Wham! Episode/Live-Action TV: Difference between revisions

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* ''[[24]]'': Basically every single episode has at least one dose of wham in it, the whole series is practically built on it, and some episodes take it to almost absurd, shocking levels.

** Of special note: Day 1 finale: Teri dies.

**** Season 2 Finale: Richard finds his daughter, Isabelle, now a 20-something woman, and Jordan Collier, previously shot to death, is seen in disarray, walking on a beach.

 

* An incredibly startling example is from ''[[Alias (TV series)|Alias]]'' -- in "Phase One", Sydney was suddenly able to bring SD-6 crashing down, take down The Alliance, and hook up with Vaughn, essentially changing the entire ''premise'' of the show. This falls under the category of [[Retool|Retooling]] as well as a Wham Episode.

** Don't forget that {{spoiler|Francine}} gets [[Killed Off for Real]] by {{spoiler|her [[Doppelganger]]}} in the same episode.

* ''[[Due South]]'' - ''Juliet Is Bleeding'' - Someone in the Mafia orders a bomb planted in Ray's [[Cool Car|1972 Buick Riviera]]. Poor Louis.

 

* One of the most famous [[Soap Opera]] cliffhangers was the 1986 [[Soapland Christmas|Christmas episode]] of ''[[Eastenders]]'', where 30.1 million viewers (of a population of 56 million) saw Den serving Angie divorce papers in the closing minutes. Only one broadcast has since got a higher number of viewers: Princess Di's funeral.

* In season 6 of ''[[ER]]'', the episode 'Be Still my Heart' ends with {{spoiler|Carter getting stabbed by a schizophrenic patient and bleeding out in curtain 3 while everyone else has a Valentine's Day Party, and from his position on the floor, sees a blood-covered Lucy also lying hidden on the floor on the other side of the bed, staring back at him.}} This ending managed to be truly shocking in spite of being hyped by the promos. They don't get discovered until the end of the next episode's teaser.

*** This is followed up by the next episode, "Symphony of Illumination", where {{spoiler|She's not pregnant! And you discover she can never be pregnant. Ever. She also never becomes a mother according to future Ted so she won't adopt.}}

 

* ''[[iCarly]]'' has had several, usually involving the relationships between the characters.

** "iKiss" - Sam and Freddie don't ''really'' hate each other.

** And then there's the US version, whose ending went compltely the other way on the popularity scale.

 

* ''[[Mad Men]]'' has a few:

** "Nixon vs. Kennedy", when we first learn how Dick Whitman became Don Draper.

* The events of season 1 finale of ''[[WMAC Masters]]''. What was once an Anvilicious Aesop-of-the-day show becomes a mystery thriller.

 

* The last episode of Season One of ''[[Queer as Folk]]'' has Justin getting smashed in the head with a baseball bat, and the episode ends with Brian and Michael sitting outside his hospital room, Brian in tears, and nobody knowing what's going to happen to Justin.

** This packs even more punch when you think of all the things that Brian's been through in that season, and ''that'' is what makes him cry.

* ''[[True Blood]]'' has the season four finale. {{spoiler|Sookie dumps Eric and Bill both. Tara gets shot in the head. So does Debbie Pelt. Jesus gets stabbed to death. Nan Flanagan gets staked. Russell Edgington escapes from his chained grave. The Authority puts out kill orders on Bill and Eric. And the season closes on Sookie cradling Tara's bleeding body, crying desperately for help.}}

 

* ''[[Ultimate Force]],'' a British SAS show, killed off 3 of the 5 man band in the first 5 minutes of Season 3, including the central character, and put its mission control on a bus, as part of a retool to a longer format.

* ''[[Veronica Mars]]'', "Not Pictured." Veronica {{spoiler|''was'' [[Rape as Drama|raped]] at Shelley Pomroy's party. Aaron is dead on Duncan's orders. Weevil is in jail for murder. And, oh yeah, Beaver's a raging psychopath who blew up the bus, raped Veronica, and threw himself off the roof of the Neptune Grand}}. ''Damn.''

** Potentially subverted by "Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man". The episode is remember for being CSM's [[A Day in the Limelight]] and revealing much about his past through a lengthy flashback that many took as gospel. However, [[Word of God]] has reminded fans that the supposed backstory comes from a conspiracy theory magazine article that is implied in episode to facilitate an [[Unreliable Narrator]].