Sometimes the only thing better than the first time is actually the last: it’s the one that leaves lingering and burning questions (what happens now? and likely the one you don’t forget. But nailing a finale is a complicated thing: you’ve got to shock, surprise, satisfy your audience, and remind them why they fell in love with the show in the first place. And as we published our favorite pilots of the new millennium earlier this year, we had to take a look at those on the other side, the series that managed to gather an entire season of great moments and condense them into fantastic finales.
More: The 20 Greatest TV Pilots Since 2000
Open Post: What's The Best TV Episode Of The Year?
It hasn’t been easy, but we’ve gathered our 20 favorite season and series finales since the year 2000. We tried not to spoil them for you, but we couldn't help ourselves! Don’t like ‘em? Let us know your favorites in the comments below.
20: THE SHIELD, “Family Meeting” (Series Finale) (FX, 11/25/2008)
Subjectivity is a funny thing; for seven seasons, The Shield rendered detective Vic Mackey with heavy doses of ambiguity, allowing viewers to draw their own conclusions about a cop who murders fellow cops and steals money to line his pockets on the side. But “Family Meeting” peels away the layers of self-serving justification and reveals the selfish, angry, and corrupt pit at the center of Mackey's soul. After a wrenching confession, Mackey ensures that his loyal protégés Shane and Ronnie both pay the price so that he can walk away clean. But Mackey doesn't totally get away with it: he ends up trapped in a sterile office job, off the streets and forever away from his family, who finally see him for the monster he is. The show never told viewers how to feel about its complicated protagonist, making it that much harder to watch the show's final moments and not feel the weight and totality of his crimes. – Jonah Gardner
19: SURVIVOR, “The Reunion” (Season 1 Finale) (CBS, 08/03/2000)
The first Survivor season finale opened up an entire new world to audiences: the competition reality series showed how lethally cutthroat a person could be on national television for the promise of cold hard cash. It showed how a guy who walked around naked most of the day could win big in the end, and it made everything that followed after it seem normal. Who could forget Sue’s infamous line: “If I were to ever pass you along in life again and you were laying there dying of thirst, I would not give you a drink of water. I would let the vultures take you and do whatever they want with ya with no ill regrets.” As she outed Kelly the backstabber, the cast cringed along with the audience, and Mark Burnett just knew. He knew in that moment that he had a hit. He knew in that moment that a simple Tribal Council speech could keep him rich for years. – Stephanie Webber
18: ONE TREE HILL, “One Tree Hill” (Series Finale) (The CW, 04/04/2012)
For nine intense seasons, we've watched the residents of Tree Hill grow older and wiser, and with the series finale, the show finally came to a close and said goodbye. We came full circle with recognitions of the past during many scenes, including when Haley shared the secret predictions box with her son, or when Julian recreated Peyton's room for his production. They all gathered and joined Gavin DeGraw as he sang the anthem of the show one last time, and everyone met at Karen's Cafe for walks down memory lane. Finally, the fans are reminded of the same words from the voiceovers of Lucas, Nathan, Haley, Brooke and Peyton in a previous episode: “The world is full of magic. You just have to believe in it. So make your wish. Do you have it? Good. Now believe in it, with all your heart.” With smiles on our faces and tears in our eyes, it left us with one thing that we will always remember: there is only one Tree Hill. – Jaymie Bailey
17: THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH CONAN O’BRIEN (Series Finale) (NBC, 01/22/2010)
Do you remember our generations’ war? Don’t be mistaken: I mean the war between Jay Leno and Conan O’Brien. The whole thing started way back in the day (the olden day of 2009) when it was announced that Conan O’Brien was replacing Jay Leno on the Tonight Show, but NBC was upset about ratings and Jay was upset because he wasn’t getting enough attention so they decided to move around the whole schedule. No big deal, it just got incredibly messy and the entire internet exploded. So Conan winds fired from Late Night and spent his last episode exploiting the rest of the budget, bringing back his favorite characters, playing guitar with celebrities and giving one of the most sincere and heartfelt send offs of all time, where he thanked the very network that shunned him for their two decades of time, thanked his millions of fans for their unprecedented support, and above all, promised to keep making television fun, even if it’s elsewhere. Even if it’s in a 7-Eleven parking lot. – Emily Cheever
16: PARKS AND RECREATION, “Lil’ Sebastian” (Season 3 Finale) (NBC, 05/19/2011)
Why is Parks’ “Lil’ Sebastian” one of the best finales ever? Because it had everything you needed in a show: comedy, intrigue, heartbreak and joy. We mourned everyone’s favorite mini-horse with an epic memorial service that included an original song by MouseRat. We celebrated Leslie and Ben’s love (yet understood why it was shrouded in secrecy). We gawked as Ron and Tammy were stunned by the arrival of other ex-wife Tammy (people are still named Tammy these days?). The episode did a perfect job of celebrating their cast while teasing the big points of next season: Leslie’s looming race for City Council, and what the two Tammys would mean for Ron in Season 4. I think I speak for all of us when I say “Lil’ Sebastian” is better than 5,000 Candles in the Wind. – Emily Cheever
15: GREY’S ANATOMY, “Losing My Religion” (Season 2 Finale) (ABC, 05/15/2006)
Three things wholly define this season finale: a dying Denny, a pink dress, and Snow Patrol. Seriously, George and Callie’s “I Love You” moment and Dr. Burke’s hand crisis is minor compared to the final moments of this episode, where Derek and Meredith’s torn relationship finally comes to a head while the fate of Denny and Izzie’s wedding plans is ultimately shattered. It takes great writing for a new character to instantly become a beloved memory, and that’s exactly what they did with Denny. As the elevator doors close on Izzie, Derek and Meredith are simultaneously rekindling their romance in an empty patient’s room, and as Izzie lies with Denny after his heart has stopped, the entire group gathers for the biggest emotional scene of the season before Izzie ater admits to compromising her lover’s surgery and says she’s quitting. What happens now that she's gone? As Izzie takes her final breath in Seattle Grace, so does the audience. – Stephanie Webber
14: BOY MEETS WORLD, “Brave New World, Parts 1 and 2” (Series Finale) (ABC, 05/05/2000)
Your childhood is worthless if Boy Meets World wasn’t a part of it, a middle-school sitcom that suddenly turned into a high-school comedy on its way to a young adult series. And “Brave New World” is felt by the viewers and the cast as they say goodbye to each other, as there are real laughs between Ben Savage and Rider Strong who have played best friends Cory and Shawn for eight years and real tears from Danielle Fishel as Topanga while she and her friends say goodbye to the legendary Mr. Feeny. The finale juxtaposes each current relationship with where it was years ago, as the extended family recreate classic moments mixed with flashbacks of younger, equally hilarious times. Lovebirds Cory and Topanga finally leave the nest for bigger dreams in New York City, as Shawn and Eric join them while Rachel and Jack head off to the Peace Corp. We don’t know what happens from here on out, but that’s the beauty of it, that there’s always another chapter even as the last one closes. This might be the fourteenth on the list, but it’s certainly my favorite: the most earnest, warmest, heartfelt, least complicated conclusion of growing up and bravely taking on the universe, no matter how scary that might be. – Terron R. Moore
13: DOWNTON ABBEY, “Christmas Special” (Season 2 Finale) (PBS, 11/25/2011)
While Downton's second season may have been lackluster, its Christmas special finale did everything a good finale was supposed to do: close some story lines that were already getting tired and open up some new plots for the show. We all breathed a collective sigh of relief when the truth about Mary started to come out in the open (ZOMG, slut! But I love her- Lord Grantham), there's a new little (communist) baby on the way for Sybil, Bates and Anna continue to be the best couple of all time through a murder trial and when they cry, we cry. It fully exemplifies what Downton Abbey does best- pure emotions while not making you feel like you're guilty-pleasure watching a Nicholas Sparks movie. How a show does that and still ends on a proposal with a lot of fake snow is beyond me, but rest assured: Downton Abbey has many more years of good ol' Englishin' ahead of them. – Emily Cheever
12: BATTLESTAR GALACTICA, “Lay Down Your Burdens, Parts 1 and 2” (Season 2 Finale) (Sci-Fi, 03/10/2006)
Battlestar Galactica's peak—on a thematic level, a character level, and a plot level—was absolutely “Lay Down Your Burdens.” Proving that it could match LOST cliffhanger for cliffhanger, the show ended with a doozy, a 1-year jump forward in time to the disastrous ending of the Baltar Presidency and the settlement of New Caprica. Even before getting there, “Lay Down Your Burdens” was already fantastic, featuring Starbuck's rescue of Anders in Part 1 and one of the great all-time Roslin and Adama ethical dilemmas (the vote rigging) in part two. Still, it’s the last twenty minutes that stick most vividly in the viewer's mind: the compromises and dire positions that the crew finds themselves in on New Caprica are tragic enough, but the Cylon occupation at the end is an even bigger shock. By reorienting the show's moral and thematic concerns, and by putting its characters through the emotional ringer but only showing us the aftermath, and by ending on its most dastardly cliffhanger, Battlestar threw down the gauntlet and achieved a level of greatness that seemed unfathomable for a Sci-Fi channel remake of a '70s TV show. – Jonah Gardner
11: MAD MEN, “Shut The Door. Have A Seat” (Season 3 Finale) (AMC, 11/8/2009)
“Shut The Door. Have A Seat” had a certain energy about it that even rivals the entirety of Mad Men as a whole. Throughout the third season, we’re hopelessly watching Don’s world unravel through his marriage and through the gradual fall of Sterling Cooper. So “Shut The Door. Have A Seat” has to put a stopper in this version of Don Draper and illustrate the darker adventure that’s ahead for him: a murky future as a single business owner. But the excitement was still there against the misery, and we leave the finale with curious hope for Don’s new future. It’s not hard to divide Mad Men into two segments where “Shut The Door. Have A Seat” is the end of the first, poetically creating a button for all the things that the old Don Draper would carry with him as new baggage for the next seasons. – Emily Cheever
10: SIX FEET UNDER, “Everyone’s Waiting” (Series Finale) (HBO, 08/21/2005)
The best endings are often the ones that seem surprising at the time and yet obvious in retrospect, a description that fits “Everyone's Waiting” to a T. Though the actual action of the show would have been enough, the show's true masterstroke, and the thing everyone remembers, is the extended epilogue spanning 80 years and showing the death of each main character. For a show obsessed with the twin issues of death and the future, it was really the only way it could have ended. The execution was flawless, and the sequence was moving without seeming over-the-top (a skill that Alan Ball seemed to lose immediately after producing this scene). By showing everyone's literal ending, Six Feet Under presented an interesting counterpoint to The Sopranos' and The Shield's life-goes-on endings, but one that was just as thought-provoking and satisfying. – Jonah Gardner
09: THE WIRE, “Final Grades” (Season 4 Finale) (HBO, 12/10/2006)
The Wire was no stranger to tragedy, but the finale to the show’s benchmark fourth season was a devastating punch to the gut. The heartbreak in “Final Grades” is relentless – Bubbles’ collapsing in the wake of Sherrod’s death, Randy throwing the first of many punches as he’s swallowed up by the foster care system, Bodie gunned down on his corner like a true soldier. But it’s always the image of young Michael that lingers, in the back of a getaway car after his first kill to prove himself to Marlo’s crew. He closes his eyes and drifts off, letting go of his past as he’s doomed his future. By crushing the lives of school kids beneath Baltimore’s broken institutions, The Wire turned social commentary into palpable pain. – Jeremy Popkin
08: DEXTER, “The Getaway” (Season 4 Finale) (Showtime, 12/13/2009)
Dexter had already defied the laws of storytelling by giving its protagonist a bloodthirsty pension for murder. So to have two evil people playing evil games could only result in horrifying endings, quite like the first three seasons of Dexter- but none of Dex’s adversaries left the stain that John Lithgow did as the Trinity Killer. After a season-long battle of kill-or-be-killed, this wasn’t just any close: as Debra learned a slice of her brother’s true identity in a solid B-plot, Dexter finally exercised bloody victory over Trinity at last, only to come home to find his wife dead in the bathtub. Not only does it break the coda of heroes having the final strike, it opens the rest of the series wide open as Dexter has to deal with the consequences of his murderous actions. Plus, his son Harrison is found sitting in Rita’s blood (the same way Dexter was found as a child) because after you’ve done all that for a finale, why not, right? – Terron R. Moore
07: FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS, “Always” (Series Finale) (NBC, 02/09/2011)
After five seasons, the writers of Friday Night Lights ended the game on such a bittersweet note: it would have been amazing to have Coach Taylor stay as a Lion or Panther, intriguing to see what would have become of Landry and Tyra, exciting for original players like Jason and Smash to make one last appearance. But it didn’t. It stayed true, honest, and heartfelt as always. It also left fans satisfied with some of our favorite character storylines: Vincent took home the championship ring, Matt Saracen and Julie Taylor finally took the next step and Tim Riggins stayed right where he should be—drinking his beer and finally building his dream home. The NBC series remained realistic and though Eric and Tami headed for Philadelphia, a part of them was always going to remain with the “Devil Town”, just as a part of Dillon, Texas was always going to remain with the audience. – Stephanie Webber
06: THE OFFICE, “Casino Night” (Season 2 Finale) (NBC, 05/11/2006)
THAT. TEAR. That's how I'll start this, because let's be honest: this episode was great for a lot of reasons, but that single tear Jim shed during his confession to Pam crushed our souls. Not only were John Krasinski and Jenna Fischer brilliant in that scene, but the episode was so well written by Steve Carell—the very first episode he penned—that it kept us in stitches in between the love dilemma. The Casino Night was the perfect setup for a mix of outstanding comedy and real heart. At this point in The Office saga, we had been dying for two whole seasons just waiting for Jim to say something, anything, about his feelings for his best office buddy, and the payoff was way more than any of us expected. We can go on and on about why this episode was one of the best season finales in history, but I'll remember it for being hands-down the best example of The Office at the height of its now-too-long run. – Sharon Tharp
05: DAWSON’S CREEK, “All Good Things/Must Come To An End” (Series Finale) (The WB, 05/14/2003)
With creator Kevin Williamson back in the writer's room, the Dawson’s finale jumped five years into the future (shaking loose two seasons of forgettable work), but got back to its roots: Dawson’s producing a television show (based on their lives), Joey’s living in New York City, Pacey’s re-opening "The Ice House," Jack’s dating newly-out Deputy Doug, and Jen's raising a baby on her own. So the gang heads back to Capeside where they mend old friendships and sadly learn of Jen's fatal illness. Pacey and Joey struggle to make sense of their feelings as he tells her "she's off the hook" in what might be one of the best TV monologues of all time, and we're given a great Dawson and Joey moment where they admit that they're forever soulmates and for once, that's enough. Meanwhile, Jack promises to take care of Jen's daughter after her passing and she makes a video for the baby girl that had us all in tears. As we said goodbye our beloved small-town friends, we're ultimately left with a sense of relief that everything turned out exactly how it was supposed to. And yes, spoiler: Joey chose Pacey. – Sharon Tharp
04: BREAKING BAD, “Face Off” (Season 4 Finale) (AMC, 10/09/2011)
Breaking Bad might have gotten literal with its fourth season finale title, but that doesn't matter: what does matter is HOLY CRAP DID YOU GUYS JUST SEE WHAT HAPPENED?! Year four was truly Gustavo Fring's season and boy, did the conclusion did not disappoint. It was graceful in its execution, flawlessly establishing that Walter White is no longer the protagonist we thought we knew, while making us hope for Jesse to take up the good reigns and triumph over the meth making industry. At this point in the Breaking Bad saga, we know that the next season will be its last, and “Face Off” perfectly sets up its ultimate theme while providing some completely epic "OH SHIT" moments along the way. Like every good episode, “Face Off” begs more questions than it answers, but these questions are more metaphysical, presuming that we know the future of each characters' decision. That we actually don’t makes it all the more enjoyable. – Emily Cheever
03: FRIENDS, “The Last One” (Series Finale) (NBC, 05/06/2004)
It's hard enough to wrap up a ten-year run, but to do it right with such a culturally significant sitcom like Friends is an even bigger challenge. “The Last One” isn’t only heartfelt and funny, but it also gave little nods to longtime viewers and touched on an entire decade of each character's strange but loveable quirks. Chandler and Monica pack up their famous apartment to head to the suburbs with their newborn twins while Joey laments in the idea of losing his buddies across the hall. He gifts them a chick and a duck who end up stuck in the famous foosball table. Meanwhile, a newly-married Phoebe helps Ross deal with his feelings for Rachel after spending the night together, and as she leaves for a job in Paris, Ross runs to stop her just like we'd hoped. They make it to the airport, but she still gets on the plane, leaving him heartbroken until he comes home to a voicemail from Rachel confessing her love and trying to exit the plane to see him. He panics as she walks through the door and mutters, "I got off the plane." Cue. The. Tears. Hell, it's eight years later and we're still weeping over it. What can we say? We miss our friends. – Sharon Tharp
02: THE SOPRANOS, “Made In America” (Series Finale) (HBO, 06/10/2007)
“DON’T STOP-!” And with half a Journey song, the mob saga that drastically altered the face of television closed on a maddening and brilliantly anti-climactic fake-out. But before HBO’s callboards lit up with viewers foaming at the mouth, an entire episode of The Sopranos preceded the cut to black, one where Tony avoids war with the New York family only to face indictment after one of his crew flips, watches his kids fail to escape his destructive influence, and visits a dementia stricken Uncle Junior to learn the meaninglessness of life. “Made In America” is an hour where threads aren’t so much wrapped up as they are stretched out for miles until they wither and die, and even though we’re still debating whether or not Tony is capped in that diner, the alternative for our favorite violent sociopath is much worse: that Tony Soprano has to spend the rest of his life being Tony Soprano. – Jeremy Popkin
01: LOST, “Through The Looking Glass” (Season 3 Finale) (ABC, 05/23/2007)
I blindly argued for almost four years what a terrible, stupid show LOST must be. After all, what the hell could you do on a deserted island for three whole seasons besides start screwing and killing each other? But I finally watched it on a dare, and to say that it shut me up was an understatement, just as grave an understatement as calling myself mildly hooked. LOST is addicting, a head-spinning saga that spans the entire world across countries, across generations, across religion and science, where the Oceanic 815 survivors confront the ghosts of their past against this dangerous, wild future. And try as it might, it was never as mind-blowing as “Looking Glass”.
Charlie Pace, who prophesized his own death in the midst of falling in love with fellow islander Claire, finally meets his maker by drowning, but not before learning a horrible truth, infamously and tragically warning the survivors that it isn’t Penny’s boat coming to rescue them. The Islanders wage deathly war on the Others (who currently are into swiping pregnant women, no big deal) before realizing that whoever is on their way to the Island is dangerous to both parties. There’s a brilliant faceoff between Man Of Science Jack and Man Of Faith Locke, the latter of which allows the call to the boat sending rescue.
And beyond all of that, LOST just might have seamlessly pulled off the single greatest trick in television history, when Jack’s parallel timeline, a past look at a destroyed, drug-addled, broken man finds him at an airport rendezvous point in the middle of the night. And when it’s revealed that the person he’s destined to meet here is Kate, the rush of HOLY SHIT WHAT IS THIS HOW DO THEY KNOW EACH OTHER DID THEY MEET IN THE PAST BUT THAT’S IMPOSSIBLE WAIT A MINUTE IS THIS THE FUTURE?! WHO HAS DIED THAT KATE AND JACK KNOW?! WHAT THE HELL DOES ‘WE HAVE TO GO BACK’ MEAN?! rips open an entire year of questions, adds a brand new element (flashfowards!) into the mix, and brings a completely different notion to the idea of destiny, now that the man who’s been hell bent on escaping, making sacrifice after relentless sacrifice in order to return to his empty life outside this mysterious island, is suddenly flying on planes in hopes that they'll crash, so painfully desperate to get back to it.
If I had my way, every single season finale of LOST would weasel its way into this list, and there were strong as hell arguments for including “The End” and “The Incident” in the rankings. Because LOST season finales were unlike any other: they were the hours you waited months for, the moments you endlessly speculated, episodes that were guaranteed to drop your jaw and ensnare your brain. The legacy of LOST is notoriously stained for not answering every question and tying up every loose end, but when the ride along the way was this—fucking—good, what is there for anyone to complain about? “Through The Looking Glass” is the testament to why LOST is LOST, a thrilling piece of work and the best season finale you’ll ever see, a close that takes three years of training your brain to trust your eyes and then smashes it with a giant hammer. – Terron R. Moore
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That's our list! What do you think? Any major misses? Let us know in the comments below.
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