First off the final 9 of the Sopranos was excellent... I'd rate the Sopranos seasons like this 5>1> 2/3/6b all the same>4>>>>>6A. Just think how all the characters were wrapped up Johnny Sac/Jr./Bobby/Pauly/Melfi/Janice/Meadow/AJ. Of course Christopher/Tony...Only character who didn't have a great ending was Carmella, her story basically concluded when she got back with Tony. People get hung up on the fade to black, but I was fine with it.
The Wire S5 isn't close to s3 or S1 of the show, but it wrapped up the story perfectly... We see the failure of the media to do their job and help to show all of the reasons why the 4 institutions covered in the first 4 seasons are failing. Plus I thought the serial killer shhit also worked as a great take on America's news fascination with killers and also the film/tv/books portrayal
Wire/breaking Bad both peaked in S4, Sopranos in 5 and thus their final seasons were nitpicked to death in a way the showas were not before. Also one of the few weaknesses TV has compared to film is the idea of audience expectation regarding endings. Except for franchises I rarely go into any film with a sense of what I want to see in the final act...I might have a guess on where it will end up, but I'm just going wherever the film takes me. With tv it is a whole different ballgame... I wanted Omar to kill Marlo/Chris/snoop, I wanted Michael and Dook to have a shot at a happy meaningful life, I wanted Christopher to end up as boss, I wanted to find out bout the Russian, I want Jesse to come out of the end alive and free and I want walt to find a little bit of redemption before he dies. Now ultimately I was fine with wherever the shows chose to go, but for many people who have spent 5/6 years with these shows they let what they want/expect to happen taint these final seasons