When you think of the wildest, most dramatic TV episodes, season or series finales are usually at the top of the list. However, there are plenty of shocking non-finale episodes of popular shows that should be talked about more often. In fact, those episodes are typically even more shocking than bigger finale revelations because they're unexpected.
Sometimes, it's a sudden character death that comes out of nowhere. Other times, it's a plot shakeup or flashback that changes the very core of a series. It might even be something as seemingly mundane as an arrest you didn't see coming midway through a show that will forever change its trajectory.
No matter what umbrella it falls under, these are some of the most exhilarating, devastating, and shocking episodes a series has to offer. Between shows like Game of Thrones, Supernatural, and Breaking Bad, take a trip down TV memory lane.
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The Episode: Season 3, Episode 9, “The Rains of Castamere” (AKA “The Red Wedding”)
What Happens: Who needs something blue at a wedding when you can have something red instead? Yes, that means blood. A lot of it. Robb broke his promise to marry Walder Fray's daughter when he tied the knot with Talisa - who's now pregnant. Though it seemed like Walder forgave him, he teams up with Tywin Lannister and Lord Roose Bolton to get some bloody revenge. Not only do Talisa and her unborn baby fall victim to the scheme, but Robb, Joyeuse Frey, Lady Catelyn Stark, and Ser Wendel Manderly also fall prey - along with over a dozen Stark soldiers.
Why It's Shocking: Death is pretty par for the course in Game of Thrones, but “The Rains of Castamere” takes it to the next level - and it's arguably the most shocking episode of the series despite not being a finale of any kind. The number of protagonists wiped out is steep, and what appeared to be a slow filler episode quickly became one of the most intense and bloody episodes in the series. “The Red Wedding” set the tone for the deadly plot twists fans would come to expect from the series. With a death total averaging about 25, it's an unexpected and brutal bloodbath. Watching a pregnant woman that far along be viciously and purposefully stabbed repeatedly in the stomach is just about one of the worst on-screen deaths imaginable. Catelyn's scream of despair at the end is also not fun to witness.
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The Episode: Season 5, Episode 15, “I Was Made to Love You”
What Happens: When people think of Joyce's death in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, they usually think of “The Body.” And though that episode is a far more impactful one (and contains Buffy's heartbreaking reaction to finding her mom's body), Joyce actually dies in the previous episode. And it's a weird one. Warren is having relations with his AI dream girl (read: sex robot). So it's kind of a bizarre choice for this revelation. Yet that's precisely what makes it so shocking.
Why It's Shocking: Just when fans thought Joyce was in the clear after a brain tumor, she suffered an aneurysm, which killed her suddenly. In Buffy's line of work, pretty much all of her losses were supernatural-related up to this point. She could kick, scream, rage, and get vengeance on anything that caused her pain. But this time? She loses her mom to something that's not a vampire or a beastie.
Buffy doesn't have something physical to blame, and it's the most human she's ever been. As is the case for most “save the world” teen shows, the death of a parent or mentor is a physical representation of growing up. Buffy still has Giles (for the time being) at this point, but she's otherwise on her own. Now, on top of being in charge of protecting the world, she also has to be the adult in her house and look after her sister. As inevitable as it was, fans still didn't see it coming.
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The Episode: Season 2, Episode 12, “Phoenix”
What Happens: Jesse and his girlfriend Jane are back on drugs and nearing overdose levels of being strung out. Both of them are lying on their sides to avoid aspiration. When Walt tries to wake up Jessie, he knocks Jane on her back, and does nothing. He sits there and watches her choke on her own vomit, almost in a transfixed state. It's a turning point for his character as he begins to completely lose his humanity.
Why It's Shocking: Up to this point, Walt had some mild sense of a moral code. He justified his actions as necessary evils, but by this point, a switch in him flips and he just stops caring. It's a jarring transition for fans to watch as his humanity ebbs away in such a callous and disturbing manner. Of course, Walt tries to justify his actions under the guise that Jane was preventing Jesse from getting clean. But really, it's just a selfish action to get his protege back into the meth game. Here, he truly becomes Heisenburg and completely loses himself.
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The Episode: Season 3, Episode 14, “My Screwup”
What Happens: Ben, Dr. Cox's ex-brother-in-law, comes back into the picture for a birthday party (or does he?). After being away on an adventure for two years, he neglected to get checkups after getting diagnosed with cancer. We're meant to believe that Dr. Cox is running tests on him until the end of the episode, when it's revealed that Ben has already died and the doctor made up the entire thing in his mind to avoid the truth. The episode is intentionally vague and murky so audiences can feel as confused as Dr. Cox when it comes to deciphering the difference between reality and grief-laden fiction.
Why It's Shocking: It's always an interesting tactic to bring audiences along for the ride during a character's hallucinations. It makes it all the more jarring when the reveal happens - especially when it's a huge revelation regarding the death of a character. We go from thinking Ben is alive and well (hopefully), to attending his funeral in the span of a single episode. Dr. Cox's coping mechanism becomes the audience's reality until the rug is ripped out from under Dr. Cox and the audience alike. It really ups the ante of the tragedy and shock value. Though these kinds of twists aren't an uncommon occurrence on Scrubs, this one hurts.
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The Episode: Season 4, Episode 3, “In the Beginning”
What Happens: Dean and Sam Winchester spent their whole lives trying to figure out what happened the day their mother died. In the process, their father indoctrinated them into the world of hunting demons, ghosts, and any other ghoulies they met along the way during their plight to get answers. Meanwhile, Sam starts having psychic powers that the brothers discover are a result of a yellow-eyed-demon named Azazel bleeding into the infant's mouth.
When Dean goes back in time to meet his parents when they were teenagers, he discovers some shocking news: Mama Winchester was a hunter. Even worse? She's responsible for the demon deal that killed her, doomed her sons, and landed them a lifetime of daddy issues, death, and grief. To be fair, they wouldn't exist at all if she hadn't made the deal with Azazel to bring John back to life. But still.
Why It's Shocking: This one small detail changed the entire DNA of the series. In the “Pilot,” Mary's death is the heart of the show. She's depicted as an innocent doting mother and is almost like this irreverent and untouchable deity. Then, we find out that she was the hunter all along and both boys have to grapple with the secret their mom kept that doomed them all.
Had Mary chosen to be honest with John about her life and the deal, he may not have become the broken and arguably abusive parent he turned out to be when he indoctrinated his children into a life of hunting monsters before they even reached double digits. Not knowing the truth consumed John to obsessive levels. If he was prepared, it would have been an entirely different show. Fans couldn't help but feel that sting of betrayal alongside the brothers - especially when Mary gets resurrected later in the show as a distant and absent mother instead of immediately trying to make up for her choices.
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The Episode: Season 2, Episode 4, “The Red Dragon and the Gold”
What Happens: Given the name of the show, fans have been waiting for a good old-fashioned dragon duel - and we finally get that in this episode. Aemond betrays his brother Aegon with some fiery dragon blasts. Meanwhile, the episode serves multiple casualties, including Rhaenys and her dragon Meleys.
Why It's Shocking: This is arguably one of the franchise's most shocking (and epic) episodes since “The Red Wedding.” Not only are the deaths a huge deal for the rest of the season, but the murders themselves are epic. We've been dying to see more from the dragons, and the special effects serve in this episode and will hopefully lead to similar battles down the line. All in all, it's a high-stakes episode that takes fans in a dozen impactful directions.
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Content warning: Police brutality
The Episode: Season 4, Episode 12, “The Animals”
What Happens: When Suzanne has an episode, the guards go on the offensive, getting physical against her instead of trying to calm her down. Poussey steps in to explain that Suzanne doesn't know what she's doing. The guards don't take kindly to her help and CO Bayley brutally holds her down while he's not paying attention and she suffocates and dies.
Why It's Shocking: You expect some deaths in a prison show, but this one was absolutely gut-wrenching to watch. In many ways, it's a social commentary on police brutality and the murders of unarmed Black members of society at the hands of law enforcement. The scene doesn't pull any punches as we watch Poussey slowly lose the ability to breathe while the guard kneels on her and holds her head down.
Rewatching the scene is even more difficult now, as the real-life murder of George Floyd by four police officers happened in a very similar manner. Most people can't watch this scene without looking away, but it's a sobering reminder that these things happen in real life. It's heartbreaking to watch Taystee beg for her to wake up. Poussey is a kindhearted character who only ever tries to help, making the death just about as shocking, jarring, and impactful as it could possibly be.
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'Mad Men' - A New Boss' Career Gets Cut Off In An Unexpectedly Violent Way
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The Episode: Season 3, Episode 6, “Guy Walks Into an Advertising Agency”
What Happens: There's nothing like a little office bloodbath to get the blood pumping (on and off the screen). Sterling Cooper gets a new manager, and the workers aren't exactly pleased about it. There should be a warning label on lawnmowers to not screw around on them (there probably is, but these guys aren't the brightest). Naturally, a secretary runs over the manager's foot. How's that for a first (and last) day?
Why It's Shocking: The scene is just plain gruesome. Given the nature of the series, it was a pretty big shock to viewers who definitely weren't expecting this level of carnage. At least it stopped the office shakeup in its tracks. Too bad the guy had to lose his foot for it.
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The Episode: Season 4, Episode 9, “Whoever Did This”
What Happens: Out of all of the things a couple of mobsters could fight about, killing a horse seems pretty low on the list of murder-worthy quarrels. Tony freaks out on Ralphie, smashing his head on the ground and choking him to death for allegedly killing Pie-O-My, which Ralphie denies. But if you ask Tony, he “found him like this.”
Why It's Shocking: The fact that the murder happens isn't all that surprising. It's the way it happens (and the reason). The scene is long and brutal, and frankly hard to watch. Of course, it's par for the course given the subject matter, and it's commendable that the series doesn't shy away from the nitty-gritty lives of mobsters. There's no thrills or frills. There's just a ticked-off guy slamming another dude's head on the ground in what is arguably the most brutal scene in the series. Years later, people still talk about this scene.
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'The Wire' - Omar Cheats Death For Years, Then Meets His End Shopping In A Bodega
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The Episode: Season 5, Episode 8, “Clarifications”
What Happens: In The Wire, Omar uses up the last of his nine lives when he's just browsing the aisles at the local corner store. After everything he's been through, audiences were baffled that he would go out like this - at the hands of Kenard. He just straight-up fires a shot at Omar's head and it's over in a second.
Why It's Shocking: Some of the most shocking deaths come from completely unassuming scenes when a character is doing something randomly mundane - like shopping at a bodega. This particular death was especially wild given that Omar meets his maker because of a child. There's just something incredibly jarring about watching a kid commit such a grisly act. The shock on Kenard's face mirrors the audience's pretty well.
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The Episode: Season 4, Episode 3, “Connor's Wedding”
What Happens: While Logan's kids are busy planning a power coup, they get a phone call during their shady meeting. Their father is dead. He dies on a plane as the hustle and bustle of paramedics quietly do their thing in the background. It's all very human. And that's what makes it unexpected in a show like this.
Why It's Shocking: The fact that Logan is going to drop dead at some point isn't exactly a secret. It's essentially the entire plot of the show. However, the way it happens is nothing short of brilliant and unexpected. There are plenty of moments where we think “this is it" - like the time he has chest pains in the forest. Instead, the writers went in another direction. He doesn't even die on-screen. It's sudden and surprisingly, melancholically touching despite his kids actively trying overthrow him with a coup. But that's life. A sick man is probably going to die suddenly and in a rather mundane way rather than going out in a blaze of glory. It's not a dramatic choice but it's a powerful one.
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The Episode: Season 3, Episode 3, “Call Waiting”
What Happens: The Company (an evil cabal) kidnaps Michael's nephew and his girlfriend Sara to force him to break a shady dude out of prison. The only problem? Sara is a fighter and doesn't take captivity too kindly. She and Michael have used coded messages during their entire relationship, leading to a failed rescue job at the hands of Michael's brother Lincoln. To send a message, Linc receives a bleeding box containing what is supposed to be her head - a-la Seven.
Why It's Shocking: Beyond the fact that it's the FedEx delivery from hell with a beloved fan-favorite, it came out of absolutely nowhere. But what really ticked off the fanbase is that it wasn't necessary. Actress Sarah Wayne Callies was pregnant, and that paired with failed contract negotiations landed her head in a box when she could have just stayed kidnapped off-screen like L.J. was for most of the season.
Fans were so enraged that they started a letter-writing campaign and a boycott to demand she be brought back. As Lincoln didn't exactly take her head out for inspection, Sara is alive and well in Season 4, and the writers knew better than to pull anything like it again. Callies credits the fans for her character's resurrection.
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The Episode: Season 4, Episode 15, “Stand By Me”
What Happens: For the most part, The Vampire Diaries deaths are often temporary. When it comes to Elena Gilbert's brother Jeremy, he's had quite a few deaths throughout the series. Yet in Season 4, his blood gets drained by the immortal pseudo-vampire Silas. Up until this point, Jeremy had a ring that brings humans back to life when they die at the hands of a supernatural being. So, why doesn't it work this time? He just became a supernatural hunter himself, eliminating the human part of the equation. Elena isn't willing to accept his death and turns off her humanity at the command of Damon so she won't have to deal with her grief.
Why It's Shocking: People like to shade Elena, but at 17, this girl has lost everything. Her parents died, she learned she was adopted, she watched both of her birth parents die, she witnessed her aunt die, she then lost her guardian Alaric, and now her brother is gone. And that's not even considering the fact that she lost her humanity - what she prized above all else - when she became a vampire. The whole point of the excursion where Jeremy dies is finding a cure for vampirism, upping her guilt and adding to the familial body count she blames herself for.
Watching Elena's emotional breakdown when she finally accepts that her brother's rotting corpse isn't coming back is gut-wrenching. Between trying to light her house on fire and listing off her dead family members that taint the memories she has of the house, you have to be the one with no humanity to feel nothing. Even Damon can't bear to witness her breakdown. In typical Damon fashion, he makes the impulsive decision to use his sire bond to command her to turn off her humanity - which is vampire speak for essentially becoming an unfeeling sociopath. Given that Elena is defined by her compassion (whether fans think she's a selfish diva or not), the moment transitioned her into her emotionless arc, which was iconic and way too short-lived.
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The Episode: Season 5, Episode 11, “The Blowback”
What Happens: After years of fraudulently practicing law, Mike's scheme to fake his Harvard law degree and NY State Bar results come back to bite him. He refuses to sell out his co-conspirators (namely his mentor Havey) and eventually represents himself in court before choosing to go to prison to exonerate his friends from any blowback on their end.
Why It's Shocking: Sure, plenty of people find out Mike's secret before his arrest, but most fans never expected something like this to happen mid-series. Because once you put the fake lawyer in prison for being a fake lawyer, that pretty much rules out future opportunities to practice law. Apparently not, though. Two other characters get disbarred for lesser offenses, but somehow Mike passes the ethics hearing for licensure after Harvey does some strong-arming.
Suits stays interesting because it gives fans multiple shakeups during its nine seasons to cut through the typical monotony of a procedural setup. Mike's prison storyline was the most emotional and intense part of the series and it wouldn't have been the same if this happened as a conclusion to the show as most fans predicted. The arrest, Mike making a deal to save his friends, and finding out that the jury would have given him a “not guilty” verdict if he didn't make a deal make it that much more intense. Additionally, having Harvey set up a deal to get Mike out early offers an endless barrage of shocking twists that the series was frankly brave for going for in this kind of show.
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