Stranger Things & 5 Other TV Endings Fans Absolutely Hated

When Season of Stranger Things 1 first dropped, it truly put Netflix on the map as the king of streaming services. It also kickstarted one of the biggest pop culture phenomena of the 21st century, thanks to its impressive blend of ‘80s nostalgia and stunning sci-fi. It even had hints of horror and lots of dark fantasy elements, too, with the thrilling mystery of Will Byers’ disappearance at its heart.

Subsequent seasons were good but not as great, although they all had their special moments, like the Battle of Starcourt Mall and Max Mayfield’s epic escape from Vecna to the sound of Kate Bush. However, we were made to wait what felt like a lifetime for the fifth and final season, and when it finally arrived, it still somehow felt rushed. The visuals and CGI were poor in places, the story was full of plot holes, and the grand finale really lacked any of the intensity and magic that previous seasons had in bucketloads.

Speaking of rushed finales, the story behind the messy eighth season of Game of Thrones is a very ironic and frustrating one. The showrunners, DB Weiss and David Benioff, had done such a good job with the show up until that point that they were handed the holy grail: the chance to develop a Star Wars movie. The problem is that the pair were so eager to tie up Game of Thrones and head to a galaxy far, far away that they forgot to end the show properly.

Obviously, they weren’t helped by the fact that George R. R. Martin hadn’t finished the books the whole show was based on. However, the decisions Weiss and Benioff made for characters like Arya and Bran Stark, in particular, were heinous, and many fans claim the incredible journey they’d been on for seven seasons had all been for nothing. I wouldn’t agree, personally. I was late to the party on Game of Thrones, and by the time I got to Season 8, I had already heard all the negativity around the finale. It wasn’t great, obviously, but I’d still say the adventure on the whole is well worth investing time in. Catch it on Now TV and see if you agree.

It took a whopping 121 episodes for J. J. Abrams to bring Lost to a close in 2010, and even then, he still left fans wanting more – but not necessarily in a good way. The sci-fi show was a mind-bending, thought-provoking mystery that unfolded over six epic seasons. What made Lost really special is that it came at a time when the internet was really starting to blossom, allowing fan theories to spread like wildfire.

The downside to that, though, is that those fans had their own ideas as to how the show should end. That doomed Lost to fail before it even ended. To be fair to viewers, Abrams did leave a hell of a lot of questions unanswered. I’m all for an ambiguous ending – they’re my favourite way to conclude a story, actually – but you simply can’t help feeling like Lost was too enigmatic for its own good.

It’s amazing that such a simple premise – a mafia boss who has anxiety and depression – could lead to one of the greatest TV shows of all time. Indeed, even including The Sopranos on this list feels a little bit harsh, as the overall quality of the six-season show is so high. But it’s for that very reason that we have to hold it to a higher standard in every way, including its ending.

In truth, there’s nothing wrong with the finale as a whole; it’s just as good as the other 85 episodes that came before it. That is, except for the very final moments of the episode, where a cut to black is all we get to say goodbye to the fascinating character of Tony Soprano. What exactly happens to him in that moment is up for debate, and fans hate that they weren’t given a definitive ending.

From a conclusion that ended just too soon, to one that dragged on for too long. Killing Eve, much like Stranger Things, was a breath of fresh air when it first started. By the time it finished, however, fans were scratching their heads and wondering what the hell they had just watched. Phoebe Waller-Bridge followed up her mammoth success on Fleabag with this twisted, sapphic thriller, and for the first couple of seasons, she captured lightning in a bottle. 

Season 3 showed signs of things falling apart, with unnecessary and meandering subplots and character development that stagnated. In many ways, it felt like the show was continuing without a real end goal in mind. By the end of Season 4, fans were livid with the way Eve transformed and how her relationship with Villanelle evolved, especially as it departed from the way things were supposed to go down in the book.

Another BBC show that started impeccably and lost its way is Sherlock. As a massive fan of Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes novels, I was enraptured with this modern take on the classic character, mainly thanks to Benedict Cumberbatch’s superb performance in the titular role. He perfectly captured the spirit of the arrogant genius, and the mysteries he solved in the first couple of seasons were fantastic. 

However, much like Killing Eve, the show seemingly forgot everything that made it so special along the way. The third season was still fairly good, although one particular retcon is handled a little sloppily and far less convincingly than in the source material. However, it’s the fourth and final season that is a real travesty. Sherlock’s sister shows up, all focus is lost, and fans rightly wished that showrunners Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss had quit while they were ahead. Still, at least there are only three episodes per season, so you’re not going to be wasting much time by watching it from start to finish anyway…