Not all sad endings are bad endings

It always bothered me when people say that a drama ending is bad solely because it's sad. I understand that people would prefer a happy ending, but don't dismiss it if the ending makes sense from the storyline and character(s) perspective. Don't know if I worded that last part right. 

Anyways, what do you all think? What is your favorite sad ending?

 gabbybob16:

It always bothered me when people say that a drama ending is bad solely because it's sad. I understand that people would prefer a happy ending, but don't dismiss it if the ending makes sense from the storyline and character(s) perspective. Don't know if I worded that last part right. 

Anyways, what do you all think? What is your favorite sad ending?

I totally agree.

I've been wanting to address this topic for a long time, because I find it unfair to only appreciate happy endings and reject all sad ones. I prefer to base my judgment on the coherence of the ending with the script.
Sad endings can be beautiful, even very beautiful, while happy endings can be unsatisfying.

I'll give two examples of beautiful sad endings:
"Marriage Contract": The young mother desperately tries, before dying, to find a future for her daughter, who has already lost her father. The beauty of this drama lies in this quest.
"When the Stars Gossip": A pregnant woman, abandoned by her mother at birth, refuses to sacrifice her baby for her own safety.

There are also examples of unsatisfying happy endings, which are often just as rushed. For example,
- "My Demon": I think I'm going to surprise some people, but after seeing the end of "Black Knight: The Man Who Guards Me," we know the future that awaits the ML and the FL, and it's not a happy one.
- "King the Land": Sure, there's a wedding, but for me, the FL isn't fully accepted by the ML's family, and the two married couples only see each other on weekends because of their jobs. I can't be satisfied.
- "Welcome to Samdal-Ri": After losing part of their youth, the FL and the ML finally reunite, vowing to stay together for the rest of their lives. In the end, the first thing they do is settle down in a long-distance, long-term relationship: I'm not sure if they really wanted to live together. 

- "Gain and Love", "Serendipity's Embrace", and "Miss Night and Day": The FLs reject the MLs, before returning in the last 5 minutes, and in an unconvincing manner.
- "Clean with Passion": Well, here's the ML, rejected, humiliated, and utterly desperate, who suddenly sees the FL return in the last 5 minutes as if all the causes of their breakup were ultimately insignificant. In his place, I would have gone elsewhere to start my life over. The Chinese version (Use My Talent) is much gentler, with more manageable breakup arguments and an ending that lasts an entire episode.
- "Call it Love": Time spent on the happy ending: 10 seconds. No more comments....

Not all, yes. But a sad ending like any other should be well written. And not just be edgy shock value.

 Reset:

Any ending should be well written.

Yeah, obviously. But a lot of people seem to think that over the top drama and dark psychological stuff makes things deep and mature by default.