10 TV Plot Threads That Were Never Resolved
6. What Happened To Mr. Turner? - Boy Meets World
Boys Meets World was one of the best sitcoms of the '90s, and that's going on the fact that it ran for 7 seasons, and any show that runs for that long must be good, right? Filled to the brim with fun, likeable characters - most of whom were going through their dreaded teens - Boy Meets World also aimed to be poignant and encompassing of real-life issues.
One such plot thread was based around "brooding bad boy" Shawn Hunter, best friend of protagonist Cory Matthews, and whose own father wasn't much of a role model because he lived in a trailer and drunk a lot. And so Shawn builds up a meaningful father/son relationship with his "cool" teacher Mr. Turner, instead. Finally, Shawn has somebody to look out for him and to talk about his problems with. Right?
Well, sort of, until one particular episode smashes viewers in the face with the sudden news that, um, Mr. Turner was in a motorbike accident (that's how cool he was, okay?) and had gone into a coma. And then, after much crying and will-he-die/won't-he-die tension, it's revealed that, yes, Mr. Turner is going to make a full recovery and, thank God, Shawn won't lose his new father figure after all. Except he will, 'cause the show never brought Mr. Turner back again. And so the plot thread - that Shawn had found somebody to guide him - was utterly pointless.
Boy Meets World, on one occassion, did make a kind of half-assed reference to the fact that Mr. Turner had disappeared without reason, when another character who disappeared suddenly for no reason, returns briefly: Minkus. Cory asks whereabouts he's been, and Minkus makes reference to "another part of the school" where both he and Mr. Turner now dwell, a place which apparently excuses the fact that they no longer associate with their favourite people in the world. Then the characters wave off-screen to Mr. Turner, which is the worst way a plot thread has ever been semi-resolved, and a genuine insult to the relationship that viewers invested time in watching. Luckily, the world over, I'm the only person who actually even cares about this.