There are a portion of stories that feature mysterious eccentric or outcome . And it ’s hard to check keep an eye on until there are answers . But sometimes those answers never hail . Or they do , and they ’re stupid . Or the reveals open up plot hollow or else of giving us answer . Here are some of the top offenders .
gratuitous to say , spoiler ahead .
1 . Doctor Who “ Doomsday ”
If you start an episode with a character saying , “ This is the story of how I died , ” that soul has to then buy the farm . Otherwise the ending lay up with that judgment of conviction is n’t rewarding , but thwarting . It ’s not even that “ Doomsday ” was n’t a good send - off for Rose Tyler . In many ways , it was . But “ getting trap in a parallel universe ” is n’t “ death . ” It just feel tawdry .
2 . Roswell ( time of year 1 )
The first time of year of Roswell boast Julie Benz as Kathleen Topolski , a new instructor . Both the audience and Liz Parker are meant to suspect Topolski is a government activity agentive role looking for extraterrestrial . Instead , she ’s let on to be the new guidance pleader . It does pervert expectation , but it also raises the question of why a guidance counselor is pretending to be a instructor in the first place . It ’s not precisely going to get confidence from students .
3 . The Cube serial
The full assumption of The Cube is that a group of people observe themselves dumbfound in a block - shaped structure with cube - shaped suite , many of which endeavor to kill them . While trying to get out , they also attempt to figure out how and why they got there . In the first one , there ’s no real answer . In the second , there ’s a suggest creator . In the prequel , Cube Zero , it ’s revealed that the block was created by a government activity fund caller . And with that solvent never comes an account for why the government would have a contract bridge for a rube - goldberg trend dying box .
4 . Alias and The X - Files ( tie beam )
TV Tropes has an entranceway call “ Gambit Pileup , ” and that ’s the accurate problem both of these shows ended up with . Both are good show that , twelvemonth in , became the victim of their own complicated mythology . They tried to straddle the argument between allow for some answers while still keep their various conspiracies going . As a result , both shows also required detailed flow chart to keep runway of everyone ’s goals , plans , and motivations .
5 . Blake ’s 7
The final episode of Blake ’s 7 put every single hero in inescapable deadly danger . The plan was to bring out who survive and how at the start of the next season , but the show was cancelled . That ’s a pretty fully grown un - reveal .
6 . doll’s house
The reveal that Boyd Langton , who had antecedently been established as a kind x - cop with moral reservation about the work of the dollhouse , was the evil head of the Rossum corp threw a mess of things out of whack . His programme seemed to hinge on Echo being repeatedly imprinted , even though that meant that both he and Echo nearly give-up the ghost . Repeatedly . Some plot of land maw ca n’t just be waved away with “ he ’s insane . ”
7 . Highlander II
Immortals are stranger expatriate to Earth . How ’s that for an answer that negate everything previously understood ? No wonder the premise of Highlander III was that Highlander II never happened .
8 . major planet of the Apes ( 2001 )
The Planet of the Apes remaking faced a middling big challenge . The original had an iconic ending , a famous reveal . So the temptation to subvert expectation is understandable . Instead of recreating the renowned Statue of Liberty ruin , this version go with an ape - ified Lincoln remembrance . Which means that , rather of taking seat in the futurity , it take place in a parallel world ? Maybe ? It ’s more confusing than shocking .
9 . Life on Mars ( American variation )
This show suffered a alike trouble as the Planet of the Apes remaking . The British master vacillated between Sam Tyler dream he was in the past ( while in a coma in the present day ) and actually having travel through time . Until the stopping point , that is , which seemed to conciliate on the former as the explanation . Like the 2001 Planet of the Apes , the American show seek to subvert the expectations created by the master . Instead of being in a comatoseness or traveling through time , they put all the characters in a practical reality simple machine . On a spaceship . In 2035 .
10 . Star Wars Episodes I , II , and III
This is almost too obvious for this listing , but if anything is the bill child for “ deflower by account , ” it ’s the prequel trilogy . More information about characters finish up construct things more confusing . Anakin built C-3PO ? Midichlorians ? Stormtroopers are clones ? Jedi are n’t reserve to bonk ? Qui - Gon Jinn taught Obi - Wan and Yoda how to become ghosts ? There seemed to be a lot of answers to questions no one actually needed answers to . To paraphrasePatton Oswalt : I do n’t care where the clobber I love fare from , I just want to love the poppycock I love .
Bonus around : Lost
We could write an integral serial publication of articles about the inappropriateness of the expectant reveals in this show . start up with the “ actually we were all in purgatory ” ending , and mould your style back , and count how many times a reveal ended with a gargantuan facepalm . Yes , there were some good meter with reveals on this show . But there were many , many bad times too .
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