History BittersweetEnding / LiveActionTV

* ''Series/Accused2023'': Derrick is killed but thanks to the bailiff getting the confession of the false testimony on tape, the case against the others is thrown out, the FBI agent in charge of this mess and that guard are likely in trouble and the scandal has caused the Justice Department to stop the illegal mining.

** ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' has "Who Mourns For Adonais". After keeping the Enterprise crew trapped on his planet, insisting he be worshipped, Apollo realizes that his late cohorts (the other Greek gods) were right in that "There is no room for Gods" in the 23rd century. Thus, the last of the Olympian gods dissipates himself, joining his old comrades in oblivion. Kirk and company, while having saved themselves from Apollo's clutches and regained their autonomy, come to regret it, noting that the Greek gods inspired much of the culture, narrative traditions, and philosophy that still live on. Kirk muses about if it would have hurt just a little to "gather a few more laurel leaves?"

*** The episode "Legacy" ends with Ishara Yar's betrayal of the Enterprise crew to the Coalition, despite their initial welcoming attitude towards her based on the fact that she was the sister of the late beloved Tasha Yar. Although she feels remorse, there is little chance of reconciliation and Data realizes that he has discovered a new emotion: betrayal.
*** The seventh series episode "Thine Own Self" involves an amnesiac Data being lost on a pre-first contact planet. He befriends a family with a young girl, who names him Jayden. He's eventually murdered by the townspeople who suspect him of causing a plague (they're half [[RightForTheWrongReasons right]]; the "plague" is radiation sickness, caused by the container of material Data brought to town, not knowing of its danger). The crew eventually arrives and finds where he's "buried", Data gets to go home and has his memories restored. However, he has forgotten everything that happened, including the family who helped him, and Gia will never know he survived. The B Plot also has a bittersweet tone as Deanna Troi studied to obtain the rank of Commander -but to do so has to send a holographic version of her own crew to their death, something she now knows she may ''have'' to do while holding that Rank - this is a massive shift for Deanna, but as the well known Star Trek phrase goes: ''"The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few or the one."''
*** "The Chase" has the Enterprise compete with the Klingons, Cardassians, and Romulans in search of an ancient treasure - which they discover to be a message detailing ''the origins of all their species' existence in the galaxy'' - a primordial race that traveled into space and discovered they were alone decided to create more, seeded across many planets. They did this in hopes that their "children" would all one day come together and see they were not alone, [[TearJerker as they had been]]. The Cardassians and Klingons don't appreciate the sentiment and both leave furious at this "worthless" treasure. However Picard feels the journey was worthwhile and in the end, the ''Romulan'' Commander of all people relates to Picard's feelings. The two share a brief but meaningful goodbye, suggesting that "one day" the future their creators wished for might be so. The episode ends with one of the first glimpses of a far-off, but possible, peace between Romulus and the Federation.
*** "Hero Worship" ends with the boy whose parents died no longer in denial, but still in what Deanna Troi calls "a lot of pain".
*** At the end of "Disaster", the disaster is over, Picard mentions that it's taking a long time for things to return to normal.

*** The ending to the entire series starts with the Federation officers most involved in the Dominion War refusing to toast their victory with General Martok, thanks to the loss of lives on both sides. It ends with most of the characters separated to start new lives and one of them dead (sort of). Even the Cardassians get a bittersweet ending, Garak in particular. While Garak is happy that Cardassia is now free of Dominion rule (and that he can return home), he notes that it had been devastated from the war, twisted under its occupation, and further ruined by the attempted genocide of its people. When Bashir tries to cheer him up by saying that they will rebuild, Garak angrily responds that of course they will rebuild, but not as the Cardassia he knew. He succeeded at freeing Cardassia and going home, but the home that he was banished from no longer existed. Pretty much everything about Deep Space Nine's finale was a bittersweet ending. The Dominion has been stopped, freeing the Gamma Quadrant and saving the Alpha Quadrant but at the cost of billions of lives. Odo gets to save his people and reunite with them showing a better way but has to put his relationship with Kira on hold. Sisko joins the prophets but is guaranteed to return and while the Federation staff move on they leave the station and Bajor in better hands and with a bright future.
*** The episode "The Quickening" certainly qualifies. Dr. Bashir encounters a planet whose population has been infected by the terminal "Quickening" virus and figures that his fancy equipment and magic potions will cure everyone in time for dinner. Unfortunately, not only do his potions not work on anyone, but his equipment starts making everyone die faster. Bashir is utterly heartbroken -- and then a dying woman whom he had been caring for has given birth to a child free of the virus. This gives Bashir and the people a ray of hope -- he can't cure the people infected with the virus, but he can spare the next generation from its curse.
*** At the end of "Babel", the replicators are still broken and Sisko describes things as "slowly" returning to normal, but at least [[PlagueEpisode the virus]] has been cured.
*** "Hard Time" ends with O'Brien no longer suicidal and convinced that he's not a bad person for killing his simulated cellmate, but he will apparently take an entire month to recover from the experience.

*** The series ends with the knowledge that the Enterprise NX-01's mission was a resounding success, Captain Archer is virtually guaranteed promotion to Admiral, and the Coalition of Planets is about to become official. But with all that, Archer has still lost his best buddy, Trip. And the Enterprise is still going to be decommissioned, ending the era for the ship his father built. Archer is still going to lose his prized beagle in one of the timelines. It's likely not Porthos, but still... Fan backlash to the finale was so strong that there are canonical implications in books that the holographic log Riker is watching is ''not'' historically accurate, but a cover story for a secret mission. In that version, Trip survives.
*** "Fight or Flight" ends with Hoshi deciding to stay on ''Enterprise'' and no longer feeling down on herself, but she has to [[UnsuccessfulPetAdoption leave her pet slug-like alien, Sluggo, on another planet]] since there isn't enough argon to sustain it on the ''Enterprise''.
*** At the end of "Shadows of P'Jem", T'Pol is injured and confined to sickbay for the day, but at least she's not going to have to leave ''Enterprise''. Similarly, "Impulse" ends with T'Pol's insanity cured, but she's still recovering in sickbay.
*** "The Seventh" ends with T'Pol still processing her [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone guilt]] for wrongly executing Jossen, but the mission resolved.
*** "The Communicator" ends with the ''Enterprise'' crew having failed to prevent cultural contamination, but at the same time, having successfully retrieved their lost technology, and T'Pol being proud at Archer's noble act.
*** At the end of "Fusion", T'Pol still has a possibly-lethal disease, while Yuris, who tried to help her, is suspended from the High Command. However, Phlox is still trying to find a cure and T'Pol is still trying to help Yuris and others in his situation.
*** The end of "First Flight" sees Archer still grieving his old friend A.G. Robinson, but he and T'Pol have succeeded in their mission to excite dark matter, revealing a nebula.
*** "Similitude" ends with Trip's injuries being treated and the ship's damaged systems being fixed, but Trip's clone, Sim, who was created solely to heal Trip, dies in essentially a self-sacrifice.
*** At the end of "The Augments", all of the Augments are dead, but on the other hand, they ''were'' going to illegally create more Augments, which risked starting another Eugenics War. Soong is sad that they died, but he decides to take up cybernetics, which will eventually lead to the creation of [[Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration Data]].
*** In "Daedalus", Emery Erickson fails his goal of saving his son, but he's at least happy that the son got to die ''properly'' rather than be stuck in limbo.
*** In "The Aenar", Gareb dies despite everyone's best efforts, Shran anticipates punishment, and Trip transfers to another ship in a fit of guilt. On the plus side, however, Jhamel and T'Pol have recovered from their injuries, and the drone ships that were the main threat of the episode have been destroyed.
*** At the end of "Terra Prime", the conference that will eventually lead to the establishment of the Federation is formed, but on the other hand, [[DeathOfAChild Elizabeth, the alien hybrid baby, dies]].

*** Film/ElCamino gives him a happy ending that costs him a price, as his friend Skinny Pete is arrested for harboring Jesse, he has also become the most wanted in America as the cops figure out his true role in blue meth industry post-Ozymandias, his family has also completely disowned him and he had to trick his parents for killing more people. But, Jesse is safe, free and happy after almost a year, sorted out his mental issues with Walt and all other issues with his enemies, and looks for a well-settled job in Alaska with a new name and identity.

** ''Series/UltramanTiga'': Gatanozoa is defeated and humanity is saved. However, the Spark Lens dissipates into dust. But hey, Daigo finally gets to marry Rena in the end.
** ''Series/UltramanDyna'': Dyna defeats Gransphire. Sadly, the battle came with a price: Asuka/Dyna get sucked into a wormhole, knowing the fact that [[YouCantGoHomeAgain he will no longer see his friends again]]...

** ''Series/BakuryuuSentaiAbaranger'' - Mikoto/[=AbareKiller=] is dead and Asuka and Mahoro return to Dino Earth, vowing that they will name their new baby after him. Sometime later, there is a reunion of the show's TrueCompanions, with the missing Mikoto, Rijewel, Asuka, and Mahoro replaced by identical-looking customers who just happen to wander into Dino Curry at the right moment.

* ''Series/FatherTed'': Upon learning the American parish he's headed to is rife with gang violence, Ted is able to duck out in time but that means he's stuck on Craggy Island.

*** The ending to starts with the Federation officers most involved in the Dominion War refusing to toast their victory with General Martok, thanks to the loss of lives on both sides. It ends with most of the characters separated to start new lives and one of them dead (sort of). Even the Cardassians get a bittersweet ending, Garak in particular. While Garak is happy that Cardassia is now free of Dominion rule (and that he can return home), he notes that it had been devastated from the war, twisted under its occupation, and further ruined by the attempted genocide of its people. When Bashir tries to cheer him up by saying that they will rebuild, Garak angrily responds that of course they will rebuild, but not as the Cardassia he knew. He succeeded at freeing Cardassia and going home, but the home that he was banished from no longer existed. Pretty much everything about Deep Space Nine's finale was a bittersweet ending. The Dominion has been stopped, freeing the Gamma Quadrant and saving the Alpha Quadrant but at the cost of billions of lives. Odo gets to save his people and reunite with them showing a better way but has to put his relationship with Kira on hold. Sisko joins the prophets but is guaranteed to return and while the Federation staff move on they leave the station and Bajor in better hands and with a bright future.

* ''Series/TheBoys2019'': Hughie's vendetta against A-Train is resolved and Starlight stood up for herself, choosing to act heroic no matter who she's working for. The truth about the heroes, the V, and the people who the Supers killed is out in the open and the Boys know everything. But the truth isn't all good, especially for Butcher. His wife is revealed to be alive, and she's been raising Homelander and her's son.

* ''Series/TheGoldenGirls'':
** Dorothy finally finds true love with Blanche's uncle, but the girls all end up going their separate ways; Dorothy moving to Atlanta, Sophia going with her and Rose moving in with her daughter, leaving Blanche all alone.

* ''Series/SquidGame'': Gi-hun wins the games and 45.6 billion won cash prize, but loses all of his friends he made there and as a result becomes [[ShellShockedVeteran thoroughly broken by the whole experience]]. He is also too late to save his mother from succumbing to diabetes, despite [[ShaggyDogStory saving her being the only reason he reentered the games in the first place]]. Gi-hun spends the next year as a wreck of a man, unwilling to use the money to improve his life, and nearly commits suicide until a sudden revelation makes him decide to turn his life around, and fulfill a promise he made to his dead friends -- by taking care of their families. Upon learning that the games are ''still'' being held, he also decides that [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge he will turn the tables on their creators]].