21 TV Shows That Ended In The Best Possible Way

    Here's hoping the Better Call Saul finale is as good as the Breaking Bad one...

    Hannah Marder
    by Hannah Marder

    BuzzFeed Staff

    It's extremely hard to nail a series finale, and over the years, there have definitely been finales that were...less than ideal

    Rory tells her mom she's pregnant on Gilmore Girls
    Netflix

    But every once in a while, a show nails its ending. Recently, Reddit user u/KvK_07 asked, "Which show had a proper satisfying ending?" and people definitely nominated some good ones. Here are the most satisfying TV series finales!

    1. The Leftovers, which ended with Nora and Kevin reuniting, and Nora revealing that the Other Place held all the people who had disappeared, but that she left after seeing her kids and husband were happy without her:

    HBO

    Suggested by WhoIsYerWan

    "I liked how you can choose to believe the explanation or not, just like for every other 'meaningful' thing in the show. You can be satisfied with it or just accept not being satisfied."

    —u/Libertarian-Centrist

    "100%. It’s a show about grief and loss, and that is a personal experience for each person. I like that the finale reflected that nuance in its ambiguity."

    —u/WhoIsYerWan

    2. Schitt’s Creek, which ended with Johnny and Moira leaving and taking one last look at the town he'd come to love — now painted with their faces:

    Moira asks Johnny what he's doing, he says he just wanted one last look, then tells the driver they're ready as we see johnny, moira, alexis, and david on the town billboard
    Pop!TV

    Suggested by u/Wesmom2021

    "It just makes me so darned happy."

    —u/yahat

    "Such a perfect ending. That show has such a great character development for every character and the best LGBTQ representation of any show imo."

    —u/justsomeboylol

    3. Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, which ended with Rebecca sharing her songs IRL:

    "Romantic love is not the ending. Not for me, or for anyone else here. It's just a part of your story. A part of who you are." Rebecca sits down at the piano. "And so...here we go. This is a song I wrote"
    The CW

    "That show knew exactly what it wanted to set out and knocked it out in four seasons flat. Biggest problem ended up being one major character that had to get re-cast going into the last season but they handled that as well as anyone ever could have."

    —u/Hipstershy

    4. Six Feet Under, which ended by showing the deaths of all the characters while "Breathe Me" by Sia played:

    Claire looks up as she drives off into the desert and we see the deaths of a bunch of the family members
    HBO

    "Six Feet Under is yet to be topped."

    —u/DarthDregan

    "I cry every damn time. And not just some random tears. Sobbing and whining and snot coming out of my nose. This is me crying an ugly ass swamp."

    —u/Waytootired4this

    "And they couldn't have picked a better song, too. Every now and then I pull up a box of tissues and look for it on YouTube."

    —u/MrFishpaw

    5. M*A*S*H, which ended with Hawkeye leaving and seeing "goodbye" spelled out in the sand:

    Hawkeye looks from the helicopter and sees "goodbye" spelled out in the dirt
    CBS

    Suggested by u/Toes14

    "Saw that last episode when I was a kid the night it aired. I cried all night long."

    —u/atombomb1945

    "It was both satisfying and well deserved to not only see them finish the war but also the damage that was caused on the personal level."

    —D-C-A

    6. Fleabag, which ended with Fleabag and the priest telling each other "I love you":

    BBC

    Suggested by u/jubjubbirdsarefine

    "It was so heartbreaking but it was absolutely the best ending for the show."

    —u/Haunting-Economist29

    7. The Office, which ended with Pam talking about why they were the perfect subject for a documentary:

    Pam saying "Dunder Mifflin was a great subject for a documentary. There’s a lot of beauty in ordinary things. Isn’t that kind of the point?" as Michael puts up a painting of the office building
    NBC

    “'I wish there was a way of knowing we’re in the good old days, before we actually left them.'”

    —u/laughinginpurplerain

    "I admit the show kind of got dragging for me, but ironically after it ended I realized that added to the beauty of how real it was. The Office is unparalleled in how it kind of mimics an actual office routine — there were really boring days and days when more stuff was happening. By the end, I was surprised how attached I was to the cast and it felt like I will really miss going to the office with them and seeing them everyday. That made the finale so great imo, it was a tribute to the mundane days, and the moments you spent laughing, cringing, crying with these people without realizing how much time it was."

    —u/laughinginpurplerain

    8. The Good Place, which ended with Jason, Chidi, and Eleanor passing on, Tahani becoming an architect, and Michael becoming human:

    NBC

    Suggested by u/diphappy

    "Each of the last four episodes could have easily been a perfectly acceptable series finale. But no, Michael Schur absolutely fucking kills his finales (Parks & Rec and Brooklyn Nine-Nine also had phenomenal finales). But I don’t think it’s possible to finish The Good Place without just getting lost thinking about the universe. It’s a special show."

    —u/livefast6221

    9. Jane the Virgin, which ended with Jane and Rafael getting married, the reveal that Mateo was the narrator, and Jane talking about her book being turned into a telenovela:

    Rafael asks what happens at the end of Jane's book and she says it's turned into a telenovela. Rafael asks who'd want to watch that. Jane then winks at the camera.
    The CW

    "That show changed me as a person."

    —u/humming_bitch

    "This one ended with zero loose ends. I absolutely loved that show."

    —u/sleepyelephant27

    10. Lost, which ended with Jack reuniting with everyone in the afterlife:

    Locke tells a smiling Jack "we've been waiting for you"
    ABC

    "I know it got rough there for a bit during the writer's strike, but I watched the finale twice in a row and cried both times. It was so satisfying to me and wrapped everything up nicely."

    —u/VegetableFlatworm841

    11. Superstore, which ended with Garrett giving one last announcement as Cloud 9 closed, talking about what the job had meant to him, while flashes of the characters' futures showed:

    NBC

    "[The] Superstore ending was a 10/10. One of the only shows to make me cry."

    —u/Recent_View6254

    Agree 100%! Literally the only show out of all the ones I’ve seen to have such a perfect ending.

    —u/witxxxh

    12. Justified, which ended with Raylan visiting Boyd in jail and telling him Ava was dead:

    FX

    "A great series, and the ending was so incredibly satisfying. Givens wasn't really a hero, he didn't really get the girl...but that last exchange — 'We dug coal together' — [was] perfect."

    —u/Fest_mkiv

    "Justified had one of the most satisfying finales I’ve ever seen, and I’m a fan of Breaking Bad and The Shield. Everything wrapped up perfectly, [there were] a million subtle yet hilarious callbacks to earlier references, and that final scene with Raylan and Boyd might be one of my favorite scenes of any show I’ve seen."

    —u/Paddock9652

    13. The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, which ended with everyone moving out of the mansion:

    NBC

    "The way the cast said goodbye to each other in the empty mansion to how Will turns out the lights at the end of the episode. Just an amazing series."

    —u/Musicgeek117

    14. Gravity Falls, which ended with the summer ending and Dipper and Mabel going home:

    Stan tells Dipper and Mabel he's glad to be rid of them while crying, and they hug him, saying they'll miss him, too
    Disney Channel

    Suggested by u/TailsxCream4Eva

    "Best ending I've ever seen."

    —u/Living-Challenge9749

    "Love how Alex Hirsch knew exactly what kind of story he wanted to tell in two seasons. Gravity Falls will forever be a top-tier show. I still rewatch the episodes on Disney+ from time to time."

    —u/Flat_Weird_5398

    15. Blackadder, which ended with the characters rushing into battle and to their deaths:

    BBC

    "The whole last episode was a fun setup to what essentially was a real story of a tragedy. Honestly, it was done brilliantly."

    —u/thatguyyoubullied

    "I often catch this around either ANZAC day or Remembrance Day and the final scene has me crying every time. The recruitment stories summarize WWI perfectly."

    —u/Nuzzgargle

    16. Breaking Bad, which ended with Jesse escaping and Walt dying:

    AMC

    Suggested by u/Brandon48236

    "It really is so fucking good! It's one of the shows where I would love to have more extension (obviously we have Better Call Saul and El Camino). But damn, it felt like the story never went dry. I even purposely rewatched all of BB just to be ready for this last BCS season, and it was even more enjoyable the second watch through. 10/10."

    —u/Goodrymon

    "It was perfectly planned out, and so damn satisfying."

    —u/yeetimusdeetimus


    17. Parks and Recreation, which ended with the gang fixing a swing while flash-forwards of the characters' futures were shown...ending back in the present, with Leslie saying "I'm ready":

    NBC

    18. Star Wars: The Clone Wars, which ended with Ahsoka leaving her lightsaber at the crash site to make it appear she had died, and then Darth Vader later finding and taking it:

    Lucasfilm / Disney+

    Suggested by Commander_Stratos

    "That last arc is some peak Star Wars and peak Kiner."

    —u/giggling_hero

    "Star Wars: The Clone Wars' ending actually makes my cry every time I see it."

    —u/IsPepsiOkayy

    19. Mad Men, which ended with Don coming up with the "buy the world a Coke" ad:

    AMC

    "End of the last episode was perfect: truthful, funny, poignant, satisfying."

    —u/artfellig

    "I really liked the ending. The show was about a time period where everything was changing culturally and about a man’s personal journey to discover who he really is behind the veneer. And it end in a time where the pretty white picket fence veneer was coming off of society in general. Yeah, who knows what he will do after that last scene, but the point is that he went there as part of his journey."

    —u/anewfaceinthecrowd

    20. The Wire, which ended with a montage showing that life would go on in Baltimore, then Jimmy driving away with Larry:

    HBO

    Suggested by u/Boomslang2-1

    "My favorite finale I've ever seen. 'The game is the game.'"

    —u/whosayesa

    "That's the first time I remember feeling emotionally overwhelmed by what is essentially a montage."

    —u/icannotfly

    21. And finally, Friends, which ended with all our characters standing in their empty apartment and deciding to get one last coffee at Central Perk:

    Rachel asks if they should get coffee and chandler says "sure, where?"
    NBC

    Suggested by u/Euphoric_Hiraeth

    "Could the ending BE any better?"

    —u/Ok_Assistance_3950

    Did we miss any? What do you think is the most satisfying series finale? Let us know in the comments!

    Submissions have been edited for length/clarity.