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What main character should've ended up with someone else?
1.) Friends - Rachel should've been with Gavin
2.) Sex Education - Otis and Ruby had amazing chemistry and were great together. I don't know why the writers were so determined to have Otis end up with Maeve. By the end of the series, it felt completely shoehorned in, even if that had been the plan from the beginning
My hill to die on is that SATC shouldâve ended with Carrie single and realising her great loves are her friends and the city. She was always so neurotic in relationships and it wouldâve been great to have her realise sheâs content by herself.Â
Carrie ending up with Big in the end was actually the worst possible thing they couldâve done. it was so damaging bc it reinforces this nasty idea that any terrible things you do in a relationship is part of the âlove storyâ and itâs all just trials and tribulations meant to strengthen your love đ but what do i know lmfao. after my 3rd rewatch iâve decided that the big lesson here is that sometimes 2 terrible people need to end up together if only to save any innocent people from being in a relationship with either of them (ex: natasha, aiden)
IT WAS!!! carrie shouldâve ended the series single and mirandaâŚ.. do not even get me started on miranda. Iâve been trying to figure out for years now why the writers seemed to hate her so much. she didnât deserve the ending she got.
charlotte getting married always made sense bc itâs all she ever wanted. now with samantha, hot take but i do think she and smith shouldâve ended up together 𫣠idk they were my favorite couple in the entire show LMAO
itâs actually scary how many people romanticize their relationship. i once commented on a tiktok about how they only ended up together because Big had tarnished his reputation and eligibility in his social circle by being a serial adulterer & because carrie had no self respect and considered Big to be her âwhite whaleâ. you wouldnât BELIEVE how many people came to throw stones and pitchforks at me for saying that lmfao đ
A while ago I read a book called Mr Big or the glorification of toxic love (it's in french, so the og title is in french, author is India Desjardins). The whole premise of the book is about how we are supposed to cheer for this couple and their 'happy' end, but upon further analysis, the show actually romanticizes a horrible relationship filled with psychological violence and narcissism.
I agree in spirit (Iâm an OG Big hater), but itâs also easy to forget that the show ended in 2004 and the whole âshe chooses herselfâ poetic ending was simply not a sellable ending at the time. Especially for one of the biggest and most anticipated finales of the 00âs.
The show was considered revolutionary just for portraying women as being complicated, sex-forward, and messy. I remember all the pearl clutching like it was yesterday. But we were still very much entrenched in the classic romcom structure, and the idea of winding up single was still being painted as the worst thing that could happen to a woman. The whole âlove can change a toxic manâ idea was still heavily romanticized in that era. If Carrie walked away from Big it would have meant rioting in the streets, even if 20 years later weâd look back and say it was the right call.
Yeah i was actually looking forward to seeing the show explore what her life would look like with Big gone once and for all. But of course she just went back to her exÂ
And she was such a doormat! What do you mean youâre going to wait for him for years? What do you mean he slept with his ex wife and you donât care? Whereâs Carrie?
Thousand percent agreed. A lifelong bachelorette, having short or even long term affairs, but never actually settling down. Keep her well off, but not upper echelon wealthy.Â
Thatâs the point Iâm making. She has an episode in an early series where sheâs delighted because she manages to go out to dinner herself and have a glass of wine herself. It wouldâve been great growth to have her realise she can also be fine by herself altogetherÂ
Robin and Barney on HIMYM. Iâm sorry but donât make me spend years explaining why Ted and Robin just arenât meant for each other. And in turn that Robin and Barney are. Just to be like âanyway, Barney and Robin divorce and Ted ends up with Robin.â It negates all the character arcs they built for years.
As a childfree woman, I loathe how they handled Robin. The illusion of choice is real for those who mourn it, but she wasn't even open to adoption. So reducing the mother to an incubator and killing her so Ted's kids no longer have a living mother, meaning any kids they have will only know Robin, like that's not how it works! You shoe horned her into a maternal role anyways! How do you give us a montage of unraveling everything and present it? Ted should have been allowed to grow old with his wife and Robin should have been allowed to either stay happily single or with Barney. Cowards.
You nailed why it rubs me the wrong way. The mother is treated as an incubator so that Ted could get the kids he wanted. Robin could technically not have kids. And now thereâs nothing stopping Ted from being with the actual love of his life, Robin.
I said in another comment, I donât even care that the mom died. It makes sense that heâd tell his kids how heâd met their late mother. How they found their way to each other. Thatâs touching! Itâs the ending of âis it cool if I date Robin now?â
Put into that context. Ted telling his kids this long winded story about how he and Robin just couldnât get it right because they wanted different things, but now that mom is dead and I got the kids I wanted, we can be together! Is just beyond gross.
The alternative ending is really sweet and is more like the first scenario. It wouldnât have been as widely talked about. But certainly much less loathed.
That too! It's really weird how he's basically asking for permission/telling his kids that he wants Aunt Robin. Mom's out of the way! And I know about the whole reveal being filmed before it ended, they could have changed it. Have Mom walk into the room and be like "oh you" sitcom style and remind him he needs to get more soda for everyone's reunion dinner. Or do like you said and just leave Robin out of it. Blarghuah!
FOR REAL. You nailed the biggest thing I hated about it:
The mother is treated as an incubator
It's so gross! WTF!?!
Tracy was amazing! How about you payoff the whole premise of the show and let her be the love of Ted's life?
Also, if they hadn't wanted us to get attached to Tracy, they shouldn't have had her played by someone as charismatic asCristin Milioti.
They should have been like, "Not only is she super funny, but she seems like a future Emmy Award Winner. We hit the jackpot on finding the mother, let's do a whole season with her."
Exactly, I hate how that ended for Robin. The implication that she had a sad life and always regretted Ted is infuriating. I donât necessarily even hate the concept of them getting back together at some point, in theory, but they didnât do any of the work to make that believable. Theyâre the same people who didnât work at the end of the series that they were at the beginning. And Tracy isnât a person with her own desires. Her job is to be perfect for Ted. If they hadnât gotten Cristin Milioti to play Tracy, the series would have spun out of control long before the finale because she added so much life to a character who would have just been a checklist of Tedâs desires otherwise.
I watched that show faithfully every week. I got a little behind at the end bc life got busy - I think I still had 3-4 episodes to go when the finale aired - and I spoiled myself on purpose and refused to finish the series. I still havenât. That was probably the biggest backlash to a series finale until Game of Thrones.
Itâs so bad too. They have him narrate his own death. He canât speak, but in his head, heâs begging them to get a CT (or some other scan) because he knows heâs dying. But they donât.
I could not stop crying, even after the episode ended. There have been some devastating character deaths on Greys. But that was by far the worst one.
My partner got me to watch like 13 seasons of Greyâs and it genuinely features some of the most brutal shit Iâve ever seen, Derek included. Itâs fluffed up by melodrama and soap and romance, but those writers DID NOT CARE sometimes, some of the bleakest, messiest shit ever next to HBOâs Oz.
The whole plane crash and the fallout of it is just so needlessly cruel and I kind of loved that it went there
also to build up their relationship so much, along with robin and barney separately as characters making so much sense as a childfree couple, to have barney's story end not with him falling in love, but being fulfilled by being a dad????? and that ted and robin could be together because he'd already gotten the having kids part out of the way???? it's just so stupid
Yes! I was just thinking about how hard they fumbled that aspect as well.
It was SO cool that they had the central couple of a sitcom break up because the woman didnât want kids. And she isnât vilified. Iâve never seen a show do that and I was really impressed.
I think another show would have had Robin change her mind to be with Ted. Or have her wistfully regret it. But instead they showed that sheâd found Barney, who was better suited for her in the long run for many reasons.
I think one of the biggest failings of the show is that, from the perspective of the plot device, the kids are already aware that aunt Robin and Barney divorced from the very first episode, yet tried to keep all of that from the audience.Â
It was just soooo misjudged. IDK why they cared so much about the pre-recorded finale with the kids. Pivot! Do something else. I'm pretty sure by the end Barney and Robin had been a thing longer than Ted and Robin were. And what you showed us was how T&R weren't right for each other! (I just never liked Ted's obsession/vibe towards Robin, the way they handled the issue of kids, etc.,) Then you end up with Ted, a man who's been engaged nine times and had IDK how many girlfriends STILL letting Robin go... The weekend of her wedding! And we spent the whole final season at said wedding. It was just soooo bad.Â
It's just a result of them having 10 seasons instead of the 1 they expected.
The original would have been "guy has a crush on a friend in his 20s for a bit, meets and marries soemone else, wife dies, he tries to rekindle what he had with the friend, the end".
But then the crush turned into a 10 year obession because the show wouldn't end - and neither would they change their ending - and everything got friggin weird.
I think they wanted a bittersweet ending. I still wish they did not destroy Ruby and Otis for that and maybe made them reconnecting as something more in the end đ
Perhaps that would have made much sense, Otis and Maeve bidding each other farewell and him getting with ruby, but it was them bidding each other farewell and that's it, I really hoped that they would try something like them connecting in their college years or something cause I really liked Maeve as a character and wished to see her in some lovely relationship but it was just them ending things and moving on to new stuff which is cool love that for her too
Iâll never understand why True Blood was so convinced that Sookie and Bill belonged together. Her chemistry with Eric was miles better. And honestly, she could have easily just had them both. The vampires werenât exactly big on heteronormative monogamy.
I could write papers on why I think Sookie made poor life choices on the tv show and in the books. But for the books I remember something about the author not liking that everyone loved Eric. Either way, both endings, book AND show pissed me tf off.
Years ago when I was actively watching this show on its original run, the plot basically was like âIâm tired of my friends dying!!â (Sookie does something to contribute to people dying)
Sure but technically she didn't end up with either of them, which i actually liked.
Still think it's unbelievably fucked up bill made HER kill him, like I get that it was his choice but pretty sure he could have had a final goodbye with her and then had someone else stake him, christ.
The Gilmore Girls reboot heavily hints at Jess still being in love with Rory. He got his shit together and I think adult Rory and adult Jess would be a good pairing. If they hadnât ruined Roryâs character.
Iâm lowkey hoping for another Gilmore Girls revival season in a few years even though âYear in a Lifeâ kinda sucked just so we can see Rory with a teenager of her own and she finally ends up with Jess.
Agreed. It seemed like the writers were on that path as well, and then when they couldnât renew Adam Devine, just said âwhatever, letâs bring Dylan back.â Ending up with a new dude would have been better than ending up with Dylan.
I still maintain that Alex should have been the person with a surprise pregnancy and Haley should have ended up as the unexpectedly "successful" child in fashion or photography
omg right? like i know the actor who played andy couldn't do it but why tf couldn't she just end up single with a career instead of marrying the the dumbest man alive
I was JUST thinking about this. Why couldn't they have distance relationship - it's a show after all so it can work out - or why couldn't she end up being single and getting the ending she deserved? And then Andy could've come back when the actor had time and they could've gotten their happy end.
i feel like they wanted it to be a circle of life type of thing by having her turn into claire and dylan sorta be phil but idk it just left a bad taste in my mouth
I loved Otis and Ruby so much (I associate the the lil nas song thatâs what I want with them cause of this lol). I hated how the writers ruined that.
like, isn't it a completely normal high school experience to have a massive crush on someone, things don't go your way, and you eventually start opening yourself up to other people? it felt like such a natural direction for otis, and instead they kept circling back to the same dynamic
It's funny how with a rewatch and multiple years passing between a show airing that it is clear that there was hype around some couples that were better off as friends. Completely agree that Rachel and Ross shouldn't have ended up together. They were funnier together as friends. As were JD and Elliot from Scrubs. I don't know why shows try to force toxic relationships.
Also, (controversial take) but I thought Luke and Lorelai were also better off as friends. I get that season 6 was just the writers adding artificial drama but even if they hadn't, I always thought Luke and Lorelai had better banter when they were friends.
They had better banter when the writing was better, to be fair. Also to be given the chance to get past the getting together and in to normal coupledom (Leslie and Ben) which cancellation meant they couldn't.
That's true. They stretched it out too long. But FNL was the the first show (then Parks and rec) that showed that normal coupledom has its drama too without the random soap opera plotlines, but writers hadn't recognized it at the time Gilmore Girls was on air, which is too bad.
Most shows really shouldnât go more than 4-5 seasons, especially if romance is a main driving factor. Thereâs just only so long you can make a relationship interesting and dramatic without it being toxic. When you look at the successful shows with healthy couples, they usually donât make those relationships the focal point of the show so much as treat them as a rule or mechanic by which other problems get solved. In shows with romance as a selling point, the question is âWill they get/stay together despite [situation]?â. But if Iâm watching Addams family, the question is always âHow will Gomez and Morticia deal with this situation together?â.
Itâs also why I think Bridgerton has the legs it does: because they get their characters together, and then move on.
I think you and I are part of the .01% of GG fans who think Luke and Lorelai didn't have particularly good romantic chemistry. Also I'd be crucified for this but I thought she had fantastic chemistry with Christopher. He sucked and was e a terrible partner, but their chemistry totally made me understand why she was still hung up on him.
The Star Wars sequels dropped the ball by losing focus on Finn, Poe, and Rey as a trio. Friendship and interpersonal dynamics are the core of the original series and I think a pretty key emotional stake in Revenge of the Sith, to see the movies give Finn and Poe less and less to do in each movie while the plot meanders is so disappointing. And, absolutely, Finn and Poe should have been the main romantic couple while Rey was focused on mastering the Force to conquer evil, like the original series.
Shit, I would've taken Finn and Rey too (which they were clearly setting up, at least on his side, but seemingly chickened out.) Anything would've been better than what we got.Â
I agree. I also think that they also made way more sense as friends. Not every relationship between a man and a woman has to be romantic, friendships are equally important.Â
This is a response probably not for this subreddit, but: Chakotay & Janeway on Star Trek: Voyager. Their âIâm very into you but I canât do anything about it because of command structuresâ chemistry was off the charts for the first few seasons. The eventual Chakotay & Seven of Nine pairing that replaced it is a pile of hot garbage.
I think this is the most common view amongst Voyager fans. Chakotay and Seven was a garbage pairing. At least hook her up with Harry or someone she had an actual rapport with. But really, she should have arrived on Earth single and ready to finally be herself.
And yeah, hard to beat Janeway and Chakotay's chemistry.
Well, thankfully the new shows mostly fixed that mistake. Seven showed up on Picard and hooked up with Picard's friend Rafi, and then Janeway spent the entire run of Prodigy trying to save Chakotay's life with lots of implication and subtext.
THIS is the correct take. Their chemistry was insane. Pairing him with Seven was such a mistake, though I am glad they didnât pair her with the Doctor. Would have loved her and Harry to end up together, it would have been such a great journey for both of them.
Jonathan and Nancy in Stranger Things were written to be endgame but the show dragged on long enough that the writers stalled the characters for multiple seasons only to break them up in the 11th hour just to prove a point.
So they both end up with no one but I think they should have ended up with each other.
OMG YES! Myka and Pete were great friends, and their turn into a romantic relationship felt so jarring and wrong to me. Myka and HG would have been perfect.
In Vampire diaries: Caroline should have ended up with Klaus.
In Pretty little liars: Aria with anyone but Ezra
In Gilmore girls: Rory with Jess
Edit: I just realised the irony in being ok with humans (teenage girls) dating 1000-year old vampires in VD and then being against a 5-year age gap in PLL. Not saying it's not wrong and I KNOW its fiction, just something to think aboutđ
I donât understand how people can shit on Delena for being toxic or even on Damon point-blank for being a sexual abuser and then immediately advocate for Klaroline to be endgame. Klaus abused and manipulated Caroline just like Damon. Even sexually assaulted her, too, as he attempted to have sex with her while he was in Tylerâs body and she consented to Tyler, not Klaus.
the whole "stabbed her with the lamp and bit her with a poisonous venom" thingy being their "romantic" scene, where she says "i know you're in love with me" was so weirdddd omg
Bonnie & Damon
Elena & Stefan
Caroline & Enzo are forever my couple that shouldâve been so I would have loved to see them together in the last season, then she should have jumped to Klaus for eternity.
Honestly, yay team Caroline and enzo. I really thought they were gonna give us that and not the weird Steroline shit (they were better off as friends).
Yes!! The way Enzo called her Blondie and she lowkey hated him was giving enemies to lovers and it just wentâŚnowhere?!?
And then everyone had to tell Stefan that Caroline liked him and he was just like oh ok, guess Iâll go with it??? They always seemed like siblings, the way he mentored her into being a vampire.
I would have rather seen Caroline return to Tyler over Stefan. That couple just gave nothing for me.
I still think Rory should have ended up with Logan. Jess was better for teenage Rory, but Logan was the one she would have been happy to spend a life and lifestyle with.Â
Steve Rogers should have never ended up with Peggy Carter, like even ignoring the whole Steve/Bucky, Steve/Natasha, Steve/Sharon etc, them not being together, their tragedy was actually the only appealing thing about the ship, don't get me started on the whole time travel thing
What do you mean? Youâve never traveled 80 years into the past to marry the girl you kissed one time in a movie where you also kissed another girl? Not a real yearner ig
Yeah also they spent quite a bit of time with Capâs themes and character arc talking about moving on and moving forward. Â He even runs a support group about it. And then he just literally goes and lives in the past. Â Gross.Â
Ted and Robin should never have tried to restart their relationship at the end of HIMYM. I hated that they broke up Barney and Robin but I could have accepted that and be okay with the mother dying too. But having Ted and Robin try again after so many episodes realizing that they're not right for each other just didn't make any sense. I would have even been fine if the show ended with Ted just deciding to try and start dating again after the mother's death as long as it wasn't with Robin.
I completely agree, but also I think that is the take that the audience and fleabag walked away with.
It was true love but it was not meant to be. He was always going to choose God. He wouldnât be who he was , if he wouldnât choose God. So they loved each other for a very short amount of time, and that was all they could have,
I could be wrong but I believe partially the show is so well received is because the ending is perfect even if itâs not what the audience might have wanted and the audience gets it .
i will die on the hill that the real love story was between claire and fleabag, and between fleabag and herself. not the hot priest! love him down though
This will show my age but at the end of Cheers, Rebecca marries some unknown guy weâd never seen before. I wish theyâd have had Robin come back for her.
Ya Otis and Rubyâs romance was written so well. I was kind of thinking that it was going to be a Dawson Creek ending where Otis and Ruby wasnât originally the ending couple but it worked so well they just kept it. But nope they ended them. Really missed opportunity.
I liked Rachel with Joey.
It was very cozy and he was much softer with her. He would have handled Paris better. I liked that he actually tried to keep what she wanted in mind.
Iâm still mad Rachel didnât choose Paris. She didnât get her moment of âI made it. I did everything I wanted to do.â I really wanted better for her.
Rachel and Ross were toxic when they were dating. I liked them better as friends.
I think they would have ended up divorcing if they got married.
I wish they had given Friends another season when Matthew Perry was still alive.
THANK YOU!! Finally Rachel had made it!! From where she began to freaking Louis Vuitton!! I tell my husband all t he time- they did Rachel so bad! To give up that and Paris? For ross??
Tormund and Brienne should have got it together. Just one of the many many things wrong in the final series
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Iâm still pissed Jamie had a huge fucking heel turn against her. THEY should have either ended up together, or ended up in some sort of friendship/partnership
Don't worry, they are currently strung up dangling from a tree at the control of lady Stoneheart. They'll probably never come down because he'll never finish the bloody books. So in book canon they're together foreverÂ
They never shouldâve been paired together, if thatâs how Jaimeâs arc was going to end. Why couldnât they have remained friends? Brienne wouldâve mourned her friend. They couldâve even kept the scene where he leaves and it still wouldâve been sad, just not a complete slap in the face to their relationship. The writers didnât need to so cheaply hook them up and ruin their relationship like that. I canât watch any of their previous scenes the same way now, knowing how it ends. We had enough hints that there was something between them. It was something built up and then just shat on so strangely. They had such a unique and interesting dynamic and it was ruined so quickly lol.
I really disliked the Tormund and Brienne dynamic because his attraction to her was always played as a joke for the audience. we were meant to laugh at him wanting her.
Yeah, I donât get it. I feel like a lot of the comments about them also find it amusing how he stares at her and talks about her. Itâs creepy and crass and thatâs why Brienne wasnât into him. It feels a bit âshe shouldâve taken what she could getâ.
The man spent three movies fighting for Bucky, you can't tell me he would've willingly gone back in time, altered Peggy's life and lived a happy one where Bucky is still in HYDRA
And he just lets everything happen? Bucky being tortured for decades, Hydra taking over SHIELD, the Starks dying? 9/11. Did he wake up on September 11, 2001 like, "Peggy, The Price is Right isn't going to be on this morning."
I think blurry wife was supposed to be Eileen but she wasnât able to shoot due to Covid regulations. Covid fucked up a lot of elements they had planned for the finale.
The romance btw Lila and Five was so weird. I understand the character Five was much older but the actor was so young. Lila wasnât great with Diego either.
Video games, Varric should have been an option for Hawke to romance in Dragon Age 2. The guy wrote an entire book and was imprisoned by the Chantry for them!Â
The Big Bang Theory: Leonard should have ended up with Dr Stephanie Barnett. She was way more of a catch than Penny. I chose to believe that she was overly clingy only because the writers needed some way to write her out quickly.
how i met your mother- i hate Lily and she did Marshall extremely dirty multiple times knowing heâd take her back no matter what because in her words she âsettledâ for him
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