# Favorite, Worst Final Episodes Ever. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 30, 2005, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-worst-final-episodes-ever/287488 "2005-01-30T22:43:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Domokun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c77e96/32.png) [@Domokun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Domokun)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2005, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-worst-final-episodes-ever/287488/21 "2005-01-31T02:31:06Z")
**Prisoner Cell Block H** (what!? I used to stay up late watching it with my mom 😛 ) was great for a bad Aussie soap/drama. Seeing that sadistic screw get her comeuppance after years of abusing the inmates made the whole series for me. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2005, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-worst-final-episodes-ever/287488/22 "2005-01-31T02:41:55Z")
Favorites: MASH, Newhart. Worst: Quantum Leap. ---
**Author:** ![LifeOnWry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/96bed5/32.png) [@LifeOnWry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LifeOnWry)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2005, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-worst-final-episodes-ever/287488/23 "2005-01-31T02:52:55Z")
I may be alone in hating the last ep of M_A_S\*H. I just loved Hawkeye Pierce. PTSD was NOT how he should have gone out - the only characters who seemed themselves in that episode were Hunnicutt and Potter. I’m still kinda miffed at Alan Alda. For bests, I have to go with Newhart (which wasn’t so much good as it was surprising) and Forever Knight (went out with a lot of class, and the characters stayed true to the bitter end.) I loved ST:TNG, and it was a pretty good ending, but I was so disappointed that the show was done that I got very little enjoyment out of it. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2005, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-worst-final-episodes-ever/287488/24 "2005-01-31T03:20:59Z")
Best: Fraiser - an ending true to what the show was all about Worst: X-Files - Come on! I mean, really, come on! Friends - What in the Hell was that… then again the series sucked after the first few years ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2005, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-worst-final-episodes-ever/287488/25 "2005-01-31T04:02:55Z")
> [@Paul in Saudi](#): > > For jaw-dropping bad, it was hard to beat _ST: Deep Space Nine_ They left it open for the movie. There will be a DS9 movie some day. I just know it. ---
**Author:** ![shy\_guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a6a055/32.png) [@shy\_guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shy_guy)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2005, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-worst-final-episodes-ever/287488/26 "2005-01-31T04:04:15Z")
Another vote for Angel in the “best” category. I don’t care what Joss does with the characters from here on out, AFAIC they all died fighting the good fight about five minutes after the episode ended. Fantastic finale. The Buffy finale, on the other hand… Blech! The Scoobs are utterly inconsiquential in the “defeat” of the First and his idiotic plan. Buffy devises a hare-brained, moronic plan that made no sense whatsoever and would have gotten everyone killed if it hadn’t been for Wolfram & Hart. Lame, lame, lame. Which doesn’t mean that I don’t tear up when I hear Xander say “that’s my girl.” Another one for the “good” pile: the finale of Power Rangers in Space. Exciting and does a great job of tying together the entire Power Rangers mythology up to that point. I sort of wish they’d done a clean break and started the mostly-unrelated series of teams with Lost Galaxy instead of Lightspeed Resuce (which is sort of moot given “Forever Red” and Tommy in Dino Thunder, but whatever). ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2005, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-worst-final-episodes-ever/287488/27 "2005-01-31T05:24:25Z")
I’d like to throw my vote in for _Sleeping in Light_. Excellent close to an exemplary series. Still makes me cry every time too. ---
**Author:** ![thirdwarning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecccb3/32.png) [@thirdwarning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdwarning)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2005, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-worst-final-episodes-ever/287488/28 "2005-01-31T05:33:37Z")
> [@Only Mostly Dead](#): > > I still smart when my watching of the _Sportsnight_ brings me to the last episode. It’s not even a finale. It just ends. In the middle of story arcs, and setting up a potentially very good new story line where the network gets sold to an idealistic new owner. It came at the reasonable end of the second season of the show, but you could tell that Sorkin made it thinking, KNOWING, that he would have a third season. The show was cancelled, and the last episode just sort of sits there, begging for more. Stupid ABC. I actually thought it was a good ending. I’m not really sure the show had anywhere else to go. If it had gone on, what would have happened? “Platypus Airlines” would have put more money and effort into the show, it would have lost its edge as the best but third-rated sports show, and the whole storyline would have gone downhill. There would have been some plot where Dana and Casey both found new loves they weren’t sure they really wanted, and Danny would have had more opportunities to stress out over his relationship with Rebecca. I think it was better left where it was, before it just started getting repetitive and trite. It’s still one of my favorite shows ever. ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2005, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-worst-final-episodes-ever/287488/29 "2005-01-31T07:22:42Z")
Favorite: Mad About You. The last show was one of the best episodes of the entire series. Newhart also makes it for sheer surprise value. Mediocre: Frazier. Some fun moments but the last scene was dumb. Bad: Friends, Seinfeld, Roseanne, ER (all episodes since the stupid helicopter falls on the doctor plot have been one long Worst Final Episode) ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2005, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-worst-final-episodes-ever/287488/30 "2005-01-31T07:57:42Z")
Uh, guys . . . Hello! Sledge Hammer! Brilliant! Perhaps all productions should create their “final episode” with the misconception that they will be renewed for the next season! ---
**Author:** ![Othersider](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/cab0a1/32.png) [@Othersider](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Othersider)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2005, 8:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-worst-final-episodes-ever/287488/31 "2005-01-31T08:29:24Z")
> [@Nonsuch](#): > > **Seinfeld’s** finale was merely anticlimactic Indeed it was. At the time, it was probably what I least expected from the show, and I felt somewhat let down…but in retrospect, I have determined that I think it was a perfectly logical, if unexpected ending - after seeing the finale and reflecting on so many events in the various episodes, I realize that while these people are the main characters, they don’t fit the protagonist mode that well. IMHO, it’s kind of like watching a movie where at the end we find that the “protagonist” is really the bad guy - so, now it doesn’t seem like a letdown anymore. I mean, these people did some really reprehensible things…(not that most of us don’t from time to time, but that’s beside the point.) > [@ISiddiqui](#): > > Best: Fraiser - an ending true to what the show was all about I agree, I thought it was pretty good - even if it did sort of give the feeling of a chick flick, that’s not always a bad thing. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2005, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-worst-final-episodes-ever/287488/32 "2005-01-31T11:16:02Z")
> [@ISiddiqui](#): > > Best: Fraiser - an ending true to what the show was all about Just how did Frasier end the series? ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2005, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-worst-final-episodes-ever/287488/33 "2005-01-31T11:23:13Z")
> [@Paul in Saudi](#): > > For jaw-dropping bad, it was hard to beat _ST: Deep Space Nine_, especially when we compare it to _ST: The Next Generation_. Uh. What? While it wasn’t that great, it wasn’t bad, either. The only thing I didn’t like about the finale was the flashbacks… that’s just not Trek SOP. Otherwise, it was great. Was it because Sisko ascended to the Celestial Temple or something? That they pretty much killed off the main character of the show shows balls and I loved it and it allowed the greatest last scene in Trek history with Jake and Kira staring out the Promenade window at the end, silently holding one another up. I’m getting chills just thinking about it. > [@ivylass](#): > > They left it open for the movie. > > There will be a DS9 movie some day. I just know it. That is very unlikely. For one, DS9’s story is a bit intricate to just be thrown on the screen like the more episodic natures of TOS and TNG. For another, it’s also not as popular as those shows, nor has the TNG film franchise endeared itself to Paramount, making more Trek movies less and less likely. And finally, Bermaga suck ass and hate DS9. You think it’s a coincidence that even Voyager gets more reference than DS9? We’ll just have the books. Speaking of which, have you read the relaunch? GREAT, GREAT series of books. You need them if you don’t have them already. ---
**Author:** ![Ithaka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Ithaka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ithaka)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2005, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-worst-final-episodes-ever/287488/34 "2005-01-31T11:50:12Z")
Just to give a UK perspective on this: Best comedy ending - Blackadder Best sci-fi - Blake’s 7 ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2005, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-worst-final-episodes-ever/287488/35 "2005-01-31T12:20:20Z")
I liked **Northern Exposure** ’s last ep (I’d never heard Iris deMent before), but frankly, I thought the second-to-last episode was better and would have made for a better finale. **Twin Peaks** , not so much, especially since they had no intention of tying up the loose ends either there or in the movie. Just mysterioso crap for its own sake. **Batman** (Adam West version) ended with just another dopey episode. The guest villain was Zsa Zsa Gabor (Their first choice, Mae West, was unavailable). ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2005, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-worst-final-episodes-ever/287488/36 "2005-01-31T13:10:14Z")
> [@Only Mostly Dead](#): > > I still smart when my watching of the _Sportsnight_ brings me to the last episode. It’s not even a finale. It just ends. In the middle of story arcs, and setting up a potentially very good new story line where the network gets sold to an idealistic new owner. It came at the reasonable end of the second season of the show, but you could tell that Sorkin made it thinking, KNOWING, that he would have a third season. The show was cancelled, and the last episode just sort of sits there, begging for more. Stupid ABC. Maybe ABC will get sold to an idealistic new owner? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![LibrarySpy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f9ae1b/32.png) [@LibrarySpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LibrarySpy)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2005, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-worst-final-episodes-ever/287488/37 "2005-01-31T13:39:50Z")
_Sleeping in Light_, for not only being great, but being a miracle, due to when it was filmed. I rather liked the Buffy finale, as well as the **Xena: Warrior Princess** finale. The **Star Trek: Voyager** finale was horrible. HORRIBLE. Ugh. :rolleyes: :mad: I need to go take a shower. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2005, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-worst-final-episodes-ever/287488/38 "2005-01-31T13:57:59Z")
Worst: Three’s Company. Looked like it could have been written by some middle school kids. Two of the three get married and the third leaves town- all at once. It’s one thing to tie off loose ends, it’s quite another to cut them off. Seinfeld: I never watched an episode except the last one. Then I wondered, what _is_ all the fuss about? Best: Newhart set the bar that will not be approached for some time. ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2005, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-worst-final-episodes-ever/287488/39 "2005-01-31T14:40:32Z")
The best ever was **Angel**. That plotline kind of came out of midair in the one or two episodes prior, but the end was fantastic, and exactly the correct wrap-up for the characters. Prior to Angel, my favorite finale had been **Twin Peaks**. As convoluted as that show had gotten in the directionless second season, every single subplot was wrapped up and the last scene was _astonishing_. I thought the **Buffy** finale was good, albeit not fantastic. I just watched Whedon’s commentary on it a few days ago. He ackowledges that the amulet comes out of nowhere, but he says “So what?”. It’s not about that. This is an excuse, cetainly, but a valid one – Buffy has always been written on at minimum two levels, and they haven’t always meshed. I agree that it was more important to answer the metaphor than the plot – and I can forgive a couple deus ex machinas anyway. –Cliffy P.S. **Sports Night** – I thought the finale was a solid ending, but any piece of crud would have been justified by that shot of Danny getting hit with the ladder. ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2005, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-worst-final-episodes-ever/287488/40 "2005-01-31T14:46:20Z")
Hey, what about **The Office** (the Christmas party)? I thought it was a sweet way to wrap up a few loose ends, and nice to see some of the characters be surprised that they may have a happy life. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-worst-final-episodes-ever/287488.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-worst-final-episodes-ever/287488.md?page=3)