16 Teen Shows That Ended With One Final Emotional Gut Punch

While it's now sort of a cliche, you have to love when a series ends with someone turning off a light or closing a door as a final goodbye to the set. It happens in Friends, Fresh Prince, and most heartbreakingly in Boy Meets World, when Mr. Feeney is seen in the empty classroom where it all started.

He tells the empty chairs - and fans bawling at home - that he loves them all. Class dismissed indeed! 

At the time, the mere fact that Dawson's Creek was coming to an end was enough of a loss for fans, but they didn't have to go so hard at bringing closure to the characters' stories. The two-part finale sees Jen succumb to a fatal heart condition, but not before Dawson, ever the filmmaker, helps her make a video for her daughter, Amy. 

As soon as she starts with, "If you're seeing this, then I'm not here anymore," tissues are needed! One of her main wishes is for her daughter to spend time at the beach, since the ocean "makes you dream." Ugh, just tear our hearts out now, thank you very much. Jen ends up passing with Gram by her side and Amy in Jack's custody, making the goodbye all the more heartfelt. 

Fans were devastated when actor Cory Monteith, who played Finn on Glee, passed. They also wrote his character off the show, though no cause of death was given. Kurt explains on the show that it doesn't matter how a person goes, but how they lived their life.

Finn's legacy lives on, though, when Sue, now vice principal, dedicates the auditorium to him at the high school at the end of the series. For a high school jock turned glee club member, there's no better honor. 

Don't you just love a series finale with a flash-forward to let you know that all your beloved characters end up okay?

After four seasons, The O.C. graced fans with just that, and in one of the more poignant moments, we learned that Ryan has become a famous architect. But he never forgets his roots - he sees a street kid while on a building project, and it reminds him of his life before ever meeting the Cohens. "Hey, kid, need help?" might be one of the most tear-jerking moments in teen show history. 

When someone collapses in the penultimate episode of a series, it's never a good thing - especially for Justin in 13 Reasons Why, who succumbs to HIV/AIDS. It's sort of a sloppy plotline, as it's revealed that he had contracted HIV while living on the streets as an addict, and it had developed into AIDS, leading him to contract a fatal case of pneumonia.

It's mostly sloppy because it's hard to imagine that Justin could have been so sick without having seen a doctor who could have caught it and treated it earlier, as it's fairly common in the US. Instead of using the finale as a platform to raise awareness about the real, contemporary reality of HIV/AIDS treatment, the writers fell into a common trope about HIV being a "death sentence" for this LGBTQ+ character. It's mostly tragic because it's an unnecessary demise for the character, who definitely deserved better. 

The One Tree Hill finale is two full hours of tear-jerking moments and time-jumps. Everyone gets a happy ending - which is always nice - but especially Haley and Nathan, the show's OTP.

In a time-jump, the group is all reunited at the high school to watch their son, Jamie, play basketball. And he ends up beating his dad's record. If you weren't sobbing, you have no soul.