23 Infuriatingly Bad TV Show Storylines From 2022 That Never Should Have Been Green-Lit

"That was the most bizarre bullshit I have ever seen in my life...and I watched Pretty Little Liars."

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To wrap up the year, we asked the BuzzFeed Community to share the absolute worst TV storylines they watched in 2022. Here are the best answers!

🚨 Warning: Spoilers ahead! 🚨

1. The snooze-fest that was Season 5 of The Crown, when it should have been the juiciest and most scandalous season yet. Oh, and let's not forget about those casting issues.

Netflix

"It was so FUCKING BORING and it shouldn't have been! They turned Diana's TV tell-all into a snooze-fest and the entire episode dedicated to the royal yacht was unnecessary. Not to mention the casting was way off. Dominic West looks nothing like Charles, Emma Corrin should have stayed on as Diana and I would have rather watched Olivia Colman and Helena Bonham Carter reprise their roles in grey wigs and prosthetics."

—zoecatherinegrant

2. The Nancy/Steve/Jonathan love triangle resurfacing in Season 4 of Stranger Things.

Nerflix

"I am a huge Stranger Things fan and I loved Season 4, but one storyline I just couldn't get behind was the Nancy/Steve/Jonathan love triangle. After Steve and Nancy broke up in Season 2, Steve just grew so much as a person. Not to mention, we clearly see him move on, so it just felt random to me that suddenly he had feelings for Nancy again. I really hope the Duffer brothers conveniently drop this storyline in Season 5."

—megbertrim

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3. As well as Eddie's death — which felt so pointless and unnecessary, meaning that he was killed off for pure shock value.

Netflix

"Don't get me started on Eddie's death being completely unnecessary. Plus, we didn't even get to see the other characters mourn him, even though he sacrificed himself to save Hawkins."

—notdoinganythingsus

4. The decision by the writers to have Eleven revive Max instead of permanently killing her off.

Netflix

"It took away from the emotional impact of the moment and the workaround was cheap and came out of nowhere. Eleven just has resurrection superpowers now?! Plus, it lessens the stakes because it communicates to the audience that the core cast is safe from being killed off since they’ll always be brought back."

—Kisha Thapar (Facebook)

5. The chaotic train wreck that was Season 6 of Riverdale — which included absurd supernatural plot lines, as well as some of the characters gaining superpowers.

Netflix

"Riverdale should occupy this entire piece. I stopped watching after Season 1 (Ross Butler left at the perfect time, but honestly I'm not sure even he and all his beauty could get me to stick around for that heated mess), but obviously still saw all the weird stuff that was happening in the show.

The fixation with couples is one of the issues. There always has to be a romance and as a result, everyone has dated everyone and that's kinda icky. Then, are the characters ever in school or do they just walk around being amateur detectives and being a part of that prissy gang who has matching jackets? Plus, there's the absurd storylines. Someone's spirit was trapped inside another body and the redhead [Cheryl] ended up being a Shein Scarlet Witch. That was the most bizarre bullshit I have ever seen in my life...and I watched Pretty Little Liars."

—ravenstone

6. The hit-and-miss storylines in The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power.

Prime Video

"They gave two inexperienced showrunners (with zero projects prior) the keys to some of the most foundational and beloved material in the fantasy genre. Plus, they didn't have the rights to the actual source material, so they had to make a bunch of shit up and throw money at it — and it shows. It's just unwatchable! I gave it a fair shot, but I couldn't watch the series finale."

—cdgbuitron

7. The initial supernatural intrigue in the earlier episodes of1899, which was then turned completely upside down in favour of confusing plot twists that didn't reveal anything in the end.

Netflix

"It had the potential to be a great supernatural horror show, but no, they decided to waste eight hours of my life and turn it into what they did and it was so disappointing! They could've made it so that the missing ship was a ghost ship situation, because literally everyone on that ship had horrible secrets and be a kind of retribution thing. But no, they went completely off kilter."

—beckichino

8. The colossal letdown that was Obi-Wan Kenobi, which included ridiculous chase scenes, idiotic character decision and wasted actor potential.

Disney+

"Obi-Wan Kenobi was written like an episode of Scooby Doo. There were loads of idiotic decisions and WTF chases to get us to a fight we've already seen. It was easily the most disappointing series of the year and it almost made me skip Andor, which would've been a mistake because that show was brilliant."

—eveplumber

"100% agree. Why, oh why, did it have to be Leia that was kidnapped?! Kumail was totally wasted. It was an interesting idea — a person pretends to be a Jedi for, like, one episode as a con artist with a heart of gold and then just randomly shows up again for...reasons? None of it felt really earned AND I also nearly passed on Andor until enough people talked me into it."

—tkgm

9. The slow pacing and predictable plot lines in Andor.

Disney+

"I guess it just depends on people's preferences. I loved Obi Wan, but I also just love the fantasy aspect of the Jedi and the young girl playing Leia did such a good job. I can't deny that Andor is very well made and is a different darker take on Star Wars, but I personally can't stand watching it. For me, the plot moved too slowly and while the plot was predictable like Obi Wan, I at least enjoyed the fast pacing and action of the series over Andor.

Plus, I’m a sucker for Darth Vader. It was nice having Hayden Christensen back after all the past hate he got from toxic Star Wars fans."

—shortfatproudofthat

10. The loss of Villanelle in the Killing Eve finale, robbing her and Eve of a happy ending.

BBC America

"Killing Eve is definitely the one! Not just Villanelle's totally unnecessary death, but the whole storyline of Eve being mad at Villanelle at the beginning of the season...for no reason. They left on good terms at the end of Season 3 so what happened? I guess we'll never know. It's just a weird plot device to extend the slow burn, instead of taking a chance on exploring a true Villaneve relationship."

—buttercupbailey

"I will never not be furious about the last season of Killing Eve."

—whopple

11. The missed opportunities with She-Hulk: Attorney At Law, which could have been great, but instead had uninspired characters, bad CGI and not enough scenes with Jen in the courtroom.

Marvel / Disney+

"None of the episodes connected with each other and each episode had a completely new conflict that they focused on, which is unusual for Marvel because usually everything connects. They threw in a random wedding, which served barely any purpose, and the ending had HUGEEEEEE potential just to give her the power to literally go to the production and change it."

—boogerlady

12. The slight letdown to the final season of Dead To Me, which ended in tragedy when, instead, all we wanted is for Judy and Jen to grow old together.

Netflix

"I loved the first two seasons and was really looking forward to the third, only to feel a bit let down. I cried a ton and enjoyed it immensely, but I wish it had gone a little differently. All I wanted was for Jen and Judy to get to grow old together. I also can't believe they didn't show Ben's reaction to finding out about how Steve really died! They built it up to be this huge deal that she was scared to tell him and then they just don't show us the aftermath? That was bizarre."

—bella132

"I really didn't like Season 3 of Dead To Me. The first season was great, the second season I felt was getting too much of that Grey's Anatomy effect — where it's just disaster over and over again — and I hoped the third season would steer away from that trend, but it leaned further into it. It's like the jump scare of the genre. Good drama isn't simply identifying dramatic situations exist — it's exploring that drama and building an environment of tension around those events."

—manbutthaver

13. Everything about Inside Man, which sounded promising but turned out to be badly-written.

BBC One

"That show had so much potential, but ultimately, it was just horrible! I don't know how they got such amazing talent to star in it."

—dishanath1

14. The aggressive behaviour shown by the men of Love Is Blind, which made for a cringe-worthy and toxic season.

Netflix

"Season 3 of Love Is Blind made me want to have ALL those hours back I spent watching."

—cogitoergobibo

15. The pacing issues in Season 5 of Dynasty, which set up a disappointing season finale.

Netflix

"I reaaaalllllyyyyy hated Season 5 of Dynasty. It was so rushed, especially the last episode. CW are idiots for cancelling the show."

—lmillsteed

16. Everything about American Gigolo, which is a remake of Paul Schrader's 1980 film of the same name.

Showtime/Stan

"Every character and every story was shit!"

—moswald74

17. The shallow plot lines in Devil In Ohio, which left you feeling unsatisfied after they were built up so much.

Netflix

"Although I enjoyed binge-watching Devil In Ohio, the storyline fell flat. It felt like they would hype up a character's backstory and when you found out what it was, it wasn't made out to be a huge deal or anything. Then, that ending really bummed me out. The twist was shocking and cool enough, but seeing how Suzanne chose Madeleine over her own family pissed me off."

—hauntedhousegirl

18. The entirety of American Horror Story: NYC being a hot, horrible mess, which just goes to show that maybe — just maybe — it's time to retire this series.

FX / Binge

"This is the first season I haven't been able to stand to watch."

—Tobi Garibay (Facebook)

19. The absolute dumpster fire that was The Watcher, which featured terrible acting and an anticlimactic ending.

Netflix

"The Watcher was terrible. It started out very compelling and yes, I realise it's based on a true story, but it would have been far better to take the origins of the story and fictionalised the rest to actually make it enjoyable. It should have been inspired by the story and not based on it."

—thia_m

"I completely agree! It's a shame because it has a great cast, but was an absolute bore."

—feralrabbit

"It was such an intriguing premise, but then it just didn't actually answer the questions it set up. I was initially willing to forgive this as I heard it was based on a true story and, of course, reality doesn't always wrap up neatly — but then I looked into it and The Watcher is SO loosely based on the true story that they were making most of it up anyway, so I don't think that's an excuse anymore."

—Genie Constance Hoyle-Downey (Facebook)

20. The direction of Allison's character in Season 3 of The Umbrella Academy, which resulted in her sexually assaulting Luther.

Netflix

"I grew to hate Allison's character this season. She was basically turned into a villian of sorts and sexually assaulted Luther by rumouring him into wanting her — which in itself seemed way out of line with her brilliant character development in Season 2. I get that she was going through grief and loss, and felt like she was losing Luther in that moment, but that doesn't excuse her from these actions. What were the writers thinking?!" 

—Isha Bassi

21. The entirety of The Woman In the House Across the Street From The Girl In the Window, which was severely underwhelming and missed the mark.

Netflix

"I understand that they wanted it to be some sort of satire, but the whole thing was utterly ridiculous and not even fun to watch."

—bennym81

22. The pointless storytelling structure of The Midnight Club, as well as the emphasis on the Paragon cult, Ancient Greek rituals, ghosts and the argument of science vs. holistic wellness, which ended up having minimal relevance to the plot.

Netflix

"As a big fan of Mike Flanagan, I had high expectations for Midnight Club, but good GOD I hated this show so much. The Goosebumps-type stories were pointless and distracting — I found myself fast-forwarding through them just so I could get back to the main plot. And that plot was sloppily developed and then terribly resolved. I was happy it wasn't picked up for a second season — hopefully Flanagan's next project will be a lot better."

—Julia Willing

23. And lastly, the multiple controversies surrounding the Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story series, which was criticised for insensitivity towards the victims' families and romanticising the serial killer's crimes.

Netflix

"The problem with series like Dahmer is that when they're released for entertainment value, the purpose is lost. You've got true crime and horror fans saying it was disappointing because they wanted more violence and gore, but this isn't Freddie Krueger or Michael Meyers. This was a real monster who killed real people and caused real pain to real families. It wasn't supposed to scare you, it was supposed to make you sad and angry. On top of the fact that it was released without the victims' families' permission and to no benefit to them at all.

Now, you've got memes all over social media making light of a serial killer. Imagine not even being able to go on Facebook because someone thinks your son, brother or cousin's murderer is funny? It never should have happened, with Dahmer or any killer."

—Cassandra Leann (Facebook)

Note: Submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.

Alright, now it's your turn. Do you agree with these submissions? Or maybe you have another TV storyline in mind that you wished you could erase from your mind. Let us know in the comments!

The year is almost over, and we're looking back on 2022. Check out more from the year here!

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