Finding success with an original TV show is never easy, which means writers and creators
are usually more concerned with earning another season than planning years in advance. But
sometimes, the minds behind our favourite TV shows have a grand plan in mind – and
drop plenty of clues to help viewers connect the dots to see what’s coming. Whether it’s
a punchline that takes years to arrive, or a clue to solve the mystery, the following
video contains plenty of spoilers – you have been warned. Here are ScreenRant's Brilliant
Clues Hidden In The Background Of TV Shows. Oh, and be warned, there are major spoilers
in this video!
True Detective
As the name implies, the first season of HBO’s True Detective left tons of clues for the
audience, and the characters to follow. In the police search for the mysterious “Yellow
King” responsible for years of violence, the colour yellow is used when the lead detectives
finally start following the right path. But in the season’s biggest twist, the stars
discover that they had already found their man in an earlier episode, mowing the grass
outside a closed school. Eagle-eyed viewers could have followed more than their gut, too
– an obstructed sign flat out confirms that the detectives should have taken notice.
Arrested Development
Arrested Development may have been cancelled after 3 seasons, but most critics and writers
agreed it was ahead of its time - jam-packed with too many punchlines and running gags
to catch the first time around. When the Bluth's stunted sibling Buster lost a limb to a loose
seal, the door was opened to a world of hook and hand-based humor. But fans may not have
noticed just how far ahead of time the writers planned the move, planting gags long before
the event ever took place. The jokes only land on repeat viewings, showing just how
much the writers relied on fans re-watching the series to catch every detail.
Futurama
Every sci-fi fan knows that changing the past can be just as much fun as exploring the future,
and showing the audience they've been fooled all along is a clever tool for any writer.
With Futurama, that meant revealing that the show's hero being frozen for 1,000 years was
no accident, but a plot carried out by the team's super-intelligent alien pet, Nibbler.
Making Fry the universe's last hope was taken as a clever rewrite - but the pilot episode
really DID show Nibbler's shadow beneath Fry's chair. The fans didn't spot it, and the writers
waited four full seasons to reveal the true story behind the entire show.
Firefly
Joss Whedon has a reputation for planning his stories out years in advance, and the
short-lived Firefly is no exception. The hordes of crazed space pirates known as Reavers weren’t
explained until the feature film, Serenity, but the show’s pilot episode contained another
major clue of a story fans would have seen play out. When the ship’s crew crosses paths
with a Reaver ship, each character prepares for the event differently. Some turn to weapons,
while Inara – the ship’s companion – turns instead to a needle and vial of an unknown
liquid. Most assumed it was an injection to kill herself before the Reavers could, but
it was actually medicine for the character’s terminal illness. Whedon claimed the alternate
reading worked for the scene, and since the show didn’t survive long enough to explore
that subplot, that’s where the story ended.
Breaking Bad
Series creator Vince Gilligan turned the story of a chemistry teacher turned Crystal Meth
kingpin into one of TV’s greatest shows ever – with visual bookends, repeated imagery,
and yes, clues early on to just how far Walter White would go into the world of Crystal Meth.
The clues can be small, like when Walter urges his partner Jesse to disappear, obscuring
a license plate to read “WYRUP” (wire up) one episode before Jesse does just that
to help bring his friend down. Or they can be far grander. When select episodes in Season
2 opened with black-and-white glimpses of the future, fans took it as a sign that Walter’s
drug op would be discovered by the season’s end. But the titles of those same episodes
promise a very different finale: “Seven Thirty-Seven”, “Down”, “Over”, “ABQ,
or Albuquerque, Walt’s hometown.
Game of Thrones
The Red Wedding of author George R. R. Martin's fantasy series may get most of the headlines,
but King Joffrey's death at Season 4’s Purple Wedding is just as important. It's the king's
uncle and the innocent Sansa Stark who end up blamed for the king's poisoning, but the
fans are never told explicitly how the plan was carried out - or were they? It turns out
Sansa played a role in the plot, whether she, or the audience, knew it. In the episode before
the Purple Wedding, a court jester who Sansa had rescued from Joffrey gives her his mother's
necklace as a thank-you. She wears the necklace to King Joffrey's wedding, and the ladies
of House Tyrell put their plan into action: Olenna distracts Sansa long enough to pluck
one of the poison jewels free, meaning Margary only has to take Joffrey's cup moments later
so the poison can be planted. After that, the rest took care of itself.
American Horror Story: Coven
In the third season of the anthology series American Horror Story, it’s a coven of Salem
witches who take the spotlight. But when the coven’s leader Fiona is stricken with cancer,
she claims it’s a sign that a new Supreme – a single witch able to wield the Seven
Powers – is rising to power. She begins to pick off her witches one by one, hoping
to kill the new Supreme before being replaced. In the show’s opening credits, it’s actress
Sarah Paulson whose name is placed is first shown next to a skeletal saint, known to those
in Mexico as Santa Muerte, also known as the Lady of the Seven Wonders. If only Fiona had
noticed, she would’ve known it was Paulson’s character, Cordelia who would lead the coven,
a secret spoiled in the first episode for those paying attention.
**For American Horror Story, the show's opening credits are the same for each episode, showing
Sarah Paulson's name with the Santa Muerte beside it. For the actual footage, I was thinking
more of a sizzle reel, likely in the last episode when more than a few people are killed,
and Paulson finally shows off her powers (I didn't watch this season yet
Buffy
Joss Whedon’s love of foreshadowing got to be put to full use with Buffy the Vampire
slayer, planting seeds for future twists both big and small. Season 4 of the series earned
praise for having Willow come out, and enter into a relationship with her girlfriend Tara.
But an entire season before, the twist was predicted when a vampire version of Willow
from an alternate universe made a pass at her.
But some clues were far more serious. In the Season 3 finale, Buffy’s dream sequence
included some cryptic references, courtesy of her ally-turned-enemy Faith. The nursery
rhyme reference referred to Buffy’s sister, arriving in the next season. 7-3-0, on the
other hand, means 730 days, or exactly two years - the time that would pass between that
episode and the Season 5 finale, in which Buffy would sacrifice herself (for the first
time). Even if fans had deciphered the message, two years wouldn’t have been enough time
to prepare themselves.
So what do you think of our list? Did we miss any of your favorite clues or hints in TV
shows? Let us know in our comment section and don't forget to subscribe to our channel
for more videos like this one.