Warning – this post may contain spoilers for Veronica Mars, Orange is the New Black, Will and Grace and Jane the Virgin.

If you read my spoiler statement above then you have probably realised that I have a type of TV show. And yes, it may be stereotypical. But that doesn’t diminish my attachment, my love and my anger.

In this current climate of revivals and returns a lot of shows are writing new endings, rewriting endings and undoing endings. After all, when does the story end?

I was bemused a few years ago when Will and Grace exploded back onto our screens, claiming a version of ‘it was all a dream’. With their first finale episode spelling out a story that spanned a baby’s journey to college, in order for them to bring the show back they had to undo that. It seems that all you need to pull off a successful new story, all you have to do is ignore the old ending.

If bemused was Will and Grace, then touched was Jane the Virgin. Being a telenovela, we knew that it would end with the good characters getting their happy endings (and the bad characters, not). That didn’t stop the sincere glow of Gina Rodriguez and steamy hotness of Justin Baldoni bringing just the right amount of cheese. Through its five seasons they show brought the ridiculous to real-life with good writing and performances all around. And this was exactly how the final episode (chapter 100) ended, with ridiculousness, humour and so much love.

Touched was Jane the Virgin, blown away was Orange is the New Black. They found something in the last season that they hadn’t quite put their finger on. They absolutely nailed it. Introducing the ICE detention centre allowed them to tell the story of the disappearing ‘illegals’. But I could not get past the climax of the season, the inmate who has been told she’s dumb by everyone her entire life finally eking out a modicum of self-belief. And the system failing her. Let’s just say that the final two episodes had me crying. Not a single luminous tear tracking down my face, ugly, loud, snot-filled crying.

And that brings me to Veronica Mars and anger. Veronica Mars is the standout show on this list, it has been brought back not once but twice. It is also the show that I have the strongest connection to, family bonding time. I was part of the Kickstarter campaign that got the movie made, bringing it back a decade after it had been cancelled. I loved every moment of it. Even though the movie ruined her career and dragged her back into the muck, I could forgive it because of her strong relationships. Then they announced a new season. Imagine my surprise when that season dropped without warning on Stan – of course I binged the lot. And then vibrated with anger. Rob Thomas did that common TV trick, that annoying and heart-braking thing. He made everyone happy and then killed off a major character. I immediately felt that Rob Thomas had fallen into the trap of basically all TV writers, married women can’t be interesting (unless it’s a show about marriage). As Rob Thomas discussed wanting to make future seasons, “But I feel as though we are going to have a better shot of doing more and more Veronica Mars if our heroine does not have a boyfriend or a husband back home.” Because we can’t possibly watch a woman being a kick-ass detective if she has a husband at home.

Unsurprisingly, killing off the ‘epic’ love of Veronica’s life in an add-on scene unnecessary to the plot made me angry. And it’s not just me. Checking out the level-headed social places of Twitter and Tumblr, you will come across message after message of heartbreak and anger. I think that the disassociated nature of this ending added to the feelings of loss and anger. It just did not feel necessary.

Endings are important. They’re important whether they are final, temporary or about to be undone. There are only a few milestones in our lives where we have control over our own endings. The rest of them take us by surprise, or slip by without being noticed. When we’ve invested time, energy and even money in a story then the ending has to fit. It must be necessary.