15 TV Character Storylines That Never, Ever, EVER Should've Happened
We recently asked the members of the BuzzFeed Community to tell us what storyline completely ruined a TV character's growth. Here's what they said:
Warning: This post contains topics of sexual assault.
1.When Alex Karev left Jo and Meredith to get back together with Izzie on Grey's Anatomy.
"The writers truly ruined 16 seasons of character development. There was absolutely no way he would’ve abandoned his wife and best friend."
"Him going back to a woman who he spent years getting over and also leaving Jo, who was the best thing that happened to him, was hard to watch. All the work he put into being a better person and husband was all wiped away in one episode."
2.When Haley got back together with Dylan on Modern Family.
"Haley going back to Dylan was definitely one of the worst because she had grown so much."
3.When Spike attempted to rape Buffy on Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
"That was a very bad decision."
4.When Debbie tricked her boyfriend into getting her pregnant at 15 on Shameless.
"She was doing so well before that, then she just became trash."
5.When Rory dropped out of Yale on Gilmore Girls.
"She stole a boat, dropped out of Yale, lived with her grandmother, and ignored Lorelai for months because one guy told her she didn't have what it took to be a journalist. That's something you do when you're 15, not when you're 20."
6.When Jaime left Brienne for Cersei in Season 8 of Game of Thrones.
"When he said he did everything for Cersei, it didn't make sense because it was established in previous seasons that he did what he did for the people and saved millions of lives. It completely ruined his character arc and I pretend the last two seasons never happened."
7.When Andy sailed away on the boat without Erin on The Office.
"I have no idea why they took his character in that direction. I can't believe how he treated Erin by leaving her to be on the boat and all the lying he did to Robert California to cover his own ass. The whole series he was portrayed as caring (if sometimes incompetent) to his coworkers and then he randomly did that. He did have an anger issue when his job was stolen, but it made sense because a total stranger stole his job! They just randomly turned him into this selfish person for no reason who only cared about himself."
8.When Danny's regressed to a sexist jerk on The Mindy Project.
"He was always super supportive of Mindy and proud of her work as a doctor but then as soon as they had the baby, he started gaslighting her, tried to trick her into getting pregnant again and generally shaming her for wanting to keep her job!"
9.When Fiona did coke while Liam was in the house on Shameless.
"It was so completely out of character for her. I understand that they were trying to show that Fiona was flawed and had her young life taken from her early by becoming the guardian of her siblings, but that was a huge character assassination. For me, that was the beginning of the end for Shameless."
10.Everything Sabrina Spellman did in Seasons 3 and 4 of Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.
"She used to be a smart, ambitious, independent and likeable character in the beginning. She even defied her father, the devil, by refusing to rule Hell with him. In Season 3, she became OBSESSED with ruling Hell and made the most selfish decisions, like creating a cheap clone of herself to rule Hell, no matter who she hurt in the process."
11.When Anya starting doing coke on Degrassi: The Next Generation.
"I quit watching Degrassi (after YEARS) immediately after the shot of Anya doing coke at a club. Anya? ANYA? Student Council Anya? Cheerleader Anya? Anya who had a HUGE falling out with Holly J. because Holly J. was always forcing her into bad situations and getting them in trouble? LARPer Anya?? Nope, NOPE, do not buy it."
12.When Toby leaked classified information on The West Wing.
"He leaked classified information on a military space program so the US would be forced to send help to some stranded astronauts. It was so out of character for him and it was heavily implied that he was covering for someone else like CJ. Not only did it completely blow up his storyline by forcing him out of the White House, but he turned into a total ass afterward."
13.When Guzman became a classist jerk again on Season 4 of Elite.
"The show had him go from a dumb jerk to a better man to make his growth part of his journey. Alas, they erased said growth by making him a dumb jerk again to make the Guzman, Ari, and Samu love triangle work."
14.When Schmidt cheated on Cece and Elizabeth by dating them both at the same time.
"I couldn’t get past it."
15.And when Cordelia slept with Angel's son Connor on Angel.
"From Buffy the Vampire Slayer to Angel we watched her go from a spoiled teenage girl to a wonderful strong, caring young woman, only for her to turn evil and sleep with Angel's son. She got 'pregnant' by Connor, went into a coma and died. It was an unforgivable character assassination. Cordelia deserved better!"
Submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.
