A new study has revealed that flagship Netflix series House of Cards has the ‘worst TV ending in history’.
The political drama, which started in 2013, followed the story of Kevin Spacey’s character Frank Underwood, a power-hungry US congressman.
However, in 2017, sexual assault allegations made against Spacey resulted in the streaming giant deciding it would no longer be associated with the actor in the future.
The 64-year-old actor denied the allegations at the time and in 2023 he was found not guilty of assaulting four men after a heavily publicised trial.
This all meant production on the sixth and final season was heavily affected, resulting in fewer episodes (eight as opposed to 13) and an ending that left both viewers and critics dissatisfied.
Now it appears the wounds from those final eight episodes, which followed Frank’s wife Claire Underwood (played by Robin Wright) as she became President of the United States, have had a lasting impact.
A new survey published by Vape Superstore analysed data from the Internet Movie Database (IMDb) to find out which final season had disappointed fans the most.
It found that the average IMDb rating for House of Cards’ first season, an impressive 8.4 (out of 10), didn’t stop fans from hammering the ending, giving it a rating of just 4.28, a drop of over 4.0.
How did House of Cards end? (Spoilers)
At the end of season five of House of Cards, Claire Underwood was sworn in as US President after her husband Frank’s resignation.
The closing scenes of the season teased that we’d be heading for an Underwood vs. Underwood showdown, but Kevin Spacey’s departure from the show changed plans significantly.
Instead, at the start of season six, Frank is killed off and the series jumps forward six months. That sets up a new rivalry with billionaire family the Shepherds, who know a little too much about the (literal) skeletons in Claire’s closet.
Series stalwart Doug Stamper, played by Michael Kelly, later finds out that Frank had left virtually everything to Doug in a secret will, until Claire reveals she is now pregnant, rendering the new will null and void.
After a series of plot twists and a succession of assassinations, a plan is eventually formed to assassinate Claire. Doug becomes involved in the conspiracy.
The final season comes to a head when Doug reveals he was the one who poisoned Frank, saying that he killed his close friend to save his legacy, before attempting to kill Claire himself.
However, at the last second he changes his mind, leaving his weapon – a letter opener – in Claire’s hands. Claire stabs Doug and suffocates him to death, with the show ending as the conspiracy to assassinate her is exposed.
On top of that, its very first episode, titled Chapter 1, received a healthy user rating of 8.5, while its finale episode, titled Chapter 73, currently sits at just 2.6.
The survey also featured several other controversial endings, with BBC series Killing Eve and US fantasy series Game of Thrones also seeing huge gaps between their highest-rated and lowest-rated episodes.
Killing Eve’s finale scored a full five points worse than its first episode, while Game of Thrones’ ending followed close behind with a drop of 4.9 out of 10.
Actors from the spy thriller series insisted they were pleased with the ending despite fan backlash, which centred on the decision to kill off Jodie Comer’s Villanelle in the final scene.
Show writer Laura Neal previouslytold Metro.co.uk: ‘I think with a show like this, that generates so much discussion and that also generates so much debate, you’re never going to be able to please everybody.’
While the average rating for Game of Thrones’ eighth and final season was a respectable 6.4 out of 10, that still marked a decline of 2.55 points from the average score awarded to the first season.
Fans were left disappointed by a number of conclusions in the final six episodes, but the fate of Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) caused the most controversy.
The Dragon Queen burned thousands of innocent people alive as she attacked King’s Landing, the capital city of the fictional world of Westeros, before being assassinated by the series’ other hero Jon Snow (Kit Harington).
The full list (concluded TV series):
- House of Cards
- Killing Eve
- Game of Thrones
- Two and a Half Men
- Dexter
- The Flash
- How I Met Your Mother
- True Blood
- Pretty Little Liars
- Westworld
TV shows that fared much better as they went on were the likes of Parks and Recreation, which saw a 1.12 point increase over the course of its seven seasons, Seinfeld, which stayed consistently between 7.4 and 8.5 across its run.
Meanwhile, dark comedy-dramas such as Fleabag, Succession, and BoJack Horseman also saw their stock rise across the duration of their time on the air.
Comedy series like The Big Bang Theory, Schitt’s Creek, and Gravity Falls all had final episode ratings of 9.0 or above, while Star Wars: The Clone Wars received a finale score of 9.9 out of 10.
Dramas such as Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, Mad Men, and Mr. Robot were among the highest-rated shows in all categories of the survey.
Watch House of Cards on Netflix.
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