Recently we asked the BuzzFeed Community to share the worst TV storylines from the past decade. Here are some of our favourites.
🚨 WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD! 🚨
1. The out-of-bounds relationship between Aria and Ezra in Pretty Little Liars.
The show normalizes their teacher/student relationship, which is gross and wrong. A teacher should not date their student, especially when they're underage and hooking up with them.
2. And the anticlimatic reveal of A.D.'s identity in the final episode.
The PLL series finale was truly painful to watch, including the A.D. reveal, which was ridiculous. I was floored that they had the NERVE to drag me through multiple seasons, only to introduce a brand-new character at the last minute. It made me feel so stupid to watch a whole show and then make it to a finale that needed no previous information.
3. The confusing Eurus Holmes storyline in Sherlock.
Those last few episodes of Sherlock didn't make sense. Like, how did Sherlock's sister get out to meet him? How did she manage to kill all those people? And how did she escape that tiny island when everyone, including herself, was unconscious?! It was a disappointing end to an excellent series.
4. The whole "unfit mother" storyline involving Quinn and Shelby in Glee.
The part where Quinn was having second thoughts about giving Beth up for adoption and trying to frame Shelby as an unfit mother was wild. Even if CPS did take Beth from Shelby, Quinn had already signed away any rights she had and the baby would go back in the system. This also gave us Puck falling for Shelby in an incredibly creepy storyline.
5. Not to mention the weird love triangle between Kurt, Blaine, and Karosfky.
Kurt and Blaine's entire romance was toxic AF on Glee. But the worst part was in Season 6 when Blaine starting dating Kurt's old bully, David Karofsky. And yet, "Klaine" ended up married anyway...And don't even get me started on Rachel being their surrogate.
6. And Rachel quitting her dream role on Broadway to pursue a TV show gig.
I know realism is not Glee's forte, but based on everything we knew about that character, there was no LOGICAL reason for Rachel to have made a decision like this. It didn't make sense and was only done so that the TV show would fail and she'd have no other choice than to go back to the New Directions.
7. The unnecessary relationship drama between Jim and Pam in the final season of The Office.
The final season of The Office was a mess, but the worst storyline was Jim and Pam’s sudden relationship problems. It felt like a contrived way to heighten the drama on a show famous for uncomplicated comedy and very little drama!
8. The emotional death of Matthew in Downton Abbey.
They built up the Mary and Matthew romance with SO much back and forth, will they, won't they — only to kill him off in a stupid car crash. Ugh!
9. And the storyline involving the burned solider and his ~mysterious~ identity.
I still can't believe that Edith though this random guy was Patrick Crawley. She had nothing else to go on besides his word, but still believed him. LOL
10. The uncomfortable relationship between Dexter and Deb in Dexter.
I know the characters are adopted siblings but ew, I did not want to start going down that path. I never watched Dexter again after that and clearly didn't miss anything good since the show ended terribly.
11. Everything about Season 3 of 13 Reasons Why.
We spend two seasons watching all the horrible things Bryce did to the girls at Liberty High, only for the show to turn around and make us feel sorry for him in the end because he was murdered. And who was he murdered by? Alex, of all people. And everyone literally just turned a blind eye to the fact that he killed someone. Like seriously, what was even the point of a third season and introducing Ani?! It was such a cringy mess.
12. Enzo being killed off in The Vampire Diaries.
Bonnie and Enzo had the best chemistry on the show. She gave up so much to sacrifice herself for Elena and the others, and gets screwed over in the end. Damn it, she deserved her happy ending.
13. Jeff and Annie dating in Community, despite their massive age difference.
The first four seasons of Community were outstanding, but I had to stop watching after it became clear that they were gonna have Jeff (in his 40s) and Annie (18 years old) start dating. Jeff was a horrible person who wasn't funny enough to be watchable. And I just couldn't stomach the pure, male fantasy of having the 40-year-old burnout shack up with the teen virgin.
14. The resurrection of Michael in Jane the Virgin, even though he was dramatically killed off at the end of Season 4.
They brought Michael back from the dead as an amnesiac named Jason who had just about as much character as a brick and was nothing of the Michael fans knew and loved. The show purposefully did this to make Jane "choose" Rafael, even though the fans had already grieved the loss of Michael and had warmed up Jane and Rafael being end game. It was so annoying to watch.
15. The confusing mess of storylines in Riverdale.
The whole Riverdale plot gets crazier each season. Like, Veronica owns a speakeasy when she's 17 years old and both her parents are in prison? Archie owns a gym and has served hard time in juvie for MURDER (not to mention he escaped from said juvie)?? Also Cheryl keeping her brother's CORPSE in her basement??? WHAT?!
16. Including Betty and Jughead, who continued dating after finding out that they share a half-brother.
Dating while sharing a brother?! WTF Riverdale.
17. And Archie assembling that cringeworthy vigilante group called the Red Circle.
When Archie created that shirtless boy gang on Riverdale called the Red Circle. I fucking cringed out of my skin.
18. Everything about that last season of Scrubs.
We definitely do NOT talk about the last season of Scrubs, ever.
19. The incredibly disappointing end to How I Met Your Mother.
The series finale of HIMYM was disappointing in so many ways: Robin and Barney getting divorced after their intense (and slow) love story (the last season was literally all about their wedding!); the mother being a random, new character after nine freaking years of teasing the viewers; the fact that the writers KILLED off the mother, even though she was the whole point of the show; and Ted eventually ending up with Robin, which was just the worst idea ever. To sum it up — an awesome show with interesting characters and complicated storylines, completely ruined in the last few minutes.
20. The messiness that was Season 5 of True Blood.
We waited so long for the Vampire Authority reveal, only for them to turn out to be a bunch of space dimwits. And don't even get me started on that stupid Lilith bloodline story. GARBAGE!
21. Mary being brought back to life on Supernatural.
I had already stopped watching Supernatural before this happened, but bringing Mary back to life was the worst. Like, her death was the entire point of the show? And the clips of her and Dean arguing made it worse! That was a sacred bond that the writers ruined.
22. And the hit-and-miss Leviathan plot during Season 7.
They’re supposed to be these unstoppable forces, but then they're defeated so easily. And their weakness is Borax? Come TF on!
23. Everything about Gilmore Girls: A Year In The Life.
I am a HUGE fan of the series and when I heard there was going to a revival, I was ecstatic! But guuurlll....that shit was awful! Loralei couldn’t say one nice thing about her dad at his wake? And Rory slept with Logan despite him having a fiancé and her a boyfriend who she’d dragged along for two years?! No, no, no. They should have just left the series as it was.
24. The controversial pairing of Maggie and Jackson in Grey's Anatomy.
The characters have no chemistry and are so wrong for each other. Not to mention, they're basically siblings!
25. The convoluted storylines in Season 7 of Once Upon A Time.
The story wrapped up nicely with everyone getting a happy ending. Then they added a seventh season without the full cast and with poor actors who had horrible chemistry. It ruined it.
26. Michael's sudden decision to leave and move to Colorado with Holly in The Office.
It felt very sudden and out of character, and the show really went downhill from there. Also bringing in Will Ferrell as the new boss instead of giving it to Dwight was a bad move IMO.
27. The infuriating ending to all the twists and turns in Lost.
My whole family and I religiously watched Lost for its entirety. It was such a long and interesting series that had so many twists, including the inevitable attachment to certain characters. And what happens in the end? Oh, no biggie, but they're actually all DEAD?! So much time and energy wasted in this show! I'm still bitter about it years later.
28. The lack of chemistry between Scott and Malia in Teen Wolf.
Why couldn't we have a SINGLE main character for once?! And the worst thing is that this relationship was nothing compared to the one he had with Alison or Kira. But they still chose to make a big deal about it, especially that "kiss," which saved him. They should have just given us Sterek tbh.
29. June's decision to stay in Gilead rather than escape with Nichole in The Handmaid's Tale.
For some reason, June thinks she has a better chance of saving Hannah while living in an oppressive and highly supervised regime. Makes sense, right? Definitely not.
30. The "mad queen" twist to Daenerys' storyline during the final season of Game of Thrones.
I will never be over the Dany heel-turn on Game of Thrones. You can’t have a character be a hero for 71 episodes and then turn around and make her your ultimate villain to be murdered in the last two. I'm not buying it and I never will.
31. As well as the anticlimatic death of Jaime and Cersei.
We've waited eight seasons to see the fate of these characters and there were thousands of fan theories that hyped everyone up. But no, they died by getting crushed by a bunch of rocks. What a let down.
32. And Bran being crowned King of Westeros in the last episode.
He specifically said, "I'm ThE tHrEe EyEd RaVeN. i CaN't Be KiNg Of AnYtHiNg." But somehow he won the game. Rubbish.
33. The direction of Veronica's character in Season 4 of Veronica Mars.
During the first three seasons, Veronica was openly critical of the drug and alcohol culture of Neptune and pretty much acknowledged that her friendships were the reasons she was who she was. But in the Season 4 reboot, she uses and abuses drugs and alcohol, and is either dismissive of her friends or avoids them entirely. Plus, she makes fun of Logan's therapy and desire to be a happy, functional person, despite her wanting exactly that in the past seasons. Oh, and don't even get me started on the last five minutes of the show and them killing Logan off.
Veronica Mars had a lot wrong with the fourth season and honestly, despite it being my favorite show of all time, I'm finding myself less interested in rewatching it again.
34. The forced relationship between Dan and Blair in Gossip Girl.
I don't care how you feel about Chuck, you have to admit Dan and Blair had NO chemistry. The whole thing felt forced and like it was just a plot line to keep Chuck and Blair apart until the very end of the series.
35. And, of course, the unsatisfying reveal of Dan as Gossip Girl in the end.
I would ALLOW Dan to be Gossip Girl IF IT MADE SENSE. But what I'm mad about is that I've watched the show, like, four times now, and there were so many moments where it was physically impossible for him to be Gossip Girl.
36. The missed opportunity with Billy's death in Stranger Things.
He was an ass to begin with, but half the bad things he did were because his mind was being controlled. And in his last 10 seconds before he died, he finally became a hero. This could've been a great character arc — I would have loved to see him and Max have a good brother/sister relationship.
37. And finally, the sheer craziness of Dan's heart transplant being eaten by a dog in One Tree Hill.
I know this is from 2009 and I love One Tree Hill, but this was just TOO much lol.
Note: Submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.
