Major Spoilers Question of the Day: Cruelest Ending Edition

Regular listeners of our podcasts know that I have *very definite* opinions on  the difference between the metaphorical ‘Twilight Zone Ending’ (where karmic justice is served out in a relatively balanced manner) and the ‘Outer Limits Ending’ (where everyone dies screaming for dramatic effect.)  To be honest, though, neither ending is ideal for characters that you are emotionally invested in, leaving us lamenting the state of men like poor Henry Bemis who had time enough at last, or worse, the eternally lost Sam Beckett who never made the leap home. There are any number of stories that end terribly for the people involved (heck, even Gilligan’s Island ended their reunion movie with the castaways back on that same deserted island) leading us to today’s climactic query…

The MS-QOTD (pronounced, as always, “misquoted”) is still a little torn up over poor Hoban Washburn, asking: What, to your mind, is the cruelest ending in all pop culture?