Navigation Drawer
close
Search
Light System Dark
-
Tech
-
Reviews
-
Science
-
Entertainment
-
AI
-
Policy
-
Gadgets
-
Verge Shopping
-
Gaming
-
Streaming
-
Transportation
-
Verge Video
-
Podcasts
How to end a TV show
Comments Drawer
Comments
- Entertainment Entertainment Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.
Follow See All Entertainment
- Report Report Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.
Follow See All Report
- TV Shows TV Shows Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.
Follow See All TV Shows
How to end a TV show
The creative minds behind From talk about learning from Lost, fan expectations, and wrapping up a story loaded with mysteries.
by Andrew Webster
Andrew Webster
Senior entertainment editor
Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.
Follow See All by Andrew Webster
Jun 29, 2026, 12:00 PM UTC
Image: MGM
- Entertainment Entertainment Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.
Follow See All Entertainment
- Report Report Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.
Follow See All Report
- TV Shows TV Shows Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.
Follow See All TV Shows
How to end a TV show
The creative minds behind From talk about learning from Lost, fan expectations, and wrapping up a story loaded with mysteries.
by Andrew Webster
Andrew Webster
Senior entertainment editor
Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.
Follow See All by Andrew Webster
Jun 29, 2026, 12:00 PM UTC
Andrew Webster
Andrew Webster
Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.
Follow See All by Andrew Webster
is an entertainment editor covering streaming, virtual worlds, and every single Pokémon video game. Andrew joined The Verge in 2012, writing over 4,000 stories.
Ending any story is hard, but that’s especially true of mystery-packed TV shows. Series like Lost initially hook viewers with constantly building secrets and questions, to the point that they can often seem incomprehensible. But the promise is that it will all pay off in the end — a feat that few shows ultimately manage. This creates tension as viewers try to put all of the pieces together while hoping that the show’s creators know what they’re doing in the long run. The latest example is From on MGM Plus, a Lost-style horror series that just wrapped up its penultimate season, with a fifth and final one coming in 2027. Naturally, endings are currently top of mind for the team behind the series.
“Making this type of show, you’re making a contract with the audience,” says From’s creator, John Griffin. “You’re saying, ‘Look, if you guys get invested, we promise we’re going to take you somewhere worth going.’”
From tells the story of a group of people in a small town that they’re unable to leave, all while dealing with prowling monsters, a dwindling food supply, and other existential threats. The season 4 finale was perfectly indicative of how these shows often work, mixing intense drama and bizarre mysteries. A beloved character turned into a monster, and there were more than a few unexpected deaths, strange and violent weather patterns, potentially fatal dream sequences, and some upending of the rules that everyone has had to live (and die) by over the last four seasons.
Image: MGM
Tracking everything that has happened so far is a huge challenge with a show like this — both for viewers following along at home and those working on the show. According to showrunner Jeff Pinkner — who previously worked on series like Lost, Alias, and Fringe — the solution is fairly straightforward: remembering what’s most important.
“One of the challenges of making a show this complicated is that we’re expecting an audience to watch a show this complicated,” he explains. “If we had some kind of master document that we were relying on, or that was necessary for us to hold it all in our heads, we would be expecting too much of the audience. The honest truth is, we hold it all in our head because that’s what the audience has to be able to do. We only want it to be as complicated as we can pay attention to.”
Related
Knowing how the series will end from its very beginning helped the creators of From stay focused on reaching that conclusion even as they delved into side mysteries. Unlike many shows, they always had a specific end goal in mind while making narrative decisions. That doesn’t mean that the show hasn’t changed from the initial vision, though. Griffin likens the experience of creating the show to that of a road trip, where there isn’t necessarily one straightforward journey, but the final destination remains the same. “We set out with an intent, and on any journey things change and things evolve along the way,” he says. “Some of what was planned in the beginning was jettisoned in favor of other roads.”
According to Jack Bender — an executive producer who directed many of From’s episodes, and is perhaps best known for directing the emotionally charged Lost finale — one of the strengths of long-form mystery television is its team’s ability to change and adapt. While the creators might have concrete ideas in mind initially, those can shift based on everything from fan feedback to input from other members of the crew, whether it’s the actors or production designers. “That’s one of the great creative things about this kind of storytelling, where you have 50 episodes to tell this story,” Bender says. “It gives you time to go off into the woods and take little detours, and still get back on the path of where you’re going.”
Image: MGM
One of the difficulties, however, is that there are no guarantees in the world of television. From’s creators may have had an ending in mind from early on, and they may have planned for a story that spans five seasons, but getting there depended on the show reaching an audience and getting renewed multiple times. That outcome wasn’t assured. It’s a reality that most TV writers have to contend with, but it becomes especially tricky for a series like From that has definitive plans for its beginning and ending. Contingency plans become a necessity.
“If there came a time when MGM Plus had come to us and said, ‘Hey, listen guys, the numbers are bad, we’re going to have to wrap this up next season,’ could we have done it? Sure,” explains Griffin. “There are 9,000 ways to tell any story. But the fact that we got to let the story breathe, and let it lead us to where it wanted to go, and fulfill the original vision we all had, has been incredibly gratifying.”
All of those factors combined make pulling off a successful ending all the more significant — and rare. As M. Night Shyamalan told me ahead of the finale of his Apple TV thriller Servant, “I’m astonished now when I think of any peers who have done this.” In the case of a mystery show, the finale has a lot of ends to tie up and mysteries to reveal.
But according to the team behind From, checking unresolved storylines off of a list isn’t the goal; it’s to make viewers feel intensely about the world and characters in order to leave a lasting impression. As controversial as the Lost finale was, it’s still something people talk about today. “You only miss characters that you care about,” says Griffin. “You only miss shows that you care about.”
“We want the ending to feel surprising and simultaneously inevitable,” adds Pinkner. “We want the ending to feel like it was set up in the first frame of the first episode.”
Follow topics and authors from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates.
- Andrew Webster Andrew Webster Senior entertainment editor
Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.
Follow See All by Andrew Webster
- Entertainment Entertainment Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.
Follow See All Entertainment
- Report Report Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.
Follow See All Report
- TV Shows TV Shows Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.
Follow See All TV Shows
Featured Videos From The Verge
Siri is good now?? | The Vergecast
Video 161/1 Skip Ad Continue watching after the adVisit Advertiser websiteGO TO PAGE
We're all starting to test Apple's newest software post-WWDC, and the most surprising thing has happened: Siri actually seems to be pretty good now. Nilay and David discuss how that happened, and what it means for the AI industry, and all of us, that Apple's voice assistant is finally useful. Then, we have some news about Bluesky, Threads, and YouTube that adds up to a big change in social networks, plus the Hype Desk, Brendan Carr, the Trump Phone, and a really great deal for iPad users.
Most Popular
Most Popular
- Ad-free streaming is a luxury now
- Why is Apple asking me to pay more for Big Tech’s AI obsession?
- Prosecutors used ChatGPT logs as evidence in the Palisades fire trial
- Meta launches cheaper smart glasses without Ray-Ban
- China’s Z.ai claims it can match Mythos on cybersecurity
Video 241/1 Skip Ad Continue watching after the adVisit Advertiser websiteGO TO PAGE
The Verge Daily
A free daily digest of the news that matters most.
Email (required)
Sign Up
By submitting your email, you agree to ourTerms and Privacy Notice. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the GooglePrivacy PolicyandTerms of Serviceapply.
Advertiser Content From This is the title for the native ad
More in Entertainment
Suno launches Spark incubator program to feed independent artists to its AI machine
The Cube is Jim Henson’s little-known proto-Black Mirror masterpiece
Teenage Engineering adds lo-fi mode, USB audio, and more to its KO II sampler
Margaret Atwood says the problem with AI is ‘garbage in, garbage out’
Indie developers got tired of waiting for a new Star Fox, so they’re making their own
This puzzle game’s simple premise hides surprising depth
Suno launches Spark incubator program to feed independent artists to its AI machine
Terrence O'Brien Jun 288
The Cube is Jim Henson’s little-known proto-Black Mirror masterpiece
Terrence O'Brien Jun 288
Teenage Engineering adds lo-fi mode, USB audio, and more to its KO II sampler
Terrence O'Brien Jun 272
Margaret Atwood says the problem with AI is ‘garbage in, garbage out’
Terrence O'Brien Jun 2711
Indie developers got tired of waiting for a new Star Fox, so they’re making their own
Geoffrey Bunting Jun 2711
This puzzle game’s simple premise hides surprising depth
Jay Peters Jun 27
Advertiser Content From This is the title for the native ad
Top Stories
An hour ago
The war against ‘woke’ could end US science as we know it
Jun 28
Ad-free streaming is a luxury now
Jun 26
The World Cup puts the US’s nightmarish immigration policies front and center
Jun 28
The Cube is Jim Henson’s little-known proto-Black Mirror masterpiece
Jun 27
Why is Apple asking me to pay more for Big Tech’s AI obsession?
-
Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Data
© 2026Vox Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved
Notifications Drawer
Sign in to see your notifications or create an account to join the conversation.
Privacy Center
When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.
Cookie Policy Vendor List
Allow All
Manage Consent Preferences
Strictly Necessary Cookies
Essential
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable information.
-
Functional Cookies
Essential
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then some or all of these services may not function properly.
View Vendor Details
Allow the Sale or Sharing/Targeted Advertising
- Allow the Sale or Sharing/Targeted Advertising
As a valued user, we are providing you the ability to opt-out from the sharing of your personal information to advertisers and social media companies at any time across business platform, services, businesses and devices. You can opt-out of the sharing of your personal information by using this toggle switch. For more information on your rights and options see our privacy notice.
-
Performance Cookies
- Switch Label
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not know when you have visited our site, and will not be able to monitor its performance.
-
Social Media & Embedded Content
- Switch Label
Content embedded on our sites (e.g. social media posts, video clips, polls and games) originates from third party sources such as social media platforms, video sharing sites, or other third party websites. When this content loads on pages you visit, any cookies or similar tracking technologies set by the third party source in connection with that content may also load. Vox Media doesn't set these cookies and doesn't control them. These cookies may be capable of tracking your browser across sites and/or building a profile of your interests. Not allowing these cookies will impact what content you can see and engage with on our sites.
-
Targeting Cookies
- Switch Label
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
View Vendor Details
Vendors List
Clear
-
- checkbox label label
Apply Cancel
Consent Leg.Interest
-
checkbox label label
-
checkbox label label
-
checkbox label label
Reject All Confirm My Choices