Yahoo News 8 of the worst ever TV plot twists
A well-timed plot twist can make a TV show truly great. In fact, we've written in detail just how awesome such twists can be, from Ned's death in Game of Thrones to the flash-forward in Lost.
But sometimes twists can be the absolute worst. A plot-shifter that almost ruins the entire show and makes you wish you could go back and prevent it happening.
So, whether they were big finale reveals or mid-season storyline deviations, these are some of TV's worst ever twists:
1. How I Met Your Mother – The Mother is dead and Ted ends up with Robin
After nine seasons of making it clear that Ted and Robin are rubbish for each other, that Barney and Robin are the ones you should be shipping, and that the Mother is awesome, they ruined it all with one final twist montage.
At the last minute, they introduced a montage that saw the Mother dying, Barney and Robin divorcing and Ted deciding that Robin is the one after all. Like we were meant to be happy that it happened. Nope. We understand why they did it, as they had filmed a scene with his kids in the future way back in 2005, and so wanted to use it at the very end in a cool twist.
That would have worked if the show had ended after three seasons, but this should have just ended up as a neat DVD extra. So, do yourself a favour and instead watch the edited finale where everything is much, much better.
2. Gossip Girl – Dan was Gossip Girl all along
The big, big reveal that Dan Humphrey was Gossip Girl all along in the show's finale was SO ludicrous that we published a whole article about just how bonkers it was.
Unless the writers conceived of Dan as a complete and utter sociopath from day one, this twist just doesn't work at all. They tried to make it have some semblance of sense by explaining how Dan literally wrote himself into the main characters' narrative, which included writing snarky commentary on his relationships with Serena, Blair, etc.
This could have been a super cool game-changer had it made sense. But why was he so shocked at GG's update back in season 1, especially as he was alone at the time? Why would he spread rumours about his 15-year-old sister's sex life? Why would he out himself as a cheater in season 2? A twist for the sake of being a twist.
3. Dallas – One whole season was just a dream
One of the all time most bonkers twists ever. At the end of season 9, Bobby Ewing suddenly showed up having a shower, despite being dead for a season.
This meant that the entire ninth season actually took place in one of Bobby's wife Pam's dreams, and Bobby had never died in the first place.
The reason? Because ratings had dipped following the unpopular decision to kill Bobby off. We doubt they'd get away with those tactics today. Mind you, they didn't really get away with it then.
4. Friends – Rachel and Joey's relationship
There's no way any of us could have guessed this would have ever happened back in season 1. Sure, a group as close as these guys may have bumped uglies a few times, but this took things too far.
It was one thing for Joey to develop a crush on Rachel, but for Rachel to reciprocate those feelings just felt plain wrong, and if anything it tainted both characters.
Thankfully, the writers stopped it as quickly as they could when they realised they had totally lost the plot, Rachel ended up with Ross, and the world was all okay again.
5. Felicity – Time travel out of nowhere
If you've never seen this teen drama from the early 2000s and looked it up on Wikipedia, you'll be very confused to read about five paragraphs in and see the word "Wiccan". Eh? Where did that come from? It was a show about a university student living her life in New York. Coming-of-age stuff.
Then, during the show's run, university student Felicity was sent back in time one year by her goth/witch roommate in a total twist. Just... because. Remember, this wasn't a show that was like Buffy from the outset. That wasn't in the brochure.
However, she used this power to just get the man of her dreams rather than use her knowledge to avert major disasters or splash out in a betting shop. Not happy with her new life, she managed to track down a magician to cast a spell to send everything back to the way it was in the finale. What the hell was all that about? It's like if Seth Cohen suddenly became a werewolf in The OC.
6. Lost – The whole island "explanation"
While some people would say the worst Lost twist was the big "We're all dead in a church" thing, we'd say the biggest fail was the show's lame attempt at explaining what the island was all about.
The twist? That there is no explanation really! Only that the metaphorical "cork" that had been mentioned by Jacob in the past was actually a physical cork in the heart of the island. After Desmond removed it, it stopped the island from sinking and avoided a global catastrophe. Jack then re-inserted the cork and saved the island.
Ooooo-kaaaay. We can forgive Lost for a lot of things, but the lack of logic as to what the island was all about and how it related to the characters just made no sense. Not without a big binge on Wikipedia afterwards, at least.
7. The Walking Dead – Glenn isn't really dead!
Well, he wasn't dead then at least. Back in early season 6, Glenn and douche Nicholas were trapped in an alleyway with far too many walkers descending upon them.
After realising their fate, Nicholas drew a gun and shot himself in the head. However, his falling body brought Glenn into the pit of walkers below with him. We then saw what looked like Glenn being ripped apart by the zombie horde.
However, in one of the most obvious twists ever, Glenn was actually fine. It was Nicholas's body being ripped up, and Glenn managed to somehow squeeze his way out of there without one single bite or poke. Considering what happened soon after, he might as well not have bothered.
8. Dexter – Professor Gellar wasn't real
This would have been a decent enough twist, had it not been obvious for the entire season. Fans had guessed that supposed killer Professor Gellar wasn't actually alive, and was actually a figment of Travis Marshall's imagination all along.
Not only was the whole "imaginary character" idea not exactly an original twist (cough Psycho cough), but the writers had made it pretty obvious from the get-go that Colin Hanks's character was the real villain of season 6.
But nope, the episode in which Dexter realised what was going on was played out like the entire audience was meant to go, "Woah! We never expected that!"
All it did was make Dexter look like a total moron.
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