For nine seasons, architect Ted Mosby narrated a story of epic proportions to his children on how he met their mother. But when it came to an end this March – revealing the mother in How I Met Your Mother – fans felt cheated. Following an outpouring of vitriol on social media, the show’s creators gave us another ending last week.
Also read:How I met Your Mother ends with a delicious twist
We decided to list out alternative endings for other disappointing (for fans) series finales. Warning: spoilers aplenty!
How it ended: Confusingly. The finale indicated that everyone had been dead the whole while and they were in purgatory – a limbo between life and death – coming to terms with the terrible things they had done in their lives. The showrunners denied this, saying it was about "people who were lost and searching for meaning and purpose in their lives".
How it should have ended: As a secret recording of a reality show where all the contestants were deliberately thrown on an island and forced to survive. That ’70s Show
What it was about: Eric Foreman and his dopey friends struggle through high school and adolescence in 1970s America – rock and roll, beer and marijuana.
Duration: 8 seasons (1998 to 2006)
How it ended: Topher Grace and Ashton Kutcher, who played the leads, left at the end of season 7. Season 8 hobbled along with meh replacements. The barely-out-of-high-school characters either got married or knocked up.
How it should have ended:What it was about: Forensic analyst by day, serial killer by night, Dexter was intent on delivering justice to those criminals who had escaped it. Troubled, homicidal, he was driven by a strange moral code.
Duration: 8 seasons (2006-13)
How it ended: Topher Grace and Ashton Kutcher, who played the leads, left at the end of season 7. Season 8 hobbled along with meh replacements. The barely-out-of-high-school characters either got married or knocked up.
How it should have ended:What it was about: Forensic analyst by day, serial killer by night, Dexter was intent on delivering justice to those criminals who had escaped it. Troubled, homicidal, he was driven by a strange moral code.
Duration: 8 seasons (2006-13)
How it ended: After one too many plot twists in the finale, Dexter faked his death and became a lumberjack to live the remainder of his life in hiding. Because a homicidal serial killer living as a woodcutter makes total sense.
How it should have ended: If he was so intent on delivering justice to those who got away with crimes, he should have turned a gun on himself and pulled the trigger. And actually died.Gilmore Girls
What it was about: Lorelai gets pregnant at 16 and builds a life for herself and her daughter. The show begins when her daughter Rory is 16, and follows the loves, laughs and lives of mother and daughter.
Duration: 7 seasons (2000-07)
How it ended: Lorelai and Luke had broken up in season 6 but reconciled in the finale. Rory graduated from Yale and turned down a proposal from her on-off boyfriend. Good for you, ladies!
How it should have ended:
From HT Brunch, October 5
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