There is nothing quite like watching an excellent TV show for the first time. With drama shows, they will have you on the edge of your seat for the whole first watch, unsure of what is going to happen next. This could be anything from a major character death, to a shocking plot twist that upends the entire show. Drama series also certainly make for fantastic rewatches as well, even after you know what happens.
It can be great to re-enter the world of a beloved drama show, and to get to see the characters from a new perspective, especially after knowing how the show turns out. That being said, there are some moments in drama shows that are so heartbreaking and painful, that I just can’t bear to go back and watch them for a second time. These are 10 great episodes of drama shows that I’m never watching again.
10
“Faith”
‘Suits’ Season 5, Episode 10
From the very beginning of Suits, the series’ major point of tension was the fact that Mike (Patrick J. Adams) was working as a lawyer, because he was faking having both a college degree and a license to practice law. I was always rooting for Mike to get away with it, but the laws of TV dictated that it was only a matter of time before his secret got out. Sure enough, the Season 5 episode “Faith” ends with this fallout.
Upon rewatching the show, there is already the knowledge that Mike eventually gets out of prison and gets to move forward in his life with Rachel (Meghan Markle). That said, this episode is still especially painful to watch. It is so heartbreaking to see Mike plan to give up the job that he loves of his own accord, only for him to be arrested immediately after anyways.
Suits
- Release Date
-
2011 – 2019-00-00
- Network
-
USA
9
“2000. 2001. 2002.”
‘One Day’ Season 1, Episode 13
Based on David Nicholls‘ novel of the same name, One Day is a limited series about the friendship and eventual romance between Emma Morley (Ambika Mod) and Dexter Mayhew (Leo Woodall). The whole season shows the two of them developing a close friendship, getting into a number of intense fights, drifting apart, and finding their way back to each other. Finally, Emma and Dexter get together at the end of “1999,” but that’s not the end of their story.
In the penultimate episode of One Day, Emma and Dexter are happily married and trying to have children. While biking to go meet Dexter to go look at houses together, Emma is killed in a hit-and-run. This is such a hard episode to watch, especially because Emma’s death is intentionally written to feel so meaningless and random. It’s a brutal end to Dexter and Emma’s love story, and to Emma’s life.
One Day
- Release Date
-
2024 – 2023
- Directors
-
Molly Manners
8
“Flight”
‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Season 8, Episode 24
There are a number of devastating yet well-written Grey’s Anatomy episodes that I can’t bring myself to watch again, but “Flight” takes the cake, even above “How to Save a Life” and “Now or Never.” This episode is the second of Grey’s Anatomy‘s two-part Season 8 finale, in which a small group of the doctors gets into a plane crash on the way to Idaho for a surgery.
The plane crash is incredibly hard to watch for a number of reasons, as everyone involved is stuck fighting for their lives, and left grieving and traumatized. The worst of it is the death of Lexie Grey (Chyler Leigh) after she gets crushed by the plane. It’s heartbreaking to watch her story end this way right when she was on track towards becoming a neurosurgeon. Lexie’s actual death scene is really emotional too, as Mark (Eric Dane) finally confesses his love back to her when it’s too late.
Grey’s Anatomy
- Release Date
-
March 27, 2005
- Network
-
ABC
-
-
Chandra Wilson
Dr. Miranda Bailey
7
“With Open Eyes”
‘Succession’ Season 4, Episode 10
Succession is another drama series with a number of fantastic episodes that are very hard to watch, like “All the Bells Say” and “America Decides.” That said, the show’s series finale is one that absolutely gutted me when I watched it, and that I haven’t been able to rewatch to this day. “With Open Eyes” builds up to the decision of what will happen to Waystar Royco.
The episode gives Kendall (Jeremy Strong), Shiv (Sarah Snook), and Roman Roy (Kieran Culkin) one last great night together where they act like kids and support each other as a united front. That said, even this is tainted by the dread of what will come. The ending is absolutely brutal, as Kendall is left destroyed when he loses the thing that he’s been working towards his whole life, and Shiv is reduced to her position as Tom’s (Matthew Macfadyen) wife.
Succession
- Release Date
-
2018 – 2023
- Network
-
HBO Max
6
“The Dance of the Dragons”
‘Game of Thrones’ season 5, Episode 9
Game of Thrones is full of brutal deaths and violent scenes, and it contains a number of episodes that I will never be able to watch again. That said, “The Dance of the Dragons” is an episode that makes me sick to my stomach just thinking of it, due to Shireen’s (Kerry Ingram) death. Everything about this is unbearable, from Stannis (Stephen Dillane) making up a reason to get an unknowing Davos (Liam Cunningham) to leave, to Davos saying goodbye to Shireen without knowing what is about to happen.
In a series that doesn’t pull punches, “Dance of the Dragons” somehow takes Game of Thrones to a new dark place, as Stannis burns his own daughter at the stake as a sacrifice to win an upcoming battle. It’s made even worse by the fact that Shireen is left screaming in fear as her own parents just watch her and refuse to save her, as well as Selyse’s (Tara Fitgerald) ultimate change of heart that is still unable to prevent it.
5
“The Garveys at Their Best”
‘The Leftovers’ Season 1, Episode 9
The Leftovers‘ first season is especially bleak compared to the rest of the series, as the show is more grounded in reality, and the town of Mapleton is still haunted by the Departure. The most heart-wrenching installment of the season is “The Garveys at Their Best,” The Leftovers‘ flashback episode to the day of the Departure, from the perspectives of each of the main characters.
The Departure hangs over the entirety of The Leftovers from its beginning to end, but aside from brief moments, “The Garveys at Their Best” is the only time the series actually shows the Departure. It’s as devastating as the show has built it up to be, as 2% of the population quite literally disappears at random. Nora (Carrie Coon) watches her entire family vanish into thin air, Laurie (Amy Brenneman) loses a pregnancy, and Kevin’s affair goes horribly wrong.
The Leftovers
- Release Date
-
2014 – 2017-00-00
- Showrunner
-
Damon Lindelof
4
“I Could Not Prevent It”
‘Interview with the Vampire’ Season 2, Episode 7
In a lot of ways, the entirety of the past timeline in Interview with the Vampire builds up to the gut-wrenching trial of Louis (Jacob Anderson), Claudia (Delainey Hayles), and Madeleine (Roxane Duran) in the penultimate episode of Season 2. The entire trial is especially difficult to watch, as it’s impossible not to hope for a different outcome from the inevitable deaths of Claudia and Madeleine.
“I Could Not Prevent It” is a phenomenal episode of television that delivers an emotionally devastating and suspenseful payoff that Interview with the Vampire has been building up to for a while. That said, this episode was hard enough to watch just once, and I can’t bear to go back and watch it again, especially after the later reveal that Lestat (Sam Reid) only had the strength to save Louis.
3
“It Chooses”
‘Yellowjackets’ Season 2, Episode 8
Yellowjackets is one of the most disturbing TV shows I’ve ever really gotten into, and there have been a number of times watching the show that I’ve had to cover my eyes. The episode that haunts me the most is “It Chooses,” the penultimate episode of Season 2. In “It Chooses,” things escalate in the past timeline when the Yellowjackets do their first card drawing and hold their first hunt. Nat (Sophie Thatcher) is chosen to die, and the hunt for her is absolutely terrifying.
The real tragedy of the episode is Javi’s (Luciano Leroux) death while trying to help Nat. It’s psychologically horrifying to watch everyone turn on Nat, and then to see Nat and Misty (Sammi Hanratty) let Javi die in Nat’s place. The gore in the following episode where everyone eats Javi is certainly disturbing, but nothing is more upsetting to me than the shift that occurs in the Yellowjackets’ mindsets when they start killing each other for food and sacrifice.
Yellowjackets
- Release Date
-
November 14, 2021
- Network
-
Showtime, Paramount+ with Showtime
2
“Chikhai Bardo”
‘Severance’ Season 2, Episode 7
Late in Season 1 of Severance, the show dropped the shocking twist that Mark’s (Adam Scott) wife, Gemma (Dichen Lachman), was still alive – and that she was none other than Ms. Casey, the wellness counselor for the severed floor. Since then, it felt like the entire show was building up to the reveal of what had happened to Gemma while she was trapped inside Lumon, and “Chikahi Bardo” reveals this.
The answer is absolutely horrifying, as we see how Gemma has been locked inside Lumon and severed into 25 different innies. The backstory of Mark and Gemma’s struggle to conceive is sad enough on its own, but it’s absolutely heartbreaking to watch their love story, knowing how it ends. Even worse is the fact that these flashbacks are interwoven with scenes from Gemma’s present, as her innies are forced to carry out unpleasant tasks over and over again.
Severance
- Release Date
-
February 18, 2022
- Showrunner
-
Dan Erickson, Mark Friedman
1
“Cent’Anni”
‘The Penguin’ Season 1, Episode 4
The Penguin is an intense and gory watch from start to finish, but its best episode, “Cent’Anni,” left me feeling absolutely gutted. The installment centers on Sofia Falcone (Cristin Milioti), and it tells her story through flashbacks to her time leading up to and in Arkham. This episode reveals the shocking twist that Sofia is not actually the Hangman, and that she was framed and punished for a series of murders carried out by her father (Mark Strong).
Sofia’s backstory is absolutely heartbreaking and infuriating. It is so difficult to watch Sofia be framed and unable to prevent her eventual fate, as well as to see how her spirit was broken by the horrible treatment she endured at Arkham. This is a truly incredible episode of television with fantastic acting from Milioti, and that last scene where Sofia gets her revenge is vindicating. That said, her story is too tragic and disturbing for me to watch more than once.
The Penguin
- Release Date
-
2024 – 2024-00-00
- Showrunner
-
Lauren LeFranc