20 Amazing TV Plot Twists You Wish You Could Relive
You just got Shyamalaned.
A successful plot twist is glorious in whatever medium, but there's an argument to be made that a well-done TV twist hits different. As TV shows are longer, there'll inevitably be more time to build up to the reveal and establish the characters and story world, thus allowing a shocking rug-pull to blow your mind even more than one that comes at the end of a feature film.
It can be detrimental when certain TV shows - most notably, any of the most recent Doctor Who seasons - construct themselves almost entirely around twisty mystery box stories, and yet, at the same time, it's not difficult to see why showrunners go for this. There really is nothing like a good TV plot twist, as the following 20 examples reaffirm.
The shows discussed here vary widely, with them ranging from prestigious dramas to hilarious sitcoms, from white-knuckle thrillers to underrated gems. What do they all have in common? They have gob-smacking plot twists that'll blow the roof off and have everyone wishing they could re-experience the surprise anew.
Kicking off with a certain Amazon Prime superhero show...
As it goes without saying, huge spoilers ahead.
20. Invincible - Omni-Man Is The Villain
Ending the pilot on a tantalizing cliff-hanger is a foolproof way to hook viewers in a show. Did Invincible do this? Oh yes.
This animated superhero saga revolves around Mark Grayson / Invincible (Steven Yeun), a young superhero slowly growing into his role under the guidance of his father Omni-Man (JK Simmons)... tragically unaware that his father is anything but a hero. Viewers, on the other hand, learn this in the most brutal way imaginable at the end of the show's first episode, where Omni-Man abruptly massacres a team of superheroes in a grotesquely violent sequence that'll leave even the hardest viewers feeling queasy.
It was a bold choice to do the big reveal so early in the season, yet it paid off in spades. The other characters being unaware of Omni-Man's true nature gave the season a great helping of dramatic irony and set the stage for a bruising, emotional finale in which Omni-Man finally revealed to his son that he's on a mission to conquer Earth, leading to a gory and gruelling showdown between father and son.