10 Tear-jerking finales that hit different: from Angel's bittersweet battle to The Good Place's moral reckoning This list of 10 television finales explores the various ways shows can end on an emotionally heavy note, ranging from the tragic deaths in 'Dinosaurs' and 'Wolf's Rain' to the bittersweet conclusions of 'Angel' and 'The Good Place'. Each finale is analyzed for its thematic impact and the specific emotional responses it elicits from viewers. There are a few ways to make the ending of a TV show impactful, with one being, quite obviously, to really hit those still watching emotionally, or otherwise heighten what the show had been going for thematically up until that point. Enter these finales, which are all quite heavy in one way or another, with some being outright tragic, and others maybe being a little more emotionally varied; some level of bittersweet, for instance. Add Collider on Google Add as Preferred Source Follow on Google Discover This will also be focusing on shows that were intentionally sad, rather than shows that were sad to see finish the way they did because of quality (like, you might've felt despair seeing the Game of Thrones and Dexter finales, but not for the reasons the writers probably wanted).Also, spoilers are unavoidable when talking about heavy television finales, so if that didn't go without saying, there you go. It's been said (and you were warned). 10 "Not Fade Away" 'Angel' (1999-2004) The ending of Angel is seen by some as tragic, and some as bittersweet, but if it's the latter, it's probably a little heavier on the bitter than the sweet?Angel Ends on a Bleak NoteLike, Angel was always a darker show than Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and so its ending is appropriately a bit bleaker than the more balanced bittersweet ending found in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It's also in line with the show, and the whole sense of the battle the characters have been fighting for five seasons never truly being over. So, they don't really win, but you also don't see them die, so maybe they're still fighting.Realistically, they probably did all die, but it does a Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid-style ending, since there is always that hope, even if it's just getting to see characters going out on a high and/or dying the way they always wanted to live. And that's sad, but it potentially adds something sweet to complement the bitterness. 9 "Changing Nature" 'Dinosaurs' (1991-1994) It'll forever be wild how Dinosaurs ended, since this was a family sitcom series, and this finale, "Changing Nature," addresses the age of the dinosaurs coming to an end, suggesting all the characters are soon going to die.They have to confront their mortality, and maybe the only excuse you can make for it not being the true final episode is the fact that some episodes written/produced before it were ultimately screened after it. Still, this is the intended finale narratively speaking, and regarded as the final episode, so it's clearly one hell of a way for just about any show to end, let alone one that was largely suitable for all audiences.Dinosaurs and Wolfs Rain FarewellsBut hey, kids do have to learn about death eventually, and it is the one thing everyone does know happened to the dinosaurs in reality, so… 8 "Wolf's Rain" 'Wolf's Rain' (2003-2004) This is another finale that requires some explanation, but weirdly enough, like Dinosaurs, it is also about the end of the world, and you have to come to terms with various endearing characters dying. It's Wolf's Rain, but the production here was also a bit funny, because there were 26 episodes in the original series run, though four are skippable recap episodes, and then there were four actual episodes released as an OVA (original video animation), and they add up to one feature-length finale, essentially.If you count all four episodes as one finale, then you do have to see everyone die, but if you're just looking at the last of those four, then the remaining few characters die there, and you do get some suggestion of the world and things being reborn, but there's only a little by way of hope there. The cycle resets, and there's not really a victory achieved on any front, but neither is it a total loss.The Good Place Finale ExploredStill, what stands out most is the sheer emotional damage inflicted by seeing the whole cast cut down, one by one. 7 "Whenever You're Ready" 'The Good Place' (2017-2020) The Good Place is wonderfully unpredictable for a show that initially seems like a fantastical sitcom, because it's about people in a strange afterlife they're told is heaven, but various things seem a bit off throughout season 1. Then the finale of that first season comes around, and they learn they're in hell, which kicks off more interesting things tackled - and worked toward - regarding ideas of morality, human nature, and what happens after death.There is a victory achieved by the end of season 4, but that series finale, "Whenever You're Ready," does a remarkable and unpretentious job of exploring how even an ideal afterlife would/should be finite. The characters have been dead the whole time, but they have to accept - and come to terms with - another more permanent death, and it is framed as bittersweet, but it's still surprisingly moving, and it does get you thinking about the ideas of immortality and the afterlife in ways that are eye-opening and honestly quite sobering.