There’s been plenty to love on TV this year — and, unfortunately, plenty to loathe, too. Our biggest disappointments of 2025 include unnecessary deaths, poorly-scripted finales, and quality declines that had to be seen to be believed (even though we wish we hadn’t). And it’s all the worse knowing that so many of these shows had enormous potential!
Here’s what let us down this year on TV — see if you share our frustrations!
Restarting Daredevil with *That* Death
Daredevil: Born Again had multiple, well-reported rewrites before it finally arrived on our screens. Alas, one of the most exciting things about the revival — seeing Nelson, Murdoch, & Page together again — was disappointingly short-lived. Foggy is murdered just one episode in, kicking off Matt (and Karen’s) arcs but depriving the show of a big piece of its soul. Can we all just agree that it’s actually adapting the comics storyline where Foggy fakes his death? K thanks!
MORE: Need some more TV deaths that destroyed us in 2025? Read our list of 10 2025 TV Deaths We’re Still Not Over– And Never Will Be!
Also, *That* Death on 9-1-1
If there’s an award for most infuriating TV death of 2025, there is no other option than Bobby Nash. It was nonsensical plotline that felt like something a show does purely for shock value. Other shows have killed off the “heart” of their ensemble before, and it almost never ends well. Considering how many fan theories are still circulating about Bobby being secretly alive, I don’t see the viewer base letting go of this one anytime soon.
Literally Everything on Grey’s Anatomy
I’m old enough to remember when Grey’s was must-watch TV. Now it feels like can’t-watch. Granted, the decline has been apparent for several years now, with only a brief reprieve from a new class of interns. Even that jolt is long gone, and the latest season has been the dreariest yet. Between long-running characters with nowhere to go, newer characters without compelling stories, and a distinct lack of the dark humor and thrilling romance that defined earlier seasons, the show is definitely one of TV’s biggest disappointments of 2025.
Andor‘s Emmy Acting Snubs
The second season of Andor absolutely deserved its Emmy nominations, and it was a pleasant surprise to see it take home a major trophy (for best writing for a drama series) outside the technical categories. But it was a travesty that none of its cast — specifically Diego Luna, Genevieve O’Reilly, or Elizabeth Dulau — received acting nods. There simply is no Andor without these extraordinary performers.
Étoile‘s Un-Renewal (And What It Represents)
I am — clearly — one of not-enough-people who watched Prime’s sprawling, cynical-yet-sweet ballet comedy. Paired with a high price tag, its un-renewal (after an initial two-season order) isn’t that surprising. But it’s yet another instance of shows barely getting time to find an audience and of studios demanding everything be a top-10 smash hit to survive. We don’t need endless streams of blockbuster IP slop; we need more interesting shows with a perspective, and it’s a bummer to see so many of them barely get off the ground.
Suits: LA and the Lack of Imagination
And speaking of blockbuster IP slop! A Suits spinoff seemed natural after the flagship show’s renaissance on Netflix. Unfortunately, LA was one of TV’s biggest disappointments of 2025. Why? Put simply, it failed to recapture anything about what made the original work — namely, its breezy tone and charismatic cast. It’s proof that a name alone can’t grab audiences; we need creativity and quality.
The Buccaneers’s Sophomore Slump
Confession: I not-so-secretly loved the splashy, trashy mess that was The Buccaneers in its first season. But the second season quickly became one of my biggest disappointments of 2025. Several of the plot twists were eye-rollingly predictable and over-the-top soapy, forcing several characters into insufferable indecisiveness and out-of-the-blue declarations. And that’s not even mentioning the season’s “shock” death and resulting tribulations. Seriously, are they trying to make Conchita the Bonnie Bennett of Victorian England?
The Doctor Who Season Finale Kerfuffle
I adored Ncuti Gatwa’s Fifteenth Doctor and Varada Sethu’s Belinda, so the rushed, logic-defying, and downright bizarre ending to the latest season was definitely one of my biggest disappointments of 2025. It’s made so much worse by the knowledge that it didn’t have to be that way! Some of the worst elements were revised in at the last moment, the downstream effects of behind-the-scenes conflict. Neither Fifteen nor Belinda got the send-offs they deserved, and that’s just not right.
The Downward Slide of the Murphy-verse
Hey, remember when Ryan Murphy was the king of creative, stylized, relevant shows like Glee, Pose, or early seasons of American Horror Story? Today, 9-1-1 has jumped the shark (or the spaceship), Murphy’s true-crime output is increasingly salacious, and Doctor Odyssey never quite lived up to its bonkers promise. And All’s Fair? The less said, the better.
The Baffling Ending of And Just Like That…
I couldn’t help but wonder: what on earth possessed the AJLT team to end the show now and, more importantly, like that? Hastily announced and promoted, the sudden series finale lacked any sense of real closure. Instead, it left these iconic characters with undignified, unsatisfying endings. It’s perhaps the poster child for “be careful what you wish for” in this age of revivals and reboots.
TikTok Hostility Taking Over DWTS
It’s not exactly news that Dancing with the Stars likes to boost viewership with controversial castings. This season, though, takes the cake for the most disappointing season — and not because of the cast themselves. A noticeable number of “stars” famous for reality TV or influencing, plus renewed interest in the show on algorithm-driven social media, added up to an unusually hostile season among the fandom. Which is a real shame, given the high quality of dancing throughout the season!
Stranger Things Can’t Let the Love Triangle Go
The stakes are higher than ever. There are genuine hints that some of the main cast might die. And yet… Stranger Things seems to think it’s a good idea to keep rehashing the Jonathan/Nancy/Steve triangle that should have been resolved years ago? Really? All three characters deserve better and have evolved past juvenile games of one-upmanship and indecision. Who knows how the show will resolve the subplot, but instead of dragging it out two seasons too long, I wish they could’ve made like Elsa and just let it go.
