Home and Away's most gripping finales: 'I cried for days'

Fans are listing their favourite Home and Away season finales and, spoiler alert, this year's isn't among them. Viewers were left divided after the final episode of 2022 ended in a fiery cliffhanger, with many taking to social media to suggest it was the most "disappointing" and "underwhelming" finale to date.

Year in, year out, Home and Away promises a more gripping, action-packed, nail-biting finale than ever before; think natural disasters, fires, car crashes, more car crashes, yet more car crashes, shootings... you name it, it's happened in the not-so-sleepy seaside town of Summer Bay. Here are the previous season finales the show's devotees are calling the best.

Fan name most gripping finales

One fan listed five finales across Home and Away's history that were better than this year's final ep.

"MY favourite season finales have been 1988, 2004, 2005, 2014 and 2020," one said.

The bus crash episode of 2014 was indeed a fan fave, with a number of Facebook users naming it as one of the show's best season finishers. In that ep, Sophie Taylor (Bridgette Sneddon) kidnapped her ex-boyfriend Nate (Kyle Pryor) and doused him in petrol. Nate subsequently swerved their car into the path of a bus loaded with passengers, including a pregnant Ricky (Bonnie Sween), causing a major rollover. Also hit in the accident was a third car driven by Darryl Braxton (Steve Peacocke), who had just learned he was about to become a father to a baby boy.

While many fans said after the 2022 finale they were keen to see less drama and more happy endings, social media tells a different story, with the mineshaft incident of the 2003 finale coming up as a popular season climax, with one viewer commenting: "I liked the Sutherland family trapped in the mineshaft and it's closely followed by the hospital bomb blast."

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In the 2003 episode, the Sutherlands were trapped in a mine after it collapsed and were nearly buried alive. The situation escalated into near tragedy for asthma sufferer Jade (Kate Garven), but the family was eventually rescued and returned to the safety of the Bay.

A decade later, the popular bomb-blast finale of 2013 saw Jade Montgomery (Tasma Walton) planting a phone bomb in Bianca's (Lisa Gormley) bag, which exploded in the hospital just as Ricky was giving birth. Ethan (Matt Minto) died from injuries sustained in the blast.

Hospitals have been a common thread in fan-fave finales, with one viewer stating her top season-ending episode brought her to tears.

"The siege at the hospital where Mason and Robbo died. I cried for days when Jaz was begging Robbo to live. Sam was brilliant in playing the role," she wrote.

The episode in question was the 2019 season finale in which a gang took control of the district hospital, holding Summer Bay residents hostage. Mason (Orpheus Pledge) was shot and killed when he attempted to protect Bella (Courtney Miller), who needed urgent medical attention. The episode also claimed another victim in Robbo (Jake Ryan), who was killed off in a car accident and his death revealed in the 2020 season premiere.

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Of course, who could forget 2006, when beloved Home and Away stalwart Sally (Kate Ritchie) was brutally attacked by Rocco Cooper (Ian Meadows) and left for dead? One fan sure couldn't, commenting, "I got into Home and Away in 2006 and that year's season finale I liked the best. When Rocco Cooper stabbed poor Sally Fletcher."

The very first Home and Away season finale also won praise among long-time viewers. Airing in 1988, the episode featured Alf Stewart (Ray Meagher) revealing to Ailsa (Judy Nunn) the truth about Bobby's (Nicolle Dickson) parentage: Donald Fisher (Norman Coburn) and Morag Bellingham (Cornelia Frances). GASP. A family Christmas celebration was also thrown in for good measure.

Finales that didn't cut it

This year isn't the first in which fans were let down by a Home and Away season finale, with many naming 2020 as the worst of all time. Promos for the episode teased romances, leaked family secrets, deadly prison confrontations and passionate one-night trysts, however, the resulting finale left fans wanting.

"Worst season final ever! Was hoping for a more exciting cliffhanger but we didn't get one," commented one viewer on the show's Instagram page at the time.

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