Plot twistsare an integral part of most TV genres, helping to keep us engaged with a story by subverting a narrative that may have become too predictable to maintain our interest. But even plot twists themselves can have a certain predictability to them, making scripting a twist that no one will see coming a special talent among television writers. At their best,TV plot twists are nothing short of genius. They can turn an entire story upside down, while still preserving its overarching narrative as a coherent whole.
However, at their worst, ill-conceived plot twists can ruin a TV show completely.Plot twists we could never have predicted fall into both these categories, for better or for worse. Either way, there are common tropes to plot twists, from sudden reveals, character entrances and exits, todeus ex machinaintrusions, and variations on the “it was just a dream” conceit. All these tropes can enhance a show if done right. What’s more, in the biggest examples of TV twists, all of them manage to take us totally by surprise.
10Scrubs – Ben Died & They’re Really At His Funeral
“My Screw Up” – Season 3, Episode 14
Zach Braff’s favoriteScrubsepisodefeatures the sitcom’s biggest and best plot twist, involving Dr. Perry Cox’s brother-in-law, Ben. Throughout the episode “My Screw Up”, we see Dr. Cox talking to Ben, who’s visiting him for the first time in two years. Ben previously had leukemia, but the cancer has gone into remission.
Ben even interferes in Dr. Cox’s work, arguing with him when he reprimands Braff’s character, J.D., for not managing to save a patient’s life.This subplot does nothing to prepare usfor the episode’s final, agonising twist.
When Dr. Cox is discussing his son’s birthday party with Ben, J.D. appears behind him and asks, “Where do you think we are?” J.D. turns to find that Ben has vanished. He and J.D. are standing in a cemetery, attending Ben’s funeral. This devastating reveal illustrates whyScrubsis so much more than a comedy show.
9Life on Mars – Sam Tyler’s Jump Off A Building
“Episode 8” – Season 2, Episode 8
British time-traveling crime showLife on Marsis famous for its alternation between two different decades, and soit’s unsurprising when its protagonist Sam Tyler ends up returning to 2006following his trip to 1973. What audiences couldn’t have anticipated was what Sam chose to do next.
What’s truly amazing is that we’re cheering him on as he jumps.
In one ofTV’s most perfect finales, Sam shocks us all by climbing to the top of a building and jumping off it. Bored and alienated from his life in the noughties,he wants to return to the coma that took him to 1973in the first place. What’s truly amazing is that we’re cheering him on as he jumps.
8Westworld – Bernard Is A Host
“Trompe L’Oeil” – Season 1, Episode 7
Westworldmay have gone downhill after season 1, but its first set of episodes still make it one of the greatest sci-fi shows of all time. The seventh episode of the season, “Trompe L’Oeil”, stands out in particular, as Theresa Cullen escalates her attempts to get rid of Robert Ford from the titular theme park.
She enlists the help of Bernard Lowe, the head programmer of the company behind the Westworld park, with whom she was previously in a relationship. Buta sudden, chilling revelation about Bernardhits both us and Theresa like a ton of bricks.
Via a single, seemingly innocuous line of dialogue, it’s revealed thatBernard is a “host”, one of the androids ofWestworldthat he himself has been programming. Ford soon has Bernard dispose of his former lover, and we’re left with our jaws on the floor long after the episode has ended.
7Gossip Girl – Dan Is The Title Character
“New York, I Love You XOXO” – Season 6, Episode 10
TheGossip Girlfinale was always going to cause a shock one way or another. While it may have upset some fans, it certainly didn’t disappoint in terms of the show’s definitive plot twist.
To the surprise of virtually everyone, including his love interest Serena van der Woodsen,Dan Humphrey is revealed to be Gossip Girl, the titular blogger who’s been dishing the dirt on New York’s high society for six seasons. As much as there were clues pointing in this direction, they only became clear to us with the benefit of hindsight.
There’s also an incongruity between certain subplots involving Dan throughout the series and his true identity. ButGossip Girl’s writers were willing to overlook minor inconsistencies for the sake of a major surprise, and they certainly achieved that.
“Michael’s Gambit” – Season 1, Episode 13
FromThe Good Place’s first episode, the show’s initial setting did feel garishly repugnant on some level, yet its characteristics seemed to be more a satirical sendup of how we imagine heaven than anything else. We certainly weren’t expectingMichael’s revelation at the end of season 1.
In fact, neither were the show’s actors, asonly two cast members ofThe Good Placewere made aware of its twistbefore the episode was shot. Everything we thought we knew about the show is inverted in one momentous scene, whenthe Good Place is unmasked as the Bad Place, and Ted Danson’s Michael outs himself as a demon.
What’s so brilliant about this twist is that it makes complete sense, and doesn’t require much rewiring of the show’s logic. With this single moment,The Good Placecemented its status as one of the most innovative TV comediesever made.
5Lost – Jack’s Flash-Forward Reveal
“Through the Looking Glass Part 2” – Season 3, Episode 23
Lostmay be full of mind-bending plot twists, but there’s one that still stands apart from the rest, two decades on from when it first aired. As well as being a keycharacter inLost’s ending, Jack Shepherd’s story is arguably the one that matters most in the show’s initial seasons.
Throughout the first three seasons, in particular, parallel narratives involving Jack both on and off the remote island ofLost’s premise make up much of the story.We’re led to believe we’re seeing flashbacks of Jack’s lifeas a doctor struggling with depression before he was stranded on the island.
Instead, the end of season 3 shows us that we’d got it the wrong way round. Jack’s climactic meeting with Kate Austen, a fellow survivor from the island, reveals that they’ve both already escaped it. Jack’s parallel narrative involves flashforwards, not flashbacks.Everything we thought we knew about the possibility of getting off the islandis suddenly transformed.
4Peaky Blinders – Arthur Shelby Is Alive
“The Company” – Season 4, Episode 6
Paul Anderson gives one ofPeaky Blinders’ best performancesas the tragically wayward eldest Shelby brother, Arthur, which convinces us throughout much of the series that the character is in for a sticky end. It’s no surprise, then, when one of Luca Changretta’s men appears to kill Arthur in the season 4 finale.
Arthur Shelby is one of only two members of the Shelby family to have survived and been part of the Peaky Blinders throughout the show’s six seasons, alongside his brother Tommy.
Yet, the show has another twist up its sleeve, as Tommy Shelby’s public declaration of Arthur’s death, the subsequent funeral, and the Shelby family’s submission to Changretta, are revealed to be a trick to lure the gangster onto their territory.The sudden reappearance of Arthur for the season’scoup de grâceis utterly breathtaking, albeit a little fanciful.
3MAS*H – Henry Blake Is Dead
“Abyssinia, Henry” – Season 3, Episode 24
Lieutenant Colonel Henry Blake is a central character throughoutMAS*H’s first three seasons.No one could have imagined we’d see the end of the characterso soon into the show’s run, except perhaps McLean Stevenson, who had apparently been planning to leave his role for some time.
If ever there were an unsettling reminder of the horrors of war, it’s this tearjerking scene.
When Radar O’Reilly enters the operating room in the season 3 finale ofMAS*Hto report thatBlake has diedin a plane crash over the Sea of Japan, it’s a gut-wrenching moment that floors the rest of the cast as well as the audience.
The blunt, understatedway in which his death is announced only adds to the sense of tragedy. If ever there were an unsettling reminder of the horrors of war, it’s this tearjerking scene.
2St. Elsewhere – Tommy Westphall Imagined It All
“The Last One” – Season 6, Episode 22
The ending to medical dramaSt. Elsewhereisn’t just unexpected — it’s afinale that effectively betrayed viewers of the showwho’d invested in its characters for six seasons. No one could possibly have seen it coming that the entire titular hospital is the figment of one boy’s imagination, because it’s so utterly outlandish.
While the series itself has faded into relative obscurity, this ending is widely recognized asone of the most extraordinary plot twists in TV history, and not in a good way. It’s so completely at odds with the tone and plot of its show that it’s incredibleSt. Elsewhere’s showrunners managed to get it aired.
1L.A. Law – Rosalind Shays' Elevator Death
“Good to the Last Drop” – Season 5, Episode 16
L.A. Lawis another serial drama seemingly left behind by time, although thisforgotten TV show was a massive hitin the late 1980s and 1990s. A single plot twist has ended up overshadowing the rest of the series, however.
… is still beyond belief no matter how many times you watch it.
Rosalind Shays’ fateful plunge to her death, during an apparently innocuous scene in which she calls an elevator while talking to her love interest in the show, is still beyond belief no matter how many times you watch it. AsTV plot twistsgo, this moment will remain the one viewers least expected for the foreseeable future.
