Only on the rarest occasion does the finale of a television show satisfy its viewers wholeheartedly. The amount of TV series we’ve fallen in love with, stayed loyal to and invested our time watching throughout the seasons, and then were left feeling underwhelmed, disappointed or just flat out betrayed by the end, is too high a number to count. Every once in a while, though, a show will finish off on just the right note, at just the right time, and we’re able to turn off our TVs and carry on with our lives in complete satisfaction. Here are four shows that tied up their plot lines and character arches perfectly into a neat little bow, leaving us beaming at our screens long after the finale had ended.
- Schitt’s Creek
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The six-season-long Canadian television show, which ran on CBC and later gained popularity on Netflix, ended in the way the show’s creator (and lead actor), Daniel Levy, had planned. In an article with Variety, Levy said his goal was to have the initially materialistic and money-minded Rose family “realize the value of love” by the end of the show. He did exactly that, and fans couldn’t have asked for anything more.
- Parks and Recreation
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NBC’s fun-loving, quirky yet comedic sitcom Parks and Recreation ended on the highest note possible. After seven seasons of both standalone and continuous plot lines, the show’s time-jumping finale packed in just the right amount of sentimental moments, reflecting character growth and concluding story arches as well as planting plenty of easter eggs for longtime fans to enjoy (and we ate them up).
- The Americans
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The action-packed period drama, which followed two KGB spies undercover as the average all-American family in Washington D.C., aged like wine straight through to the end. Between its star leads and real-life married couple Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys, the show was able to carry its dramatic storylines all while incuding high-intensity, high-quality action scenes. According to Insider, while Season 1 ranked well on Rotten Tomatoes at 87%, Season 6 did even better at 99%.
- Mad Men
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In the seven-season-long series centering around the rises and falls of New York City’s big shot ad executive Don Draper, no scene is as ambiguous or as unforgettable as the show’s final few minutes. While the finale gives the show’s supporting characters justifiable and satisfying conclusions to each of their storylines, Jon Hamm’s Don Draper gets a relatively open ending to his story arc, leaving it up to the fans to decide how we want the show to end. In a public discussion with author A.M Homes in the New York Public Library, Matthew Weiner, the show’s creator, said he was “so grateful we got to do [the ending] and we were allowed to end it how and when we wanted to.” So were we, Matthew. So were we.