Criteria:
Unpredictable and surprising
Stuff from January-March 2014 can count
By the way, SPOILER ALERT!
10. The Last of Us ending
The Moment: In the closing sequence in this emotionally grueling and epic video game, our antihero Joel must save his companion and sort of foster daughter Ellie from death by a group of radical, paramilitary survivalist called "Fireflies". The thing is... Joel is technically the bad guy here. Even though I was glad he saved Ellie at the end of the day, he dooms mankind because it's revealed early on the reason the Fireflies needed Ellie is that she is a miracle: someone immune to the zombie/fungi virus that has collapsed society in the last 20 years, and that they may extract a cure from her. The only thing: she could die during the extraction procedure... and Joel, who has grown protective of her, won't have it. In the end, he kills all Fireflies and rescues Ellie, only to lie to her and tell her they've given up on the cure and that it was probably not going to work anyway. When she makes him promise to be honest, and asks if he was telling her the truth, he responds "Yeah." She says "Okay." and the game ends, leaving it open for a sequel.
The Reaction: This ending was controversial, and for obvious reasons: it's kind of a dark and selfish move for Joel to make, and it's sort of a sudden ending for such an amazing game. However, it also perfectly fits the tone of the story, and it also will become a major plot point in the sequel that will probably happen in the next few years, which I'll definitely buy.
(Image: Wikipedia)9. Sherlock Series Three Finale (A Villain's Surprise Return)
The Moment: At the end of the satisfying conclusion to yet another great season of BBC's detective series Sherlock, Sherlock Holmes has parted ways with John Watson and his buddies for the mean-time to head to a foreign country as punishment for murdering the season's villain: Charles Augustus Magnussen. As soon as his jet departs, you hear the theme song start up, only to immediately cut to a London pub, where a soccer game is interrupting by something. We don't see what the interference is yet, but everyone in the pub appears shocked and confused. In fact, Sherlock is immediately called back by his older brother Mycroft before he even leaves London airspace, who reveals he has evaded punishment yet again, as he is needed for something urgent. We now see that every frequency in London has been hacked, and every screen in the city shows the same video clip on a loop: Jim Moriarty (Sherlock's psychotic nemesis, who committed suicide in the series two finale) staring into the camera saying "Did you miss me?"
The Reaction: I'm not quite sure how may others were as shocked as I am, but I must say it took me completely by surprise. I'm now extremely excited to see Moriarty make a return in the fourth series, which is slated to come out within the next year. At least I hope so, so I don't have to wait two years.
(Image: Wikipedia)8. Family Guy kills Brian, then resurrects him
The Moment: In the controversial episode "Life of Brian", the lovable pet dog is run over by a car and tragically dies in the hospital, giving a loving speech to his owners/family before passing away. When fan backlash, threats of boycotting, and threatening messages towards show staff became too much, the episode "Christmas Guy" had Stewie travel back through time to prevent his death. Seth MacFarlane, the show's creator and voice of many main characters (including Brian), thanked fans for showing so much compassion for their beloved character.
The Reaction: The moment spawned obvious fan backlash and criticism of the show, and the staff ultimately brought him back. Although Brian's death was a bad decision (even though it was well-executed), an even worse decision was not only to replace him with a different dog, but then completely destroy the emotional impact of Brian's death by just easily resurrecting him. I feel like it was a cheap cop-out, although I understand why they did it. But I think they could have waited at least a few more episodes before bringing him back. But that's just my opinion.
(Image: Wikipedia)7. Bad casting decisions for Man of Steel 2/Batman vs. Superman
The Moments and Reactions: After Ben Affleck was cast as Bruce Wayne/Batman back in early September, fans and casual viewers alike (myself included) expressed hatred for the idea that "Batfleck" would be appearing in cinemas in 2015 (now 2016). But he grew on us, just a little bit, over time. Maybe he won't be so bad. Then, Gal Gadot, the beautiful model/actress from Fast & Furious, was cast as Wonder Woman. Now Gadot may be gorgeous, but she's... just not right for the part. She's not, I guess, bulky enough. I'm not saying Wonder Woman should be a body-builder, but many people suggested Gina Carano (a model/actress/martial artist who also appeared in the Fast & Furious franchise) would be good because she's good-looking and physically strong. However, Gadot stated she was working out for the role, so people's hatred died down. Then Jesse Eisenberg was cast as Lex Luthor.... what the fuck?! He's just so wrong for the part, it's insane! Nothing about his looks, personality, or filmography suggest he can pull off Lex. Maybe Bryan Cranston. I mean, when I heard he was rumored as being Lex Luthor, I was kind of upset, even though I love him on Breaking Bad, he doesn't seem right for the part. But he would be thousands of times better than Eisenberg! It's not that I dislike Eisenberg (although I thought he was really irritating in Now You See Me), but he's just bad for the role, and apparently, from what I've seen, many people agree with me.
(Image: schmoesknow.com) 6. The Walking Dead Season Four Mid-Season Finale
The Moment: In the jaw-dropping and exhilarating mid-season finale of this season of the excellent zombie apocalypse show, The Governor (the show's psychotic and extremely amoral, violent, and charismatic villain for the past season, played by David Morrisey) confronts Rick (played by Andrew Lincoln) and his group, having taken Hershel (Scott Wilson), one of the more likeable characters, and the bad-ass Michonne (Danai Gurira) as his hostages. Now commanding a group of military families, who are armed with assault rifles and a tank, whom he has manipulated by killing their older leaders without their knowledge and convincing them Rick's group are evil raiders and killers, he threatens Rick's group to let them have the prison or die. Rick tries to reason with him, but The Governor ends up just killing Hershel with Michonne's samurai sword, and all hell breaks loose. The tank destroys entire cell blocks of the penitentiary, the group barely escapes with their lives and limbs and they're scattered all over the place, the prison is overrun with zombies (or "walkers", which I always thought was a dumb nickname), The Governor's group mostly all die (except a few who run off never to be seen again), and there are even closer calls: The Governor and Rick get into an all-out fist-fight, which results in Rick being beaten to near death, before Michonne stabs The Governor through the chest with her sword, and then the Governor's current girlfriend shoots him in the head as he bleeds out, effectively killing the bastard; Daryl and Tyreese barely hold their own against the endless onslaught of zombies and the Governor's ex-military killers, and narrowly escape; and the ending makes it appear as though Rick's baby Judith has been ripped apart by zombies.
The Reaction: I myself was on the edge of my seat for this entire climax, and I was pretty upset that Hershel was murdered. Many other fans were also deeply frustrated with his death, and the group getting scattered, although the brutal death of The Governor made up for it. I was extremely satisfied with the mid-season finale, as were many others, even though it was extremely shocking and absolutely insane.
(Image: Wikipedia)5. Indiana Jones sold to Disney
The Moment: Finally, all of LucasFilm's major properties have been sold to Walt Disney Studios. After Star Wars and other LucasFilm properties were sold to Disney in late 2012, I was very upset. Although Disney had potential to make good decision with the franchise, they squandered any hope by having C3-PO and R2-D2 make a "funny" cameo on a Disney channel sitcom, and shutting down LucasArts, thus ending the Star Wars 13-13 project, which looked incredible. This year, Disney acquired the rights to the Indy franchise.
The Reaction: I'm not sure how other people reacted to this, but I can say from my perspective that I dread what the studio has planned with Indy after what they've done with Star Wars. Hopefully, it won't be so bad...hopefully.
(Image: Wikipedia)4. Breaking Bad's finale and ending sequence
The Moment: In the pulse-pounding, endearing, and extremely satisfying conclusion to Vince Gilligan's cultural phenomenon/crime drama, titled "Felina", Walter White masterminds one final crime: to get revenge on those who have hurt him and the ones he loves. After the murder of his DEA brother-in-law Hank by the white supremacist mercenary Jack and his psychotic nephew Todd, who were teamed with White's corrupt former business partner Lydia, Walter not only poisons Lydia with ricin and leaves her to slowly die, but also uses a makeshift contraption containing a high-powered assault rifle in the trunk of his car, to kill Todd and Jack's entire gang, then he personally shoots the wounded Jack in the head, and Jesse (Walt's protégé who was held captive by the gang for months, and was tortured until he cooked meth for them) strangles Todd to death. Jesse then parts ways with Walter for good, and Walt succumbs to a bullet wound he suffered during the massacre, thus ending his life and legacy as the drug lord Heisenberg, and tying up all the loose ends in his life.
The Reaction: This epic conclusion exploded all over the Internet, many (myself included) raving about how great it was, one of the few television finales that lives up to the hype. I really enjoyed this finale, even though I wanted to see more of Walter interacting with Jesse and Walt Jr., but ultimately I couldn't get enough of this final episode, and neither could anyone else. However, it was shocking due to the somewhat over-the-top nature of it all and the fact that it was unexpectedly awesome.
(Image: breakingbad.wikia.com) 3. Iron Man 3 pisses off a fanbase
The Moment: Everything up until the mid-point of the film was great. Then it was revealed Ben Kingsley's awesome and threatening Mandarin was merely an actor/decoy, and became a laughable, oafish comic relief character. Guy Pearce's Aldrich Killian turns out to be the real Mandarin as he created the persona as a cover for his Extremis project.
The Reaction: Even though the explanation for the twist makes sense, it kind of diminishes the coolness of The Mandarin, as in the comics he is the ultimate bad guy, and Kingsley captured the essence of the Mandarin character perfectly for those first 50-60 minutes. Many fans were pissed and for excellent reasons: it's absolute bullshit and it really cheats the audience. Still a good movie, but that move, for a lot of people, was unforgiveable.
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(Images: Wikipedia) 2. Star Trek-Into Darkness has a surprise villain
The Moment: In the half-way point of J.J. Abrams' cool science fiction film, the mysterious and highly skilled rogue Starfleet agent John Harrison, is actually revealed to be the 300-year-old super solider Khan Noonien Singh, the arch-villain from the classic television and film series. Shit suddenly got serious.
The Reaction: Quite a few people, including myself, were taken aback by this. Sure, fan-boys had debated over whether or not Harrison was Khan on the Internet for months, but I dismissed it as one of those dumb rumors that floats around. The fan-boys rejoiced when they discovered Harrison's true identity, and gloriously proclaimed that they were right all along. I was shocked, but also really excited when it was revealed that Khan was the film's villain. It was a pleasant surprise. Unfortunately, the description of the plot on the back of the DVD gives away Khan's identity immediately, so for those who got it spoiled by the fucking DVD cover, I apologize.
(Image: villains.wikia.com) Honorable mentions:
Deborah Morgan's death on Dexter (and the disappointing finale)
Matthew's death on Downton Abbey
Miley Cyrus at the VMAs (not a move, TV, or video game moment, but still worth a mention)
Ylvis' comedic viral video "The Fox" (or "What Does The Fox Say?", again, more of an Internet phenomenon, but definitely memorable)
Ylvis' comedic viral video "The Fox" (or "What Does The Fox Say?", again, more of an Internet phenomenon, but definitely memorable)
1. The Red Wedding on Game of Thrones
The Moment: In the ninth episode of season three ("The Rains of Castamere"), the entirety of House Stark's army, including their heroic leaders Robb Stark and his mother Catelyn, as well as Robb's pet direwolf and his pregnant wife Talisa, are savagely slaughtered at a wedding. It's such a traumatizing, graphic, and horrific scene, especially since it's very unlikely that House Stark (now in exile) will ever get revenge on the parties responsible: the treacherous Houses Frey and Bolton, and the villainous House Lannister.
The Reaction: Die-hard fans and casual viewers alike were shocked and mortified at the absolute bleakness and horror of this single event. It's such a tragic and abrupt end to a great storyline, and the fact that some of the most best characters of the series die in such brutal ways is the icing on this cake. There are compilations on YouTube of people's varied reactions to this episode, often resulting in screaming, expletives, gasping, and crying. Yeah, it's that bad.
(Image: thedailybeast.com)
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