In 2025, television gave us plenty of reasons to keep subscriptions active — and just as many reasons to question why we bothered.
The year was dominated by sequels, spin-offs, and reboots, many of them long-awaited returns of beloved series.
High anticipation, however, often curdled into disappointment. Here is our list of our most disappointing TV shows of 2025
1. One Punch Man Season 3
After years of delays and studio changes, the return of Saitama was supposed to be a triumphant knockout. Instead, it landed like a glancing blow.
The new animation direction sapped the kinetic joy from the fight scenes, turning what used to be gloriously over-the-top action into something stiff and underwhelming. The satire of superhero tropes, once razor-sharp, felt blunted and repetitive. Fans waited a decade for this?
2. Alice in Borderland Season 3 (Netflix)
The Japanese survival thriller had built a devoted following with its clever, brutal games and escalating tension. Season 3 ran out of fresh ideas about halfway through, recycling set pieces and emotional beats from earlier seasons.
The characters, once compelling, were reduced to shouting exposition at one another between increasingly convoluted challenges. What began as a smart allegory for modern alienation ended up feeling like a hamster wheel.
3. Yellowjackets Season 3 (Showtime/Paramount+)
The wilderness survival mystery started strong, balancing psychological horror with dark humor across dual timelines. By Season 3, the supernatural elements overwhelmed the human drama, and the present-day storyline spun its wheels in therapy sessions and red herrings.
The ensemble remained talented, but the writing scattered their efforts. The show finally jumped the shark — and kept jumping.
4. Wednesday Season 2 (Netflix)
Jenna Ortega’s magnetic performance as Wednesday Addams was still the best thing about the series, but everything around her sagged.
The monster-of-the-week format grew predictable, the Nevermore Academy setting felt claustrophobic rather than enchanting, and the romantic subplots landed with all the grace of a conga line at a funeral.
The gothic charm curdled into self-parody.
5. The Bear Season 4 (FX/Hulu)
Once the most electric show on television, “The Bear” lost its spark. The restaurant chaos that felt exhilarating in earlier seasons now seemed monotonous, the characters trapped in cycles of shouting and reconciliation that yielded no real growth.
Even the celebrated single-take episodes felt like technical exercises rather than emotional revelations. The fine-dining world began to feel less like a pressure cooker and more like a treadmill.
6. Gen V Season 2 (Prime Video)
The “Boys” spin-off tried to outdo its parent series in gore and cynicism but ended up feeling gratuitous rather than provocative.
The college-supe premise wore thin, the satire was blunt rather than biting, and several major plot threads were abandoned or resolved in rushed, unsatisfying ways.
7. Ironheart (Disney+)
Marvel’s attempt to launch Riri Williams as the next great young hero arrived amid franchise fatigue and landed with a thud.
The origin story followed the now-familiar template too closely, the villain was forgettable, and the visual effects often looked unfinished.
8. Upload Final Season (Prime Video)
Robbie Amell’s likable everyman and the show’s clever sci-fi premise had carried “Upload” through three charming seasons. The fourth and final one rushed to wrap up every dangling thread, sacrificing comedy for forced sentimentality and contrived stakes.
The digital afterlife, once ripe for satire, was reduced to a backdrop for tepid romance. The ending felt less like closure and more like cancellation.
9. Star Wars: Visions Volume 3 (Disney+)
The anthology format had previously delivered stunning animated shorts from visionary international studios.
Volume 3 was strikingly uneven: a handful of beautiful episodes were dragged down by others that felt rote or underdeveloped.
For a series meant to showcase bold creativity within the “Star Wars” universe, too many segments played it safe.
10. Love is Blind Season 8 (Netflix)
What started as a genuinely intriguing social experiment about connection without sight has, eight seasons in, become its own worst caricature.
The pods now feel like a tired gimmick, the cast members increasingly self-aware (and fame-hungry), and the drama so predictably manufactured that every revelation lands with a shrug.
The weddings still happen, the tears still flow, but the central question — is love truly blind? — has long since been answered with a resounding “no, and we’re all exhausted.”
This article was edited with AI and reviewed by human editors
