It's becoming so hard for a TV show to actually pull off a huge twist that it's no surprise some decide to go for the really unexpected in order to hit home.
When they land, it can be a wonderful thing that may leave fans emotional or shocked, but that they appreciate because the twist makes sense. However, when they don't, showrunners risk the wrath of their hardcore fans and know they're in trouble.
We've rounded up nine of the times that fans really didn't get on with a plot twist in their favourite shows.
1. Homeland - Peter Quinn's heroic demise
Another major death and more anger, but instead of threats to stop watching, some fans genuinely paid to take out an advert in The Hollywood Reporter for an open letter to the showrunners over Peter Quinn's (Rupert Friend) death in the season six finale, signing it "#NotOurHomeland".
"It is painful to hear that even a small segment of our devoted audience is disappointed in Homeland," producer Alex Gansa responded. "I mourn the loss of Peter Quinn as much as anybody and that character was created not to denigrate but to honour the men and women who devote their lives to keeping America safe. In my eyes, he died a hero."
2. The X-Files - Mulder and Scully's son
Shows always want to make an impact with their season premieres, although The X-Files probably didn't want the season 11 premiere to make such a negative reaction. Fans weren't happy after it was revealed Scully's (Gillian Anderson) son wasn't Mulder's (David Duchovny), but the Cigarette Smoking Man's (William B Davis).
Turns out he abducted Scully a while ago and impregnated her with alien-assisted science, naturally. Creator Chris Carter hasn't directly responded to fan complaints, but defended the decision to EW: "It adds to the characters in an interesting emotional way. And because the audience is now in on this truth, and Mulder and Scully are not, these revelations are huge for this show because they're huge for the characters."
3. Dexter - Debra & Dexter's love story
We were going to go with the ridiculous lumberjack ending that equally annoyed fans, but had to use the end of season six when Debra (Jennifer Carpenter) revealed she was in love with her brother Dexter (Michael C Hall), since it was such a bad twist that it was promptly forgotten about.
The incest plotline did not go down well at all with the fans, although showrunner Scott Buck saw some irony in the reaction. "It's funny to me that people can accept the fact that Dexter is a serial killer without question but the minute his sister falls in love with him, it's love that makes people go, 'Ew,' and not the killing," he explained.
4. How I Met Your Mother - The ending
Ask someone for the worst finales of all time and it won't be long until How I Met Your Mother's comes up, which ruined all of fans' goodwill towards the show with a final twist montage. At the last minute, they introduced a montage that saw the Mother dying, Barney and Robin divorcing and Ted deciding that Robin is the one after all.
We were meant to be happy that it happened, but almost no-one was and they were left hoping that the edited finale had been used instead. Even the show's star Alyson Hannigan said it was like a slap in the face for fans. "I didn't think Barney should have ever gotten married," she said. "I liked Barney and Robin. But in my heart, I always wanted her with Ted. I just feel [Barney and Robin] shouldn't have gotten married."
5. Our Girl - Elvis has left the building
We doubt they'll follow through on the threat, but Our Girl viewers said they would never watch the show again after Elvis (Luke Pasqualino) was killed off in series three, largely because Pasqualino had other commitments to the Snatch TV show.
He finds it all a bit amusing and reckons they'll be back. "I don't want Elvis to be forgotten about, but I think they'll be able to put it to one side and get used to the fact that he's not gonna be there," Pasqualino told us.
6. Iron Fist - Colleen Wing's true origins
Colleen Wing (Jessica Henwick) largely came out of Marvel's derided Iron Fist unscathed as fans were left wishing more of the series was about her. Well, except for the reveal that she's been a member of The Hand all along, something that has so little impact that she's back on Iron Fist's side by the end of the season.
It doesn't help that The Hand haven't exactly set the Marvel Netflix universe alight ever since they appeared in Daredevil, so to have a potential fan favourite character secretly be one of them just irritated fans. Well, those who could be bothered to stick through all of Iron Fist's first season.
7. The Walking Dead - Glenn isn't really dead (yet)
Don't get us wrong, The Walking Dead fans were happy that Glenn (Steven Yeun) didn't die early on in season six, but they were left frustrated by his pointless fake death. This happened when Glenn was trapped in an alleyway under a dumpster and we saw what looked like Glenn being ripped apart by a walker horde.
The Walking Dead were so committed to this plot twist that Yeun's name was dropped from the show's opening credits for the first time since the pilot. "We will see Glenn, some version of Glenn or parts of Glenn, again," showrunner Scott Gimple tried to tease following the cliffhanger, but everyone knew he was still alive so it was totally pointless.
Movies Editor, Digital Spy Ian has more than 10 years of movies journalism experience as a writer and editor. Starting out as an intern at trade bible Screen International, he was promoted to report and analyse UK box-office results, as well as carving his own niche with horror movies, attending genre festivals around the world. After moving to Digital Spy, initially as a TV writer, he was nominated for New Digital Talent of the Year at the PPA Digital Awards. He became Movies Editor in 2019, in which role he has interviewed 100s of stars, including Chris Hemsworth, Florence Pugh, Keanu Reeves, Idris Elba and Olivia Colman, become a human encyclopedia for Marvel and appeared as an expert guest on BBC News and on-stage at MCM Comic-Con. Where he can, he continues to push his horror agenda – whether his editor likes it or not.
