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Sometimes what seemed cool then doesn’t hold up today. Dive into some of the most cringe-worthy CW TV moments that really didn’t age well!
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00:00Rory Gilmore?
00:01Yeah?
00:02Remember me?
00:02I don't think so.
00:04That's very flattering.
00:05Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're discussing CW's shows' most cringe-worthy CGI effects
00:11to the tone-deaf scenes that just didn't stand the test of time.
00:22Lightsaber Duel, The Flash.
00:30In the Season 7 finale, Barry Allen and Eobard Thawne once again face off in Central City.
00:37Instead of relying on speed, strategy, or hand-to-hand combat, the scene escalates into an unintentionally
00:43goofy CGI energy battle.
00:45You're back because of us, right?
00:48And in exchange, I've agreed to help you take down a psychopath.
00:51Flash!
00:52That was nuts!
00:54You do like to party!
00:55During the confrontation, Barry, Thawne, and Godspeed literally manifest glowing lightning
01:02that looks suspiciously like lightsabers from the Star Wars franchise.
01:06The sequence is visually awkward and wildly out of place for the grounded emotional tone
01:11of the series.
01:12Clearly designed to be epic fanservice, the desperation for a viral moment made it fall
01:18flat on its face.
01:19For long-time fans who loved the show's earlier balance of heart and science fiction, the lightsaber
01:25duel drifted too far into cartoonish excess.
01:28This didn't work out like you planned, Flash!
01:30Now guess what comes next?
01:32This!
01:34Tag!
01:35You're dead!
01:37Marvin, You're Just Fat.
01:39One Tree Hill.
01:39One of the One Tree Hill's harshest moments comes when Marvin Mouth McFadden is hosting
01:45a talk show, only to be bluntly called out by his co-host and romantic partner.
01:50Nobody shrunk your shirts.
01:51Nobody added steps to the stairwell at home.
01:54And I am certain that nobody made the buttons on your cell phone smaller.
01:59Marvin, you're fat.
02:01Fat, fat, fat!
02:02The scene was clearly written as a humiliating wake up call during Mouth's oblivious tirade
02:08about his dry cleaner shrinking his clothes.
02:10Revisiting it today, the moment feels unnecessarily cruel and deeply rooted in early 2000s body
02:16shaming culture.
02:17Where is this coming from?
02:18From your waistline mostly and a little from your ass.
02:21I am sorry Marvin, but you've been criticizing the dry cleaner and making crazy insinuations
02:25about all kinds of things when the truth is, you've gained weight.
02:28Rather than thoughtfully exploring emotional eating or self-esteem struggles, the show frames
02:34public humiliation as a difficult character's just desserts.
02:38Modern viewers are far more critical of media that uses weight as the punchline or defining
02:43flaw of a character.
02:44The scene now feels awkward, mean-spirited, and out of touch with current conversations
02:49about body image and mental health.
02:51What you need to understand is that it came from a place of love.
02:55I am genuinely concerned for your health.
02:59And I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings.
03:02Michael Cordero Resurrected
03:04Jane the Virgin
03:05I'm sorry, Jane.
03:08I lied before.
03:11Rose didn't tell me about my parents.
03:16Okay, what did she tell you?
03:18Bringing Michael Cordero back to life after his emotional death was meant to shock and excite
03:23Jane the Virgin fans, but it ultimately weakened the show's emotional stakes.
03:28Viewers spent seasons watching Jane Villanueva grieve Michael, move forward, and slowly rebuild
03:33her life with Raphael.
03:35The reveal that Michael was secretly alive now suffering from amnesia as Jason felt like an
03:40unnecessary soap opera twist even by the series intentionally melodramatic standards.
03:46Ah, yes.
03:47How do you say goodbye to your ex-husband who recently returned from the dead?
03:53Awkward hug.
03:55Good to know.
03:56While the show always embraced the telenovela style, this particular retcon undermined one of the show's most heartfelt and mature
04:03storylines.
04:04In hindsight, The Resurrection felt more like a desperate attempt to create a moment that a natural progression of the
04:10story, showing how even self-aware melodrama can go too far.
04:15And I didn't take that as a red flag?
04:17There were no flags.
04:19Of any color.
04:22Because you liked me so much, back then.
04:25You knew I was the one for you.
04:29Hmm, that's a pretty judgmental, hmm, if you ask me.
04:32Charlie's Death, Supernatural
04:35Charlie Bradbury's death remains one of Supernatural's most controversial moments.
04:50After helping Sam and Dean Winchester decode the dangerous Book of the Damned, Charlie hides from the Stein family in
04:56a remote motel.
04:57Despite being portrayed as intelligent and resourceful throughout the series, she's abruptly killed off screen, with Sam and Dean later
05:05discovering her body in a bathtub.
05:07Charlie, we're gonna miss you.
05:12You were the best.
05:15And I'm so sorry.
05:16Shut up.
05:17Fans were devastated.
05:18Charlie was one of the series' most beloved recurring characters.
05:23Her death also reinforced the infamous practice of fridging.
05:26Female characters being killed off to progress a man's story.
05:30Charlie's death happened mainly to motivate the Winchester brothers' revenge arc.
05:34She gets no real closure, and neither do we.
05:37You're not still sore about, um...
05:41What's her name?
05:44Charlie.
05:45Her name was Charlie.
05:46Francis' pain.
05:48Rain.
05:49They said that the guards outside our chambers were killed, that the assassins never made it in, that you were
05:54untouched.
05:57I lied.
05:59Catherine lied.
06:00So no one would know.
06:02One of the most criticized moments on Rain occurs after Queen Mary is attacked while hiding in a cottage during
06:08the castle plague outbreak.
06:09Although the attack itself is traumatic, the aftermath centers King Francis' emotions rather than Mary's experience.
06:16Shortly after, Francis breaks down in anger and guilt over being unable to protect her, while Mary's perspective temporarily takes
06:24a backseat to his anguish and their marital tension.
06:27Francis, you can't blame yourself.
06:30You're wrong.
06:32Please, don't talk.
06:35It hurts to speak, to think about it, to try and make any sense of it at all.
06:41The scene frames the assault as a catalyst for relationship drama and Francis' crisis of masculinity, instead of fully exploring
06:48Mary's trauma on her own terms.
06:50This approach now feels frustratingly outdated, especially for a show marketed around a strong female historical lead.
06:57They will define who you are perceived to be, your place in history.
07:04Do not let them win.
07:05Damon blames Elena for his killing Aaron.
07:08The Vampire Diaries.
07:21This is a textbook example of toxic relationship drama that hasn't aged well.
07:27After Elena breaks up with him, Damon responds by killing Aaron, a grieving college student.
07:33He then emotionally manipulates Elena by telling her she drove him to it.
07:37I thought you broke my heart, so I rip open Aaron's neck.
07:40That is how much control you have over me.
07:43And I'm still here.
07:44That's how much control you have over me.
07:46Listen to us.
07:47This is toxic.
07:48We are in a toxic relationship, Elena.
07:50And how does it end?
07:51With a love scene, of course.
07:53The show frames Damon's violence as heartbreak rather than abuse, reinforcing unhealthy bad boy romance tropes.
08:00While audiences once embraced his unpredictability as seductive and exciting, modern viewers are far more critical of narratives that romanticize
08:09manipulation.
08:10Looking back, the storyline feels less like tortured romance and more like the normalization of deeply alarming behavior.
08:17Then stop loving me.
08:19I can't.
08:21Well, that's the problem.
08:23We don't work.
08:24Rory body shames a ballet dancer, Gilmore Girls.
08:28Whoa.
08:28What?
08:29Someone wrote something on our door.
08:32Die Jerk.
08:33It says Die Jerk?
08:34It's not coming off.
08:35Rory Gilmore's vicious review in the Yale Daily News stands out as one of the series' meanest moments.
08:41After attending a ballet performance, student reporter Rory harshly mocks a struggling dancer's appearance and ability, humiliating her publicly for
08:50laughs.
08:51Do I see the word hippo coming up?
08:52Give me the paper.
08:53I'm sorry.
08:54It's just so specific.
08:55It's what I saw, so I wrote it.
08:56That's what the editor told me to do.
08:58The plotline was originally framed as part of Rory's growth as a writer, but today, it comes across as unnecessarily
09:04cruel and elitist.
09:06What makes the moment especially uncomfortable is that Rory is indignant about the dancer's response, not seeing how she was
09:13totally out of line.
09:14Look, Sandra, that's your name, right? Sandra?
09:17This was all in the line of duty.
09:19It was an assignment from my editor, so there was nothing personal, okay?
09:22You called me a hippo!
09:24No, no, I compared you to a hippo, that's not calling you a hippo, and it was a humorous comparison.
09:29I was trying to destroy me and my company.
09:31She doesn't want to be accountable for what she writes.
09:34For a character often portrayed as compassionate and grounded, the incident reveals a snobbish streak that clashes with the audience's
09:41perception of her.
09:42Geez.
09:43Oh, now come on.
09:44This is just so harsh.
09:46Again, you were there.
09:47I know, but there's something about seeing it in print.
09:50People don't write as mean as they talk.
09:52Except you.
09:52Lexa's Demise, The Hundred
09:54I will fix you.
09:56Just stay with me.
09:59Don't get away from me.
10:05Forgive me, man.
10:07A beloved character's shocking departure reignited discourse around one of the most controversial tropes in TV, the bury your gaze
10:15trope.
10:15Lexa had become a groundbreaking leader and fan favorite love interest for Clark Griffin.
10:21What angered audiences even more was the timing.
10:24Moments after Lexa and Clark consummate their relationship, Lexa is accidentally shot and killed by Titus.
10:31I swear.
10:32I swear.
10:33Well, no.
10:35I am not letting you die.
10:39There's nothing you can do now.
10:41Even at the time, the online backlash was massive and sparked larger industry conversations about representation and harmful storytelling patterns.
10:50Lexa's death remains one of television's most infamous examples of a beloved minority character being sacrificed for drama.
10:58Given a 2025 GLAAD report that there's been a steep decline in LGBTQ plus characters on TV in general, it
11:04only seemed like a sign of things to come.
11:07What happened to number eight?
11:15Let me talk about something else.
11:17Archie and Miss Grundy's relationship, Riverdale.
11:20Archie, what are you doing walking in this heat?
11:24Uh, building character.
11:28Do you want a ride?
11:29The dark reimagining of the Archie comics opened with one of its most controversial storylines.
11:35Archie Andrews secretly having a relationship with his music teacher, Geraldine Grundy.
11:40The show initially frames the affair as forbidden romance and adolescent angst, rather than recognizing Archie as the victim of
11:47an exploitative power imbalance.
11:49You're the music teacher, can we talk about music?
11:51Of course.
11:54Make an appointment.
11:55During my office hours, my official office hours.
11:58Scenes between Archie and Miss Grundy are shot with a seductive, dramatic tone that minimizes the predatory,
12:05nature of the relationship.
12:06While later episodes attempt to acknowledge the danger more directly,
12:10the early framing remains deeply uncomfortable in retrospect.
12:13What was intended as edgy noir storytelling instead just gives us the ick almost a decade on.
12:19I don't think we should be alone together.
12:24If this is you trying to restart something that never should have started in the first place.
12:31No, it's not.
12:32Chuck Bass attacks Jenny Humphrey.
12:34Gossip Girl.
12:35Looks like little Jay might end up with a new boy and a ticket to the inner circle.
12:40Or will C end up with another victim?
12:42I told you I love parties.
12:44The Gossip Girl pilot features a now infamous scene where Chuck Bass corners freshman Jenny Humphrey
12:50before her brother Dan and protagonist Serena intervene.
12:54The moment is disturbing enough on its own.
12:56What makes it age especially poorly is how the series later reinvents Chuck into a charming romantic lead
13:02without seriously reckoning with his earlier behavior.
13:05Everywhere I went, you caught up with me.
13:11I had to come back.
13:15I want to believe you.
13:20But I can't.
13:23You hurt me too many times.
13:25You can believe me this time.
13:27As the show progressed, audiences were encouraged to root for Chuck and Blair Waldorf as an iconic couple.
13:32This attempted assault is bizarrely glossed over by the narrative.
13:37Revisiting the scene today highlights how casually trauma and consent issues were sometimes treated in shows for young people.
13:50Were there any moments you found especially cringeworthy or problematic?
13:54Or do you think we missed some other jaw-dropping scenes?
13:57Let us know in the comments below.