Image via HBO / Courtesy: Everett Collection
Published Jul 2, 2026, 8:08 AM EDT
Jennie Richardson is a TV Features and Lists Writer for Collider, and a graduate student pursuing an MFA in Fiction Writing. In other words, she really loves stories.
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Spoiler Alert: This list contains spoilers for multiple HBO shows.Ending a beloved TV show is an incredibly difficult feat that is easy to fumble. Even some of the best TV shows, like Game of Thrones, How I Met Your Mother, and Stranger Things, weakened their legacies due to unfulfilling endings. A bad ending to a television show can look like either a finale that takes all the wrong risks and destroys everything the show has built, or a finale that fails to deliver a satisfying payoff to long-running storylines.
There is a happy enough medium between a great ending and a bad one, where a show wraps up all the loose ends without either rocking the boat or doing anything particularly innovative. A phenomenal ending, though, takes bold swings that make sense and feel earned. These endings leave fans feeling deeply emotional, whether they be happy or sad, because they make sense for the show and the characters. These are the HBO series endings that are genuine masterpieces.
'Half Man' (2026)
Image via HBORichard Gadd's 2026 limited series, Half Man, follows the toxic and codependent bond between stepbrothers Niall Kennedy (Mitchell Robertson and Jamie Bell) and Ruben Pallister (Stuart Campbell and Richard Gadd) over the course of about 30 years. The series finale, "Episode 6," is an explosive and emotional ending that finally catches the narrative up to the present-day storyline of Ruben crashing Niall's wedding. In the past storyline, Niall and Ruben finally open up to each other in what is one of the most beautiful and haunting television scenes of recent years.
In this scene, Niall comes out to Ruben as gay, and Ruben embraces him with complete love and acceptance, leaving Niall to wonder if things could have been different for his life and their relationship this entire time. Ruben opens up to Niall about his father's abuse, and Niall gives him the same deep and unwavering love back, telling Ruben everything he's always needed to hear. It's a beautiful moment that soon gets ruined when Niall reveals his past affair with Mona (Amy Manson), which resulted in her pregnancy with Baird. In the present, Ruben gets his revenge by killing Niall at his wedding. There is no Ruben without Niall, though. As an earlier flash-forward revealed, Ruben dies only moments after killing Niall, but the specifics of his death are left ambiguous in a beautiful and chilling way.
'Curb Your Enthusiasm' (2000–2024)
Image via HBOCurb Your Enthusiasm could have ended in a number of ways that would have been perfectly satisfying, but the finale that the show settled on is an absolutely hilarious and unbelievably clever masterpiece. In a spoof of the widely-hated Seinfeld finale, Larry David is put on trial for giving out water at the polls during an election in Atlanta. Nearly everyone whom Larry has ever harmed or annoyed in past episodes of Curb Your Enthusiasm shows up to his trial to make sure that he is found guilty.
Like in the Seinfeld finale, "No Lessons Learned," builds up to the jury declaring Larry guilty. For a moment, viewers are led to believe that Curb Your Enthusiasm has just doubled down on Seinfeld's ending. Later that night, though, Jerry Seinfeld shows up to Larry's prison cell and tells him that the case has been declared a mistrial due to a juror breaking sequestration. Larry then gets to walk free in the perfect way, diverging from the Seinfeld finale in Curb Your Enthusiasm's very last scene.
'Barry' (2018–2023)
Image via HBOThe Barry series finale, "wow," hinges on one central question: will Barry Berkman (Bill Hader) finally get his comeuppance? For a while, it looks like Barry will finally be exposed for his many murders, or that he will lose his family for all that he has done. Instead, in a brilliant twist and commentary, Barry escapes all lasting consequences through his death. Just as he's finally decided to turn himself in, Gene Cousineau (Henry Winkler) kills him.
Instead of Barry, Cousineau is the one who is blamed for Barry's kills, including that of Cousineau's great love, Janice Moss (Paula Newsome). Cousineau is condemned to prison and made into a hated villain, while Barry gets to die a hero. Years later, Sally (Sarah Goldberg) and John (Jaeden Martell) are living a quiet, small-town life. One night, John secretly watches a biopic about Barry with his friend, and he's moved by the story that depicts Barry as a true hero. It's the perfect ending to Barry's scathing satire of Hollywood, as Barry's story is altered and sensationalized, while Cousineau's reputation has been long-destroyed.
'I May Destroy You' (2020)
Image via HBOMichaela Coel's haunting dark comedy miniseries, I May Destroy You, ends in what is one of the best TV episodes of recent years. "Ego Death" takes place mostly in Arabella's (Michaela Coel) mind, as she imagines a Groundhog's Day-style series of scenarios where she encounters the man who sexually assaulted her at the start of the series. In each scenario, Arabella gets revenge on her attacker in various ways, before she is ultimately able to come to terms with her trauma and move forward.
"Ego Death" is as brutal and emotional as it is sharply funny, and it ends in a beautiful moment of catharsis for Arabella. After an entire season of struggling to write her second book, Arabella finally finds her inspiration and is able to complete the novel. I May Destroy You has a simple yet effective ending; although Arabella's mental scenarios are extreme, she instead moves forward in quiet ways instead of having a major confrontation or moment of revenge.
Collider Exclusive · Universe Personality Quiz Which Iconic Universe Do You Belong in the Most? Star Wars · Lord of the Rings · Harry Potter · Game of Thrones · Star Trek
Five legendary universes. Five completely different visions of what the world could be — or already was. One of them is the world your instincts, your values, and your particular way of existing were built for. Eight questions will tell you which one.
🚀Star Wars
💍Lord of the Rings
🧙Harry Potter
👑Game of Thrones
🖖Star Trek
FIND YOUR UNIVERSE →
01
What gives your life its deepest sense of meaning? Every universe is built around a different answer to this question.
ABeing part of something larger than myself — a cause, a rebellion, a fight for freedom that outlasts me. BThe journey itself — the places I'll go, the companions beside me, the world I'll discover on the way. CLearning — unlocking what I'm capable of, understanding the world's hidden mechanics, growing into something more. DLegacy — the name I leave behind, the power I build, the mark I make before the world moves on without me. EUnderstanding — exploring what exists beyond the horizon and asking what it means to be alive in a universe this vast.
NEXT QUESTION →
02
Which kind of world do you most want to inhabit? The environment shapes who you become. Choose carefully.
AA galaxy of planets, each with its own culture — connected by conflict, trade, and the Force. BAncient lands of breathtaking beauty, deep history, and a creeping darkness at the edges. CA world hidden inside our own — full of wonder, community, and magic waiting to be learned. DA brutal, beautiful continent where power is everything and every alliance is a calculation. EA future where humanity has reached the stars — and must decide what kind of species it wants to be.
NEXT QUESTION →
03
How do you prefer your conflicts resolved? The shape of a world's conflicts tells you everything about its soul.
AThrough sacrifice and courage — someone has to make the impossible choice so others don't have to. BThrough fellowship — the impossible becomes possible when the right people walk the same road. CThrough growth — confronting what you fear, understanding what you lack, and becoming equal to the challenge. DThrough strategy — outthinking, outmaneuvering, positioning yourself so the outcome was never in doubt. EThrough dialogue — finding the third option, the peaceful resolution, the answer that doesn't require a body count.
NEXT QUESTION →
04
Who do you want beside you when things get difficult? Your ideal companions reveal the world you were made for.
AA small crew — a pilot, a rogue, a warrior — each broken in their own way, unbeatable together. BA fellowship of different kinds of people, bound by purpose and deepened by the long road. CFriends who grew up alongside me — who knew me before I knew myself, and stayed anyway. DAllies whose loyalty I've earned — and tested — and whose ambitions align with mine, for now. EA crew of brilliant, curious, principled people from every corner of known space.
NEXT QUESTION →
05
What is your relationship with power? How you seek, wield, or resist power is the map of who you are.
AI want to use it to protect — and I'm terrified of what I might become if I'm not careful. BI distrust it. The most important power in this story is the courage to give it up. CI want to earn it — through knowledge, through effort, through becoming someone worthy of it. DI want to wield it. Preferably before someone else decides to wield it against me. EI want to understand it — its structures, its limits, its ethical dimensions. Power without accountability is the real threat.
NEXT QUESTION →
06
How does your universe treat good and evil? A world's moral architecture tells you more about it than any map.
AThere is a dark side and a light side — and the choice between them is always present, always personal. BEvil is real and ancient and patient — and goodness, however small, is the only thing that can undo it. CGood and evil are real, but they live inside people — and people are complicated, always capable of both. DGood and evil are mostly a matter of perspective and proximity. Power is the only honest currency. EEvil is usually the result of ignorance, fear, or broken systems — and understanding it is the first step to solving it.
NEXT QUESTION →
07
What role would you naturally fall into? Every universe has archetypes. Which one fits you without trying?
AThe reluctant hero — ordinary origins, extraordinary moment, changed forever by the choice to act. BThe unlikely carrier — the one nobody expected to matter most, quietly bearing the weight of everything. CThe student — not yet who I'll become, learning through every mistake, growing into something the world needs. DThe player — sharp enough to see the game for what it is, ambitious enough to try to win it. EThe explorer — drawn to the unknown, driven by curiosity, most alive when standing somewhere no one has stood before.
NEXT QUESTION →
08
What do you ultimately believe about the future? The answer to this is the clearest window into which universe already lives inside you.
AThat hope is real — that even in the darkest galaxy, a new hope is always possible. CThat even the smallest person can change the course of the future, if they have the courage to try. CThat love and friendship and doing what's right will matter in the end, even when everything says otherwise. DThat the wheel keeps turning — that power shifts, winters end, and what endures is those willing to fight for it. EThat humanity — or whatever we become — is capable of extraordinary things, if we choose to be.
REVEAL MY UNIVERSE →
Your Universe Has Been Chosen You Belong In…
Your answers point to the iconic universe your values, your instincts, and your particular way of seeing the world were built for. This is where you would find your people — and your purpose.
Star Wars
You believe in the cause — in the idea that freedom is worth fighting for even when the odds are impossible and the empire is vast.
- You are drawn to the moral clarity of a universe where hope itself is a form of resistance.
- You'd find your people in the Rebellion — a ragtag coalition of true believers held together by conviction more than resources.
- Star Wars is fundamentally a story about ordinary people choosing to matter in an extraordinary conflict — and that is exactly your kind of story.
- The Force may or may not be with you. But the will to use it for something larger than yourself certainly is.
Lord of the Rings
You understand, in the deepest part of yourself, that the journey matters as much as the destination — and that the world's beauty is worth protecting even at great cost.
- Middle-earth is a world of ancient wonder, deep friendship, and a darkness that only retreats when enough small acts of courage accumulate.
- You would thrive here because you value the fellowship more than the glory — the road more than the arrival.
- Tolkien's universe rewards patience, loyalty, and the willingness to carry something heavy across a very long distance.
- Those are not burdens to you. They are simply how you move through the world.
Harry Potter
You believe that love, loyalty, and doing what's right are not naive sentiments — they are the most powerful forces in any world, magical or otherwise.
- The Wizarding World is a place of wonder hidden in plain sight, where learning is transformative and the bonds you form at school follow you into every battle.
- You would flourish here because you take both the magic and the friendships seriously — and you understand that one without the other is incomplete.
- Harry Potter's universe ultimately rewards those who choose to stand for something even when standing is terrifying.
- That choice — made quietly, without guarantee — is something you understand completely.
Game of Thrones
You see the world clearly — its power structures, its hypocrisies, its brutal arithmetic — and you are not paralysed by that clarity. You use it.
- Westeros is a world that rewards intelligence, adaptability, and the willingness to understand that every alliance is also a negotiation.
- You would survive here — possibly thrive here — because you don't confuse the world as it is with the world as you'd like it to be.
- Game of Thrones is a story about what happens when the idealists and the realists collide. You are sharp enough to know which one lasts longer.
- Winter always comes. You are already prepared.
Star Trek
You believe the future is worth building — that curiosity, cooperation, and the expansion of understanding are not just ideals but the most practical path forward for any civilisation.
- Star Trek is a universe where the questions matter as much as the answers, and where encountering something utterly alien is cause for wonder rather than fear.
- You would belong here because you are fundamentally optimistic about what intelligence and decency can achieve — while being honest about how hard that achievement is.
- The Federation is the universe's most ambitious thought experiment: what if we actually got better?
- You don't just hope that's possible. You think it's the only thing worth working toward.
↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ
'Succession' (2018–2023)
Succession's ending is an absolute gut-punch. Since Logan Roy's (Brian Cox) death earlier that season, his children have been scrambling to figure out who will succeed him. The end of the series sees Kendall (Jeremy Strong) determined to stop the GoJo acquisition and take his place as the CEO of Waystar Royco. Earlier in the episode, Succession gives fans one last great night for the Roy siblings, as Shiv (Sarah Snook) and Roman (Kieran Culkin) agree to have Kendall's back. The next day, though, they have their doubts, and Shiv votes for the deal.
The ending to Succession is quietly devastating for each of the main characters. Kendall loses everything that he's been working towards his entire life. Shiv gets a false sense of victory when Tom (Matthew Macfadyen) is made CEO under Mattson's (Alexander Skarsgård) leadership, only to realize that this isn't a win for her at all. Roman, meanwhile, is alone, while Connor (Alan Ruck) is unlikely to ever be taken seriously by anyone. It's a chilling ending that reflects the real type of legacy that Logan built in both his children and his company.
'The Leftovers' (2014–2017)
Image via HBOThe Leftovers' final season sees the world anticipating a doomsday event on the upcoming seventh anniversary of the Departure. As of the finale, Kevin Garvey (Justin Theroux) has just returned from the dead once again to learn that the world is not actually ending, while Nora Durst (Carrie Coon) has just made the decision to go through the machine that can allegedly reunite people with their departed loved ones. Multiple decades later, Kevin and Nora reunite in their old age, and she tells him her story about going through the machine.
It's left ambiguous whether Nora's story actually happened, or whether she is just telling Kevin what she wants to believe. Regardless, he does believe her and shows his support for her, and they finally reunite. The Leftovers' ending is really beautiful, and it also provides just the right amount of information, leaving the specifics of the Departure and the potential of an alternate universe up to the viewer's interpretation. What ultimately matters isn't whether Nora actually discovered the truth about the Departure, but instead, that she has finally found the peace that she needs to be with Kevin and enjoy her life in this universe.
'Six Feet Under' (2001–2005)
Image via HBOThe bulk of Six Feet Under's finale is simple yet beautiful, seeing the Fisher family move forward in ways that make sense for all of them. David (Michael C. Hall) and Keith (Matthew St. Patrick) take over the funeral home, Claire (Lauren Ambrose) decides to leave for New York, and everybody finally takes the next steps in their lives in the wake of Nate's (Peter Krause) death several episodes earlier. It is the very end of "Everyone's Waiting," though, that makes Six Feet Under's ending an absolute masterpiece.
For a series that has always been about death, it's fitting that the final moments of the Six Feet Under finale move forward in time to show a montage of the Fishers' futures that culminates in each of their eventual deaths. It's bittersweet to see how each of the Fishers eventually dies, both knowing that they go on to have beautiful lives after the end of the series, and the specifics of how they all eventually die – just like all of the many people they've been taking care of for the duration of the series.
Six Feet Under
Release Date 2001 - 2005-00-00
Network HBO
Directors Daniel Attias, Jeremy Podeswa, Kathy Bates, Michael Cuesta, Rodrigo García, Daniel Minahan, Michael Engler, Miguel Arteta, Nicole Holofcener, Adam Davidson, Alan Caso, Alan Taylor, Allen Coulter, Jim McBride, John Patterson, Joshua Marston, Karen Moncrieff, Lisa Cholodenko, Mary Harron, Matt Shakman, Peter Care, Peter Webber
English (US) ·