21 Unhinged TV Moments That Really Crossed A Line And Went Too Freaking Far
by Spencer Althouse · BuzzFeedWe asked the BuzzFeed Community to tell us an out-of-place TV moment that crossed a line or made them wonder why it was filmed in the first place. Here are the wild results.
Note: Some submissions include topics of sexual assault.
1. In Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, when the writers made the on-screen brothers kiss and implied that the real-life Menendez brothers had an incestuous relationship, even though there was no evidence to support the claim.
"This show is based on everything that unfolded with the real-life Menendez brothers, so for Ryan Murphy and his team to turn their relationship incestuous – with zero evidence – is irresponsible and crossing the line. These are not fictitious characters for them to write wild fanfiction about. They are real-life humans who were victims of abuse." —Anonymous
Creator Ryan Murphy recently commented on this criticism, saying his show "is presenting the points of view and theories from so many people who were involved in the case." He specifically mentioned one journalist who wrote multiple articles in the 1990s revolving around an incestuous "theory," saying, "We had an obligation to show all of that, and we did."
2. In Grey's Anatomy, when Izzie hallucinated her dead fiancé, Denny, and then had ghost sex with him.
"Izzie had a cancerous brain tumor, and as a result she hallucinated Denny, her dead fiancé. This resulted in her having sex with him/his ghost, and it went on for several episodes! Why?" —purple72
3. In Buffy the Vampire Slayer, when Spike wrestled Buffy to the ground and then assaulted her in the bathroom – a scene that affected the actor, James Marsters, so much that he needed to attend therapy.
"Spike was always a 'bad boy,' but it was obvious that he cared about Buffy and loved her (even if it bordered on obsession sometimes, he was a soulless vampire, and it was supposed to be intense and dramatic). I always thought these two had WAY more chemistry than she and Angel ever did, and I rooted for them so hard, but then the rape plot happened. It was so uncomfortable and extreme." —Margaritaluv
James Marsters, who played Spike, later revealed that shooting this scene was the most difficult day of his entire career: "It sent me into therapy. I collapsed on set. I couldn’t even speak. I was shaking. That was a horrible day…when that script came...I was legally compelled to do that scene. It wasn’t fun to watch, probably, but it wasn’t fun to film either."
4. In Scrubs, when Turk secretly slipped birth control into Carla's mouth while she slept.
Suggested by kthomas8836
Turk and Carla were already trying to conceive. Later on, Turk revealed to J.D. that he wasn't sure if he was ready to have a baby. Instead of opening up to Carla about his hesitations, he decided to secretly slip birth control into her mouth while she was sleeping.
5. In 13 Reasons Why, when Justin Foley had the greatest character arc ever, but then they randomly gave him AIDS and killed him off.
"He had the best character development on the entire show, and there was just no reason for his death. I’m still asking myself why the writers did this! They took things way too far." —samJones88
6. In Riverdale, when Betty was a minor and performed a striptease in front of her mom, boyfriend's dad, and a bunch of strangers in a crowded bar while singing "Mad World."
"Almost everything in Riverdale crosses the line at this point, but the wildest moment was when Betty stripped in front of old men at the bar." —puffle1327
7. In Black Mirror, when the prime minister was blackmailed into having sex with a live pig on national television for the entire country to watch.
"There are a lot of disturbing moments in that show, but I still always tell people to skip Episode 1 because of this one. It makes me sick just thinking about it." —curlyqkc and carolinemightyfine
8. In Shameless, when Veronica couldn't get pregnant, so she talked her mom into having sex with her and her boyfriend, which turned into a routine occurrence.
Suggested by deannah4d
Veronica wasn't able to get pregnant on her own, so she asked her mom to step in. They used a turkey baster at first, but when that didn't work, she asked Kevin (her then-boyfriend) and Carol (her mom) to physically have sex. They did, and it worked...but Carol enjoyed it so much that she hid her pregnancy from Veronica for several weeks because she wanted to keep sleeping with Kevin. Wild!!!!!
9. Also in Shameless, when the writers randomly made Fiona leave cocaine on the kitchen counter, and Liam — a legit baby — got ahold of it.
"She worked so hard at her own expense to raise those kids, but doing cocaine was completely out of character. Then when she left it in the house where it was easily accessible to the kids...that was too reckless, and she would never have normally put the kids in danger like that, so the whole plot felt so forced. I stopped watching the show because of this moment." —carolines4214
10. In Skins, when Freddie was trapped by Effy's psychiatrist and beaten to death with a baseball bat.
"Everything about that show was over the top, but this scene went a little too far, especially since it was supposedly a relatable show about teenage life. It was hard for me to even be sad about Freddie being murdered because it felt so unnecessary and ridiculous." —averykate
11. In Boy Meets World, when they randomly painted Shawn as a loner and made him join a cult for exactly one episode.
"Boy Meets World always jumped around with the character of Shawn Hunter, sometimes painting him as a troubled kid, but other times reaffirming that he's the smartest, most creative, and most loved person in the group. They made him go through so much unnecessary trauma, but the time that felt especially out of place was when they randomly had him join a cult. It made absolutely no sense in the context of the rest of the series, and I wish it didn't happen. Like, they went to extreme lengths just to cross an invisible line that certainly didn't need to be crossed." —spenceralthouse
12. In Stranger Things, when Eleven randomly tracked down her "sister" and went on a vengeful mission to kill a bunch of people who worked at the Hawkins Lab.
"I’m still perplexed by the whole 'Lost Sister' episode. All of Eleven’s character development was shattered, only for her to just come back to her original life like nothing ever happened. Like, what was the point? It went NOWHERE. Eleven would never have entertained the idea to just run away, meet up with some random strangers, go on a vengeful killing spree, and then just decide that her original way of life was better. They built the girl up as having HUGE trust issues, and then they had her do this??? It was the complete opposite of what we know about her. They took things too far just for the sake of being entertaining." —Emmmmmmmmm
13. In Friends, when Monica found out that her brother, Ross, was her first kiss...and only because Ross thought she was actually a drunk, passed-out Rachel.
"Ross and Monica were grossly close throughout the series. Like, they were each other's first kiss??? They also made sexual comments to and about each other. That whole relationship weirded me out and crossed the line so many times. It's soooooo cringey!!!!!!!!" —aniram1234
14. Also in Friends, when Ross was super attracted to his literal cousin and tried to make out with her.
"The show really took things too far with this." —paintedrose
15. In Ted Lasso, when there was a random three-minute "penis string training" scene where all the players had to tie a string around each other's private parts so they could learn to get more in sync with each other on the field.
"This was the most out-of-place scene in the entire show. It served no purpose at all, and the 'joke' felt so off tonally because they hadn't done anything like this in the past. It felt like they were just throwing random jokes at the wall, and a fourth-grader got to choose what to do. If you want a scene about team bonding then show that, but this penis thing was nonsense and felt like it crossed a line."
—wlight and annakopsky
16. In Dexter, when they ruined Deb's entire character by getting rid of her morals, making her addicted to pills, and then having her become sexually attracted to her adoptive brother.
"I will NEVER forgive the writers of Dexter for what they did to their core cast in the final season. They flat-out disrespected Deb. They made her progressively emotionally and mentally unstable, and she ended up doing things for Dexter that she never would have done. To see a character that started out as such a strong, smart badass get reduced to a puddle of nonsense is a crime against television. Never have I seen such great material to pull from get botched so badly." —Bauxjangles
"When Deb started to have repressed sexual desires for her adoptive brother...it was just so unnecessary. She GREW UP with him. They were treated as siblings. I stopped watching the show because of this plot. It was gross and a total 180 from how I saw their relationship in the early seasons." —cocopa
17. In Game of Thrones, when Margaery seduced Tommen — a literal child — and then they got married and the show immediately cut to the two of them having sex.
"There are a lot of moments to cringe at in Game of Thrones, and Margaery seducing a literal child before they get married is definitely one of them." —andyjellylove
18. Also in Game of Thrones, when Jaime assaulted his sister, Cersei, next to the corpse of their dead child – a storyline that was consensual in the books but was changed in the show for some reason.
"And this was after he had a season-long redemption arc. This is the moment that made me stop watching the show." —urbaneone
George R. R. Martin, who wrote the Game of Thrones books, later commented on this scene. He explained that the situation was very different (and consensual!) in the novel, unlike in the show: "Though the time and place is wildly inappropriate and Cersei is fearful of discovery, she is as hungry for him as he is for her [in my book]."
19. In New Girl, when Jess and Robby developed feelings and even started dating, but then they realized they're actually cousins.
"I legit almost stopped watching the show when this happened." —bethannm4614
20. In Glee, when Sue Sylvester trapped Kurt and Blaine (two students!) in a fake elevator and forced them to kiss and "really go at it" before she could let them out.
"One of the most bizarre and out-there moments from Glee is in the episode when Sue, a teacher, locked two students in a fake elevator and had a puppet of herself force them to kiss while she watched from a camera. Like???" —serquackington
21. And finally, also in Glee, literally every single time Mr. Schue did anything at all. That man deserved jail time!
"When he did an inappropriate performance of 'Toxic' for a bunch of high schoolers, when he had sex in the school bathroom (his place of WORK), when he blackmailed Finn into joining the glee club by planting drugs in his locker, when he told his students they were all minorities simply because they were in the glee club — the list goes on and on! Take your pick! His whole character crossed the line several times." —sarahwainschel