HBO

10+ TV Shows With Endings People Hated (But Weren't Actually Bad)

Endings are a difficult thing to execute. No matter how hard you try, more often than not, you're always going to end up alienating someone.

But sometimes after the dust settles, you realize that a series' finale wasn't as bad as you once thought. Have a look and check out these 10+ TV shows with endings people hated (but weren't actually all that bad).

Dan was *Gossip Girl* the whole time.

CW

I'm not going to try and argue that I saw this coming or even that I understand it. But Gossip Girl had become a bit of a hot mess long before the series finale.

If not Dan, then who?

Dwight's wedding on *The Office*.

I agree that The Office leaned a little too hard on the sentimental in the final episode. But let's try and appreciate it for what it gave us, rather than what it took away.

Like the reunion of Michael Scott and Dwight, for instance.

Bran is crowned Ruler of the Realms in *Game Of Thrones*.

HBO

From the very first episode, Game of Thrones set a precedent for disappointing its viewers. Let's not forget that Benioff and Weiss lopped off Ned Stark's head back in season one.

At least with Bran as Ruler, we got some closure. Albeit, not in the ways we'd hoped for.

Everyone goes to prison in *Seinfeld*.

NBC

Jerry Seinfeld has famously said that big endings just don't tend to work in comedy.

And while some may argue that the finale of Seinfeld is a glorified clip show, I like to think of it as a requiem for what was.

Dropping a piano on Charlie's head in *Two And A Half Men*.

Sure, choosing to break the 4th wall and drop a piano on Charlie Sheen's head in effigy isn't exactly what you call taking the high moral ground.

But after the verbal onslaught that Lorre received at the hands of Sheen, I'd say he got off easy.

They were dead the entire time on *Lost*.

ABC

I'm not necessarily an advocate for the whole dream-sequence-ending. That said, I think we can all agree that Lost had become wrapped up in itself.

At least this way we got some semblance of closure, and the majority of our questions were answered.

Dexter Morgan becomes a lumberjack on *Dexter*.

Don't think of Dexter as ending on a sour note. Think of it as taking a break at an incredibly odd and inexplicable moment.

Hopefully, now that the reboot has been confirmed, they'll be able to get it right.

When Rachel got off the plane on *Friends*.

NBC

I wasn't thrilled about this the first time around. I mean, why would Rachel give up her dreams for a selfish deadbeat dad like Ross?

In hindsight, I now see that this was the only way to make the majority of the fanbase happy.

The death of Enoch Thompson on *Boardwalk Empire*.

HBO

The entire final season of Boardwalk Empire is a bit of a wash compared to the rest of the series if I'm being honest.

But there's no denying that Nucky needed to die for his sins. In that case, who better than the son of James Darmody?

When the road took Jax Teller on *Sons Of Anarchy*.

Many diehard SOA fans had a hard time swallowing the idea that Jax would actually commit suicide.

Looking back on all the atrocities he committed since becoming president, it was inevitable.

Clark Kent running on the rooftop in *Smallville*.

CW

What really seemed to tick Smallville fans off was never getting to see Clark in full his full Superman suit. But that's the beauty of this show — it was never about Superman.

This is an origin story of Clark Kent; you couldn't ask for a more fitting or poetic end.

Sacred Heart becomes a teaching hospital on *Scrubs*.

ABC

The final season of Scrubs gets a completely unwarranted reputation for being terrible. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

Where they failed was trying to pass it off as another season, opposed to a spin-off series.

Dan's heart attack never really happened in *Roseanne*.

Right from the get-go, Roseanne never pretended to be anything that it was not.

So while the idea of a zany, half-baked dream erasing an entire season's worth of plot might seem like blasphemy for most shows, it's perfectly in keeping with Roseanne.

Ted and Robin getting back together on *How I Met Your Mother*.

CBS

It took an incredibly long time to get there, but come on — we all knew that somehow Ted and Robin were going to find their way back to one another.

Ted recapturing the blue french-horn is picture-perfect, too!

A cut to black on *The Sopranos*.

HBO

I'm only now beginning to get over my rage from the initial shock of The Sopranos finale. It literally cuts to black, and that's it.

Now, I've been able to extrapolate a few different possibilities: either Tony was whacked or we (the audience) were.