8 Most Heartbreaking TV Show Twists Ill Never Recover From

Summary

  • TV plot twists can be emotionally impactful, changing character dynamics and viewer perspectives forever.
  • Good twists are planned in advance with subtle hints dropped throughout the show for maximum impact.
  • Overused twists lose their potency, while well-executed shocks can enhance storytelling and character development.



Every great TV show includes some type of twist, but some are so emotionally impactful and heartbreaking that audiences never forget them. Most often, this pertains to a character’s death or the reveal of information that changes a relationship forever. When a plot twist lands, it changes the way the viewer sees the show forever and sets the characters on a completely new course. While there are plenty of instances when a twist can lead to good things for a series’ characters in the long run, the use of the shock factor typically coincides with sadness and devastation.

These twists must be planned well in advance and shouldn’t be overused, as they’ll lose their potency.


Shocking narrative elements can be a risk on the part of the showrunners, as some TV plot twists don’t feel planned, even when they are. It’s difficult to create the perfect twist, as giving no foreshadowing and putting in a story development out of nowhere takes the viewer out of the show and makes them question the character’s motivations and consistency. However, when done right, subtle hints are dropped throughout the show that make the twist inevitable but still make the audience gasp. These twists must be planned well in advance and shouldn’t be overused, as they’ll lose their potency.

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10 “Shocking” TV Show Plot Twists That Fans Guessed Early

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8 Dr. Cox Is At Ben’s Funeral – Scrubs (2001–2010)

Season 3, Episode 14, “My Screw Up”


At an event that both the viewer and Cox believe to be his son’s birthday party, it’s suddenly revealed that it’s Ben’s funeral.

For a show that’s almost entirely a comedy, Scrubs delivered an incredibly thoughtful and nuanced portrayal of grief in the episode “My Screw Up.” JD’s mentor, Dr. Cox, is typically portrayed as a tough guy who doesn’t let things get to him, but the recurring character, Ben, is one of Cox’s closest friends and always a joy to see on the show. His final appearance is in the episode that hints at the return of his cancer. Throughout the episode’s story, many other plots distract the audience from how serious Ben’s condition is.


At an event that both the viewer and Cox believe to be his son’s birthday party, it’s suddenly revealed that it’s Ben’s funeral. While this doesn’t come out of nowhere, it hits both Cox and the audience like a ton of bricks. It’s a bittersweet moment, as Cox has never been more vulnerable, but he lets people in at the funeral because he’s going through one of the most difficult moments of his life. This episode set the stage for many more explorations of loss and grieving that Scrubs would handle well in the coming seasons.

7 Angel Gets His Soul Back – Buffy The Vampire Slayer (1997–2003)

Season 2, Episode 22, “Becoming (Part 2)”


Buffy and Angel have one of the greatest love stories ever told on TV, but Buffy The Vampire Slayer season 2 pushes Buffy to her limit as she loses Angel in the worst way imaginable. Before the final twist in the finale, Angel loses his soul and reverts to the ruthless demon he was before he met Buffy halfway through the season. After this, he torments Buffy for the remaining episodes and plots to end the world. It’s agony for Buffy to fight him and eventually come to terms with the fact that she must kill him, but she does.

However, in a cruel twist of fate, Willow finds a way to return Angel’s soul to him, but it’s too late. The ritual to end the world has already started, and the only way to stop it is with Angel’s death. Once again, Buffy must put aside her feelings and sacrifice her own happiness for the greater good, killing Angel as he returns to her. Though he comes back to life in season 3, this doesn’t diminish the impact this has on Buffy and her belief in love.


6 Walt Lets Jane Die – Breaking Bad (2008–2013)

Season 2, Episode 12, “Phoenix”

Walt does a lot of truly unforgivable things in Breaking Bad, but letting Jane die might be one of the worst. Throughout season 2, Jesse and Jane develop a close relationship, falling in love but becoming increasingly dependent on heroin. This is difficult for Walt and Jane’s father to see and quickly unravels many of the relationships built in the show. Despite their intentions and beliefs that they’ll stop, Jesse and Jane use a lot of heroin just before Walt goes to Jesse’s apartment to talk to him. It’s there that he discovers the pair of them passed out.


Unfortunately, this is only the beginning of increasingly evil actions committed by Walt that he justifies with selfish rationalization.

Jane is rolled onto her back and begins to choke on her own vomit, but instead of helping, Walt stands there and watches. It’s an incredibly cruel act and one that’s obviously fueled by his selfish desire for Jesse to stay with him and the idea that without Jane, Jesse will quit doing drugs. Unfortunately, this is only the beginning of increasingly evil actions committed by Walt that he justifies with selfish rationalization. Though no one on the show is perfect, this cruel and horrible fate is the last thing Jane deserves.


5 007 Is George – Grey’s Anatomy (2005–Present)

Season 5, Episode 24, “Now or Never”

It’s difficult to choose just one shocking reveal in Grey’s Anatomy as the most tragic or heartbreaking, but George’s death is certainly at the top of the list. While the plane crash, Derek’s death, and the hospital shooting are all equally traumatic for the surgeons at the hospital, George’s death is something completely different. At the time of the season 5 finale, there hadn’t been as many overtly tragic or unbelievable events in Grey’s Anatomy, making George’s death a shift in tone and safety for the series’ characters. Additionally, the episode waited to show that George was the mystery patient.


For most of the episode’s plot, the doctors are dealing with a John Doe who’s been hit by a bus, and while his life hangs in the balance, the stakes aren’t especially high, as the character is a stranger. All of this changes when Meredith pieces together that John Doe is George and that he sacrificed himself by pushing a young woman out of the way of an oncoming bus. Eventually, he succumbs to his wounds and passes on to the next life, leaving a hospital full of devastated doctors in his wake.

4 Nell Is The Bent-Neck Lady – The Haunting Of Hill House (2018)

Season 1, Episode 5, “The Bent-Neck Lady”


Mike Flannigan has been churning out some of the best horror TV shows of the past decade with
The Haunting of Hill House
,
The Haunting of Bly Manor
, and
The Fall of the House of Usher
.

Mike Flannigan has been churning out some of the best horror TV shows of the past decade with The Haunting of Hill House, The Haunting of Bly Manor, and The Fall of the House of Usher. However, The Haunting of Hill House still holds the top spot for one of the most shocking and tragic twists of Flannigan’s filmography. Victoria Pedretti plays Nell, one of the Crain siblings who is plagued by her experiences at Hill House. However, unlike her family members, Nell is frightened by a different kind of ghost, the Bent-Neck Lady.


Nell spends much of her life being terrified of this specter, with no idea who she is or why she’s following her across her life. Throughout the show, most of Nell’s story is told through flashbacks, as she dies in one of the earliest episodes. However, the means of her death are only revealed in the fifth episode, when it finally clicks that Nell has been the Bent-Neck Lady all along. It’s not until the end of the series that Nell finds peace and reconciles with her past and her family, finally able to move on.

3 Chris Betrays Adriana – The Sopranos (1999–2007)

Season 5, Episode 12, “Long Term Parking”


There are only a few ways anyone’s life can go if they’re a character on The Sopranos, and more often than not, it’s death. Unfortunately, this was the case for the fan-favorite character, Adriana, who was a long-time girlfriend and endlessly supportive partner of Chris throughout the series. Like most of the women involved with the men in Tony’s crime family, Adriana is constantly mistreated and overlooked, but there are moments when it’s clear that a part of Chris does truly love Adriana, the only way he knows how. This makes his betrayal all the worse.

Adriana gets caught by the FBI in season 4, and they blackmail her into being an informant. For a long time, this is a simmering plot point that continuously gets Adriana in hot water. However, it comes to a head in season 5, and she finally confesses to Chris. At first, he says that it’ll be alright and that they’ll run away together. However, in a crushing decision, Chris confides in Tony instead, and Tony has Adriana killed. It’s a significant turning point in the series, as it changes the way the audience looks at Chris and Tony forever.


The Sopranos Poster

The Sopranos

Considered to be a quintessential drama series to watch, The Sopranos is a crime-drama series that follows Tony Soprano, who tries to manage the expectations of an Italian-American patriarch while acting as the head of a prolific New Jersey crime family. Burdened by the stress of the expectations thrust upon him, Tony regularly visits a therapist throughout the series run. This helps give context to Tony’s actions as a ruthless boss with violent tendencies.

Cast
James Gandolfini , Lorraine Bracco , Edie Falco , Michael Imperioli , Dominic Chianese , Steven Van Zandt , Tony Sirico , Robert Iler , Jamie-Lynn Sigler

Release Date
January 10, 1999

Seasons
6

Network
HBO Max

Showrunner
David Chase

2 Hawkeye’s False Memory – MASH (1972–1983)

Season 11, Episode 16, “Goodbye, Farewell and Amen”

The series finale is one of the most rewatchable episodes of MASH because it’s a fitting end to the long journey for Hawkeye and the characters, and it’s practically a movie. It’s thanks to Alan Alda that audiences could never get enough of Hawkeye of MASH in general throughout the show’s long run. As the series evolved from a pure comedy to a comedy-drama, tackling intense subject matter about the cost of war, Alda stuck with it and transformed Hawkeye into a compelling and brave hero. This is never more clear than in the series finale.


His reaction once is devastating, and it’s one of the darkest points of the entire series.

For the first half of the episode, Hawkeye is in therapy with Sidney, the army psychiatrist, trying to work out why he has such a strong reaction when hiding with a group of civilians. Though he resists getting to the bottom of his feelings, it finally comes out that a baby was smothered after Hawkeye told the mother to keep the child quiet. His reaction once is devastating, and it’s one of the darkest points of the entire series. However, it’s a reminder of the cost of war, as the show’s final farewells are lighter and more bittersweet.


IMAGE-10 TV Shows That Shocked You Over & Over

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1 The Red Wedding – Game Of Thrones (2011–2019)

Season 3, Episode 9, “The Rains of Castamere”

Even fans of the original books by George R.R. Martin were floored by the brutality and destruction at the infamous Red Wedding in Game of Thrones season 3. Audience members who stuck with Game of Thrones from beginning to end were used to character deaths and shocking twists, as this is what the show made its name on. Even the first season ended with the tragic death of Ned Stark, which set the events of the following seasons in motion. However, the series was careful to give nothing away in preparation for the Red Wedding.


Robb Stark, and all the Stark children in general, were the characters that viewers were rooting for throughout Game of Thrones. However, when Robb breaks his marriage pact with House Frey to marry for love, it’s obvious that Robb doesn’t truly have what it takes to be king in the North. Robb, his mother, and many of his allies are slaughtered, crushing the hope for a king in the North and that he would stop the Lannisters. It was here that many viewers realized just how cruel and unforgiving the world of Game of Thrones would always be.

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