There are spoilers ahead.
There are happy one true pairings but there are also some who never seem to catch a break. To top it off, the examples I will list in this post are pretty much ruined forever and can’t be salvaged from the wrecks they were thrown into by the worst evils in the world – the writers. And since shows are trained to ruin OTPs my list will be focusing on just that – pairings on television that never got a happy ending.
Bonus: Robin Scherbatsky & Barney Stinson never got the happy ending they deserved – or that’s at least what I heard. I wasn’t very keen on How I Met Your Mother’s last couple of seasons and by the looks of it, the show really butchered the characters by the end of it. So I’m adding them as a bonus, a bonus to those who watched it until the end and got that devastating ending even though it was supposed to be a comedy show.
5. Alicia Florrick & Will Gardner from The Good Wife
I was rooting for them and part of me feels guilty every time I see Alicia on screen with Finn Polmar because I think they might be the next OTP for The Good Wife. That being said, there is always that little part of me who would have loved to see Alicia with Will and that possibility is now forever gone. But since it’s not as devastating as some of the other pairings in this list, I’m naming this pair to be the most acceptable unhappy ending I’ve encountered.
4. Buffy Summers & Spike from Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Does anyone remember the way Buffy and Spike ended? Well, if you can’t, here’s a little spoiler for you – he dies! That’s right, he dies by saving the world and pretty much proves to Buffy that he was actually a good guy all along. Luckily Spike is brought back into Angel as a ghost and then back as a vampire again, so there were no hard feelings BUT the love between my ultimate OTP on Buffy the Vampire Slayer still died and it breaks my heart.
3. Peyton Sawyer & Jake Jagielski from One Tree Hill
What a mess this show became after its fourth season but how amazing were the first four? Sure, I haven’t even finished the series due to the complete and utter disasters but I will always revisit for nostalgic reasons. So many of the fans were always shipping Peyton and Lucas but I was a hardcore Jake Jagielski fan. But that relationship was doomed the minute it started, though it was so meant to be on so many levels.
2. Rory Gilmore & Jess Mariano from Gilmore Girls
Sure, their faith wasn’t as bad as some of the other OTPs in this list but it was still sad. They broke up, they remained friends and at the end of the show, Rory was yet again single. Part of me wants to believe they got together again but it would have been nice to see that on screen, not having to imagine it. In a way, their storyline has the most potential to work out for the better, meaning they could have ended up together rather than having end up dead or worse, married to some other guy who isn’t that great to begin with.
1. Mark Sloan & Lexie Grey from Grey’s Anatomy
There are no words to describe the devastating turn of events on Grey’s Anatomy when the contracts of two actors ended and Shonda’s answer was to kill them off. Mark Sloan and Lexie Grey were my favorite pairing on Grey’s Anatomy, above Meredith and Derek (and even that didn’t turn out well), and I’ll admit, their departure would have been alright if it had been a positive one. But since they both died, well, I lost all hope in the show and stopped watching which seemed like the right thing to do since Shonda has keeping up with the torture.
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Ah, Lexie and Sloan. I stopped watching after that too. Fucking Shonda.
I still have some hope for my #1 sad OTP, but this whole topic is so depressing––I feel like if these kinds of things, OTPs, are screwed up & you’re very invested, a bit of your love for the show dies and it’s impossible to get it back. 🙁
Great post, though! Yay for commiserating.
Are you talking about Shameless? I didn’t include none of my OTPs from there because there is still hope. BEsides, I haven’t watched the last episodes of Shameless because I hate where they took the show this season.
I can’t really tell you if you haven’t watched it… but I lost a lot of my love for that show in the last few minutes of the season & I’m still not over it. I’m not even sure if I’d recommend watching it or not right now.
I’ve seen spoilers on tumblr anyway so.. I’m avoiding the series until I see a positive spoiler.
I don’t watch any of these shows, but I remember a lot of bitching about that Good Wife one. For me, the unhappy OTP will always be Eric and Sookie in True Blood. They should’ve stayed together. I hate that the show broke them apart.
I’ve only seen a few episodes of One Tree Hill and I was totally for Peyton and Jake, they were the only couple I rooted for.
It was such a doomed OTP from the start and it still pains me to think about it. They made so much sense and yet.. stupid writers.
I think if Gilmore Girls had continued, Rory and Jess would still be friends as it would be weird if they continued dating. Especially if Luke and Lorelai do decide to get married and have children and Jess already has a little sister named Doula.
It would be weird but I mean… no, it won’t I still want them to end up together in my fantasy. 😀
Yeah but… what would their younger siblings think about this?
That they are weird little family.
The Gilmore-Danes clan. Diner owner married to inn-keeper as they both have illegitimate daughters from previous relationships. The eldest was in a relationship with the owner’s nephew whose mother has been re-married to a guy named TJ and have a daughter named Doula. Weird but a fun one.
I did something similar to this. These are my picks: http://abbiosbiston.com/2014/09/15/my-top-10-doomed-tv-couples/
I like it! I left a comment as well, very nice insight! 😉