The whole Sam/Freddie relationship seemed unrealistic. I was so surprised that's how they acted when they actually got together. Right before their relationship, Sam did not physically hurt or really insult Freddie. They didn't really argue either. They didn't have to act so weird in the relationship, but they did, and that was a turn off. Plus it was too one-sided. Sam initiated almost everything, and Freddie had no feelings for her until she kissed him in iOMG.
But then, Carly kept rooting for Sam and Freddie. She acted like a fangirl, saying "I think it's great!" and shouting "SAM LOVES FREDDIE!" and even though she got annoyed playing mediator, she still helped them stay together in iCan't Take It and iLove You. So it made it seem like Carly didn't really have any feelings for Freddie either....and it was all on Freddie's side. I didn't even know Freddie still loved Carly until iOwn a Restaurant. So the arc kind of turned me off of Creddie too, because I didn't get any hints of "Maybe Carly needs to realize she loved Freddie all along" vibes anymore.
Also, Freddie seems to bounce back and forth between who he wants to date(example: this last episode), so I basically thought the easiest solution was if he didn't date either of them.
Long story short, any ship would have SHOCKED me. I thought he'd pick one, but it would have shocked me. Because I never really thought Freddie would develop feelings for Sam overnight, nor would I really have thought Carly would have developed feelings for Freddie. The only reason why I was leaning a little more towards Sam/Freddie was because I felt like Carly would react more positively in a rekindling of Sam/Freddie than Sam would with a Carly/Freddie relationship. Also, Sam started "acting more normal" in iRescue Carly, which was their main issue in the relationship....so I was guessing that maybe Dan would stretch it and play off of that angle. Other than that, I didn't really have any basis to go on.
Carly was still hitting on guys throughout this season and wasn't jealous of Freddie when he was dating Sam. She's excited about these Italian guys she'll meet right before she kisses him. Then she just LEAVES. That set me off. I guess I wanted Carly to come to the realization that she liked Freddie(like while thinking back on the memories she realizes he's a great guy, or once she leaves she notices what she's lost), kisses him, and then have a non-awkward, very sweet moment of "We should be together" or "I'll wait for you"(less cheesy than that, but a confirmation) and happy sunsets and rainbows.
If Freddie went with Sam, that would be too sudden too. Asking Sam if she wanted to get back together was sudden and out of nowhere like iOAR was. They don't really have a basis to get back together, unless he said something like, "You've changed a lot and I think we could work out this time, let's try again".
Idk, both seemed so unrealistic to me, because Dan brushes this stuff off. I can see why neither ship happened(and Creddie kind of happened). I just wish the whole shipping thing was ignored completely in this episode, because it ticked off a lot of viewers. I wasn't ticked off, but when I watched it I was kind of like "Hmmm...something's not right. Something's not complete". I don't really think that is something people should think when they're watching a series finale.
Fortunately, even though I wrote a novel about this, the rest of the episode was so good that I'm okay with this.