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{{trope}}
Examples of [[{{TOPLEVELPAGE}}]]s in [[{{SUBPAGENAME}}]] include:
* ''[[The Prisoner]]'' ended with such a colossal mind screw that fans reputedly harassed series star Patrick McGoohan for months demanding his explanation of the series. How bad was it? Well, any really, ''really'' bad [[Mind Screw]] will get compared to ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]'', right? Okay, so now realize ''[[The Prisoner]] is what [[Neon Genesis Evangelion]] gets compared to''!
** The remake's [http://www.seekthesix.com/ website] seems to be gleefully continuing this tradition.
* ''[[Twin Peaks]]'' could be considered a mind screw. Alternately, it was just weird.
* Reality TV example: [[Criss Angel
* Every last damn thing about the ''[[Battlestar Galactica (2004 TV series)|Battlestar Galactica]]'' season 3 finale. "There's too much confusion", ''indeed''.
** The series finale of ''[[Battlestar Galactica (2004 TV series)|Battlestar Galactica]]'', FULL STOP.
* ''[[Lost]]''. They can fill the rest of this page with arguments back and forth about whether or not ''Lost'' is "really" that much of a Mind Screw, but, in all honesty, this trope is pretty much the show's whole reason for being. Either ''Lost'' ''is'' a Mind Screw, or else this either isn't a trope or ''Lost'' isn't a show. I'll leave it up to you to decide which. Like ''Lost'' does. Some examples from the show include its dream sequences and some particularly odd bits surrounding a cabin. One trippy episode was even set to be directed by [[Darren Aronofsky]].
* ''[[Life On Mars]]'', is weird as all get-out, especially the final episode but still straightforward. [[Word of God]] says {{spoiler|it was all in his head/he died}}. Individual interpretations may vary.
** The sequel series ''[[Ashes to Ashes]]'' takes the [[Mind Screw]] one stage further at the end of S2 when Alex {{spoiler|wakes up from her coma she starts seeing images of 1982 communicating with her saying she is in a coma there}}.
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** Or on the other side of the pond, {{spoiler|he's an astronaut from the year 2035 and the 125 precinct is really a manned voyage to Mars... nice [[Title Drop]] BTW}}
*** {{spoiler|or is it? gene hunt's shoe steps out of the lander at the last second or two of the show.}}
* ''Reichenbach Falls''. A [[The BBC|BBC Four]] one-off drama based on an idea by Ian Rankin. DCI Jim Buchan is an Edinburgh policeman whose personality and cases are similar to those of Rankin's Inspector Rebus (the Rebus novels sometimes tend towards mildly Mind Screwy in any case). He resents his former friend Jack Harvey (a pen-name used by Rankin) who is a famous crime novelist, and occasionally argues with the ghost of [[Sherlock Holmes|Sir Arthur Conan Doyle]] (hence the title). He gradually becomes aware that {{spoiler|he's a fictional character created by Harvey, and the author is planning to [[Dropped a Bridge
* ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' does this in the final episode of the fourth season. The second-last episode is the climactic battle against that season's [[Big Bad]]; the actual final one is some kind of shared dream/hallucination involving a guy with cheese on his head. ([[Joss Whedon]] said that when he set out to write it he realized after a bit he was attempting a forty-minute tone poem.)
** The mind screw aspect comes from the fact that it's possibly the most realistic dream sequence ever in terms of the bizarre scene transitions and
** ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' also has an episode in season 6 in which Buffy is poisoned by a hallucinogen-producing demon and is torn between two realities: being a Slayer and {{spoiler|being an insane girl in an asylum, with parents who love her and are trying to make her sane again with the help of a psychiatrist. But then, when the episode ends, it does so with an image of Buffy in her normal-crazy-girl reality, ''not'' as Slayer Girl, leaving you with the impression that the ''entire show'', including the ''later seasons'', are all a product of an insane girl's overactive imagination.}} Joss Whedon said he considers the series to be actually happening, but put that in just for fun, and if people want they can consider the whole series to be the delusions of Buffy.
** Which would also make the entire ''[[
** There's also the scenes in Buffy's mind in ''Weight of The World'', featuring lots of symbolism, doppelgangers, repetition, and Buffy's Issues.
** [[Big Bad|The First Evil]] likes to pretend it is other people in order to make it's chosen targets do it's bidding, go insane, commit suicide, ect. In season seven it liked to imitate Buffy. We are usually shown when this is the case but there are times where she acts so out of character it raises the possibility that the audience are not actually watching Buffy, but The First.
*** Which has led to quite a bit of [[Wild Mass Guessing|fan speculation.]] The final shot of Buffy in season seven is not really Buffy, but The First. The final shot of her in season six is actually the Buffybot. Buffy, of course, sacrificed her life to save the world at the end of season five, only to be brought [[Back
* The ''[[
** Even bigger is the reveal that {{spoiler|the entire series has been one big [[Xanatos Roulette]] to bring forth [[Cosmic Horror|Jasmine]]. According to Jasmine}}.
* The ''[[Star Trek
** It has been said in the series companion book that there was discussion for the final scene of the final episode to be Benny Russell holding the series script standing in a studio lot (presumably at Paramount)... either implying that all of ''Star Trek'' is [[All Just a Dream]] in-universe... or implying that all of ''Star Trek'' is a real vision of the future sent by the Prophets ([[Magnificent Bastard|holy...!]]).
** In something of a similiar vein, one early draft of the episode "Little Green Men" (in which Quark goes back in time and causes the 1940s Roswell incident) featured a quick segment of a Lt. Roddenberry being inspired by the episode events to write a science fiction story...
* Elsewhere in the ''Trek'' franchise, ''[[Star Trek:
** One of the greatest Mind Screws in ''TNG'' is the episode "Remember Me." To put it simply:
{{quote|
'''Computer:''' The universe is a spheroid region 705 meters in diameter. }}
** "Frame of Mind" is a [[Mind Screw]] for Commander Riker, up until the very end.
** "Parallels" is this way for the first three acts or so, until it's proven that {{spoiler|Worf is shifting through increasingly divergent parallel universes.}}
** Another ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine|Deep Space Nine]]'' episode that does this is "Rapture." Because they never really explain whether the visions were actually an important message from the Prophets, and Sisko would have been fine without the surgery, or if they really were hallucinations from the accident and the surgery was necessary.
*** The visions ''were'' important. They foreshadow {{spoiler|the Dominion annexing Cardassia and forcing the Federation to leave Bajor.}}
* Though ''[[
** On his commentary track for "Objects In Space," Whedon explains that the entire episode is his take on existentialism
* Even ''[[Supernatural]]'' got in on the act with Dean's fantasy world in ''What Is And What Should Never Be''. Would that sweet little four year old in the pilot have turned out to be a [[Jerkass]] if it wasn't for emotional abuse, neglect, a tight leash and a massive martyr complex or does he just think that little of himself? Does he think that Sam's a wuss, Mary's perfect and his soulmate is pretty much death or were they all part of him? But whatever way you look at it, it's still a profoundly disturbing [[Tear Jerker]] that sets up the [[It Got Worse]] events of the finale nicely.
** They did it again with ''Mystery Spot''. Was it all just a dream? Did Dean actually die and go to hell? The people that were killed (by Sam and the Trickster), do they remain dead? And the fact that Dean's "We can't be martyrs anymore" speech (which has so many things wrong with it that I don't know where to begin) in ''No Rest For The Wicked'' is almost an exact copy of the Trickster's speech just carries the [[Mind Screw]] further.
* Classic ''[[
** The final season of Classic Who is notorious for this sort of thing, mostly due to editing-room decisions made to shoehorn the stories into the X-episode serial format. 'Ghost Light' is especially full of it - even the DVD-issued Special Edition is best tackled with a notebook and pen.
** And then there's "Midnight". The audience never learns who, what or ''how'' the monster was, why it took over Skye and wanted to kill the Doctor, if there even ''was'' a monster or just a bunch of terribly conjunctive mishaps... the only thing we can be sure of is [[Humans Are
** From the [[Expanded Universe]]: ''The Blue Angel''. Parallel universes. Space warthog Valkyries. The Doctor {{spoiler|''giving birth to a winged baby from his leg''}}. Claims that the Doctor's mother was a mermaid. Giant space owls. A ''[[Star Trek]]'' parody starship called the ''Nepotist''. One character is an elephant (a green one, no less!), another gets turned into a giant squid for no adequately explained reason. Parallel universe Dalek-analogues who are humanoids made out of ''glass''. Twenty questions that manage to be clever, patronising, and headache-inducing all at once...yeah, [[What Do You Mean It Wasn't Made
** Also, the Troughton story "The Mind Robber". Episode one was written in a hurry with no budget (hence the 'void' set and the robot costume re-used from a version of ''[[
** "Castrovalva" is set on a planet that is {{spoiler|a figment of Adric's imagination}} and towards the end turns into a complete perversion of logic and geometry.
** The sequences set inside the Matrix in ''The Deadly Assassin'' and, again, the last seventh of ''Trial of a Time Lord''
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** The Eleventh Doctor is a walking mind-screw, because of the Cracks in Time story-arc. It makes sense if you interpret the Pandorica to be a Freudian superego; however, the Fifth Series ends with a two-part Finale with a convoluted plot that does not explain the origin of the TARDIS explosion at all; without this question answered, the plot makes no sense.
*** Thankfully, [[Word of God|Moffat has stated]] that it was supposed to be this way, as the arc isn't done yet. The Silence arc will carry over into Series Six, and will explain the cracks, the voice, River Song, and [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|the ducks]].
** At the end of ''[[Doctor Who
** We discover, in ''[[Doctor Who
** River Song, {{spoiler|Amy and Rory's child, grew up back in time with the child versions of her own parents. More mindfuckeringly, River (original name Melody) was named after Amy and Rory's childhood friend Mels, who is, of course, Melody. She is named after herself.}}
** In "The Wedding of River Song," the entirety of time is taking place at the same time because River {{spoiler|prevented the Doctor's unpreventable death}}. Which means the Doctor has to {{spoiler|recruit the shape-shifting Teselecta (which he never would have met had he not tried to avert his death) to avoid his death to ensure his death in the eyes of the universe by having the Teselecta "die" in his stead. Meaning he has to cause his death to avoid his death to cause his death to avoid his death to cause his death...}}
* Sarah's dream sequences in ''[[The Sarah Connor Chronicles]]''.
* ''[[St. Elsewhere]]'': [
** You can't ignore it, they have [https://web.archive.org/web/20060824200044/http://home.vicnet.net.au/~kwgow/crossovers.html charts]!
* Quite a few ''[[Monty Python's Flying Circus]]'' sketches, and all the [[Deranged Animation
** "Tonight, on ''It's the Mind'', we examine the strange phenomenon of ''Déjà vu''..."
*** ...lemon curry?
* There's a great Japanese show called Uchu Keiji Shaider. You can bet it will contain something like mind-controlling dolls,or people doing a demonic dance or some really odd-looking chroma key!
* ''[[Carnivale]]'': Considering it was heavily influenced by ''[[Twin Peaks]]'', this is unsurprising.
* ''[[Heroes (TV series)|Heroes]]'' relies on this to an extent. Much of the symbolism (the "symbol", cockroaches, etc.), the [[What Do You Mean Its Not Symbolic|religious subtext]], and the obvious puberty / [[Have You Tried Not Being a Monster?]] themes that generally pop up in this genre. And that's not even getting into the [[Mind Rape|Season 3 finale]]...
* During the taping of one of his comedy specials, comedian Howie Mandel once executed a [[Mind Screw]] on a person from one of the front rows who got up to go to the restroom. As soon as the poor unfortunate was out of earshot, Mandel had the audience in the vicinity of his seat rearrange themselves, and then continued with his act. When the audience member returned and stood, confused, in the aisle trying to find his seat again, Mandel stopped his act to "help" him for several minutes while the audience went wild, before revealing the gag and letting everyone go back to their original seats.
** Additionally, comedian Mark Watson will frequently extol the virtues of randomly chasing people, and will do so if people get up. If he fails to catch them, he will [[Mind Screw]] them by sitting in their seat, waiting for them to return.
* ''[[Fringe]]''. The name says it all.
** Especially when the [[Alternate Universe]] aspect really kicks in at the end of the second season.
* "Failed [[Pilot]]" ''Virtuality'', which I can only describe as [[
** ''2001'': The crew is trapped on a very long journey with a possibly [[
** ''Brother'': In order to help with funding (I think, I missed the first 30 mins), the ship has become a Big Brother-style house, complete with [[Confession Cam]] booth.
** ''Lain'': {{spoiler|When the captain is killed by an inexplicably malfunctioning airlock, a crew member mysteriously finds his VR goggles in her quarters. She goes into his last simulation, and discovers that the captain's consciousness may have survived.}}
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*** To answer the question about the {{spoiler|simulation of a gynecologist, Alice is using her VR module to imagine the pregnancy she's not allowed to have being aboard the ship.}} Maybe. {{spoiler|We conspicuously never see her break character or take off the module. And there are a lot of unncessarily details: magazines, waiting room, that make her seem less in control of the program.}} In essense, it's a question that may never be answered.
* ''[[We Are Klang]]'' is generally surreal, but balanced with 'realistic' comedy. ''Alien'', the last episode of series one, however, is essentially a sci-fi/fantasy hybrid and ends on a borderline [[Gainax Ending]].
* [[Once Upon a Time]], (June the 11th, 1934, to be more precise,) in [[
* ''[[
** You can just stop at ''[[
* The Stargate episode "Forever In A Day" happens inside Daniel Jackson's head. His wife (Sha're) is sending him a message by slightly twisting Amonets's (the goa'uld who has take her host) usage of her kara kesh (torture device). The episode starts Sha're 'telling' Daniel Teal'c was going to kill her, and then a few seconds later (which seems like months to Daniel) Teal'c actually kills her. Having already gotten over it (with help from Sha're) Daniel manages to begin to forgive Teal'c almost instantly. He admits Teal'c did the right thing, which he now knows Sha're would have asked Teal'c to do.
* The end of one episode of ''[[The Colbert Report]]'' had Stephen read a story from his book "Colbert Report Bedtime Stories." It gets complicated, to say the least. It can be viewed [http://is.gd/5aRkCU here.]
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