Warning: Spoilers abound in this article
A twist in a pilot episode is particularly special, since it has the power to totally transform our understanding of a show and what it's all about.
All of these TV hits were advertised as one thing, only for a twist in the series premiere to totally turn things on their head.
1. Star Trek: Discovery
The latest small-screen iteration of Trek revived the franchise with supreme style and an almighty twist, as the opening double-bill was revealed as an epic prologue to the series proper.
After the first two episodes, what we'd come to accept as the show's status quo – with first officer Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) stationed aboard the USS Shenzhou, serving under Captain Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh) – is totally torn asunder.
Georgiou is dead, the Shenzhou is out of action and Michael is under arrest for mutiny, having commandeered the craft to fire on Klingon warships – and fans were left to speculate as to where this newly-serialised version of Trek might go next.
2. The Shield
FX's superb and sorely underrated cop show The Shield opened with what seemed like a familiar set-up. There's a corrupt cop (Michael Chiklis) out for his own ends, unaware that an undercover operative (Reed Diamond) has been planted on his team by the Feds.
So imagine the audience's surprise when the pilot ended with Diamond's Terry being shot dead by Chiklis's Mackey. There was to be no clichéd game of cat-and-mouse here – and with dirty Vic as its lead, the show continued to defy convention and tell truly unpredictable stories for seven years.
3. Alias
Alias had a hell of a pilot, with the show's apparent premise – that Jennifer Garner's Sydney Bristow is a student who leads a double life as a CIA agent – thrown out of the window by episode's end.
Her employers, SD-6? Not part of the CIA at all, but a terrorist cell. Reeling from the double blow of this discovery and her fiancé's murder at the hands of SD-6 agents, Sydney offers herself up to the real CIA as a double agent, kicking off five seasons of twisty-turny goodness.
4. This Is Us
NBC's hugely popular weepy was originally pitched as a show about a gang of 30-somethings who all share the same birthday. But a heartwarming twist at the close of the pilot episode revealed that their connection actually ran much deeper than that.
We see Kate (Chrissy Metz) and her brother Kevin (Justin Hartley) celebrate their 36th birthday, as well as businessman Randall and finally Jack (Milo Ventimiglia), whose wife Rebecca (Mandy Moore) also happens to go into labor with their triplets on the same day.
The twist? Jack and Rebecca's scenes take place in 1980, Kate and Kevin are their children (the third triplet didn't survive), while Randall is their adopted son, abandoned by his father on the day he was born. We're not crying, you're crying.
5. How I Met Your Mother
Here's a particularly interesting one – a twist that appeared to change everything, only for the series to (eventually) revert to what we all assumed was its premise from the off.
We'll explain: the How I Met Your Mother pilot has a future version of Ted (voiced by Bob Saget) unfold the story of how his younger self (Josh Radnor) met love interest Robin (Cobie Smulders), with the clear implication that she's the "mother" of the show's title.
Except, in the episode's closing moments, it's confirmed that Robin is not the mother and we'll have to wait a little longer – as it turned out, another eight years – to meet Ted's future wife.
He eventually marries Tracy (Cristin Milioti) but, in a divisive finale, it's revealed that she's died by the time future Ted is unfolding his tale, and that he's still obsessed with Robin after all these years. So while the twist held firm – Robin wasn't the mother – the whole show was about his pursuit of her after all.
6. Mad Men
You might have forgotten that the Mad Men pilot even had a twist ending, but it's there. 'Smoke Gets in Your Eyes' portrays Don Draper (Jon Hamm) as a suave, womanising ad man – and while he absolutely is that, he's also a married man with two kids.
So pivotal a part of Don's life were Betty (January Jones) and his children in later episodes that it's easy to forget how the show concealed their existence until the closing moments of its series opener.
7. The Wonder Years
Anyone tuning in to the series premiere of '80s classic The Wonder Years expecting fluffy, undemanding fare would've been left reeling by the pilot's closing twist…
Just as adorable Kevin (Fred Savage) is about to face punishment from his parents for misbehaving at school, they hear tragic news upon returning home – that Brian Cooper, brother of Kevin's friend / love interest Winnie (Danica McKellar), has been killed in action in Vietnam.
It was a sobering moment, the ramifications of which were felt throughout the show's run. But at the time, it might've been – if you'll excuse the pun – "out of tune" with what viewers were expecting.
