The 32 most shocking TV moments of 2017

From deaths to zombie dragons and everything in between, here are the TV moments that shocked us the most in 2017. (Warning! Spoilers ahead.)

There are season finales and then there are SEASON FINALES! And within those SEASON FINALES! are a few that break your brain and leave you doubled over with a deranged grin on your face, muttering WTF??? over and over again. You know which category the season 1 capper of this afterlife comedy fell into. When Eleanor and her friends realize that the heaven they thought they were in is actually hell, and Michael is indeed a friend of the devil, it was pure devilish delight. —Dan Snierson

TV cancellation season is always a tough time for fans, and this past year was definitely not for the faint of heart. Shows across all four major networks received the ax, including NBC’s Timeless. Fans (and the show’s creators and crew) immediately rallied on social media networks, calling for the time-traveling show to be un-canceled, a thing that almost never happens. But then it did. Instead of cancellation, the network awarded the show 10 more episodes — no time travel needed. —Dalene Rovenstine

The love triangle was in the past. Jane and Michael were married… and, well, the show’s title was finally outdated. By the midway point of Jane the Virgin’s third season, Jane Villanueva’s life plan seemed like it was back on track — and then, at the end of an otherwise ordinary episode, Michael collapsed after taking the LSAT. Long after it seemed like he was out of the woods, Michael died of a heart problem caused by his gunshot wound. None of the signs (he hadn’t passed his physical; the Narrator did love talking about his “last breath”) could have prepared us for such a seismic, tragic shift to Jane’s story. We still miss Michael, but the show found new life in the way it tackled grief with heart. —Kelly Connolly

It’s no question that Twin Peaks: The Return was a triumphant success that was loved by fans both old and new. All season long, we wondered how David Lynch would once again choose to end the show. (But is it really the end?) In a turn of events that only Lynch himself could have seen coming, we concluded with Agent Cooper asking, “What year is this?” — a line that, naturally, sent fans spiraling out of control with questions. Did Cooper manage to change the past? Was this an alternate reality? Was it all a dream? What year was this??? We may never know. —Mettie Ostrowski

From the minute Warren Beatty opened the envelope to announce the winner of the Academy Award for Best Picture, things felt as little… awkward. He stumbled through the announcement, took a dramatic pause, and then handed the envelope over to Faye Dunaway, who smiled and said, "La La Land." Producer Jordan Horowitz gave his earnest speech, followed by Marc Platt. But by the time the film’s final producer, Fred Berger took center stage, it was obvious something was wrong: the camera had pulled back into a wide shot, there were suits walking across the stage and much murmuring in ears. “We lost, by the way,” Berger said into the mic, almost matter of factly, and then, “I’m sorry, no, there’s been a mistake. Moonlight, you won best picture. This is not a joke.” He held up the correct card, and the camera zoomed in to a soon-to-be endlessly memed shot. Cut to endless shocked faces in the crowd, and the La La Land team gracefully handing their trophies to the Moonlight team, dignity only slightly ruffled. —Dana Schwartz

When Maddie first met Patrick, the situation seemed rather obvious: He was her next target. She would make him fall for her, and then she'd take all his money. After all, it's what she does. But that all changed when Richard followed Patrick one day and watched him walk into the FBI's headquarters. Suddenly, the tables had turned, and Patrick was way more than Maddie's next victim. —Samantha Highfill

Rumors had been swirling around how long Connie Britton was going to stick around Nashville, but that didn't take away from the shock of the show killing off its main character. Rayna had JUST survived a life-or-death situation with a stalker when a car crash put her in the hospital. And, following complications with a surgery, the country singer would never recover, leaving the show without its central love story and without its headliner. —Samantha Highfill

After an expert javelin throw from the Night King, Daenerys' Air Force went from three dragon babies to two dragon babies. Viserion was killed in the line of duty while on a rescue mission for Jon Snow, Dany’s cousin/lover — but like Jon Snow, Viserion wouldn’t stay dead for long. Thanks to some underwater-walking wights and some industrial grade chains, Viserion was pulled up from beneath the icy water he fell into and brought back to life in the form of a massive, blue-eyed zombie dragon, and the personal mount of the Night King himself. —Dana Schwartz

When a main character leaves a show by choice, it's typically telegraphed in some sort of way. But when Sophia Bush's Erin Lindsay ignored Halstead's call — little did she know he was about to propose! — and accepted a job with the FBI in New York City, it felt like she departed without saying goodbye. Fans were left wondering, "Did that really happen? Is she really gone?" When NBC confirmed that she had, indeed, left the series after four seasons, there was no explanation. Then, in October, she replied to a fan on Instagram: "Took me a long time and a lot of hard work to get out of that show," she wrote. "I left because I wanted to. End of story." —Breanne L. Heldman

There's a reason he wears the hero hair. In the Vampire Diaries series finale, it became clear that in order to save Mystic Falls, someone had to die alongside Katherine Pierce. And although Damon tried to be the big brother and take the bullet, it was Stefan who ultimately stepped up and repaid his debt — turning Damon into a vampire in the first place — by finally giving Damon the human life he'd always wanted. It sounds beautiful because it was, but it was also absolutely devastating. —Samantha Highfill

When Ofglen and her lover, who was a Martha, are found guilty of "gender treachery," the results are devastating. The Martha is sentenced to "the common mercy of the state," while Ofglen faces "redemption." They're soon placed in a van, where their cuffed hands come together as they cry. It's quiet and beautiful and sad before it becomes heart-wrenching as the van backs up to a noose. Seconds later, the Martha is dragged from the van and hung as Ofglen — and the audience — is forced to watch. (Ofglen's "redemption," which involved genital mutilation, was also shocking, but thankfully, it wasn't shown onscreen.) —Breanne L. Heldman

In its final season, Bates Motel finally delivered its version of the famous Psycho shower scene, but it wasn't what viewers expected. It wasn't Mother stabbing Marion Crane through a curtain, but rather, it was Norman taking out his anger against his own father on the unknowing Sam. —Samantha Highfill

RuPaul’s Drag Race winner Sasha Velour never had to Lip Sync for Her Life during the show’s ninth season until the grand finale. Which is almost a shame, because, as this performance shows, she didn’t just have tricks up her sleeves — she had rose petals! And though Velour didn’t officially take the crown until the second-round face-off against Peppermint, you can tell from the audience’s stunned reaction that she had the crown on lock the second she took off her wig for a final dose of flower power. —Nolan Feeney

The most shocking thing about Teen Wolf's ending was actually something that didn't happen: No major character died! Sure, Deucalion saw his end, but no one really shed a tear about that. Somehow, Scott and everyone he cared about walked away from an all-out war — not to mention a villain who could kill simply by LOOKING AT SOMEONE — without a scratch. We knew Scott was good, but was he THAT good? —Samantha Highfill

You would think that an episode where a demon jumped between bodies and caused somebody’s head to explode would be the weirdest moment in the episode, but not when that show is Wynonna Earp. In episode 5 of the Syfy show’s second season, the titular heroine found out that she was with child. It shocked the Earp sisters about as much as it did fans, who were unaware of actress Melanie Scrofano’s real-life pregnancy — but that never stopped Wynonna from being a badass warrior for one minute in season 2 (even during childbirth). —Dalene Rovenstine

When Kevin James returned to CBS with his sitcom Kevin Can Wait, it only took until the season 1 finale for his former King of Queens wife Leah Remini to guest star. (She appeared as Vanessa Cellucci, the former partner to James’ retired cop character.) And over the summer hiatus, CBS made the decision to kill off Kevin’s wife, Donna (played by Erinn Hayes), to make room for Remini full-time. But the real shock came when season 2 premiered in September with the way they killed off Donna: a time-jump and no explanation. The showed leaped forward one year and only casually referenced Donna’s death when Kevin received a postcard from her gym. Turns out Kevin can’t wait... for those King of Queens ratings. —Dalene Rovenstine

Mr. Vulcan was one of the most interesting expansions of American Gods as it shifted from book to television series. Once the god of volcanoes, Mr. Vulcan reclaimed his power in America by harnessing our nation’s worship of guns in his name. Vulcan built a bullet factory and sustained himself on the “prayers” of the shooting and the human sacrifices of those shot (and those who fell into the smelter at the factory) — at least until Mr. Wednesday turned on him for allying with the New Gods and sliced his head off. —Dana Schwartz

Over seven seasons, the villains on Pretty Little Liars did some truly unthinkable things. They hid messages in people's teeth, they sent the Liars a cow tongue, and sure, they tried to saw Emily in half. But in the show's final season, A.D. managed not only to steal Emily's eggs from the doctor's office where she'd had them frozen, but they then used those eggs to impregnate Alison! Too far, A.D. Too far. —Samantha Highfill

Bachelor in Paradise is known for being the silliest reality show in the ABC franchise, but things took a turn for the serious when production was shut down. After a producer witnessed DeMario Jackson and Corinne Olympios hooking up in the pool, she made claims of sexual misconduct. The contestants were flown back home while the studio investigated. But it was all for nothing — the investigation concluded that nothing improper happened and the show resumed. However, that didn’t stop Chris Harrison from talking about the “incident” every. single. episode. all. season. long. —Dalene Rovenstine

The writing for poor, sweet Bob Newby was on the wall (scribbled, in crayon). As soon as Stranger Things 2 opened with Joyce in a happy relationship with a stable guy, we knew it couldn’t last. But was he too good to be true, or too good to live? It turned out to be the latter: After heroically risking his life to unlock the lab, he perished in gruesome fashion, chowed down on by a pack of demodogs. The sequence was so tense that even if you expected Bob to die, it was impossible not to jump when that first demodog pounced. Maybe the real twist was how much we all grew to love Bob in the end.—Kelly Connolly

Grey's Anatomy has had a lot of shocking moments over the years, whether we're talking about a bomb in a body cavity, a plane crash, a shooter, electrocution... the list really does go on. So, in its 14th season, viewers knew to expect the unexpected, but there's no way anyone saw one twist coming: A patient tried to smuggle a gun into prison to give it to her boyfriend, so she put it in her vagina. Then, at the hospital, the gun fired while still inside of her, and the bullet hit the patient next to her. Yep, that happened. —Samantha Highfill

Turns out, when Betty lets her hair down from her signature tight ponytail, she really lets her hair down. At the retirememt party for Jughead’s dad, Betty decided it would be a good time to show her boyfriend that she’s okay with his newfound Serpent status by engaging in an ill-advised pole dance. In front of her mom (and boyfriend’s dad). To the song “Mad World.” Awkward doesn’t begin to cover it. —Dana Schwartz

There was no way all of Tatiana Maslany’s many Orphan Black clones would make it out of the show’s final season alive, but that didn’t make the death of MK any less, well, crushing. After staying off the grid for so long, the hyper-paranoid hacker decided to finally stop running and sacrificed herself so Sarah, Kira & Co. could escape Rachel’s grasp. Staying behind to buy them time, MK encountered a ruthless Ferdinand who was quite literally out for blood and killed her by repeatedly stomping on her, crushing her chest. We’ll never think of sheep masks the same way ever again. —Jessica Derschowitz

On The Leftovers, nothing was more unknowable than the faces we saw every day. When the third season premiere ended with a woman delivering birds to a church in rural Australia, she didn’t seem like someone we’d recognize — but we did. The woman was Nora, but older. She answered to the name Sarah and claimed not to know who Kevin was. Was this a flashforward? A new timeline? What was she doing here? The series finale gave us all the answers, unless it didn’t: This was our Nora, 16 years later, hiding from her old life after crossing to another world and back, finding the family she’d lost only to realize she didn’t belong with them anymore. Or maybe none of that was true; maybe that was just a nice story. Even the show’s last answer was a question: What are you, the audience, capable of believing?—Kelly Connolly

Not only did Supernatural's 12th season end with Crowley's death (and Castiel's temporary death, of course), but it introduced Apocalypse World, an alternate universe where Sam and Dean were never born and Heaven and Hell are locked in an eternal war. If any fan saw that coming, well, they should probably work with Sam and Dean. Those boys need a psychic now and then. —Samantha Highfill

With only one confirmed Perfect Match going into the season's final match-up ceremony — and a season's best of only getting five of 11 beams — the chances of 22 people correctly pairing up and the cast winning the $1 million prize seemed incredibly slim. Well, it turns out Keith has some serious brains to go with his brawn, and he's much better at handling stats than he is at staying away from his no-match GF, Alexis, because he managed to bring the entire house together to figure out who belonged with whom just in the nick of time. Few people were more surprised to see those beams keep lighting on the last night than host Terrence J. himself. —Breanna L. Heldman

The pilot for Midnight, Texas was filled with supernatural creatures: witches, vampires, ghosts, and the list goes on. But the one thing we didn't expect to see in the middle of the new drama was a TALKING CAT. Sure, it worked for Sabrina the Teenage Witch, but that doesn't mean it should be repeated here. —Samantha Highfill

For three seasons, fans had been waiting for the moment when Nate would come out to his father, but what they didn't realize was that his coming out would not be the biggest moment in his life. After a bit too much liquid courage, Nate finally told his father he was gay in Kingdom's penultimate episode, and when Alvey didn't react perfectly, Nate stormed out of the bar and let his anger get the best of him. And when the bar's security guard stepped in, things ended tragically: The guard shot Nate in a chill-inducing moment no one saw coming, and one that would change everything for the Kulina family. —Samantha Highfill

Welcome to the new world order. It seemed like a far-off worry, but Discovery Day — the day the population at large learned of the existence of zombies — came early when the guys at Fillmore Graves dosed vaccines in order to turn a rumored flu outbreak into an actual zombie outbreak. Liv figured it out in time to alert the media and save some of the city, but thousands more are now hankering for brains, including Clive’s girlfriend Dale. Oh, and Major, who chose his side by turning himself back. And maybe Ravi, given that he’s testing a vaccine on himself. Is anyone not a zombie? Stay safe, Clive. —Kelly Connolly

Once upon a time, this little show launched with a whip-smart lawyer admitting she wanted to be a "gladiator in a suit." Now, as it nears its final episode, the woman who helped introduce us to Olivia Pope & Associates may be dead after she was kidnapped after getting into the office elevator, pregnant and in her wedding dress. In the final episode of the year, Rowan claims to have Quinn — he offers to Olivia that he'll release her in exchange for returning to being Command himself — but when Olivia turns him down, he goes into a room and we hear gunshots and Quinn screaming. Was that the moment? We'll believe it when we see a body. —Breanne L. Heldman

In the comic books, Rick Grimes’ son Carl seems poised to take over the leadership role, but the show's final episode of 2017 concluded with a jaw-dropping reveal: When the teen tussled with walkers as he tried to help his new pal Saddiq, one of them managed to chomp down on his side. In other words, Carl’s gonna die. And soon, marking the show’s biggest diversion from the comic book series to date. —Breanne L. Heldman

Arrow isn’t a big cliffhanger show. Usually, the season finales offer some kind of resolution to the season’s conflict while also pointing the way forward. However, the CW drama broke away from this pattern in season 5, which went out with a shocking and anxiety-inducing bang. When Oliver refused to kill Prometheus because that would set off a series of bombs on Lian Yu, which is where the rest of Team Arrow was, Chase took matters into his own hands and killed himself. As the season ended, Oliver and his son, who were on a boat, watched in horror as the island that made Oliver went up in flames with everyone he loved still on it, leaving audiences to spend the next four months wondering who in the hell survived that ordeal. —Chancellor Agard