Three Netflix romances that ended exactly how they shouldn’t have
Romance on Netflix is typically a tricky business.
If you are lucky, you get the warm fuzzies, or it’s just chaotic love triangles where the protagonist ends up choosing themselves. And sometimes you get endings so wrong you want to throw your popcorn at the screen.
We’ve all been there. You ship a couple for a couple of seasons only to see them crash and burn, or you get sold a ‘love story’ that leaves you ugly crying instead. Netflix knows very well how to pull us in with meet-cutes, love triangles, and all those steamy moments that make you pause and rewind. But when it comes to the finish line? Yeah, they don’t always stick the landing. Some romances feel rushed or cut short, and others just…make zero sense.
What makes it worse is how invested we all get. We are not just casual viewers here. We are tweeting theories, editing TikToks, and defending our ships in the Reddit comments section like our lives depend on it. So when Netflix botches an ending, it feels personal.
Let’s talk about the ones that really stung. The romances that should have gone a whole other way, the ones that still spark debates in group chats. Here are three Netflix romances that ended exactly how they shouldn’t have.
Three Netflix romances that ended badly
Never Have I Ever (2020–2023)
Just one statement: Devi Vishwakumar deserved better. When Never Have I Ever aired the first time, it captivated with the story of a typical teenager who is quite sharp, but when it comes to love, it’s only bad decisions. All of us related to Devi at some point or another, but after four seasons of messy love triangles, therapy sessions, and character growth, she ends up with…Ben? Really? The guy who spent most of high school negging her and competing with her at every turn? Sure, they had some chemistry, but it always felt more toxic than romantic. Watching Devi circle back to Ben in the finale felt like hitting rewind on her growth.
Fans were quick to point out that Paxton, the so-called ‘hot jock’, actually had one of the best glow-ups in the series. He learnt, matured, and respected Devi in a way that felt real. Some argue he should’ve been the endgame. Others think Devi should have ended with no one at all, proving she didn’t need to measure her worth through a boyfriend. Either way, handing her back to Ben felt like Netflix did us bad.
Sex Education (2019–2023)
Ugh, talk about wasted potential. Netflix gave us two brilliant initial seasons of Sex Education, and then messed up with the latter two when it came to storyline. They made us root for Maeve and Otis all this time; they were literally the backbone of this show. The awkward boy and the brilliant, misunderstood girl who slowly found their way to each other. Four seasons of near-kisses, bad timing, and will-they-won’t-they tension, and when the finale comes? Maeve packs her bags for America, Otis stays in Moordale, and they break up with a sad little “maybe someday”.
Excuse me? That’s not romantic tension; that’s emotional robbery. Fans spent years rooting for these two only to watch them walk away from each other. Yes, Maeve chasing her dreams is empowering, but why set up this massive love story just to toss it in the trash? Also, they killed an amazing storyline, which received a lot of backlash when it ended: Otis and Ruby. Many fans loved them together and thought the chemistry was better than Otis and Maeve. The writers pulled the rug out from under everyone, and the fandom is still salty about it.
All the Bright Places (2020)
This one hurt so much it killed some part of us. Marketed as a sweet YA romance, this movie starts with the perfect setup: Violet, still grieving her sister, meets Finch, the charming outsider who helps her live again. This story is everything it has to be. It’s tender, it’s heartfelt, and it makes you believe in young love…until it doesn’t. The ending took an unexpectedly tragic turn that left viewers sobbing and questioning why they just put themselves through two hours of emotional trauma.
Yes, it is based on a book. Yes, the ending is faithful. But that doesn’t make it less brutal. Netflix packaged it like a comfort romance and then blindsided everyone with heartbreak. It is exactly the kind of ending that doesn’t feel wrong because it is unrealistic. It feels wrong because it’s just cruel. People came for a love story, and what they got was a gut punch.