13 Years Later, This TV Series Finale Remains the Worst of All Time

Dexter is one of the most enthralling TV series of all time. Created at the height of the antihero era, in which television protagonists were a guady mix of good, bad, and everything in between, Michael C. Hall's depiction of a serial killer with a code was thrilling enough to make you fall right out of your seat.

Unfortunately, the Showtime series got redundant and went on for a few too many seasons. By the time it got to the season 8 finale, "Remember the Monsters", all hope had been lost for a satisfying ending. The fear of a bad closing act was realized in all of its gory glory. 13 years later, fans are still trying to forget about Dexter's lumberjack get-up and his trip into the eye of a hurricane.

Fans on IMDb gave the episode a 4.9/10 based on over 34,000 reviews. Users wrote their own reviews and complained on the website about exactly what made this finale so horrible.

"THIS WAS THE WORST SERIES FINALE EVER and that is against the end of game of thrones and the 4th matrix movie. Debra dying and dexter living after driving a boat into a cat 3 hurricane is ridiculous. The writers should of thought of the dynamic of Debra and dexter characters before getting rid of her. Just so bad I can't take it."

"Dexter in the final season makes careless decisions that the earlier version of him would never have made and it feels forced just to reach a bleak ending. I did not expect a happy ending but I wanted one that felt earned and satisfying. This finale is empty frustrating and disappointing after everything that came before."

Dexter has seen something of a revival in recent years that has helped to ease the fall of the original series. Dexter: Resurrection came out last summer and tells the story of Dexter's life in New York with his son in the years after the events of Dexter. A second season is set to air next year.

Still, no matter what good grace the spinoffs create for this character, the first show's series finale is the pinnacle of bad closing episodes in TV lore.

This story was originally published by Men's Journal on May 18, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Men's Journal as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

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This story was originally published May 18, 2026 at 4:08 AM.