Disturbing TV Scenes Fans Wish They Never Saw

From crime dramas to thrillers, science fiction to animated comedies, TV shows often use disturbing scenes to heighten a sense of drama. However, in their relentless pursuit of intensity, sometimes these shows can go a little too far, venturing into territory so unsettling that audiences are left wishing they could erase those moments from their memories.

Though these powerful scenes can often drive home an emotional point, graphic imagery, gory violence, or just upsetting ideas can cross that fine line between effective storytelling and the realm of gratuitousness. These scenes are always meant to provoke a horrified response, but the creators probably aren't looking to traumatize their viewers. Yet that's often what these scenes do, sending audiences bailing for the blankets, and in extreme cases, refusing to tune in to another episode.

Whether they're meant to horrify or not, we've found numerous scenes that fans across social media have described as disturbing — often even traumatizing. Maybe you've seen them yourself and think some folks may be overreacting, or perhaps you feel the exact same way. Either way, we've poked around online discussions and found a list of TV scenes that disturbed fans so much that they wished they'd never seen them.

While "Star Trek" has had its share of more adult moments, it's usually been family-friendly. That began to change when it came back to TV in 2017 with "Star Trek: Discovery," which sometimes sported a TV-MA rating. In 2020, the long-awaited sequel "Star Trek: Picard" pushed the boundaries further, and the fifth episode, "Stardust City Rag" went too far for some viewers.

That episode opened with one of the most shocking and graphic scenes in the franchise's history, as a beloved character from "Star Trek: Voyager" made his return in a brutal torture scene. Taken captive by a sadistic villain, the former Borg drone Icheb is strapped down and has his eyeball plucked out of its socket, and the camera never cuts away. 

Though the scene doesn't go anywhere other adult dramas haven't gone before, it's affected plenty of Trekkies who didn't expect such a disturbing and gory moment in what had ordinarily been a family show. "The Icheb scene is WAY [beyond] what I want to see and experience!," said a fan on Trekmovie.com. "'Star Trek' is a show I want to put on and watch with my son without having fear of sending him to a psychological doctor. ... [This scene] is absolutely over the top and even much [more] disturbing for adults!"

"The Handmaid's Tale" is based on a beloved dystopian sci-fi novel by Margaret Atwood and has excelled as one of the more disturbing visions of a dark future. It follows the life of June Osborn, a young woman whose life is turned upside down when the government enacts a brutal patriarchal regime that turns women into slaves overnight. Filled with social allegory, the series has been critically acclaimed since it first premiered, but right out of the gate it provided a scene that has left many extremely troubled and unable to sit through more than once. 

"The first scene of 'The Handmaid's Tale' when June and Hannah were kidnapped by Gilead," answered Reddit user MistressGravity when she was asked what TV scenes disturbed her the most. Hannah's agonizing screams as June and her daughter are separated is what pushed her over the edge, but it was made all the worse by developments later in the series. "When Hannah asked June much later in the show, 'why didn't you come for me?' I've watched and rewatched the show many times, but still can't bring myself to rewatch the first episode. It's just too hard to watch."

"The Outer Limits" is no stranger to unsettling moments and scenes that send shivers up your spine. But despite all the classic episodes the franchise has produced, there's one moment that is far more disturbing than the rest, and it comes from an episode of the revival called "Simon Says."

The episode stars Academy Award winner Joel Grey as an inventor and engineer who hopes to replace his dead son with a robot duplicate. The problem is that the resulting creation doesn't have a good grasp of human morality or its own dangerous capabilities, and soon becomes a misguided tormentor. But it's the scene where Simon is innocently petting a cat that has fans of the show wishing they'd never tuned in. Because while Simon believes he's casually feeling the kitty's soft fur, he's actually mutilating it with his sharp robot fingers. 

"He also sighs 'Soooffffft' while doing this. I was jittery and sleepless for at least [a] week," said Mtthellspawn on Reddit. And he was hardly the only one traumatized. "Some things are better left buried deep. Very deep," said CraigHobsonLives on a separate Reddit discussion.

In 2010, satirist Charlie Brooker crafted "Black Mirror," a return to the genre of sci-fi anthology a la "The Twilight Zone" and "The Outer Limits." Updated for the 21st century, stories were more focused on modern social issues and the dangers of technology, and its first episode featured a scene so painful to watch that many decided they never would again. That opening episode involves the Prime Minister being blackmailed into having sexual intercourse with a pig in order to save the life of a royal family member who has been taken hostage.

The scene where the PM goes through with the act might still be the most shocking in the show's history, and some have pointed out the problem with starting the show with such a disturbing first installment. "I heard so many glowing raves about the show, I decided to give it a try," said Reddit user MumboBJumbo. "A year has passed since I saw episode 1 and I can't bring myself to even consider watching episode 2." Cheapsoda went further, adding "I've had so many people tell me they quit after the first episode because it was so intense."

Nevertheless, despite scores of online comments from viewers who'd refused to watch another episode, "Black Mirror" went on to become a smash hit — that harrowing first episode was followed by 26 more and a made-for-streaming movie.

Even though it was a comedy, "M*A*S*H" was never afraid to go dark, and was known for mixing melancholy themes with black humor. But even for a show set in the middle of a bloody war, there's one scene that stands out as truly trying the steely stomachs of its most dedicated audience members. And what makes it all the more remarkable is that it proved so unsettling despite barely showing us anything on screen, with the darkest moment coming via the confession of Hawkeye (Alan Alda).

It happens in the show's two-hour series finale, "Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen." Hawkeye begins the episode by describing a recent incident where he'd helped a busload of refugees stay clear of an enemy attack, and telling a woman to silence her screaming chickens. Later, however, we learn that when the woman snuffed out the life to save the entire group of refugees, it was no chicken, but her own baby. "I have not seen it for years but it still upsets me," said redpepperdeb on Reddit.

Surprisingly, though, it's even a moment that non-fans have been deeply affected by. "I never watched 'MASH' regularly but saw that episode when I was a kid and still think about [it] from time to time," said tiredladyofcourse. "That scene really stuck with me."

From the Red Wedding to various beheadings, HBO's fantasy epic "Game of Thrones" is littered with gore and other moments that could easily make this list. But looking at reactions from fans across social media, a few have stood out, including a scene from the episode "Home" in the show's sixth season. Like so many other horrifying moments, it involved the bloody death of a character, but this time it was a double dose of disturbing as it saw the end of two innocent lives in a fashion too uncomfortable for many to sit through.

In that episode, Ramsay Bolton (Iwan Rheon) fears his father Roose (Michael McElhatton) will take away his inheritance after Roose's wife Walda Frey (Elizabeth Webster) gives birth to a new baby boy. To ensure his future, Ramsay betrays them all, murdering his father, and feeding Walda and her baby to Winterfell wolves. Though we don't see their deaths firsthand, their blood-curdling screams and the sound of ripping flesh of Walda and her newborn baby were enough to send viewers over the edge. "I've repressed [that scene] ... but I remember being deeply disturbed by it," said ragingolive over on Reddit.