The Sopranos, Black Mirror, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer; while the aforementioned shows are on very different playing fields across the entertainment industry, one thing is for sure — they all have some of the most shocking episodes in television history.
Television is meant to entertain — above all. It shocks, it awes, and it breaks your heart. If it weren’t for television, what would we talk about at work on Monday? What would we tweet about? Audiences come to care very deeply for their programs, and when something particularly unexpected happens, reactions can be mixed and volatile.
Some series aim to shock; others do it incidentally, their intent solely to tell a narrative. If a big plot twist comes up organically, then so be it, but whatever the philosophy behind these shocking moments, one thing’s for sure: they were on everyone’s tongues the next day.
Game of Thrones – “The Rains of Castamere”
This moment sealed Game of Thrones‘ (somewhat overblown) reputation as a truly ruthless series. Though Ned Stark (Sean Bean) had been killed off, shockingly, in episode 9 of season 1, Baelor, a significant character, would not die again until “The Rains of Castamere.”
“The Rains of Castamere” is a perfect example of the art of the plot twist. Several audience members had been under the impression that Robb Stark (Richard Madden) was the main character for real this time. He was heroic and handsome, and his chiseled cheeks made for great tv, but he had made numerous mistakes and alienated key allies he needed to win the war against the Lannisters. A disaster of this level was realistically inevitable.
The twist, however, was masterful – none of the audience expected Robb to be so suddenly and brutally killed in an event dubbed “The Red Wedding.” It seemed for a moment that Robb might actually recover his alliance with the Freys, and since it was near a season finale, realistically, that could have worked as a setup for a fourth season. And then, it was as though that entire plotline was wrapped up in just a few moments. Robb’s story officially became a tragedy, and no one could stop talking about it.
Game of Thrones – “The Lion and the Rose”
To kill off the king that everyone was rooting for was ballsy; killing off the king that everyone hated and who was essentially the central antagonist was audacious. Joffrey (Jack Gleeson) finally met his ignoble end in “The Lion and the Rose.” Come on, if we’re talking about “The Red Wedding,” we have to talk about the Purple Wedding!
The Lannisters had all but won the Game of Thrones. Joffrey was more obnoxious and evil than ever. The bad guys won! Until suddenly, Joffrey starts to choke.
The shake-up left the series in an uncertain state, and fans were entirely unsure what would happen next. Robb and Joffrey dying meant that the War of Five Kings had ended, and the series was going to move into a new era. Plus, everyone hated Joffrey (but not Jack Gleeson, who is terrific), and we were all just glad he finally got his karmic justice.
Breaking Bad – “Ozymandias”
Much like the poem of the same name, “Ozymandias,” was when Walter White’s (Bryan Cranston) works began to crumble. The death of Hank (Dean Norris) truly signaled the end for Walter and his meth empire. Not only had he been found out, he’d killed his brother-in-law, Skyler (Anna Gunn), and any semblance of normal family life was gone. Walt Jr. (RJ Mitte) would never forgive him. For all of Walt’s feigned bravado, he had finally bitten off more than he could chew. It was well and truly the beginning of the end for the show, and fans could not wait to see what would happen next.
It was also some of the finest television writing of all time. “Ozymandias” is simply a masterpiece, and it’s a shockingly brutal hour of television that served as a significant payoff for several lingering subplots.
Westworld – “The Bicameral Mind”
“The Bicameral Mind” might just have been Westworld’s finest moment. The season one finale unraveled the series’ mysteries while also planting seeds for future plot lines – although there’s some debate about whether or not those future plot lines lived up to the hype. The episode marks the moment where Dolores (Evan Rachel Wood, in a fantastic performance) becomes truly sentient – and decides that humanity must die.
The episode also revealed that viewers had been following two separate timelines, which changed the entire context of the series. And the final shot – pardon the pun – with Dolores and Ford (Anthony Hopkins) left fans wanting more and entirely content with the self-contained story. Season one ended precisely as needed – with these violent delights having violent ends.
The Simpsons – “Who Shot Mr. Burns?”
When The Simpsons was at the height of its popularity, there was no escaping it; people just couldn’t get enough of the animated sitcom (a somewhat novel idea at the time). So, when the show decided to parody a storyline on Dynasty (aptly titled “Who Shot J.R.?”), audiences were obsessed with solving the cliffhanger, which involved the greedy Mr. Burns being shot by a mystery assailant.
A contest was set up, with the winner getting either a cash prize or getting animated on the series. 500,000 hits were sent into the competition, though few guessed the true culprit: Maggie Simpson.
Friends – “The One with Ross’s Wedding”
Friends had teased Ross (David Schwimmer) and Rachel (Jennifer Aniston) many times before the two finally hooked up (and then later broke up), and after four seasons, it’s safe to say fans were incredibly invested in the pairing. When Ross decided he’d be marrying Emily (Helen Baxendale) in London, Rachel was nearly unable to go due to her lingering emotional attachment to Ross.
However, after showing up at the wedding, Rachel realizes she wants Ross to be happy and sits down to watch the wedding. Everything seems to be going lovely until Ross says Rachel’s name at the altar instead of Emily’s. Fans went wild for the moment, which left fans waiting for a resolution in season five.
The two-parter also saw Chandler (Matthew Perry) and Monica (Courteney Cox) surprisingly hook up. Legend has it that the studio audience’s roar of approval for this development lasted for quite a while. The two characters would go on to date, get married, and have kids throughout the remainder of the series (all before Ross and Rachel officially got back together again, I might add).
Seinfeld – “The Finale”
A whopping 76 million viewers watched Sienfeld’s finale. The “show about nothing” captivated audiences during its nine seasons, and everyone was curious about how the show would end. It wasn’t a particularly serialized show, but sitcoms really were the name of the game in the 20th century.
It’s safe to say that fans did not predict how the finale would go down. At the end of the episode, thanks to a Good Samaritan law, our main characters end up in jail for a year. The joke was supposed to be that they had been terrible people the whole series and were finally getting their comeuppance. However, not everyone agreed with the direction the finale took, and it was a point of contention for some time.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer – “The Body”
Buffy the Vampire Slayer has one of the rawest depictions of grief ever shown on television. In “The Body,” Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) comes home only to find her mother, Joyce (Kristine Sutherland), deceased of natural causes. Though Joyce had been sick throughout the season, her death was unexpected – her daughters didn’t even get to say goodbye – and Buffy’s cries of grief are haunting. Gellar’s performance as Buffy Summers will always be iconic, and she’s on top of her game here.
The episode features no monsters, only the characters reacting to this sudden and upsetting event, which they could not prevent with all the power they wield. The episode’s also practically in real-time, so these characters are reacting to trauma as it happens. It also featured the first on-screen kiss between Willow (Alyson Hannigan) and Tara (Amber Benson), which was considered to be a significant moment of representation.
Black Mirror – “The National Anthem”
Black Mirror came out swinging with its first episode, “The National Anthem.” The series is not afraid to be a little shocking when the need arises, but its premiere episode is on another level. In “The National Anthem,” the British Prime Minister is coerced into having intercourse with a pig on national television. Though the event isn’t shown (of course), the imagery and suggestion of it is enough to stick around for a while.
And stick with people it did. To this day, people still mention the disturbing nature of the first episode, with some opting to recommend other episodes for first-time viewers instead of that episode.
The Sopranos – “Made in America”
Reportedly, the finale of The Sopranos, “Made in America,” resulted in angry calls to several television providers, who had been warned about the situation beforehand. The series ends with Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) enjoying dinner with his family as “Don’t Stop Believing” by Journey plays on a jukebox. A strange man enters the diner, and the series fades to black before the viewer knows if the man is a hitman out for Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini).
Viewers were upset and thought that something was wrong with their television sets. The series finale was a huge point of discussion from then on, and numerous parodies continue to spring up to this day. It was a truly shocking decision for series creator David Chase to just …
