The 7 Best Series Finales of the 2010s (VIDEO)
Six Feet Under, The Sopranos, M*A*S*H, Seinfeld, Friends, Buffy the Vampire Slayer—all shows with renowned series finales. And in the 2010s, the seven shows below joined their ranks.
This was the decade that Walter White met his fate, Don Draper found his muse, Leslie Knope got the promotion(s) she deserved, and the Oceanic 815 survivors realized their destiny. Scroll down to relive these iconic series finales.
Breaking Bad, “Felina”
Good luck finding any ranking of series finales that doesn’t rank Breaking Bad’s final hour near the top. Lowly chemistry teacher-turned-crystal meth kingpin Walter White (Bryan Cranston) secures his family’s future from afar, frees Jesse (Aaron Paul) from a gang of white supremacists, avenges his brother-in-law’s death, and dies a satisfied man in his lab. Plus, that episode title is way more than an anagram.
The Americans, “START”
The Soviet spies known stateside as Philip (Matthew Rhys) and Elizabeth Jennings (Keri Russell) make plans to return to the USSR during The Americans’s endgame… but not before reckoning with their relationships with the lives and loved ones they’re leaving behind.
Lost, “The End”
The enigmatic sci-fi drama ended without answering all of its questions—much to the frustration of many longtime Lost viewers—but the two-hour finale still delivered an emotional wallop, as the flash-sideways versions of the castaways reconnected with one another and with their time on the island, realizing that they were all meant to “move on” together.
Veep, “Veep”
Selina Meyer (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) finally gets to the Oval Office in Veep’s swan-song episode but faces a lonely presidential term after selling out everyone around her. And in a flash-forward, her death is overshadowed by the loss of “American icon” Tom Hanks.
Parks and Recreation, “One Last Ride”
Parks and Recreation, on the other hand, offered a much more idealistic version of an American politician’s ascent, with Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler) rising from civil servant in Pawnee, Indiana, to—presumably—Commander in Chief in the final episode.
30 Rock, “Last Lunch”
Liz (Tina Fey) oversees the final TGS episode, Jenna (Jane Krakowski) performs a show-stopping number from her musical The Rural Juror, Jack (Alec Baldwin) dreams up a see-through dishwasher for GE, and Tracy (Tracy Morgan) and bribes Al Roker in a 30 Rock series finale jam-packed with inside jokes for devoted fans.
Mad Men, “Person to Person”
After an existential crisis takes him far from the halls of Sterling Cooper & Partners, Mad Men ad man Don Draper (Jon Hamm) ends up at a spiritual retreat in California and finally seems to find inner peace—and maybe his next flash of inspiration in the form of the real-life 1971 “I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing” Coca-Cola ad.
