TV’s Biggest Letdowns: Red Herrings That Went NOWHERE

TV’s Biggest Letdowns: Red Herrings That Went NOWHERE

Ever get hooked on a TV mystery, only for the big reveal to be a total dud? You’re not alone. Many shows have masterfully set up intriguing plot points, only to leave audiences feeling cheated when the answers fall flat or never arrive at all. These TV red herrings, designed to grab our attention, often ended up being nothing more than a clever trick. Let’s dive into some of the most frustrating examples that left fans scratching their heads.

10. The Pineapple Incident – How I Met Your Mother

For nine seasons, fans of How I Met Your Mother wondered about a single, mysterious pineapple. In the first season episode, “The Pineapple Incident,” Ted Mosby wakes up with a strange girl in his bed and a pineapple on his nightstand. This seemingly random detail became a huge puzzle for viewers. They scoured every scene, looking for clues about how the pineapple got there. Sadly, the show never explained it in the main episodes. The answer was finally revealed in a deleted scene on the DVD: Ted had stolen it from a stranger’s porch while drunk. For most viewers who didn’t buy the DVD, the pineapple remained an unanswered question, a tropical mystery that never got solved.

9. The Cure for the Zombie Virus – The Walking Dead

In the early days of The Walking Dead, Eugene Porter offered a glimmer of hope. He claimed to be a scientist who knew the cause of the zombie apocalypse and the secret to a cure. This idea drove the group’s dangerous journey to Washington, D.C., giving the story a clear goal. However, the big reveal was a crushing letdown. Eugene confessed he had lied to get protection from the stronger survivors. While it showed his cowardly nature, it also returned the show to its usual cycle of despair and stalled progress.

8. The Barrel Corpse – Pretty Little Liars

Pretty Little Liars was known for its many twists and turns, but the barrel corpse mystery in season five was a major offender. The main characters found a storage unit rented in their friend Hannah’s name. Inside a sealed barrel was a decomposing body. The show strongly hinted it could be a major character, like Mona or Eddie, sparking intense fan speculation. However, the writers seemed to forget about it. The identity of the body was never revealed in an episode. The show’s creator later casually mentioned in an interview that it was just a stolen cadaver from a medical school. There was no murder, no mystery, just a shocking prop meant to boost ratings.

7. The Class of ’59 – Stranger Things

Season 5 of Stranger Things hinted at a deep connection between Joyce Byers and Henry Creel, the villain known as Vecna. Flashbacks showed Joyce handing out flyers for a school play that Henry starred in. This suggested that Joyce and Hopper might have known the monster from their past. Fans even theorized about revenge plots involving the parents of the kids Henry was targeting. But this personal connection was never explored in the show. Joyce and Hopper never mentioned knowing Henry, making the setup feel like required reading rather than an organic part of the story.

6. Walt’s Special Powers – Lost

From the beginning, Walt Lloyd in Lost was presented as a special child with mysterious abilities. He seemed to influence events around him, like making polar bears appear or causing birds to die. The Others even wanted him because they believed he was important. However, the actor playing Walt, Malcolm David Kelly, went through a growth spurt. His changing appearance didn’t fit the show’s timeline. Instead of recasting, the writers wrote Walt off the island, effectively ending the storyline. Despite attempts to explain his powers through visions later on, his potential was largely wasted.

5. The Hybrid Prophecy – Doctor Who

Doctor Who‘s ninth season heavily featured a prophecy about a creature called the Hybrid. This being was said to be half-Dalek and half-Time Lord, destined to destroy everything. The Doctor spent ages trapped, tormented by the secret. Fans guessed it might be a fusion of two powerful beings or even a known character. But in the finale, the show revealed the Hybrid wasn’t a monster at all. It was a metaphor for the Doctor and his companion Clara being together. The idea was that their dangerous dynamic, pushing each other to extremes, was the real threat. This philosophical answer left many fans feeling that the show had set up a literal monster and delivered a pretentious, abstract concept instead.

4. “Did You Miss Me?” – Sherlock

At the end of Sherlock season 3, the villain Jim Moriarty, who had seemingly died, reappeared on every screen in London asking, “Did you miss me?” Fans spent years creating complex theories about how he faked his death, from secret twins to elaborate disguises. However, the very next season, the show revealed that Moriarty was still dead. The video message was simply a posthumous backup plan recorded before his actual death. While a later episode suggested someone else helped with the stunt, the immediate reveal that he wasn’t back felt like a deliberate prank on the audience, making years of speculation pointless and turning an iconic villain into a marketing tool.

3. The Yellow King – True Detective

True Detective season 1 masterfully built an atmosphere of cosmic horror, hinting at dark rituals, child sacrifices, and a mysterious figure known as the Yellow King. The show’s visuals and cryptic clues made it feel like a Lovecraftian nightmare. However, the ending was much more grounded. The Yellow King turned out to be a creepy idol made of sticks and skulls. The main villain was a mentally ill laborer named Errol Childress, part of a powerful family network. The supernatural dread was revealed to be psychological, leading to a standard police procedural ending that felt anticlimactic compared to the grand mythology that had been built.

2. Ralph Bohner – WandaVision

When Evan Peters appeared as Quicksilver in WandaVision, Marvel fans went wild. Since Peters played the character in the X-Men movies, his arrival seemed to confirm the multiverse was opening and mutants were joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This was one of the biggest casting reveals in Marvel TV history. But the finale revealed Peters wasn’t the MCU’s Quicksilver. He was just a man named Ralph Bohner, an actor hired by Agatha Harkness to trick Wanda. The reveal was a pun, confirming it was just stunt casting. Fans were furious, feeling the writers played a trick using the actor’s real-world history instead of telling a story that actually connected to it.

1. The Prince That Was Promised – Game of Thrones

For eight seasons, Game of Thrones built up the prophecy of a savior who would be reborn to fight the coming darkness. Characters like Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen were central to this legend. However, the ending completely subverted years of foreshadowing. The great war against the Night King, the “Long Night,” lasted only one night. Arya Stark, whose assassin skills were never linked to the prophecy, killed the Night King. Jon Snow’s resurrection ended up being irrelevant to the final blow. By resolving the magical apocalypse in the middle of the season, the show treated the ultimate battle for humanity like a minor plot point. It remains the most disappointing payoff in TV history, the ultimate red herring.

Which of these TV letdowns annoyed you the most? Let us know in the comments below!

Source: Top 10 Annoying TV Red Herrings That Led to NOTHING (YouTube)