Why We Feel So Sad When a Book or TV Show Ends
Finishing a really good TV show can create an unexpected problem. We finally reach the episode we've been waiting for, watch the credits roll, and then realize we don't want to start anything else.
Books can do the same thing. After spending days, weeks, or even months following the same characters, reaching the final page can leave us feeling surprisingly sad.
As it turns out, there are a few reasons why we sometimes miss these stories long after we've reached the end.
We Really Do Get Attached to Fictional Characters
We know they're fictional. Our brains haven't missed that detail. Still, we can develop one-sided emotional connections with characters known as parasocial relationships.
Researchers saw this play out when the long-running Australian series Neighbours originally ended in 2022. A study of 1,289 fans found greater grief and loss reactions among people who felt more connected to the series and had stronger parasocial relationships with their favorite characters. That makes a lot of sense when we think about how much time we spend with them.
We watch characters fall in love, make terrible decisions, lose people, find people. And, occasionally, we even talk to the TV because they’re very obviously choosing the wrong person. After 100 episodes, they become awfully familiar to us.
Books Can Get Us, Too
Television doesn't have a monopoly on fictional heartbreak. Researchers have also studied parasocial relationships with book characters. The more immersed we become in a story, the easier it is to form a connection with its characters.
Books may even give us a particularly intimate view of fictional people. We can spend hundreds of pages inside a character's thoughts, fears, memories, and private conversations. Then, we turn the last page. And, honestly, it can leave us feeling a little lost.
We're Also Losing Part of Our Routine
Sometimes, it isn't only the characters we're missing. A television show may have been what we watched every night after dinner. A book might have lived on our nightstand for weeks.
Stories can become woven into the ordinary parts of our days. Finishing one means losing that familiar little ritual, too.
It's why starting another book immediately can feel wrong. We have an entire shelf waiting for us, but we're still back in the last one.
Rewatching and Rereading Makes Perfect Sense
This may also explain why we return to our favorite stories even though we already know how the story ends. There isn't much suspense when we've watched Outlander six times. We're still going back through those stones with Claire.
But, suspense isn't necessarily the point. Rewatching a show or rereading a book lets us spend time in a familiar world with characters we already know. We don't have to wonder whether we'll like them. We've already done the introductions.
Sometimes, familiar is exactly what we're looking for.
It's Okay to Miss People Who Aren't Real
Feeling a little sad when a story ends doesn't mean we've confused fiction with reality. It may simply mean the story did its job remarkably well.
We cared. We got invested. And, for a while, those characters had a regular place in our evenings, weekends, or bedtime routines. Eventually, another book will land on the nightstand. Another show will become the reason we stay up one episode later than planned.
Still, maybe we can give our old fictional friends a day before replacing them. After everything we've been through together, they deserve at least that much.
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