8 TV Shows That Never Recovered From An Awful Storyline

Some TV storylines or character decisions were so awful, that their respective shows never truly recovered from it. With each season of a show, writers tend to bring in new storylines as a refresher, allowing audiences to get to know their favorite characters all over again, with exciting new details to ponder over. Unfortunately, some decisions don’t always pay off, and even some of the best TV shows of all time made at least one mistake that they were never able to fix.

There are instances when a storyline is out of the control of a show’s writers, such as when a beloved cast member departs or any other behind-the-scenes changes happen. While it’s a difficult feat to appease everyone, some story and character decisions receive such a negative reception that it tarnishes the opinion of the show as a whole.

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10 TV Show Storylines That Were Completely Abandoned

Some TV shows set up storylines that appear promising and important, only to drop them at a later date with no clarification about what happened.

8 Deb Falling In Love With Her Own Brother

Dexter

Deb Morgan (Jennifer Carpenter) appeared in the entirety of Dexter‘s 8-season run, as well as New Blood, and was initially introduced as Dexter’s (Michael C. Hall) adopted sister. Despite there being no biological relation and the two being brought up together since she was an infant, Deb falls in love with Dexter in the season 6 finale. By far, this was the weirdest storyline in Dexter, which is impressive, given the context of the show.

Although Rita (Julie Benz) had already died at this point, it felt disrespectful to the character, taking away from the fact that Deb and Dexter are siblings. This storyline was simply uncomfortable and made little sense. Regardless of whether they shared blood or not, it was plain weird that Deb would fall in love with her brother, and it also didn’t make sense for her to suddenly develop these feelings so late into the show.

7 Simon And Alisha’s Deaths

Misfits

Misfits season 2 lost several of its main cast, but the deaths of Simon (Iwan Rheon) and Alisha (Antonia Thomas) caused a downfall for the show. Although Simon’s death was established mid-way through the season, which saw a future version of him travel back in time to save Alisha, it wasn’t known why he did this. It was made clear that there was a reason, with the details purposely left ambiguous, but everything lines up by the finale. In the episode’s final moments, Alisha’s throat is slit, breaking Simon’s heart.

While it was implied that something eventually happened to Alisha, hence why the future relationship between the two was teased before Simon’s death, her demise came relatively quickly after the two made it official. Not only did Misfits kill off two of its most interesting characters, but it also didn’t allow a lot of time for Simon and Alisha’s relationship to blossom, and their storyline together felt half-finished. After this, as well as the departure of Robert Sheehan’s Nathan, the show was never the same.

6 Roseanne’s Season 9 Sudden Changes

Roseanne

Roseanne season 9 introduced a baffling storyline that saw the Conner family win the lottery and the reveal of Dan’s (John Goodman) affair. As the storyline came to an end along with the season, it was revealed that the events were a fictional creation of Roseanne’s (Barr) and that Dan had died in the season 8 finale. After season 9, Roseanne came to an end, before being revived for season 10 in 2018. Thankfully, Roseanne season 10 retconned events from season 9, including Dan’s death, with Goodman returning to reprise his role.

Unfortunately, the damage had already been done, and even with the season 9 retcons, Roseanne‘s plot made less sense than ever. Season 10 saw the return of Sarah Chalke, who periodically played Becky in the original run, instead portraying Andrea, Becky’s (Lecy Goranson) surrogate. Luckily, the story of the Conner family was saved when the show was rebranded as The Conners, which purposely ignored certain plot developments from season 6 onwards.

5 Troy Barnes Being Forgotten

Community

Later seasons of Community lost several members of its original cast, most notably the departure of Troy Barnes (Donald Glover), who left to sail around the world on Pierce’s (Chevy Chase) boat. Although multiple elements can be attributed to Community‘s decline in quality, Troy leaving Greendale was the final nail in its coffin. While Glover decided to leave on his own merit, it was the way the show handled the memory of the character that left behind a bitter taste.

Abed (Danny Pudi) losing his other half, with their bromance being one of the show’s most appealing factors, was difficult for him. However, with each episode, mentions of Troy begin to dwindle rapidly. Even with the introduction of various new characters, as well as the return of recurring characters like Ian Duncan (John Oliver), the way Troy was forgotten caused Community to lose its charm. It seemed out of character for the remaining members of the study group to move on without Troy, and the seasons without him didn’t meet the same standards the show had built for itself.

4 Jane Returning To Michael

Jane The Virgin

One of Jane the Virgin’s biggest plot twists came with the reveal that Michael (Brett Dier) was alive, years after passing away and destroying Jane (Gina Rodriguez). Discovering that her husband was alive, but had lost his memories as Michael, Jane decided to end things with Rafael (Justin Baldoni). While it is understandable that Jane would want to see if there was still anything between her and the man she’d promised to spend the rest of her life with, the way she executed it was out of character for her.

Her disrespect toward Rafael made no sense, and seeing as she’d moved on with her life after Michael’s death, Jane walking away from her family with rather little guilt was awful. Even though Jane ultimately realizes she and Michael have no future, the damage has been done, and she struggles to get Mateo (Elias Janssen) to trust her again. There’s no doubt that the second half of Jane the Virgin season 5 had some unusual pacing and story, up until Sin Rostro’s (Bridget Regan) demise, but a lot of this can be put down to this weirdly forced storyline.

3 The Move To Med School

Scrubs

In Scrubs season 9, audiences saw a time jump one year into the future, with the likes of J.D. (Zach Braff) and Turk (Donald Faison) now teaching at Sacred Heart’s Medical School. While it had been previously established that the hospital was also a teaching school, it didn’t concentrate on this element very much, but season 9 changed the narrative to focus on this. In fact, Scrubs production believed that season 8 would be the show’s final installment, even titling the finale episode “My Finale,” and upon learning that it’d been renewed, season 9 was given the subtitle: Med School.

Scrubs season 9 lacked many things, including a large chunk of its original cast and its familiar settings, but also because of its plot holes. Itaw Denise (Eliza Coupe) as an attending physician, but it was already established through J.D.’s journey that they are required to undertake one year as an intern and at least three years as a resident, so it makes no sense that Denise would be bumped up in such little time. It’s no surprise that Scrubs was canceled after season 9, as it felt more like a spin-off than another season of the show.

2 The Death Of Lucille Austero

Arrested Development

Arrested Development season 5 kicked off with the death of Lucille Austero (Liza Minelli), a close confidant of the Bluth family. While the season’s main storyline focused on who killed her, her absence from the show was noticeable. In the premiere episode, Austero’s death happens relatively quickly, and from there, it is clear that season 5 would flop. Austero was one of the very few characters in Arrested Development who weren’t related to the Bluths, and the contrast she provided helped demonstrate just how ridiculous a lot of their actions were.

The decision to kill her off ruined the show in other ways too, as season 5 spent a lot of time dedicated to flashbacks of the night of Austero’s death, which complicated the timeline to the point of confusion. It was also an interesting stance for the show to take for its final installment, especially as previous seasons hadn’t seen anything close to a whodunnit storyline. All of this, plus the very last-second reveal that Buster (Tony Hale) was the killer after several episodes of denial and misdirection, proves that Arrested Development was right to stop when it did.

1 Spike’s Assault On Buffy

Buffy The Vampire Slayer

One of Buffy the Vampire Slayer‘s most controversial scenes ended up damaging the show beyond repair. In “Seeing Red,” Spike (James Marsters) attempted to sexually assault Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar), which not only ruined his reputation as a character but also caused an irreversible shift in the show. Although there were already sexual elements to the show, this plot point was considerably out of place, and although Spike had moments as a villain, his actions also seemed out of character. Surprisingly, Spike is forgiven, but after these events, the general tone of Buffy the Vampire Slayer isn’t the same.