That Stranger Things Ending
Can a bad ending ruin the whole show?
My girls have been huge Stranger Things fans for years.
But then this morning the subject of Stranger Things came up with my 17 y/o daughter, and she said:
I’m rewatching season 4 to remind myself that this was a good show. Season 5 was awful, especially the end!
I have to admit that although I got into the earlier seasons along with the kids, my personal interest in the show had kind of tapered off these past couple of years. But we did all sit down together to watch the series finale on New Year’s Eve … and we almost made it all the way through.
But then I noticed during the last 25 or 30 minutes of the show, the girls all got up and started wandering into the other room or playing on their phones.
It really was kind of a boring way to end such an iconic show.
But it wasn’t the first time (and likely won’t be the last) fans were left bewildered by the ending of a show they’d loved.
My girls were too young to watch Game of Thrones. But in that same year (2019) that we were binge watching season 2 of Stranger Things, GoT fans were furious at HBO and the show runners for the way they chose to wrap things up. There are probably more than a few parents who now regret naming their daughter Daenerys. 🙄
Seriously, I know people who were huge fans for years and year. But if you brought up Game of Thrones after that finale, their response was:
Nope, I always hated that show.
Going back just a little further, like many people, I was definitely a fan of the original Dexter series.
But, the ending was a little bit weird, and might have been a bigger deal if they hadn’t later made additional sequels and prequels … none of which were anywhere near as good as the original btw.
And who can forget The Sopranos back in 2007?
Personally, I thought the ending was brilliant. But apparently at least half the tv watching population at the time had a different opinion.
My main take-away from all of this is that I’m glad I’m not a TV producer. Audiences are awfully hard to please when it comes to figuring out how to end a popular, long-running series. No wait, I’m sure they got over it while driving their Porches home to their Hollywood Hills mansions.
I do wonder though, if I ask my daughters a year or two from now about Strangers Things, if they will have fond memories about dressing up as their favorite characters while eating Eggo waffles or Pineapple Jalapeno Pizza?
Or will they instead scrunch up their noses, frown, and emphatically declare:
I never even liked that show.
Your turn:
What are some other shows that you loved, but hated the way they ended?
Til next time,
~ Todd
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