A lil’ while back, I asked the folks of the BuzzFeed Community about the TV storylines and characters they wished they could delete from their favorite shows. Here are 19 of their most passionate responses.
Submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.
1. “Rachel’s whole Broadway storyline on Glee. She finally got her dream role on Broadway, only to get bored of it a few weeks in and quit to be on a TV show. It completely goes against Rachel’s whole character arc in the previous seasons. Glee was a fever dream full of crazy shit, but this one was easily the biggest headscratcher of a decision for me.”
2. “This is a newer one so I’m gonna throw a spoiler out here first for The Bear… I hated it when Marcus kept going with the donut in that one incredible episode. I understand it was needed to move the plot. But it seemed unrealistic to me after the losing power episode. He said it wouldn’t happen again and I believed him. I love his character so much but hated that moment.”
3. “Breaking Bad, the fly episode. Where to begin? It’s a bore and it contributes nothing toward character development or plot progression. I know at the writing table, it was like, ‘Guys, we’ve got twelve solid episodes for this season but we’re contractually obligated to come up with thirteen. Anyone got any ideas?…Damn!'”
4. “Luke’s daughter in Gilmore Girls. Worst storyline in the whole show.”
5. “When Tyra and Landry killed a guy and covered it up on Friday Night Lights. Their actions didn’t make sense for their characters and the storyline was jarring and out of place for the series. Thankfully, it was cut short by the writer’s strike and never mentioned again. But if you were watching it for the first time now, with no knowledge of the strike, I think you’d be puzzled about why the story is dropped abruptly and never mentioned again. It was a rare misstep for FNL.”
6. “Stevie and David hooking up on Schitt’s Creek. They’re so much better as friends.”
7. “Honestly, ‘Scott’s Tots’ in The Office. It was so cringey and to this day I always want to skip that episode. The content of the ‘Tots’ weren’t mentioned in any episodes leading up to it. It could’ve been omitted completely. Other then that, The Office is an incredible show!”
8. “I had to give up on Riverdale as soon as the show started playing around with the whole Gargoyle King plot line. It was already a ‘so bad it’s good’ kind of series but that development just tipped the whole story over the edge into ‘so bad I’m questioning the sanity of CW writers’ territory.”
9. “EDDIE MUNSON SHOULD NOT HAVE DIED. He had so much potential as a character and added so much to Stranger Things. Someone doesn’t need to die every season, guys, geez. Honestly, it just kinda feels like they want to kill characters.”
10. “Pushing Steve back together with Nancy on Stranger Things. They don’t have any chemistry and it completely goes against Steve’s character development.”
11. “Schmidt cheating on Elizabeth and Cece in New Girl. It did not fit with his character at all. Yes, he did douchey things out of insecurity, but you could tell he still cared a lot about everybody. Him doing something like cheating just never sat well with me for that reason. He would never hurt two people he loved like that.”
12. “The whole ‘Dan is Gossip Girl’ thing. Season 6 was good up until that storyline. Should’ve been Eric.”
13. “For me, it was a tie between Masters, Park, and Adams on House. I’m honestly not even sure what it was about them, but they grated on my nerves. And those two seasons when they were on weren’t nearly as good as the other six. Once Kutner and Thirteen were both gone, the show went down the tubes. And they made such a huge deal about Olivia Wilde coming back at the very end, but it amounted to barely more than a cameo!”
14. “Colin acted like a total idiot this season of Bridgerton. I’m still looking forward to the next season but he will need to do some serious groveling in order for me to root for him and Penelope.”
15. “Killing Tara in Buffy…I know it was essential for Dark Willow, but I’m forever mad that they ruined my lesbian witch romance.”
16. “Bellamy Blake being murdered by Clarke in The 100 was totally out of character and did not further the plot at all; it was a copout. The writers baited everyone for seven seasons only to have Clarke kill her ‘best friend.’ There are so many scenes where they act the same as the other couples on the show, like Kane and Abby, and Murphy and Emori. Even the adversaries, including Diyoza and Roan and A.L.I.E, knew that they cared for each other more than anyone else, including Clarke’s mum. Clarke couldn’t kill Bellamy in Season 4 to save what they thought was the last of the human race, but she murdered him to save her adopted daughter who died anyway. It was an easy way out and poor writing. Also, no one mourned him, not his girlfriend of six years or his sister; they both were like, ‘He was brainwashed, so we already lost him.'”
17. “So this is more like multiple plot lines, but I really dislike how much American Horror Story uses sexual assault as a shock device.”
18. “Schitt’s Creek. One of my favorite TV shows of all time, but I hate the storyline where Johnny and Moira hit the cat on the road and go to tell the hillbilly family. I skip those scenes every time I rewatch. Silly and pointless. But poor kitty.”
19. And finally: “Beth’s death on The Walking Dead infuriated me. She was such an amazing character, she and Daryl had just started getting close, and Maggie had JUST found out she was alive after being split up at the prison…it ain’t fair. It’s also really stupid that they used four episodes for the hospital arc as a long drawn-out excuse for her (and Dawn) to die. And then Daryl carrying her out of the hospital to a hopeful Maggie was so hard to watch.”
Which moments did we miss? Tell us about ’em in the comments!
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