A little while back, we asked the avid TV watchers of the BuzzFeed Community about the scenes and story lines that made them give up on a TV show they once adored. Here are 15 of the twists, departures, and developments that led viewers to turn off their televisions and go on a long, despairing walk, never to return to that series again.
Responses may have been edited for length and/or clarity.
1. "When Sandra Oh left Grey's Anatomy, I checked out."
2. "I gave up on The Walking Dead when Negan bashed Glenn’s head in. The gore never bothered me, but something about that scene was so disturbing, like when Glenn’s eye popped out and he was trying to speak. It made me physically sick and I stopped watching the show. Not to mention that Glenn was my favorite character and I probably would have stopped after his death even if it wasn’t so horribly graphic."
3. "Glee, when half the original cast went off to college in New York, while the other half remained behind in high school. Breaking up the original cast completely threw off the dynamics of the show, but even worse was the fact that they tried to introduce a crop of new characters to the high school cast who were just watered-down versions of the OG characters who left (i.e. Marley was the new Rachel, Kitty the new Quinn, Rider the new Finn, and Jake was literally a younger Puckerman). It left them retreading a lot of ground that they'd already covered, but completely failing to recapture the magic that made the first seasons so enjoyable."
4. "I gave up on The Mindy Project because the show just didn't do right by its ensemble cast. I get that Mindy was the main character, but ensemble cast members would just disappear for entire season stretches, only to reappear here and there. And they honestly just didn't know what to do with some ensemble characters who did stick around. It was so frustrating."
5. "In Once Upon a Time, when they introduced Elsa and Anna. They were so clearly reaching at that point, and every other writing choice got so bad. They undid Rumple’s redemption arch and kept retconning in character backstories for no goddamn reason. I gave up halfway through season four."
6. "I gave up on Shameless when Fiona's baby brother got into her coke. She had been doing so well. Watching her go from succeeding and getting her life together to almost accidentally killing her brother and ending up in jail was just too painful. It was never exactly a heartwarming show, but I couldn't move past that moment. I didn't want to watch the Gallaghers suffer anymore, especially Fiona."
7. "Pretty Little Liars. You could tell they were just milking the show for all its worth, making up more and more convoluted and increasingly absurd plot lines surrounding the identity of A. I think I quit around Season 4 or 5 when I realized I was just being strung along like a sucker and there was no actual resolution in sight. Then I read how they chose to end the show and who A really was all along and it made me sooooo glad I noped the hell out early on."
8. "Westworld. Not a moment, but an entire season. Season 1 was brilliant. Season 2 had its moments, but was a pale imitation of Season 1. But Season 3 was unwatchable. I stuck it out to the end of that season, just hoping SOMETHING would happen. I have no idea if the fourth season was any good, I was done by then."
9. "Heroes. Season 2 was such a mess compared to Season 1, but I stuck it out. That is, until Season 3 when Mohinder gives himself powers and turns into a knock-off version of The Fly. I noped out after that."
10. "Honestly, the finale of The Boys Season 3 makes me feel this way. Every episode up until this one made the show one of my favorites. But the writing has so many issues regarding the motivations of characters and really came off as underwhelming."
11. "The Witcher. Two words: Liam Hemsworth. They literally had the absolute best actor as the Geralt, but they didn’t stick to the plot of the books and games. Season 1 was great, but when they started straying from the main plot, Season 2 started going downhill. They lost such a good actor that knew what the books and games were focused on, and the series went downhill because they didn’t listen to him."
