Best of 2014 results: ‘True Blood’s’ series finale stands as most disappointing

Yesterday, we presented the first result in our Best of 2014 series, and it awarded “Hell on Wheels” the honor of being the Best Underrated Show of the year. More congratulations to it!

Now, we transition over to an award that was a little less desirable: Most Disappointing Show. We don’t like to beat up too much on TV, since we know the sort of work that goes into making it. Still, there are shows that are so good that they create expectations, and when those expectations are not, of course there will be an outcry of sorts. We weren’t highlighting bad shows in here so much as once-good shows that lost their way.

One show clearly lost its way in its final season, and some could even argue that it did long before that: “True Blood.” This is a show that had the HBO pedigree, and for the first three or four seasons, it really was going strong. Then, you had overly complicated stories, the eventual departure of creator Alan Ball as showrunner, isolating Alcide from everyone, and eventually a series finale that did not exactly pay off any story that fans were wanting to see. Learning that Sookie was with an unknown man, and pregnant? Not exactly what anyone wanted to see, even if it may be best for the character to be out of danger.

“True Blood” had the lion’s share of the votes pretty early on in this category, and finished with a clear “victory” with more than 45% of the vote.

In second place, “Elementary” drew nearly 20% of the vote for a season that has separated Holmes and Watson, and tried to force us to like newcomer Kitty Winter. She’s not a terrible character, but not exactly what anyone signed up for. “Survivor: San Juan del Sur” finished in third place with 16%, but voting for it stalled in the past week after the show started to really become far less disappointing. We don’t want to say that we regret the nomination now, but this is what happens sometimes with picking a show that is not over yet.