Earlier this week, Pretty Little Liars finally solved the show’s biggest mystery: Who is "A"?

Spoiler alert: After the revelation that Charles DiLaurentis is CeCe Drake, fans’ reactions were … well … mixed, with some viewers blown away by the big announcement and others seriously underwhelmed.

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This wasn’t the first time a series has raised all-consuming, conspiracy-theory-inspiring questions only to miss the mark when it finally delivered the answers. Below, some of the most disappointing (and spoiler-filled) outcomes to TV’s iconic riddles.

Gossip Girl

Who is Gossip Girl? The question plagued viewers for six seasons of The CW’s show about wealthy teens on New York City’s Upper East Side. When the gang (and viewers) finally got an answer in the series finale, many were outraged that the enigmatic blogger voiced by Kristen Bell was actually Brooklynite Dan Humphrey (Penn Badgley). That’s right, the monstrous gossip-monger was just a Lonely Boy from the wrong side of the East River. Also annoying? Serena’s (Blake Lively) total forgiveness of Dan’s manipulations: “What he did was write a love letter.” XOXO? Oh no, oh no.

True Detective

The second season of HBO’s law enforcement mystery offered its viewers a slew of disappointments, but one truly stinging letdown happened early on in episode 2, which ended with Detective Ray Velcoro (Colin Farrell) seemingly meeting a violent end at the hands of a mysterious figure in a raven mask. “How bold, how daring!” we thought. “Killing off one of the show’s biggest stars so early on? True Detective is like the Psycho of TV!” But no. The show immediately copped out, revealing in the next episode that Velcoro had been hit with buckshot and would be perfectly fine. Alas, viewers had to suffer through five more episodes of convoluted, seemingly unnecessary plot points before almost everyone was killed off.

RELATED VIDEO: Colin Farrell on True Detective: ‘I Swore I’d Never Play a Cop Again, but It’s So Good’

How I Met Your Mother

We can’t fault HIMYM for taking nine seasons to tell a story that could have been summed up in one sentence (for example: “Your mom was in a wedding band, and I met her at a wedding”) because Ted’s long-winded explanation is what gave the show its humor. What we can’t forgive is how the HIMYM team ended a hilarious show with a major bummer. We’re guessing there are still a lot of fans trying to wrap their minds around the depressing revelation that the Mother had been dead the entire time Ted was callously recounting his dating exploits to his kids – and that was, of course, before he got back together with Robin (Cobie Smulders) in the show’s final minutes.

Lost

One of the best parts about watching Lost was trading theories about the stranded passengers with fellow fanatics. How did many of those conversations go? Something like, “You know what would be really infuriating? If they had introduced all of the mysterious, mystical elements only to deliver a typical more-questions-than-answers finale with no concrete explanations.” Well, congratulations, pessimistic viewer with generic predictions: You were right! The show’s creators decided to wrap up one of TV’s most intriguing, obsession-inducing shows with a hackneyed, dissatisfying trope, with aspects PEOPLE called "so mistily open-ended as to be pointless."