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The 10 Most Controversial TV Finales Ever

It's often said not to judge a TV show by its pilot episode, as those are notoriously difficult to get right. However, at the other end of the process, a finale is probably even harder to write. By that point, you have a whole series that's depending on you not screwing things up. It's not surprising, then, that so many popular shows have delivered hugely controversial finales over the years.
This article is over 7 years old and may contain outdated information

The Prisoner

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Classic 1960s spy series The Prisoner was perhaps the first of its kind – a show with an ongoing mystery that kept viewers coming back week after week. In this case, it saw Patrick McGoohan’s Number Six trapped in a superficially idyllic village in which the brainwashed civilians were given numbers instead of names. What was this place and why was Number Six here? These are the questions that were promised to be answered in the finale.

In the event, though, McGoohan – who also wrote and produced the series – decided to throw out the expected ending and delivered a balls-to-the-wall surrealist masterpiece instead. Rather than solving mysteries, the finale just left viewers scratching their heads even more. Had the Prisoner really made it out? Was the village actually destroyed? And what was the point in that “Dem Bones” musical number?

While critics have retrospectively applauded McGoohan’s ambition and audacity, people at the time hated the finale with a passion. In fact, the actor had to disappear to the Welsh countryside for a few weeks until the storm had calmed down and irate fans were no longer baying after his blood.


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Christian Bone
Christian Bone is a Staff Writer/Editor at We Got This Covered and has been cluttering up the internet with his thoughts on movies and TV for over a decade, ever since graduating with a Creative Writing degree from the University of Winchester. As Marvel Beat Leader, he can usually be found writing about the MCU and yet, if you asked him, he'd probably say his favorite superhero film is 'The Incredibles.'