Navigating the greatest television finales

Television finales are a peculiar beast. It seems, regardless of the quality of a programme overall, its finale cannot help but elicit criticism. Take Stranger Things, for a recent example: for a show that has received countless plaudits from critics and fans alike, its finale disappointed many, myself included. However, this article will deal with those special shows that managed to wrap themselves up perfectly.

Breaking Bad (S5E16), ‘Felina’  

Perhaps the most appropriate place to start when discussing television’s greatest series finales is arguably the most acclaimed of all: Breaking Bad’s “Felina”. In this episode, the title is an anagram of the word ‘finale’, series creator Vince Gilligan bypasses the controversy traditionally associated with the series finale as Walter White, standing in the ruins of his drug empire, settles old scores for the last time. Despite the series’ relatively large cast of characters, Gilligan deftly navigates his remaining plot threads and delivers what is perhaps the most satisfying, tightly constructed finale in television history. While not the programme’s best episode – that title would have to go, unsurprisingly, to the universally lauded ‘Ozymandias’ – ‘Felina’ is a masterpiece that rounded off the defining television series of the 21st century.

The emotional power of this finale remains undeniable

Friends (S10E17&18), ‘The Last One’  

In a rather drastic shift in tone, I turn to the two-part finale of Friends, unassumingly titled ‘The Last One’. With Monica and Chandler departing the apartment block that served as a centre of narrative comfort for 10 years, and Ross and Rachel – in perhaps the programme’s very best scene – finally reuniting, the emotional power of this finale remains undeniable. Even a decade on, this episode moved my sister to tears on our initial viewing. While Friends did perhaps stumble in its later seasons – although any show may be expected to do so across 10 years – ‘The Last One’ is the perfect farewell to one of television’s finest casts of characters, and, to my mind, ends upon the greatest final line of any television programme.

Dark (S3E8), ‘Das Paradies’  

After the distinct disappointment of Stranger Things’s final season, I was in the mood for a similar show to wash the bad taste away, and I found precisely that in Netflix’s German sci-fi Dark. Very much in the vein of Stranger Things’s moody opening season – before the stranglehold of pop culture took control – Dark ends with ‘Das Paradies’. Unusually for a finale, ‘Das Paradies’ is considered to be Dark’s finest episode; by resolving the time-travel cycles that haunt its colossal cast of characters, ‘Das Paradies’ is an almost unbelievable masterwork. While guilty of introducing narrative revelations very late in the day, Dark was, after all, never a simple series to follow. By staying true to its originally planned three-season structure, ‘Das Paradies’, as all finales should do, wraps Dark up in a perfect knot.

Perhaps a rogue pick, Corden and Jones wrapped up the series perfectly

Gavin & Stacey, ‘The Finale’  

Moving on from the familial tragedies of Dark, I must turn to the familial joy of Gavin & Stacey. Without doubt the highlight of my Christmas holiday in 2024, ‘The Finale’ follows on from 2019’s staggering proposal cliffhanger and concludes the series with the marriage of James Corden’s Smithy to Ruth Jones’s Nessa. Perhaps a rogue pick, Corden and Jones wrapped up the series perfectly in staying true to the programme’s blend of humour and heart, despite concluding nearly two decades after the broadcast of its first season. Garnering over 20 million viewers in 2024 – a frankly insane figure in the contemporary streaming climate – ‘The Finale’ is incontestable proof of the timelessness of one of Britain’s greatest sitcoms.

Twin Peaks (S3E18), ‘What is Your Name?’  

However, for all the tragedy of Breaking Bad or the comedy of Friends, there is one finale that stands out among the rest: ‘What is Your Name?’, the finale to the legendary Twin Peaks. Following on from an earth-shattering cliffhanger in 1991 and an initially derided prequel film in 1992, Twin Peaks returned in 2017 and ended on an even more perplexing cliffhanger. Alienating, yes, and perhaps not even satisfying, but set against the narrative cohesion of many a finale, writers David Lynch and Mark Frost envisaged a world now cold and destitute, reminding viewers that happy or even comprehensible endings do not necessarily exist. For a programme built around secrets, the decision to leave the viewer with the final image of protagonist Dale Cooper receiving a whispered message, never to be revealed, is perhaps cruel, yet I cannot fault its ambition.

What my chosen finales suggest to me, therefore, is that the greatest are those that stay true to the show from which they originate. While the polarising finales of Stranger Things or How I Met Your Mother, to name just two examples, are almost unrecognisable in relation to their earlier episodes, that of Breaking Bad fulfils the tragedy inevitable from the programme’s pilot whereas that of Twin Peaks reflects and builds upon the programme’s perplexing tone and theme of grief to the last. The finale, to reiterate, remains a constant concern for creator and viewer alike, yet there is perhaps no better experience than finishing a series with a finale that sticks the landing.