Summary

• Not all TV shows get the endings they deserve, leaving audiences craving more from beloved characters and storylines.
• Series like Mindhunter, Firefly, and Freaks and Geeks were cut short, missing out on their full potential and fan satisfaction.
• Successful series like Game of Thrones also left viewers wanting more, with endings that didn't fully resolve character arcs.

There are several TV shows that have completed their runs that lack resolution in some form. Concluding a TV series is the most crucial step in solidifying its legacy, and, whether due to cancelation or a relatively ambiguous ending, some shows left the audience wanting more. That's not necessarily a bad thing. In the case of Succession, the ending was absolutely incredible, capping the HBO series off as one of the best TV series ever. Yet, given how fascinating the characters are, there still seems to be a lot that's unexplored.

Many of the best TV shows of all time, such as Breaking Bad and The Wire, are known for nailing the endings, leaving audiences almost unanimously satisfied. Shows like Rome, Mindhunter, or Firefly, which had the potential to be some of the best TV of their respective eras, were cut short, leaving audiences wanting more. In other cases, shows had properly planned endings yet still left a desire for more. With the longer television format, audiences naturally grow attached to certain characters, leaving unresolved feelings when they end.

10 Mindhunter

Netflix's serial killer investigation series was canceled after two fantastic seasons.

Netflix's Mindhunter is still a series well worth watching despite not exactly being a complete story. Season 2's examination of the Atlanta Child Murders is fascinating, and that aspect of the story comes to a satisfying conclusion. Knowing that season 3 likely won't happen, the only part of Mindhunter that suffers is the character subplots, specifically that of Bill Tench's family. Wendy's romance subplot in season 2 also loses value, knowing it's a thread that will remain unresolved.

Still, Mindhunter is a phenomenal series, and the portrayals of infamous killers like Charles Manson and Ed Kemper make it worth watching alone. David Fincher's direction offers the series a cinematic tone, and the top-notch dialogue and performances make Mindhunter a psychological thriller masterpiece. Every year, it seems increasingly unlikely that a third season will happen and that the beautifully established character arcs of Holden, Bill, and Wendy will remain incomplete.

9 Succession

Succession's ending is excellent, yet it still leaves a desire for more.

Season 4 is the best Succession season, with a masterful conclusion perfectly suited for the innovative, prestige drama. The series only covers a brief period of the Roy family's lives, with monumental, life-defining moments for all its characters. Nothing could match the dramatic potential of the succession of Waystar Royco, yet the sheer attachment to the series and its characters prompts a desire for more. The ending is extremely abrupt, leaving no indications of what's next for the Roy siblings, only that they've ruined the most crucial opportunity of their lives.

8 Firefly

The beloved sci-fi series had so much potential for world-building and character development.

One of the most famously canceled popular TV series ever, Firefly only had one season of 14 episodes to solidify itself as a memorable piece of television. While the series is still enjoyable on its own, and the film sequel, Serenity, offers some resolution, the most significant disappointment with Firefly is its potential to be a television science fiction epic. The singular season offers intriguing world-building and engaging character dynamics that could've lasted years, yet the frustrating cancelation crushed its chances.

7 Freaks And Geeks

Freaks and Geeks could've been a monumental 2000s coming-of-age series.

Another series that was canceled in the early 2000s and never allowed to live up to its potential was Freaks and Geeks, a teen comedy-drama with an enormous amount of talent involved. Produced by Judd Apatow and starring Linda Cardellini, James Franco, Seth Rogen, Jason Segel, and more, Freaks and Geeks could've been a monumental early 2000s coming-of-age series like Dawson's Creek or The O.C. Creator Paul Feig ascertains that they left the show with a strong ending, but the loveable characters deserved more time to flesh out their arcs.

6 Game Of Thrones

HBO's fantasy masterpiece needed more time to fulfill its ending.

Like Succession, HBO's Game of Thrones is a series that left viewers wanting more. Unlike Succession, the show's season 8 ending was critically shunned, with one of the most hated TV finales of all time. The need for more Game of Thrones primarily stems from the final seasons feeling rushed. With the amount of material from George R.R. Martin's books, the proper solution always seemed to be that the show should've slowed down and taken several more years to flesh out more of the abandoned or absent plotlines, even if that meant arriving at the same narrative conclusions season 8 did.

While the excessively long wait for The Winds of Winter novel was always going to be a factor, Game of Thrones may still have benefited from an extension to explore book narratives like Young Griff, the Greyjoy Uncles, or the complexities of Dorne. Instead, seasons 7 & 8 were condensed, rapidly increasing the pacing and altering character behavior to fit the story's needs. For example, Daenerys' arc could've ended similarly, but extra seasons spent failing to conquer Westeros could've better justified her descent into madness. Other characters like Littlefinger and the Martells were also oversimplified, leading to unsatisfying endings.

5 Hannibal

The NBC Hannibal Lecter series still deserves another season.

After three seasons, NBC's Hannibal was canceled due to low viewership. The series is known for being a fantastic adaptation of Thomas Harris' Hannibal Lecter book series, closely examining the relationship between the titular serial killer and criminal profiler Will Graham. The original plan for the series was to run for seven seasons, with seasons four through six covering Harris' novels. Hannibal is still an excellent series, but the extra seasons could've made it the definitive series of its genre.

4 Sherlock

Sherlock's season 4 ending left too many questions.

Season 4 was released in 2017, and the longer the wait for Sherlock season 5, the less likely it seems. The BBC's modern adaptation of Sherlock Holmes was an enormous fan favorite, and despite them covering the best mysteries from author Arthur Conan Doyle, there's still a desire for more material. Sherlock's season 4 finale left audiences with many unanswered questions after a slew of confusing plot twists. It doesn't end on as much of a cliffhanger as previous seasons, but there's unresolved material to be explored in the future.

3 Young Justice

The heroes never faced off with the big bad in Young Justice.

DC Comics has excelled with fantastic animated shows and movies for decades, and Young Justice is some of the best superhero media available. After two seasons on Cartoon Network, the series was canceled for years before being brought back on the DC Universe streaming service and later on HBO Max. Season 4 ran in 2022, leaving audiences with another cliffhanger ending, and there's been no concrete news about season 5 since.

Aside from outstanding interpersonal dynamics between beloved DC characters, one of the biggest appeals for Young Justice is the overarching narrative with the supervillain organization known as "The Light." With the story cultivating over decades, it seems fitting that Young Justice should end with a final face-off between the heroes and The Light. Vandal Savage and Darkseid have been operating events from the shadows, but the show never had the opportunity to utilize them as central antagonists.

2 Winning Time

A show named "Winning Time" ends with a crushing defeat.

For its two seasons, Winning Time offered the perfect TV series for the niche between Succession fans and basketball lovers. The 1980s era of basketball is culturally vibrant and wildly entertaining, and there'd be plenty of material for the series to explore in future seasons, yet the series ends with the Lakers losing a devastating championship run. Even one extra season could've allowed Winning Time to live up to its name, with the Lakers returning to defeat the Celtics the following year.

1 Rome

HBO's Rome could've been TV's definitive historical epic.

HBO's Rome was one of the most expensive shows of its time, so it's no surprise the series got canceled after two seasons. Narratively, events wrap up nicely with Mark Antony defeated and Augustus beginning his rule of Rome. Titus Pullo and Lucius Vorenus also concluded their story arcs from season 1, yet there's still room for so much more. The civil wars were eventful, but the subsequent era of Roman history offers such fascinating material that it's disappointing not to see it play out on HBO.