while pretending to advocate for mental health awareness. It stands as perhaps the most harmful series finale ever produced, proving that good intentions mean nothing without responsible execution.

Which One Hurt You the Most?

Television has the unique power to make us invest years of our lives in fictional characters and storylines. When shows betray that investment with terrible endings, it feels personal in a way that bad movies never do.

The worst part? Many of these shows were genuinely great for most of their runs. Their terrible endings don’t erase the good times, but they definitely make those earlier seasons harder to rewatch.

Which of these finale disasters still keeps you up at night? Share this with someone who’s still not over their favorite show’s terrible ending—misery loves company, especially when it comes to TV disappointment.