23 Most Shocking TV Plot Twists

AKA the best sitcom twist of all time. I truly did not see this one coming, and it changed the show from a funny comedy into something that was truly ground-breaking. 

Look, I wouldn’t have put it past Supernatural to have God as a character — or even as the villain he becomes. But the fact that it’s Chuck, who we’ve known since Season 4, was a true shock to me. Snaps for this one, Supernatural.

I TRUSTED YOU, IL-NAM!!! I still can’t believe Squid Game pulled off this twist, even after all its other great twists. To have fan favorite and beloved character Il-Nam be behind everything was a truly chilling twist, and I love it.

I know everyone was theorizing it may happen, but that didn’t stop me from being SHOCKED when they actually went there. It really opened up a whole part of Jon and revitalized the show.

Do I even have to say anything here? It’s one of the greatest TV twists of all time. Next! 

I’m so glad I didn’t have this ruined for me. I know some people theorized, but still. I didn’t dare to hope something so cool would happen.

^Yes, I’m aware that reads confusingly if you’ve never seen the show, so let me explain: Angel’s a vampire that loses his soul when he experiences true happiness. So, in order to get him to lose his soul, the shaman makes him think all these good things are happening – culminating in sleeping with Cordelia — so that he achieves true happiness and becomes Angelus. Except we as the viewers think it’s actually happening until we end up back in the cell like we were at the beginning of the episode, and Angel starts laughing maniacally, revealing himself as Angelus. It’s a great reveal, and the slow zoom out as Angelus laughs is delightfully creepy.

I love a good ~things were never as they seemed~ reveal, where a character not only tricks the other character, but the audience as well. This may just be a one-episode twist (like the above), but it’s such a great switch-up that I had to include it on this list.

Okay, so this one kind of flopped later when it turned out to be a bit of stunt casting, but OMG, I thought they were introducing the metaverse with this!! It’s a great end-of-episode reveal, and I was just as shocked as Wanda and Darcy.

She also gives a banger of a villain song, which is just an added bonus — the twist is already a lot of fun. It makes sense while also being surprising, which is a fine line to walk for plot twists. Plus, it gives us the chance to see Kathryn Hahn as the villain.

I legit GASPED when she turns and you see her stomach. Angel did impossible vamp pregnancies wayy before Twilight, people. 

This is still one of the most shocking and devastating TV deaths ever. It’s so sudden and gruesome, and while it was sad, I think it was honestly such a smart decision that really drove the show forward. 

Yellowjackets is another show full of twists, but this is one I really didn’t see coming. Sammy isn’t having nightmares at all — the woman in the tree is real, and it’s his mom. And Lottie wasn’t imagining things either – she did see Taissa eating dirt. As the clear-headed one, this was a huge twist for Taissa’s character, and it was great for the show.

The Wilds seemed like a teenage version of Lost, then this twist brought on a wholeeee new lawyer that genuinely was the reason I kept watching. I love when twists come early (in this case Episode 1) like that. 

I’m counting this twist because it was SO unexpected to have a human die of human causes on a vampire show, especially after it seemed she’d be okay. It was devastating, and I think it changed Buffy and Dawn as characters forever.

The whole time, it seems like Spike is trying to get power to kill Buffy, but really, he’s fighting to get a soul. It’s so unexpected for Spike as a character, but it works so well, because we’d really exhausted Spike as the “harmless” yet still evil vampire with a crush on Buffy. 

THE WHOLE SHOW WAS PREDICATED ON DAVID CLARKE BEING DEAD. And then he’s just alive??? While not necessarily realistic, this is, to me, one of the most shocking TV moments. Also, good riddance Conrad, lol.

This was an “actually alive” reveal I liked a lot better. This wouldn’t normally be unexpected for PLL’s standards, but we’d actually seen Mona’s body, so this was a shock. I was honestly so relieved Mona wasn’t dead that I came to love this twist, unrealistic as it was.

So much happened so quickly that it was like I couldn’t catch my breath! First Enzo dies, which is heart-wrenching and shocking, especially considering Stefan carried it out. But then Stefan gets the cure, too?!? I gotta give it to TVD for really upping the stakes in the last few episodes.

I love this series finale so much. We totally think Damon has sacrificed himself, and that Bonnie has died and Elena has woken up…but then we realize the conversation between Stefan and Elena is just happening in her head as Stefan moves on to find peace, because he’s actually the one who’s dead. Mind=blown!!!

For a revival that seemed like it’d capture the fun drama of the original, the spouse of the main character dying was shocking alright. Although…I never liked Big, so I kind of liked it. Keep us on our toes, HBO!

Lost had a million plot twists, but this is a great early one. One of the people on the island wasn’t even on the plane, meaning he’s an imposter — and we don’t even fully know what that means yet. Lost layered on all the mysteries sooo well in early seasons. 

We knew Walt was evil, but we didn’t know he was poison-a-kid evil. Especially the son of Jesse’s girlfriend! The confirmation that he’d cooked up this entire messed-up plot just to get Jesse on board with killing Gus is truly one of my favorite reveals.