Ending a TV series is hard. The whole idea behind a TV show is that it doesn’t end. It keeps going. Sure there are season finales, but they usually end in a manner that sets up more drama and conflict to come. The list of truly great series finales is actually rather short. Most shows, if given the opportunity to go out on their own terms, end in a satisfactory if somewhat forgettable manner. Some get cancelled before the story has any semblance of conclusion. But a fine few TV finales actually find a way to end the long-running story in a truly unique or memorable way. That can either mean everything is wrapped up in a nice bow, or the show concludes on a compellingly ambiguous note.
WithGame of Thronespoised to end this coming Sunday, we at Collider felt what better time to look back on some of the best series finales ever made. Given the breadth of TV programming over the years, we decided to limit our list to TV finales that aired in the 21st century. So below, we run down the best series finales of the 21st century so far.
Breaking Bad
AMC’sBreaking Badis hands down one of the best TV series ever made. From beginning to end, the story of mild-mannered Walter White’s transformation from disgruntled high school science teacher to hardcore meth-making kingpin Heisenberg is expertly told. This perfect storm of talent both behind the camera and in front of it brought us the compelling story of a zero-turned-antihero thanks to the writing ofVince Gilliganand his team, the award-winning acting ofBryan Cranstonand the remarkable cast, and the fantastic production quality that made science cool again. But all of that build-up had to come to a satisfying conclusion ifBreaking Badwanted to enter the annals of “Best TV Series Ever.”
So there was quite a bit riding on the last hour of the show. “Felina”, a time-jumped series finale written and directed by Gilligan, had to wrap up the previous 61 episodes, Walt’s ultimate transformation into Heisenberg, and the fate of all the major players who ever came into contact with him. Somehow, Walt was able to return to Albuquerque from exile, reunite with his former business partners in order to coerce them into making sure his family was taken care of, say goodbye to Skyler one last time, neutralize yet another business partner, and arrange a meeting with a group of no-good Neo Nazis to settle the score and make good with Jesse Pinkman. And all that was accomplished within a brisk 55 minutes, leading to a satisfying yet bittersweet final moment for the man himself, Heisenberg. The 62-episode reaction had run to completion and, in the end, the product was pure. –Dave Trumbore
The Americans
One of the best series finales in TV history actually aired just last year. The FX drama seriesThe Americanspretty much lived its entire life as a critical darling, with the show and starsMatthew RhysandKeri Russellonly finally picking up Emmy recognition in the final seasons. But in the end, there was really only one way this 80s-set story of Russian spies living and posing as Americans could end. It felt at once inevitable and entirely suspenseful, which kind of best sums up the show. Perhaps the greatest compliment I can giveThe Americansseries finale is it took a song fromU2—“With or Without You”—that had already been made iconic on television byFriendsdecades earlier, and managed to make you entirely forget about its previous use. So. Many. Emotions. –Adam Chitwood
Ending any TV series in a memorable way is hard, but especially for sitcoms.Friendssomewhat bridged the gap between the 90s heyday of network television and the mid-2000s arrival of “serialized storytelling,” butFriendswas a show that always leaned into season-long arcs and character development that had actual ramifications (for better andworse). The series finale, aptly named “The Last One,” remains one of the most-watched TV finales in history, and offered an emotional sendoff for these beloved characters after 10 seasons. And, of course, one last zinger from Chandler. –Adam Chitwood
Six Feet Under
Finales don’t really get more final than the conclusion ofSix Feet Underwhich — true to the theme of the show — showed every major character’s eventual death in a final montage set toSia’s “Breathe Me.” Some of their stories ended with tragedy, others with a strange humor, but it remains one of the most emotional sequences of any series before or since. Despite some wobbles in previous seasons, ultimately, the journey was completed in such a heartfelt and beautiful way that is has become the gold standard for great series finales. —Allison Keene
Avatar: The Last Airbender
One of the best animated series to ever grace the small screen (and we won’t even mention that live-action big-screen adaptation that totally never happened),Avatar: The Last Airbenderis an absolute rarity. There was nothing quite like it when it arrived on Nickelodeon in 2005 and there hasn’t been anything quite like it since (with respect to Avatar Korra). From co-creatorsMichael Dante DiMartinoandBryan Konietzkocame this 65-episode masterpiece that effortlessly paired traditional martial arts styles with elemental magic and a mythology that was rich enough to inspire at least a few more spinoffs. Over the course of three seasons (known in the show’s lingo as “Books”),A:TLAgave us a complete arc for Avatar Aang, a young airbender who was awoken from hibernation and tasked with mastering the four elements and defeating the incredibly powerful Fire Lord. Should he fail, the world as they knew it would have been overrun by the military might of the Fire Nation, upsetting the balance that had existed for centuries.
The series finale had a lot of ground to cover and a heaping helping of mythology to wrap up in a satisfying way, so it was a smart move to split said finale into four parts. Known together as “Sozin’s Comet”, the 93-minute four-part movie centers on the heroes’ final stand against the Fire Nation. At the core of this conflict, which has plenty of story arc-resolving side plots, is Aang and Fire Lord Ozai, who has proclaimed himself the Phoenix King as world ruler, aided by the power of a passing comet. All Aang has to do is kill Ozai, but his upbringing, training, and personal belief all rebel against that very idea. So the fact that this final confrontation finds another way for our hero to be the victor, especially when it’s so much easier for a hero to kill a villain all throughout fiction, is an incredibly earnest, hopeful, and inspiring storytelling decision. And that alone makes this one of the most satisfying series finales in TV history. –Dave Trumbore
The Sopranos
What a pair ofpalleDavid Simonmust have to end his iconic mafia seriesThe Sopranosthis way. Never in the history of “Don’t Stop Believin'” has Journey been this tense, as a Soprano family dinner seemed doomed to end in tragedy before “Made In America” simply smash-cut to black silence and then credits. At the time it was a confounding choice, one that left viewers shocked and caused my very Italian father to have what could only be described as a full-on conniption. But what other way could this brilliantly no-compromises series end? Before “subverting expectations” became a Reddit meme, the tale of Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) lived to subvert expectations. Entire wars started to brew before getting squashed with a handshake. Always doomed Christopher Moltisanti (Michael Imperioli) died in a surprise car crash—with a bit of an assist from Tony—fifteen minutes into an episode. The Russian ran into the woods and never came back. The series finale was the ultimate non-swerve, one final fuck you to anyone expecting a straightforward answer from the most complex character in TV history.
And really, this finale holds up as brilliant because it’s not a finale at all. The cut-to-black is just another way of sayingThe Sopranosis over but life in that world goes on. The audience just doesn’t get to see it. No one really got whacked in “Made In America”, other than us. –Vinnie Mancuso
With this entry comes an important disclaimer—I, Adam Chitwood, speak only for myself when contending that theLOSTseries finale is one of the best series finales of all time, despite other (wrong) opinions that say otherwise. People forget that whenLOSTdebuted in 2004, it was a very different television landscape. This was a weird, mystical, sci-fi mystery series on a major broadcast network with a high of 25 episodes per season.Of coursethe journey to the end would be winding and somewhat muddled, but what I love about theLOSTseries finale is that it stayed true to what the series had always been about: the deep connections between the characters.
Indeed, when it comes to series finales, more often than not they’re a chance for the showrunners to reveal the show thattheyhave been making all along. Sometimes that doesn’t gel with fan expectations (again, with over 20 episodes a season, there werea lotof different avenues explored in this series), andLOSTis one of the most famous cases of that divide. But the series finale dove headfirst into the emotional and spiritual connection between the survivors of Oceanic 815. What happened did happen, and their time on that island (and off) meant so much to each individual in the span of their lifetimes that the afterlife—for them—was a place for them to come together once more and spend eternity together. Call me crazy, but that’s kinda beautiful. –Adam Chitwood
There are few lines in television finales as powerful asJustified’s “we dug coal together,” because as understated as it sounds, it summed up a series’ worth of complicated relationship dynamics. Like many great finales,Justifiedhad the luxury of knowing when it was going to wrap, which allowed the writers to plan out its ending. The show has always boiled down to the connection between a U.S. Marshall, Raylan Givens (Timothy Olyphant), and crime boss Boyd Crowder (Walton Goggins), two men from the same Kentucky hill country who dug coal together, loved the same woman, and went down two completely different paths.Justified’s legacy is in that story, which was summed up in such a simple, beautiful, incredibly haunting statement of love and truth. -Allison Keene
Voltron: Legendary Defender
Voltron Legendary Defenderwas far from a homerun when it first debuted back in 2016. DreamWorks Animation’s Netflix series aimed to adapt the classic 1984 seriesVoltron: Defender of the Universe, itself a hodgepodge of various anime titles that were Westernized and dubbed without us 80s kids being the wiser. The reboot could have failed in spectacular fashion in any number of ways, but thanks to showrunnersJoaquim Dos SantosandLauren Montgomery,Voltronbecame an icon in its own right, one that’s worthy of the 21stcentury.
The 75 episodes that came before the final adventure in “The End Is the Beginning” took the Paladins of the Voltron Force all across space, time, and reality in their effort to battle the forces of evil, mostly rooted in the Galra Empire. They were put to the ultimate test when reality itself was threatened in the final hour, but it wasn’t through strength of arms that Voltron won the day. Instead, their final victory (and final sacrifice) was made possible by the alliances and unions the team had made throughout the 75 episodes that came before the finale. Sure, it’s always a blast to watch Voltron form up and take down fleets of enemy drones, but the real strength of these heroes was in their ability to build each other up and form a community, a coalition. That’s no better exemplified in this entire series than in the heroes’ opportunity to remake reality the way they see it, restoring the people and planets that had been destroyed in a villainous quest for power and working to ensure that the peacekeeping force would always be there to keep the forces of evil at bay, with or without giant space lions. –Dave Trumbore
Though you would be hard-pressed to find many who would nameThe Wire’s fifth and final season their favorite, it completely stuck its landing with its final goodbye. The last episode included a montage where McNulty (Dominic West) looks out over Baltimore, and we see and hear what is essentially b-roll footage and ambient sights and sounds of the city. It spoke to the soul ofThe Wire, which was always about looking at a city’s triumphs and failures with unblinkered truth from a street level. That montage, and the episode itself, were the perfect love letter to Baltimore and the right ending for the show. -Allison Keene
