10 Surprising Twist Endings (In TV Shows You Wouldn’t Expect)
9. M*A*S*H - Death Of Henry Blake
M*A*S*H depicted a mismatched group of medical professionals working in the midst of the Korean War. It was so beloved that it lasted longer than the actual Korean War did and when it finally ended, over 100 million viewers tuned in to farewell it.
Despite being best-remembered for its laughs, M*A*S*H did often get serious (it took place in the middle of a war zone, after all). One of the most shockingly serious moments occurred in the season three episode Abyssinia, Henry. In that episode, the beloved Lieutenant Colonel Henry Blake (McLean Stevenson) is honourably discharged after years of good service. He farewells his comrades and boards a plane home but not long afterwards, it's announced that he was killed after that plane was shot down.
Why it's surprising: No matter how grim M*A*S*H got, they usually managed to end episodes on a happy note and we never felt like anything bad would happen to those within the Main Cast Bubble. The ending of this episode blew both of those happy assumptions to pieces, blindsiding every M*A*S*H fan.
In fact, no TV viewers at all would've expected such a twist ending. At that time, it was unheard of for a TV series (let alone a comedic one) to kill off a major character in a tragic way, with this show being credited as the first to do so. M*A*S*H changed the game when they broke our hearts.