Honestly, I could do a whole post just on Gossip Girl.
There’s all kinds of backstabbing, cheating, and bad behavior on teen dramas.
But every once in a while, a character just takes it too far. Here are 24 of the most messed up things main characters ever did on teen dramas:
WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!
1.
On 90210, when Adrianna replaced Silver’s bipolar medication with a placebo, which caused a relapse and ended with Silver in the hospital:
The CW
This is, hands down, the worst thing a protagonist ever did on a teen drama. Silver almost died and Adrianna should’ve gone to jail.
2.
On Pretty Little Liars, when Toby worked with the A team and allowed Spencer to think he was dead:
Freeform
Spencer literally checked into Radley because of this. I know he was trying to help her, but at what price??
3.
On Gossip Girl, when Chuck traded a night with Blair for his hotel, then tricked Blair into agreeing to it:
The CW
This was just SO BAD. Even considering asking Blair to sleep with Jack to get his hotel back would’ve been bad enough — but then he made the decision without her and tricked her into doing it behind his back. Sure, Jack didn’t go through with it, but it didn’t matter. Chuck was willing to horribly manipulate Blair for his own gain.
4.
And when he punched the window above her after she got engaged to Louis, accidentally injuring her with a shard of glass:
The CW
This was unacceptable and I am still upset the show did this. Chuck was already a super problematic character — having him physically harm Blair, however “accidental” (he punched a glass window RIGHT above her!), really should’ve put the nail in the coffin for their relationship and honestly his character. But nothing really changed — Chuck and Blair were still the main couple of the show. I feel like the show never acknowledged how messed up this was.
5.
On The Vampire Diaries, when Damon killed Lexi, his brother’s best/only friend for over a hundred years, just to gain Liz’s trust.
The CW
I love Damon, but this was truly horrible. Lexi was really the only good, consistent thing in his brother’s life, and her existence was no threat to him. And then later he revealed he did it because seeing her made him feel guilty for treating her badly while his humanity was off back in the ’80s!! Like WHAT?? So he killed her??
6.
And when he killed Aaron because Elena (who was really Katherine pretending to be Elena) had broken up with him:
The CW
Damon had his humanity here, and he’d been through seasons of character growth. I get that Aaron’s family tortured Damon for years, but Aaron hadn’t had anything to do with that. Plus, Aaron was Elena’s friend. I couldn’t believe that he would kill him just because of one conversation with Elena. I honestly think Katherine was kind of nice in the breakup.
7.
On Riverdale, when Betty and Jughead faked Jughead’s death and didn’t even tell his father and sister he was okay until afterward:
The CW
Betty told Jelly Bean and FP that Jughead was okay AFTER they knew he was missing and were worried sick. This was just so messed up.
8.
On Teen Wolf, when Stiles and Scott kidnapped Liam after Scott accidentally turned him into a werewolf:
MTV
Poor Liam was so scared!! He actually started crying!! I know Scott and Stiles wanted to help him, but they did NOT go about it in the right way.
9.
On One Tree Hill, when Whitey made Lucas and Nathan find their own way home from 30 miles away in the middle of the night.
The WB
This might be my inner Mom™ coming out, but…THEY COULD GET KIDNAPPED!! Or hit by a car!! This was NOT okay.
10.
On Glee, when Rachel gave Sunshine the incorrect location of glee club practice and sent her to a crack house:
11.
On Riverdale, when Betty chloroformed her mom:
The CW
I know Alice was in a cult, but…Betty chloroforming her mom and locking her in the underground sex bunker was a step too far.
12.
On The O.C., when Summer left Marissa passed out drunk on the ground in front of her house:
Fox
She could easily have died of alcohol poisoning. Thank god Ryan showed up (BUT STILL!! HE DID NOT LAY HER ON HER SIDE!! DID NO ONE PAY ATTENTION IN HEALTH CLASS??).
13.
On One Tree Hill, when Deb burned down Dan’s car dealership in an effort to kill him:
The WB
Did Dan deserve it? Yes. Was it still messed up? Absolutely.
14.
On Glee, when Kitty took in all of Marley’s costumes to make her think she was gaining weight, then taught her how to purge:
Fox
Kitty literally gave Marley an eating disorder. I don’t know how they ever became friends after this.
15.
On Euphoria, when Nate beat up Tyler and made him tell the police he was the one who had assaulted Maddy:
16.
On Faking It, when Karma and Amy pretended to be gay so they could be popular/so Karma could have a chance with Liam:
MTV
This one’s more on Karma, who pushed the whole thing (also, Amy actually WAS gay and in love with Karma, though Karma didn’t know this yet). Liam literally told Karma he had a lesbian fetish, and she continued to exploit her fake homosexuality to be with him.
17.
On Gossip Girl, when Serena tricked Dan into filming revenge porn:
The CW
First of all, Serena filmed them having sex without getting his consent. And then she planned to release it on Gossip Girl to ruin Blair and Dan’s relationship. Also, he only had sex with her in the first place because Serena manipulated him into thinking Blair had left him. Just…yikes.
18.
On Pretty Little Liars, when Ezra got close to Aria, an underage student, just so he could do research for a book on Alison’s disappearance:
Freeform
Their relationship was always gross and problematic to me, but the show kept claiming it was okay since when they met and hooked up, Ezra didn’t know that Aria was underage and Aria didn’t know Ezra was her new English teacher. And then we find out that Ezra knew the whole time!! AND that Aria was the SECOND underage girl he’d creeped on!! Boy, bye.
19.
Also on Pretty Little Liars, when Paige told the cops about Ali being alive, putting her in danger:
Freeform
She DEFINITELY did not do it to protect Emily. She did it to try to break Emily’s focus on Alison, and as revenge for Alison bullying Emily. And this was after she’d promised not to tell the police!!! Paige was the worst and Emily deserved better.
20.
On Skins, when Effy hit Katie on the head with a rock in the woods during a bad trip:
E4
And then when Katie wasn’t around the next morning, she didn’t tell anyone right away. Katie could’ve died!
21.
On Buffy the Vampire Slayer, when Giles drugged Buffy so she’d lose her powers as part of a Watcher ritual:
The WB
Sure, he broke protocol by later telling her (losing his Watcher position in the process), but this was still SO MESSED UP!! Buffy trusted him more than anything and he made her helpless.
22.
Also on Buffy, when Buffy decided to kill Faith and use her blood to heal Angel:
The WB
I know Faith was a villain who had killed people at this point, and Angel needed Slayer blood. But I still couldn’t believe Buffy actually stabbed her. She survived, but Buffy didn’t know that.
23.
And finally, ON GOSSIP GIRL WHEN DAN STALKED AND TORTURED HIS FRIENDS FOR YEARS WITH ZERO REPERCUSSIONS:
The CW
I will never be over Dan being Gossip Girl. Serena should NOT have ended up with him.
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