The Sopranos' ambiguous finale was controversial. Photo / Supplied
The Sopranos' ambiguous finale was controversial. Photo / Supplied
As I sat down to watch the Game of Thrones finale on Monday night, the overwhelming feeling I had was relief.
After a whole season of insipid television, I don't think I could stand another moment of whinging — my own included — about the direction the show had taken.
The complaining was inevitable though. When a TV series racks up the kind of feverish following Game of Thrones has enjoyed, it's almost impossible to meet fans' expectations of how it should all end.
However, their writers were not the first to face this crippling pressure. So, while we collectively gnash our teeth over that Thrones ending, let's remember the popular shows that managed to nail their own finale — and others that missed the mark.
Walter White's transition from a high school science teacher to a ruthless meth kingpin was a television masterpiece, right through to Breaking Bad's satisfying finale. The leading man got to redeem himself somewhat, but he also finally admitted to his wife, Skyler, what we already knew — that he'd got a kick out of all of his violent crimes. "All the things that I did... I did it for me," he said. "I liked it. I was good at it. And I was really ... I was alive."
Bryan Cranston's character, Walter White, was able to partially redeem himself in the Breaking Bad finale. Photo / Supplied
The Sopranos
There will be some who think The Sopranos is in the wrong list, given many of the show's fans screamed bloody murder as its final credits rolled.
The final scene saw mobster Tony Soprano meeting his family for dinner, with the tension steadily building as strangers entered the diner and his daughter struggled to park outside. (Been there, Meadow.)
As the diner door dinged one more time, Tony looked up and the screen cut suddenly to black. Was Tony about to be killed or was he about to hear of Meadow's parking ineptitude? We'll never know. It was a ballsy move and one that seemed appropriate for one of TV's most complex men.
Six Feet Under
There was no such ambiguity when Six Feet Under aired for the last time.
When the Fisher family's tale came to an end, fans got to see exactly what happened to all their favourite characters. In a fitting finish to a show that was set in a funeral home, the finale ended with a series of flash-forwards showing how each family member lived — and eventually died.
It was fitting, for a series set in a funeral home, that the Six Feet Under finale detailed how each family member eventually died. Photo / Supplied
Cheers
When it comes to major TV finales, few have been as popular as the final episode of M*A*S*H, which pulled in a record audience of 105.9 million.
But while I'm much too young to appreciate a finale that aired in 1983, thank you very much, I am old enough to remember the final of Cheers, which brought in its own whopping audience of 80.4 million.
As that show came to an end, Norm was once again the last patron to leave the famous bar. And when another mystery customer tried to head in for a drink, Sam uttered the show's final line, "Sorry, we're closed." Sniff.
AND THE WORST...
Lost
As far as divisive finales go, Lost may have one of the most hotly debated. The show that frequently bamboozled viewers (or perhaps just me) delivered a final episode that was confusing to the point of still being analysed by fans some nine years later. And as for that final scene in the afterlife? Shamefully schmaltzy.
How I Met Your Mother
After eight seasons waiting for Ted Mosby to meet the Mother in How I Met Your Mother, fans finally clapped eyes on her in the final season — and she was delightful. Then along came the last episode where they promptly killed the Mother off and Ted decided Robin was the love of his life after all. Wait. What?
The How I Met Your Mother finale left viewers scratching their heads. Photo / Supplied
Two and a Half Men
Is anybody surprised the inexplicably popular Two and a Half Men had one of the worst finales of all time?
When somebody finally decided to put that lazy, not-at-all-funny sitcom out of its misery, the show brought back original "Man'" Charlie Sheen for the final scene (except, of course, it wasn't really Sheen). Then they dropped a piano on him. Then they pulled away to reveal series creator Chuck Lorre sitting in his director's chair, before dropping a piano on him, too.
But in a way it was perfect — because sometimes a howler of a final episode is exactly the send-off a terrible show deserves.
Two and a Half Men delivered one of the more bizarre finales of recent years. Photo / Supplied
