Top 10 Unhinged Teen Drama Moments

If there’s one thing we know to be true, it’s that “Skins” wasn’t afraid to take it to the limit. The British television show delved deep into topics like mental health, sexuality, abuse, and … bus accidents? Tony and Michelle were a big “will they/won’t they” couple throughout the first season of “Skins.” In the finale episode of the season, Tony finally gets over himself and tells Michelle he loves her over the phone. Unfortunately, he also is absolutely crushed by a bus immediately afterwards. The whiplash we get from those ten seconds of high highs and low lows might never be matched by another show.

“Awkward” is one of those teen shows that we feel doesn’t get the due it deserves for how great it is. And it definitely doesn’t get credit for just how crazy it could get. The show more than lives up to its name from its opening moments. In the very first episode, Jenna receives what’s referred to as a “care-frontation letter” in her own home that tells her she is a nobody. The shock causes her to accidentally break her arm and neck. But, the most unhinged part is that later on in the season, Jenna learns that the person who wrote the letter was none other than her own mother. Absolutely wild behavior, to say the least.

“Euphoria” is a show that is not for the faint of heart, and it has had its fair share of unhinged moments. Like in the very first episode when you find out that teenaged Jules is sleeping with her classmate Nate’s dad. Yep, that’s a hook alright! But season two went above and beyond when it comes to the deranged, capping it all off with Lexi Howard’s play. For some reason, Lexi thought it would be a great idea to write, produce, and perform a play about her family and friends and their problems … while said family and friends watched from the audience. It’ll come as no surprise that this caused her sister Cassie to have a full on nervous breakdown. Go figure.

During its heyday, “Glee” wasn’t exactly known for being lowkey. We’ve all seen the “You’re all minorities” clip online somewhere by now so we know this show wasn’t exactly sane. Much like that exact quote, most of the show’s wackiest moments came from Mr. Will Schuester himself. We could write a dissertation on why this man shouldn’t be a teacher, but this is one of his worst moments. The man casts himself as Rocky in a high school production of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.” Rocky! The show’s unequivocal sex object! He’s a teacher! This is a fireable offense, in our opinion.

It’s normal for an actor to want to move on and try something new. When you’re on a long-running television show like “Dawson’s Creek,” that means the writers have to find some way to write you off. And, in the case of John Wesley Shipp, write him off they did! Shipp played Dawson’s dad Mitch, and when he started to dislike the storylines of the adult characters in the show, he agreed to be killed off. So how’d they do it, you ask? Cancer? A heart attack? Oh, no. Mitch Leery left this mortal world because he dropped his ice cream while driving and crashed his car… Disastrous.

Listen, we get that the whole point of teen dramas is to, well, stir up drama, but if something like this happened in a real foster family, we think it would probably be a bigger cause for concern. In “The Fosters,” Callie is a foster kid who goes to live with a family, coincidentally with the last name “Foster”. Brandon is the biological son of one of Callie's foster parents, and he quickly develops feelings for her – that is, his foster sister. Look, we know they’re not actually related. But they’re both looking to the same people for caretaking and that’s gotta make things weird, not to mention pretty complicated.

Speaking of complicated relationships, we’ve also got Serena and Dan. They’re not related – thank goodness – but there is one person in the world who shares DNA with both of them separately, and that’s pretty weird. Dan and Serena are one of the central couples of “Gossip Girl,” but one of the other main duos are none other than their respective parents. Dan’s father, Rufus, and Serena’s mother, Lily, are given a lot of airtime, and the revelation of their secret love child is just the tip of the iceberg. Eventually, Rufus and Lily even get married, making Dan and Serena, who are still dating, step-siblings. Okay, we don’t want to think about the logistics of all of this anymore.

Buckle up folks, and make sure to secure your own mask before helping your neighbor. “The Secret Life of the American Teenager” was a television show so unhinged, it’s hard to explain it to the generations who missed it. One of its crowning achievements comes in season two, when Christian good girl Grace finally hooks up with her boyfriend Jack. Unfortunately, at about the same moment, Grace’s father dies in a plane crash. Grace immediately and bafflingly blames her father’s death on her intimacy with Jack, seeing the whole tragedy as punishment.

“One Tree Hill” definitely had its fair share of deranged moments. Hey, when your show lasts for nine years, you’re bound to go off the walls sometimes. We could have gone with the whole “Clay blocking out that he has a whole entire son” storyline , but this one is just too good to pass up. Dan, who needs a heart transplant, finally sees an organ come through. When his new heart arrives at the hospital, the doctor with the heart in tow trips. Out spills the heart, and a dog that has been inexplicably brought to the hospital eats it. It’s not funny – it’s not – and we keep having to remind ourselves that it’s not.

Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.

Bear Attack, “Riverdale” (2017-23)
We’ve Seen a Lot of Wild Things on This Show, but Bear Attack Takes the Cake

Robot Buffy, “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” (1997-2003)
Spike Is Disgusting for This, Honestly

Sexy Shakespeare, “Sex Education” (2019-)
Make Shakespeare Sexy Again!

Rory & Dean, “Gilmore Girls” (2000-07)
The Hook Up That Should Have Never Been

Prom Night Kidnapping, “One Tree Hill” (2003-12)
High School Was Bad, but at Least You Didn’t Get Kidnapped During Prom

Good music can be life changing for a teen show. It can set a mood, build up emotions… or completely run a moment off its tracks. The latter is what occurred in this unforgettable episode of “The O.C.” After Ryan learns that his brother, Trey, tried to assault Ryan’s girlfriend, Marissa, Ryan angrily confronts him. Marissa busts in on the two as Trey is slowly choking Ryan out. She sees a gun, grabs it, and shoots Trey. We’re not sure who exactly made the call to pick this moment to overlay Imogen Heap’s “Hide and Seek” – specifically, the “mm whatcha say” part from the now famous Jason Derulo sample. One thing’s for sure, it definitely made for a memorable scene.