People love to hate series finales. Reddit user ChallengeResponse has taken up the task of exploring fans’ tumultuous relationships with television conclusions in a graph that charts a show’s finale reception when compared to the average rating of the rest of its run. There’s a catch, though: All the data used for the graph comes from IMDB ratings, and who really rates things on IMDB?
Still, even if the source is a little specious, it points to trends that sound somewhat plausible. For example, according to the chart, Glee had a series finale that pleased fans more than an average episode, which sounds like it could be right, although it isn’t supported by The A.V. Club’s review of that dismal last episode. Dexter, however, had a series finale that pissed fans off, and our review of that woeful conclusion certainly supports that one. Also, wait: People who rate things on IMDB thought the series finale of Charmed was more satisfying than the average episode? No. No way. People who rate things on IMDB are tripping, clearly. Oh, but the series finale of The L Word performing way below a normal one? Yep—that checks out. Not even Lucy Lawless could save that.
So, you might not necessarily agree with the kind folks who rate things on IMDB. Or maybe you’re one of them. The major takeaway from the graph is that it’s very hard to please fans with a series finale, even while it remains very easy to argue with your friends about whether that Lost finale worked or not.