How Does the ‘Game of Thrones’ Final Episode Rank Among Other High-Profile Finales? (PHOTOS)
Game of Thrones: 4.3 from 196k votes
One user gave “The Iron Throne” four stars — one for the “incredible” music, one for the “work behind the cameras,” one for the “few” characters with huge character development, and one for the actors “who actually played their roles perfectly (even if the script sucked)” — and then explained that the six missing stars stood for the six episodes of the final season. Burn.
True Blood: 5.2 from 2.1k votes
Fans weren’t exactly saying “Thank You” after witnessing the end of this HBO drama. Check out this scathing review, for instance: “The one thing that makes this episode the biggest stinker of all is the dialogue, especially between Sookie and Bill. Rambling thoughts, unconnected to action, and drained of emotion. Unsupported. Circular. Old territory. It’s like watching people chew food.”
How I Met Your Mother: 5.6 from 14.5k votes
This CBS sitcom’s finale, “Last Forever: Part Two,” ranks as one of the TV’s most divisive, though at least one fan has reconsidered their opinion of it. “I felt like this made the whole series pointless, but it didn’t, it just made season 9 pointless,” that user wrote. “They just made a huge mistake by making the whole ninth season take place at the wedding.”
Seinfeld: 7.7 from 2.1k votes
Of this NBC sitcom’s final episode — aptly titled “The Finale” — one user wrote, “As much as everyone enjoyed the lighthearted notion that Seinfeld had no specific point to make, the reality was that an undercurrent of social apathy was present throughout. The finale was all about reaping what they sowed.”
Lost: 8.2 from 8.7k votes
“It was, and always will be, a cerebral show,” a reviewer wrote of this ABC hit. “If you try to view it with a list in hand of all the questions for which you demand answers, you are missing out on quite an experience. The island was just a device to tell a story. The crux of it all and what always tied everything together was the characters, and ‘The End’ did give a tremendous resolution to the story of the characters, I believe.”
The Sopranos: 9.1 from 5.3k votes
“Made in America,” the arguably abrupt conclusion of this HBO hit, satisfied many fans, including one who wrote, “In the end, I’m satisfied with the finale, and would have been a lot less pleased if everyone had died or all the ends were tied. Life isn’t neat and tidy. So why should America’s most realistic mob show be?”
Mad Men: 9.3 from 2.8k votes
“This episode is absolutely perfect and it’s the beautiful and bittersweet ending this incredible series deserves,” an IMDb reviewer wrote after finishing this AMC drama “‘Person to Person’ is true to the series that preceded it, paying respect to the previous 91 episodes, while also being as unpredictable and subversive as Mad Men always has been.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: 9.5 from 3.3k votes
“I think that this was the best finale to any show that I have ever seen,” an IMDb user raved after watching “Chosen” conclude this WB drama’s (onscreen) storyline. “I have always been a huge BTVS fan and was very happy to see a final episode with good resolution and action.”
The Office: 9.7 from 7.6k votes
This NBC sitcom’s “Finale” has legions of admirers. “Trust me when I say that this episode is worth the wait, and the emotions it will evoke transcend TV and comprehension,” one wrote on IMDb. “It is in this episode that you find out once and for all how much these characters mean to you and what absolute work of art this is and will always be remembered as.”
Friends: 9.7 from 8.9k votes
One IMDb user deemed “The Last One: Part 2,” the finale of this NBC classic, a “joyful and friendly finale,” while another declared it “joyful, beautiful, and perfect.” Observed a third: “Wonderful ending of a wonderful show.”
Breaking Bad: 9.9 from 73k votes
“All hell broke loose in the grand finale of Breaking Bad,” one reviewer wrote of “Felina,” this AMC drama’s conclusion. “As expected, Breaking Bad ended with a bang. No other TV series has ever been so consistent as this one. It has left a formidable mark on the minds of the audience.” Another reviewer said that they had just finished Game of Thrones and “immediately came here to pay my respects and bow down” to Breaking Bad.
The eighth and final season of Game of Thrones disappointed many of the HBO drama’s most loyal fans, some of whom even started a petition to remake the season “with competent writers” — and that petition came even before the much-maligned series finale.
Ending a beloved television show is always a perilous proposition, and where the GOT writers seemingly failed, other TV masterminds have soared.
Click through the gallery above for where the GOT swan song ranks among the series finales of other TV phenomenons, according to the episodes’ average IMDb user rating.
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