Science fiction has always been one of television’s most prolific, iconic, and successful genres, but when it comes to sticking the landing at the very end, not everyone gets it right. Though many long-lasting sci-fi shows over the years have delighted viewers with universally loved series finales, and others have disappointed them with terrible conclusions, there are others that have split fans right down the middle. There are plenty of things that can make a series finale divisive, from unsatisfying resolutions to loose ends being left untied, and those are precisely the kinds of things that make these six episodes a topic of contention.
Whether it’s a children’s show coming to an oddly dark conclusion, an ’80s cult classic being cut short halfway through its run, or a modern masterpiece not being able to check off every item on fans’ wish lists, the most divisive finales in all of sci-fi television are proof that you can’t please everyone. From iconic shows like The X-Files to underrated ones like Manifest, divisiveness doesn’t discriminate when it comes to sci-fi series finales. Some love these episodes deeply, while others hate them with a passion; but, very often, those are precisely the kinds of episodes that end up proving the most timeless.
6
‘Dinosaurs’ (1991–1994)
“Changing Nature” – Season 4, Episode 7 (1994)
A sitcom about a family of dinosaurs living like humans in a modern world, Dinosaurs remained one of the most beloved family shows on television throughout its run. Its charming puppets (courtesy of Jim Henson Television) had a surprising amount of personality to them, and the fact that the series always took its gimmick seriously made it easy to suspend one’s disbelief and get lost in this enchanting Jurassic world. Funny, expressive, and unexpectedly clever in its satirical representation of the contemporary world, Dinosaurs is still very much worth watching with the kiddos today.There’s one thing that all parents today know, which parents back in 1994 found shocking, though: The series finale “Changing Nature,” where the dinosaurs’ irresponsible actions toward the environment lead to an Ice Age that kills them all. More episodes aired after “Changing Nature,” but it was always envisioned and created as the series finale, which is what it’s remembered as nowadays. Its out-of-left-field, tragic, and bleak tone caught everyone by surprise back in ’94, and even today, many still feel that the depressing nature of the episode works more in the show’s detriment than in its favor.
5
‘Quantum Leap’ (1989–1993)
“Mirror Image – August 8, 1953” – Season 5, Episode 22 (1993)
Quantum Leap just screams ’80s, and for people who are into that kind of thing, it’s still a must-see today. Not to be confused with its significantly inferior 2022 remake, this iconic classic is about Dr. Sam Beckett, who finds himself trapped in time and travels through different periods of the past to help change different people’s futures for the better. Nostalgic, fresh, funny, and boosted by a pair of timeless performances by Scott Bakula and Dean Stockwell, this iconic classic is one of the most rewatchable time travel TV shows ever made, with a perfect balance between fun sci-fi elements and deeply human stories.Indeed, Quantum Leap is a sci-fi gem with a heart of gold, and it never stopped defying expectations—all the way until its momentous conclusion. By twisting the show’s formula on its head, having Sam leap into himself instead of someone else, the finale offers a dissection of the show as a whole that has only gotten more interesting with age. When it entered production, the episode was only intended as an end-of-season cliffhanger, not the actual conclusion of the show; but after an abrupt cancellation, the text “Dr. Sam Becket never returned home,” famously misspelling the protagonist’s name. Where some fans saw an existentially honest and thematically poignant ending that closed off the series with a fittingly bittersweet aftertaste, others still see a tragically botched wrap-up.
4
‘Manifest’ (2018–2023)
“Final Boarding” – Season 4, Episode 20 (2023)
There are plenty of criminally underrated sci-fi shows out there, and Manifest is among the ones that deserve the most love nowadays. It’s a thriller about a commercial airliner that suddenly reappears after being missing for five years, forcing those aboard to struggle to reintegrate into society. It’s a simple enough premise, but despite the first season, which was kind of a clunky start, things only kept getting better from there. In the end, this supernatural melodrama (which NBC canceled after three seasons, but Netflix revived for a fourth and last installment) offered some top-tier sci-fi television with levels of complexity not seen in the genre since Lost.
In spite of it being an amazing series overall, however, Manifest had a finale that split fans pretty evenly down the middle. The final season as a whole is satisfying, well-written, and eager to please fans, but even though the finale was great overall, there were details in it that some viewers didn’t love. For one, shows like this—ones that are largely reliant on feeling like giant puzzles that fans never seem to have all the answers to—are usually at their best when they’re comfortable leaving some questions up in the air, keeping fans making up theories. “Final Boarding,” on the other hand, sets out to answer every question, and whereas some fans appreciated that, others found it too neat and convenient, like a crowd-pleasing cop-out. Even still, the episode is the show’s highest-rated episode on IMDb, so it clearly did something right.
3
‘Battlestar Galactica’ (2004–2009)
“Daybreak: Part 3” – Season 4, Episode 21 (2009)
It all started back in 1978 with the original show, but it was really with 2004’s remake of Battlestar Galactica that the franchise became the huge pillar of pop culture that it’s still remembered as today. Whether it’s the phenomenal cast, the enrapturing visuals, or the surprisingly complex and mature writing, Battlestar Galactica is far and away one of the greatest sci-fi TV shows ever made, and that perception has never really changed since it came to an end. That ending, however, didn’t fail to raise a few eyebrows.
Some fans adored the way the series came to an end. They saw the episode as epic, thrilling, mythic, and full of great emotional closure. What makes it so polarizing, though, is the fact that many fans saw “divine influence” playing such a key role in the finale as a lazy cop-out. Overall, Battlestar is still remembered as one of the best low-budget sci-fi shows ever, but its ambiguous finale and the way it departed from the strict sci-fi roots that defined the early seasons were something that many fans could (understandably) not get on board with.
2
‘The X-Files’ (1993–2018)
“My Struggle IV” – Season 11, Episode 10 (2018)
It’s no exaggeration to say that The X-Files changed genre television forever. Its fandom pretty much pioneered the online fandom space, and its level of success and influence cannot be overstated. As such, it surprised no one when the series was brought back from a 14-year dormancy for two seasons, revisiting the paranormal and alien adventures and misadventures of FBI Special Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully. The show’s old finale, “The Truth,” had itself been a pretty divisive way to end the series, which makes it kind of ironic that its new finale, “My Struggle IV,” somehow managed to split the fanbase even more evenly.
X-Files is still one of the most essential horror TV shows of all time, but fans tend to agree that its final episode was a bit confusing and a mixed bag overall. Fans were happy to see some happy resolutions, but lore being rewritten and retconned, poorly thought-out twists being revealed, and refusing to close off certain bits of the overarching narrative are all decisions that will get any series finale some controversy, this one being no exception. “My Struggle IV” has its fans, but it also has many detractors who see it as a betrayal of the series’ history.
1
‘Lost’ (2004–2010)
“The End: Part 2” – Season 6, Episode 18 (2010)
When it comes to divisive series finales, the conversation is never complete without at least a mention of Lost. What started as a mystery series with some supernatural elements gradually started becoming a more overt sci-fi and fantasy series, and it concluded with a final season whose “everything but the kitchen sink” approach still makes it notorious. Many fans still love the season as a whole, though—and, in fact, the benefit of time and retrospect has made others go so far as to start warming up to the show’s infamous finale.”The End: Part 2″ isn’t just ambiguous: It’s gleefully impenetrable to the point of almost feeling surrealistic. But in a show that always took pride in being mind-bending and never providing all the answers, some fans saw that refusal to provide certain answers as secretly brilliant. Others, however, still think of Lost‘s ending as the show’s writers clearly having written themselves into a corner and taking all sorts of wrong ways out. Where some see calculated mystery, others see a last-minute jumping of the shark that makes this episode remain one of the most divisive in television history.
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