In the past 20 years, television has grown from a "lesser" form of entertainment to a high grossing industry that exists on multiple platforms from basic cable to HBO to Netflix and other streaming platforms. Throughout the years, there have been many incredible shocking season finales.
Let's revisit a few of my favorite most shocking season finales in no particular order (this list contains spoilers):
1. "The Sopranos": 6.21 "Made in America."
This has to be one of the cruelest season finales I've ever seen. Let alone a SERIES FINALE! The show ends with TV's favorite family seemingly in mortal danger, focusing on possible on multiple potential gunmen in the restaurant, before abruptly cutting to black. It's been 11 years since the episode aired and it is still one of the most daring and revolutionary season finales television has ever seen.
2. "Dexter": 4.12 "The Getaway."
Oh boy. This season finale changed the course of the Showtime show for the rest of its run. Everything seemed to be going okay for Dexter Morgan, the kids were with the babysitter, he and his wife were going to go on a vacation, he had just finished off the Trinity Killer. But when Dexter tripped over that toy train, we all knew that something was simply not right. We were all horrified when Dexter made one of the most terrifying discoveries anyone can ever make: his wife dead in a pool of her own blood. It's even worse knowing that Rita was already dead when Dexter Morgan was having his fun with Trinity.
3. "House of Cards": 4.13 "Chapter 52"
"House of Cards" had amazing climaxes before, but season four is certainly one of the best of them. Just when it looks like Frank and Claire are going to take the fall for all of the illegal things they've done over the course of the show, Frank and Claire let an innocent man die at the hands of terrorists in order to distract from the story Hammerschmit is writing. Both of the Underwoods make direct eye contact with the audience declaring that, "We make the terror." before the camera cuts to black and the credits roll.
4. "Supernatural": 1.22 "Devil's Trap."
"Supernatural" has been on the air for over ten years now! Over the course of that decade, it has had many shocking and talked about season finales, but it is the season finale of season one that really set the tone for how the rest of the show would go. While on their way to a hospital to treat a gunshot wound, a possessed semi-truck driver slams into the Impala, leaving audiences wondering whether or not the Winchester brothers and their father would even make it to a second season.
5. "The Magicians": 1.13 "Have you brought me little cakes?"
What started out as a seemingly happy go lucky, teen romance soap opera with magic, got very dark very quickly. The Beast's identity is revealed to be none other than young Martin Chatwin and when Julia discovers that he can kill Gods, she leaves Quentin and company bleeding out on the floor so that she can begin her quest for revenge against Reynard the Fox.
6. "Westworld": 1.10 "The Bicameral Mind."
Oh boy. What a doozy. I mean, we couldn't have been expecting this to work out well, truly? But, we also weren't entirely expecting it to work out like this. Dolores shoots Robert Ford in the back of the head while an angry mob of hosts runs towards the unexpecting guests. We were all left to blink in shock at our tv screens when the credits started to roll. I still haven't entirely recovered from it.
7. "Orange is the New Black": 2.13 "We have Manners. We're polite."
This is one of those ones that was shocking, but not actually in a bad way. Lorna helps the terminally ill Miss. Rosa escapes from prison in the van, while everyone's favorite (not) Vee, is simultaneously running down the highway seeking an escape of her own. While Blue Oyster Cult's classic "Don't Fear the Reaper" plays, Rosa swerves over and intentionally hits Vee while saying what we've all been thinking for the duration of this season: "Always so rude, that one."
8. "Sherlock": 2.3 "The Reichenbach Fall."
Longtime Sherlock Holmes's fans knew what was going to happen as soon as they saw the episode title. The rest of us, however, were not so lucky. How could we be prepared at all for that? Sherlock presumably kills himself to save the life of his best friend, John Watson. And as we see John dealing with the aftermath of Sherlock's suicide from the top of the hospital, we also see Sherlock lurking by his own gravestone while John speaks to him. Ouch. We wouldn't see season three for another two and a half years. Talk about rude.
9. "Lost": 3.22 "Through the Looking Glass."
Another bit of a throwback. During its run, "Lost" was known for confusing audiences (or depending on your opinion, leaving them with JJ Abram's sized plotholes) but season three threw a ton of information at us and then left our heads spinning. It turns out that the flashbacks that had been showing throughout the season, were actually flashforwards to the Island gang making an escape. But they can't leave us with that and let us be happy for them. Jack says they have to return to the Island, and Charlie drowns while relaying an important message to the rest of the gang: "Not Penny's Boat."
