7 TV Shows That Suddenly Dropped Major Plot Threads

4. The Life And Times Of Behrooz Araz On 24

In its first three seasons, 24 tended to focus on whitest terrorists possible, almost to a fault. Serbian soldiers, pretty blonde girls, and rich British guys were the key villains in the first three seasons and it felt like the producers were deathly scared of ever doing a season about extremist Muslim terrorists.

In season four, it was made clear well in advance of the premiere that the main villains would be Middle Eastern Muslims, and the media was weirdly excited about this. The key terrorist characters for much of the season were the Araz family, part of a sleeper cell involved in the day's attack. As the day went on, Behrooz, the reluctant teenage son, became the most important member of the family, especially once his parents died. His girlfriend was poisoned by his mother, he beat a terrorist captor about the head with a shovel, and he became a pawn for law enforcement and the terrorists.

For reasons that were never explained, lead terrorist Habib Marwan, who had captured Jack Bauer, was willing to trade Jack for Behrooz. The counter-terrorism agents at CTU agreed, and that was the last we ever saw of Behrooz. Whatever plans Marwan had for him, we never found out what they were. In deleted scenes included on the season four DVD set, we learn different endings for him were shot, and obviously neither was used: In one, CTU saves him from being executed by one of Marwan's men. In the other, he's brought into CTU after being found in a shipping container owned by Marwan. A producer told TV Guide that he was "shipped off for re-education," presumably by Marwan.