What makes TV crime dramas so alluring? It could be the simple thrill of the action or the satisfaction of seeing evil brought to justice, but, for me, it’s the twists and revelations that shake up the story. Let’s revisit some of the most mindblowing moments from some of the best crime TV shows, and make sure to keep our SPOILER WARNING in mind.
Omar’s Murder (The Wire)
Creator David Simon’s The Wire delivered a shocking death that illustrates how even the most imposing and legendary individuals can expire in an unremarkable fashion. Fans of the acclaimed HBO drama anticipated that Baltimore thief Omar Little (Michael K. Williams) might go down in a showdown against Marlo Stanfield (Jamie Hector), but, instead, was fatally shot by Kenard (Thuliso Dingwall ), a kid who worked for the gangster.
best episodes of Breaking Bad sees Walter White (Bryan Cranston) resorting to abhorrent measures in order to take down his most fearsome adversary, Gus Fring (Giancarlo Esposito). Jesse’s (Aaron Paul) new girlfriend’s son, Brock, winds up in the hospital, leading him to suspect the boy was poisoned by Walt, who insists that the poisoning was a manipulation tactic by Gus. Indeed, it was a tactic, but orchestrated by Walt, who is revealed to have poisoned Brock so he could pin it on Gus and get Jesse to help him kill the ruthless criminal.
The Sopranos, Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) shows up at the home of his uncle, Junior (Dominic Chianese), who is suffering from dementia and immediately mistakes his nephew for a dead mobster who robbed him years earlier named Gennaro Malanga. Junior reacts by pulling out a pistol and shooting Tony, who passes out before he can call 911, but luckily, he is rushed to the hospital, where he is put in a coma.
Benedict Cumberbatch) arch nemesis, Jim Moriarty (Andrew Scott). However, in only the second season finale, their quarrel of wits came to an end when the master criminal ended his life right in front of the detective.
Netflix’s hit crime TV show, You, serial stalker and killer Joe Goldberg (Penn Badgley) believes he has found someone who can help tame his dark side in Love Quinn (Victoria Pedretti). However, he comes to discover that his seemingly sweet and innocent new lover has homicidal tendencies of her own.
most iconic cliffhangers in TV history had America wondering who shot J.R. Ewing (Larry Hagman) in the Season 3 finale of Dallas. The mystery prompted an astonishing phenomenon that lasted the entire summer of 1980 before the primetime soap opera returned for its fourth season premiere, in which it was revealed that Kristin Shepard (Mary Crosby) attempted to kill the notorious oil baron.
most wicked adversary Michael C. Hall’s homicidal vigilante ever faced is Arthur Mitchell (John Lithgow), a.k.a. The Trinity Killer, especially for his final kill. Dexter manages to take out the sadistic murderer, but not soon enough to prevent him from killing his wife, Rita (Julie Benz), whom he finds in a blood-filled bathtub with his infant son, Harrison, sitting on the floor nearby.
Mariska Hargitay). However, their friendship would come to an end when Lewis is arrested for murdering a woman her ex-boyfriend cheated on her with.
David Lynch movies are known for raising many perplexing questions, the original CBS run of the filmmaker’s hit TV series, Twin Peaks, especially left audiences with a lot to ponder in the Season 2 finale, which reveals that Special Agent Dale Cooper (Kyle McLachlan) has not returned from The Black Lodge, but has been replaced with a demented doppelgänger. More than two decades later, fans were finally treated to a continuation of the story with Showtime’s 2017 revival.
initially conceived as a smaller role on The Wire before creator David Simon was convinced by HBO executive Carolyn Strauss to keep her around longer. In other words, the shocking moment from the end of the first season’s 10th episode, in which she is shot during a bust gone wrong, almost sealed the character’s fate.
Peter Is From Another Dimension (Fringe)
In the second season of Fringe, Peter Bishop (Joshua Jackson) survives a deadly shockwave that leads him to realize that he was born in an alternate universe and was forcibly brought into this dimension by his father, Walter (John Noble). The twist completely recontextualizes the character’s place in the show and brings to light the impact that his cross-dimensional transfer has on the world.
Paige Stays In America (The Americans)
In the series finale of The Americans, Paige Jennings (Holly Taylor) is seen exiting a train headed for the Soviet Union. This means that she has chosen to stay in the States, her true home, and that her undercover Soviet spy parents, Philip (Matthew Rhys) and Elizabeth Jennings (Keri Russell), will never see her again.
Georgia Trotman Is Thrown Out A Five-Story Window (Line Of Duty)
It seemed as if Detective Constable Georgia Trotman (Jessica Raine) was destined to be an important part of the second season (or, series, as they say in the U.K.) of the BBC’s Line of Duty. However, the character’s first episode also proved to be her last, in which corrupt DC Jeremy Cole (Henry Pettigrew) sends her plummeting to her death outside a hospital window.
Nina Myers Killed Teri Bauer (24)
By the end of the first season of 24, one of Jack Bauer’s (Kiefer Sutherland) most trusted allies is not only revealed to be a mole, but the one who murdered his wife, Teri (Leslie Hope).