People Share 16 Great And 15 Awful Plot Twists From Hit TV Shows

Plot twists can make or break a show.

Damjan

• Published in Film & TV
• May 29, 2022

There are many things necessary to make a story work, at least when it comes to TV. Besides the main characters, the ambiance, the dialogues, and chemistry, the most important thing is the story.

If the story sucks, then all the greatest actors in the world can't save the show. For the story to be interesting, it has to have some plot twists and major events that will change the course of the story, and make it more interesting, thus activating existing viewers and attracting new ones.

That is the idea behind it. But how does it work in practice?

Well, sometimes these plot twists don't work out that well. Bad plot twists invalidate everything that has transpired so far in the story.

They detract from the story's significance and ruin the whole experience. Usually, that happens later in the show, when writers find it harder and harder to maintain the dynamic.

They then start introducing sometimes ridiculous changes, all in the name of keeping the audience interested. We have to be honest and say that sometimes these plot twists are great, and really add to the overall experience.

We have selected some of the best and worst examples of plot twists. Let's take a look:

1. Good plot twist: "And that's how I met your Aunt Robin," Ted said at the end of the pilot episode of How I Met Your Mother.

"Watching the show as a teen, for me, that was a big plot twist. But we all know how downhill that went."

—sushisaahimi

2. Bad plot twist: On Pretty Little Liars, Ezra confessed that he met Alison and understood who Aria was before they "first" met in the pub.

"Ezra was originally working undercover and planning to seduce Aria for his book about Alison, which he also had a thing with."

—miscblogger92

3. Good plot twist: On How to Get Away with Murder, Annalise's husband, Sam, was revealed to be the dead person the students were burning.

"It's probably one of the best pilots I’ve seen that made my jaw drop to the floor, plus the rest of the show did NOT disappoint with crazy unexpected plot twists."

—xdaniellax

4. Bad plot twist: Love Quinn revealed to Joe that she's a stalker and a killer on You.

"It was stupid and clearly only done so the finale would have a plot twist. Ruined the show for me."

—samanthah45178ee47

5. Good plot twist: In the Modern Family pilot, it was discovered that all of the family were related..

"For some reason, I remembered being shook that all of the families on Modern Family were related. It makes total sense when you think about it, but I was so invested in the separate stories that I hadn’t yet considered they were related."

—jentevanwingerden

6. Bad plot twist: Grey's Anatomy. When Alex departed Seattle to join Izzie.

"The entire show, he grew from being hated to being a great surgeon in a stable relationship with Jo just to abandon ship. I understand the actor left abruptly, but I would have rather his character died with his integrity than to be written off in a way that destroyed his entire story arc."

—emmakayk

7. Good plot twist: When it was revealed that Rebecca and Jack's moments in the pilot episode of This Is Us were set in the 1980s and also that Kevin, Kate, and Randall were their children.

"I literally gasped and then cried. Learning how everyone was connected, they did such a fantastic job of showing that.

It was really a great first episode!"

—nutmeg

8. Bad plot twist: On Pretty Little Liars, Cece turned out to be "A."

"Aside from the many other plot holes and misguided writing choices, making a trans character, Cece, the super villain is an overused and extremely offensive trope. Additionally, using a cisgender actor to play a trans role takes away an opportunity from a trans actor."

—ayatesro

9. Good plot twist: When Eleanor disclosed because she had no idea what she's doing at the Good Place and that she was not really the person everybody assumed she was.

10. Bad plot twist: Justin Foley died abruptly after 13 Reasons Why disclosed that he had HIV-1 and had progressed to AIDS.

"How do you give a character who had so much growth — he was a person we hated in the first season and eventually became the absolute favorite — that kind of ending?"

—ashriyathampi

11. Good plot twist: In Orange Is the New Black, Alex showed up in the same prison as Piper.

"Throughout the episode, Piper remembered some of the memories with Alex that got her into prison in the first place and then Alex appeared at the end."

—dikatkeith

12. Bad plot twist: At the end of Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life, Rory told Lorelai she was pregnant.

"I know these were Amy Sherman-Palladino's treasured final four words if she had written Season 7, but the fact of the matter is, she wasn’t writing Season 7. She was writing a revival that took place nearly a decade later and she ruined tons of character development because she didn’t get to write Season 7.

Nobody wanted Rory to end up pregnant with Logan’s baby while he’s engaged to someone else. And the whole 'full circle' explanation is a complete cop out and it’s really lazy writing."

—jadekoalas

13. Good plot twist: When the smoke creature first emerged in Lost first episode.

"I knew from then that this was going to be about a lot more than a plane crash."

—charlottebeswick30

14. Bad plot twist: On Veronica Mars, Logan was killed off.

"Not only was it a terrible move for the show, but the WAY in which he died was even more infuriating to lots of fans. It kinda felt like a big 'screw you' after such long-term dedication from fans."

—meanie22

15. Good plot twist: When Sarah noticed the woman who jumped in front of a speeding train, she noticed that they shared the same look on Orphan Black.

16. Bad plot twist: When Chuck discovered that his dad, Bart, had pretended to die on Gossip Girl

"It was so pointless and random, and he was just going to die the next season. He should have just stayed dead."

—emmaloveschocolate

17. Good plot twist: Mad Man pilot - When Don went home to his wife, even tough he acted like a bachelor

"It was so well done."

—shouldistayorshouldeggo

18. Bad plot twist: When it is revealed that Ted's love for Robin, rather than the mother, is the focus of How I Met Your Mother.

"The ending is all kinds of messed up, and quite frankly, disrespectful to Tracy."

—marleymcallister

19. Good plot twist: On Dead to Me, it was discovered that Judy was the motorist who killed Jen's husband in a hit-and-run.

20. Bad plot twist: When Charles and Chic's relationship was exposed on Riverdale.

"I really groaned at the scene. Charles, Betty’s long-lost half brother, was dating Chic, the guy who pretended to be Betty's long-lost half brother."

—jbmasta

21. Good plot twist: When it was revealed that the girls were brought to the island intentionally

"That show excels at plot twists in general. It is so intriguing and felt so well done."

—aidanerinn

22. Bad plot twist: On Revenge, David was revealed to be alive.

"The whole point of the show was for Emily to literally get revenge on the people responsible for her beloved father’s death, only to find out he was still alive. To top it off, his character was pretty unlikable and nothing like this amazing loving father we’d been seeing in flashbacks."

—ashmed812

23. Good plot twist: On Once Upon a Time, Prince Charming was discovered alive and in a hospital bed.

"That moment was the whole reason I kept watching. I was hooked from that moment on."

—kladue11

24. Bad plot twist: On Pretty Little Liars, A.D. turned out to be Spencer's long-lost British twin.

"It seemed like they took random fanfiction ideas and threw them together last minute. There were so many plot holes that it wasn't even possible that it would be the case."

—angelag4e427edbe

25. Good plot twist: In Only Murders in the Building, Mabel was shown to have known Tim Kono, the murder victim.

26. Bad plot twist: On Gossip Girl, Rufus and Lily meet their secret son.

"He was there for a couple episodes, then it was never mentioned again."

—cynnamonwarner

27. Good plot twist: In The Boys, when A-Train slammed into Hughie's girlfriend and murdered her.

"I definitely wasn’t expecting that in the first five minutes."

—cadenceb02

28. Bad plot twist: On Scandal, Olivia was kidnapped.

29. Good plot twist: When it was revealed that Kate's captor was vice principal Martin Harris, and Kate blamed Jeanette of spying on her while she was held captive in Cruel Summer, everyone was shocked.

30. Good plot twist: In Black Mirror, just before the princess was released by her captor, the prime minister had intimate relations with a pig on broadcast as a condition of her release.

"Everything the prime minister put himself through to save her ended up being unnecessary."

—ivannar2

31. Bad plot twist: On Jane the Virgin, when Jane discovered Michael was still alive.

"I know it's a telenovela staple and the show is a parody of telenovela tropes, but we watched her grieve for YEARS and slowly fall in love with Rafael. Then they brought Michael back with amnesia and made him and Jane hate each other.

They spat on Jane and Michael's relationship when it was originally really lovely."

—ktk8895

What do you think of the list? We noticed that most of the good plot twists happened at the beginning of these shows.

It is possible that the writers do their best at the beginning, and resort to ridiculous story changes when they run out of ideas as the show progresses. What do you think?

Damjan