TV Shows That Had Supposedly Happy Endings (But Were Actually Really Depressing)

After watching Chuck (Zachary Levi) and Sarah's (Yvonne Strahovski) love slowly develop over the course of five years, the final episode comes as a slap in the face for longtime fans. Just as things are starting to wrap up, Sarah is brainwashed, and forgets all about the couple's intimate history. 

The episode ends with them kissing, which implies that Chuck has successfully restored Sarah's memories, but this hope is never explicitly confirmed within the show (the creators even refused to confirm or deny anything after the fact). The reality is, there's a 50/50 chance that her memories are not restored, and that the road ahead of the couple is long and hard. 

When the show starts, the pair's love is all an act, as Sarah is tasked with impersonating Chuck's girlfriend so that she can protect the super-computer inside his brain. However, as the series progresses, Chuck's nerdy charm slowly wins over Sarah, and the two actually end up getting married at one point. If one is to believe that the finale ends on a negative note, then the couple has to go through this courting all over again, and lightning may not strike twice. 

Even if Sarah does get (some of) her memory back, the mere fact that Chuck has to convince his wife she loves him is heartbreaking, yet the show presents this tragedy in a characteristically lighthearted manner. Sarah has it even worse, as her memory was forcibly removed from her head, meaning that her life was basically stolen. 

Ross (David Schwimmer) and Rachel (Jennifer Aniston) end up together (because of course they do); Monica (Courtney Cox) and Chandler (Matthew Perry) have twin girls and embark on a life outside the city; and Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow) marries Mike (Paul Rudd), who perfectly counterbalances her zaniness. Happily ever after for the whole gang, right?

Wait, what about Joey (Matt LeBlanc)? By the end of the series, Joey is in his late 30s, and is totally alone, even though he seems focused on finding true love. Viewers get the vibe that Joey's just along for the ride, so his future doesn't really matter, but that's kind of tragic when you think about it. To make things worse, Joey — the two-season spin-off that focuses on the struggling actor — sees him in a one-sided relationship with a woman who doesn't share his desire to get married. Poor guy. 

After nine seasons, the titular mother (Cristin Milioti) of How I Met Your Mother is in the show for like a minute, then she dies. It feels like she only exists so that Robin (Cobie Smulders) and Ted (Josh Radnor) can end up together, even though viewers have seen time and again that Ted and Robin are fundamentally incompatible, and that their relationship is destined to fail. Also, what kind of dad talks to his kids about having sex with random women this much? Ted doesn't seem to have matured much from the series's start, and his kids are inevitably going to have some sexual hangups when they come of age. 

In the final season of Frasier, the titular character (Kelsey Grammer) starts dating a matchmaker named Charlotte (Laura Linney) who he connects deeply with, even though they theoretically shouldn't be a good pair. As the series comes to a close, so too do many of Frasier's dreams. His radio program wraps up, as does his relationship with Charlotte, who moves back to Chicago. 

As his romance fizzles and his family moves on — Daphne (Jane Leeves) and Niles (David Hyde Pierce) have their first child while Frasier's dad (John Mahoney) gets married — Frasier accepts a job in San Francisco, where he'll have his own TV show. As he's preparing to leave, he says goodbye to his loved ones, and acknowledges how they've moved on with their lives; it's almost as if he recognizes he has no place there anymore. Then the episode ends with the revelation that he's actually going to Chicago to win back Charlotte. 

Fans have to wonder why he's passing up such an amazing career opportunity for a woman he's only known a few months. Does he truly want to spend his life with her, or is he simply envious of his family members, who've found fulfillment through love? Plus, whatever happened to the whole Roz (Peri Gilpin) and Frasier thing? There was something there and it feels like a missed opportunity. 

To be fair, it's pretty ambiguous whether or not the ending of Weeds is supposed to be happy. Since the final scene depicts Nancy (Mary-Louise Parker) contentedly smoking a joint with her entire family on the porch (despite their myriad issues and separations), the implication is that things have kind of worked out, especially since she makes a mega-lucrative deal with Starbucks to sell off her empire. Are things really all good though? 

Andy (Justin Kirk) and Nancy's relationship has finally come to a definitive end, and while that may be for the best, it still leaves each of them alone after years of tumultuous romances. Silas (Hunter Parish) is happy with his wife, but he's made it clear that, while he still loves his mom, he doesn't want a relationship with her, which is sad no matter how you slice it. Things aren't quite as bad for Doug Wilson (Kevin Nealon), as he's managed to become a successful fraudulent cult leader, which at least comes with some benefits.

Then there's Shane (Alexander Gould) who, despite his best efforts, has fallen victim to substance abuse and kind of hits rock bottom. He's an alcoholic detective, and although his family eventually convinces him to try rehab, he's somehow managed to end the show more unhinged than he was at the start. Best case scenario, it's all bittersweet.

At the conclusion of Battlestar Galactica, the surviving 38,000 humans and Cylons land on a prehistoric Earth, just as humans are starting to come into being. To dispose of all their dangerous, advanced technology, Anders flies their fleet into the sun. Following this, it is revealed that the entirety of Battlestar Galactica is actually a creation myth, or at least the fictional origin of modern humanity.

That's all pretty cool, but destroying all that technology means that humanity has to go through thousands of years of bloody history. If humans had access to Cylon regeneration from the very start, there would be no tragic assassinations or mass genocides in our history books today. Plus, the humans and Cylons destroyed their own cultures, and probably won't be able to survive in the harsh, uncultivated Earth, considering how dependent they are on technology.