Coming up with surprising plot twists in TV shows and movies alike is no easy task for screenwriters. The more the viewers tend to watch TV shows, the more capable they usually become at guessing what will come next. That makes it even better when a certain TV show manages to turn all the expectations around and surprise the audience.
Usually, it's moments like these that make the series even more iconic and ensure that the viewers never forget what happened. But the plot twist should still be logical or at least look like it makes sense or the audience is bound to hate it instead of enjoying it. Some of the best plot twists in TV shows ever did both of these things - they were thought-out and took the viewers by surprise!
5 The Bad Guy Amidst The S.H.I.E.L.D.
Led by Phil Coulson, the S.H.I.E.L.D. managed to do a lot of good in the MCU, and stop multiple crises. Yet as the events of Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) showed, the organization was infiltrated by Hydra and rotten from the inside. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. reacted to this realization when the first season's finale revealed that one of the main characters, Agent Grant Ward, was a member of Hydra.
Even though Ward wasn't always sympathetic, and could be arrogant at times, it was still a shock for many of the viewers who grew to like him. The twist worked since it proved that Hydra has its tentacles everywhere and that the MCU characters should be even more careful before they decide to put their trust in someone.
4 Eleanor Is In The Bad Place
The successful Netflix comedy seriesThe Good Place offered one of its best plot twists in the first season's finale. Kristen Bell's Eleanor spent the entire season trying to hide the fact that she ended up in a Good Place after she died even though she was a horrible person when alive. Hiding the truth from Michael, the leader of a Good Place, as well as its inhabitants, caused Eleanor a lot of stress and worries.
It turned out the stress and worries were deliberate since Eleanor was in the Bad Place, designed to punish bad people, all along! Michael and the other demons played Eleanor and constantly psychologically tortured her this way, as well as several other people. The final plot twist turns the whole season around since the viewers are left remembering all the times when Michael was seemingly kind to Eleanor but was, in fact, just toying with her.
3 The Red Wedding (And Arya's Revenge)
Game of Thrones offered many memorable twists and surprising moments, such as Jon Snow's resurrection (a lot of people expected this one, though), or Daenerys becoming evil (which didn't sit well with the fans). But one of the plot twists that those who didn't read the books didn't expect was the Red Wedding. To defend his injured honor after Robb Stark broke his promise to marry into his family, Walder Frey invited the Starks over, including Robb's pregnant wife Talisa... and then had them murdered almost to the last. A bigger part of the Stark family died that day, much to the shock of the fans.
Another surprising moment was connected to the Red Wedding as well, and it happened when Arya visited Frey and served him his own sons murdered and baked into a pie before she killed him, took on his face, and avenged her family by killing most of the Freys.
2 Violet Harmon Is Dead
Regardless of which season of American Horror Story the viewers are watching, the show's bound to offer more than one surprising plot twist. And it started with this trend in the first season. Violet, played by Taissa Farmiga, takes too many pills and overdoses herself. Luckily, she survives thanks to the help of the ghost Tate. Except for the fact that this didn't happen, as the show later reveals. Tate tried to save Violet, but it was too late to help her, and she died.
Tate then hid her real body and continued to talk to the ghost Violet as if she was still alive because he didn't want to hurt her. Violet herself as well as her parents had no idea she died since their haunted house had the power to make the ghosts look like they were very much alive. Violet later learned the truth, though, when she found her own dead body. It was a shocking moment for her as well as for the viewers. The series hinted at the fact that something was wrong with Violet but did so in such a clever way that the plot twist came as a surprise.
1 Disappearing Companions
The Doctor has to have companions on the journeys throughout space and time. That's one of the basic rules of the popular British sci-fi series Doctor Who. But sometimes the companions disappear in surprising ways, and it shocks the Doctor and the viewers alike. One such plot twist happens when the last surviving Weeping Angel sends Rory back into the past... just when it looks like the Doctor and his companions saved the day! As such, the episode's mood quickly changes from happy and carefree to dark and sad. To make matters even worse, Amy decides to follow her husband and risk her life because she hopes they might end up at the same time.
That works and with one last heart-wrenching goodbyes to the Doctor and her daughter River, Amy disappears as well. The only thing that remains after Amy and Rory are their names written on the tombstone at the Doctor's feet. All fans accustomed to the show knew that Amy and Rory wouldn't be companions forever, but the manner of their departure still took the world by surprise. At least the married couple got their happily ever after and even adopted a child.