Best/worst TV season enders/twists

Roseanne's final episode/scene deserves mention in the worst. The last season? It was all make-believe - somewhat like "The Devil's Advocate."

 

Wait until you see "War of the Worlds" and the aliens get the flu.
[/crossthread]

 

One of my favorites was last season's finale for "Breaking Bad". Great tension and machinations, along with a sort-of cliffhanger that is definitive and game-changing, yet leaves you wondering where the hell they go from here (in a good way).

 

The last episode of "Everybody Love Raymond" was pretty bland.

The good? Arrested Development series finale. With not a lot of wiggle room and the series being kicked off air, I enjoyed how Michael and George Michael got away safely on the boat. Michael did everything he could for his family and it still wasn't enough, and he knew when to get the hell out of there. Can't wait for the (projected) movie.

 

Shockey - you definitely need to get the DVDs and watch 'em. Dexter is one of the best shows - if not the best - show out there right now.

 

From the wayback machine, worst season and series ender nominee: Green Acres. Their last two episodes were essentially pilots for completely different shows. I guess back in the day, they did all these character crossovers to try to build the success of a new show (something Green Acres was certainly a beneficiary of from Hillbillies and Petticoat). If I'm not mis-remembering, these last two episodes were basically a few minutes of Oliver and Lisa, one of which was in Hawaii of all places, and then they hand it off to a completely different and new set of characters and premise--nothing to do at all with Hooterville or the Acres characters..

CBS cancels them later that year, and the end of Green Acres occurs with a bunch of unknown guests in unfamiliar places on the screen.

 

Ah - the famous Fred Silverman "rural purge" that left us with such shows as Mary Tyler Moore and All in the Family.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rural_purge

 

Pretty much every season of "The Wire" ended perfectly, though the Season 1 wrap-up and montage remains the most satisfying for me. I have my complaints about Season 5, but where the various characters ended up felt very right, for better or worse.

 

Wasn't the whole show bland?

 

The seventh season of Seinfeld, where Susan dies from licking poison envelopes. I think that was the last season where Larry David was involved (until the series finale).

The Season 2 ending for Breaking Bad, with the plane crash, was pretty bitchin' as well.

I always liked the closing music montages from the various seasons of "The Wire" as well.

And I would put the "Game of Thrones" Season 1 finale up against just about anything.

 

I remember NYPD Blue having a few great cliffhangers.

 

One of the great twists. Law and Order: "She doesn't have an uncle." Also a notable episode in that it occurred a few months into the season and featured the shooting of Paul Sorvino who was replaced by....Jerry Orbach.