Independent on Saturday

Shows with jaw-dropping twists

WHEN it comes to watching television, there’s nothing quite as satisfying as a good plot twist (or several) that makes you channel Sally Field during the dinner scene in Mrs Doubtfire: The whole time? The whole time? The whole time?

Here’s a spoiler-free guide to some of the most shocking twists we’ve seen on TV in recent years.

Behind Her Eyes

A single mother (Simona Brown) begins an affair with her married boss (Tom Bateman), then soon finds herself drawn to his mysterious wife (Eve Hewson) in this psychological thriller, based on Sarah Pinborough’s novel of the same name. Their entanglement is just the tip of the iceberg, as the six-episode series incorporates a suspicious fire, lucid dreams and astral projection into its plot. But nothing tops the double-twist ending, which is among the wildest developments we’ve ever seen in a TV show.

WandaVision

Jac Schaeffer's miniseries, which began as a sitcom starring Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) and her husband, Vision (Paul Bettany), threw several curveballs at fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Its best jolt revolves around the true identity of someone in Wanda and Vision’s orbit – or does it?

Westworld

All of the existential questions at the centre of HBO’s sci-fi Western dovetail into an exciting (and plausible) bombshell – revealed toward the end of the first season – that will make you want to immediately tuck into the show’s subsequent chapters. If you’re new to Westworld’s dystopian universe, you can do just that up through Season 3 (a fourth season has been announced, but there are no details on when it will air just yet).

The Good Place

The afterlife comedy concluded its first season with a game-changing reveal that took the show’s humour and philosophical musing (along with the acting of its ensemble cast) to a new level. Once the show arrived on streaming, it attracted more viewers eager to see if they could figure out the secret before they were in on it.

Orphan Black

There’s a valid argument that the sci-fi thriller – which starred Tatiana Maslany in multiple roles – went a little too off the rails in its later seasons. Still, the cult favourite series, for which Maslany won an Emmy, is a master class in pulling off an exhilarating surprise. Whether or not

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