Some of the most shocking TV moments of 2025 — including baby twists and secret husband reveals — came from shows such as Ginny and Georgia, Sullivan’s Crossing, The Summer I Turned Pretty, The Hunting Wives and more.
The Hunting Wives won audiences over as one of several book to screen adaptations. But it was its decision to move away from its book origins that surprised viewers. Meanwhile over on The Summer I Turned Pretty, the series decided to stick close enough to the novel that Prime Video ordered a movie series to keep the story going.
S.W.A.T shocked Us by returning in spinoff form — without its OG cast. There was also Sullivan’s Crossing, which found a way to introduce a secret husband in a finale.
Keep scrolling for more of TV’s most shocking moments from 2025:
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‘Matlock’ Pulling Out All the Stops With Julian
The season 2 fall finale showed Olympia (Skye P. Marshall) having doubts about her plan with Matty (Kathy Bates). They tried to remain on the same page despite Olympia still protecting Julian (Jason Ritter), who Matty didn’t trust. They ended the finale with Olympia showing that she trusted Matty by giving up the copy of the Wellbrexa study. Their moment was seen by Julian, who started to grow suspicious of Olympia and tailed her to her house where he seemingly pieced together the situation.
‘The Summer I Turned Pretty’ Expanding With a Movie
While the series finale showed Conrad (Chris Briney) and Belly (Lola Tung) getting together, there was a major departure from Jenny Han’s book series. The epilogue — with the fictional couple’s wedding — was missing and fans understood why mere hours after the episode aired. Prime Video announced that The Summer I Turned Pretty would be returning for a movie.
Ginny and Georgia’s Baby Twist
During the season 3 finale, Georgia (Brianne Howey) adjusted to her new normal after her murder trial — and marriage to Paul (Scott Porter) — came to an end. The last scene showed Georgia drinking milk, which her daughter, Ginny (Antonia Gentry), realized was a craving her mother only had when she was pregnant.
The twist? It’s unclear whether Paul — or love interest Joe (Raymond Ablack) — is the dad.
‘Sullivan’s Crossing’ Secret Husband Reveal
Based on Robyn Carr‘s novel series, the CW show follows neurosurgeon Maggie (Morgan Kohan) as she finds herself in legal trouble and returns to her hometown in rural Nova Scotia to reconnect with her estranged father, Sully (Scott Patterson).
Three seasons later, Maggie has set down roots in Sullivan’s Crossing and found love with Cal (Chad Michael Murray). But the third season finale, shook Maggie and Cal’s relationship up when her secret husband, Liam (Marcus Rosner), showed up.
‘The Hunting Wives’ Straying From the Book
Based on May Cobb‘s book of the same name, The Hunting Wives introduced Us to Sophie (Brittany Snow), who moved from Boston to an East Texas town where she found herself drawn to prominent socialite Margo (Malin Åkerman). Those who have read the novel know that Jill (Katie Lowes) killed her son Brad’s (George Ferrier) girlfriend after Abby got pregnant and refused to get an abortion. Jill subsequently killed Margo (named Margot in the book) because she knew about her friend’s affair with her teenage son as well.
The show, however, took a large departure from the original plot by having Margo as the one who got pregnant with Brad’s baby. Margo had an abortion and ultimately killed Abby, which Sophie figured out in the season 1 finale. Sophie was about to give Margo up before Margo’s brother got involved and Sophie ended up killing Kyle (Aaron Milligan).
S.W.A.T’s Spinoff Stirring Up Drama
S.W.A.T., which premiered on CBS in 2017, followed a police Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team named Twenty Squad that operated in Los Angeles. The procedural faced its fair share of battles to remain on the air when CBS picked S.W.A.T. up for a seventh and final season. The network ultimately reversed that decision and S.W.A.T. returned for season 8.
But the celebration didn’t last long — the network canceled the show for a second time in March 2025. S.W.A.T seemingly came to an end two months later when the series finale aired on CBS. Days later, however, Sony Pictures Television picked up a spinoff titled S.W.A.T. Exiles which is set to star Shemar Moore and a new SWAT unit.
Viewers were surprised that Moore’s character Daniel “Hondo” Harrelson was the only one returning after the entire cast participated in efforts to bring S.W.A.T. back. Moore defended the decision before it was announced that Jay Harrington and Patrick St. Esprit will reprise their roles as Sergeant David “Deacon” Kay and Commander Robert Hicks, respectively, in the Exiles pilot.
High Potential’s Big Roman Reveal(s)
At the end of season 1, High Potential confirmed that Morgan’s (Kaitlin Olson) ex Roman — an FBI informant — was still alive after going missing for more than a decade.
‘The Pitt’ Shaking Things Up With Langdon
The Pitt slowly hinted that Patrick Ball‘s character, Langdon, was stealing drugs from the hospital — but it still came as a surprise when the show confirmed his addiction. Dr. Santos (Isa Briones) initially expressed her concerns to Robby (Noah Wyle) about missing pills and a tampered bottle of Lorazepam. Robby confronted Langdon about the discrepancy, which led to the senior resident being dismissed from his position at Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Hospital.
Ransom Canyon’s Shocking Wife Introduction
When we were last in Ransom Canyon, Ellie (Marianly Tejada) was getting ready to get married to Yancy (Jack Schumacher) before his wife (played by Erica Dasher of Jane by Design fame) showed up.
The ‘We Were Liars’ Conclusion
The Prime Video series stayed true to author E. Lockhart’s novel of the same name by revealing that Cadence (Emily Lind), plus the three other Liars (Joseph Zada as Johnny, Esther McGregor as Mirren and Shubham Maheshwari as Gat) set fire to their grandparents’ house on Beechwood Island. While Cadence came out alive, the other three didn’t.
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Criminal Minds’ Voit Reveal
Criminal Minds brought Zach Gilford‘s Voit out of his coma with a head injury that caused significant memory loss — and might have even taken away his psychopathic tendencies. It still remains to be seen.
Fire Country’s Double Exit Twist
Season 3 ended on a cliffhanger with Vince (Billy Burke) and Sharon’s (Diane Farr) lives left in the balance. News broke hours after the finale aired that budget cuts led to Burke and Stephanie Arcila’s exits.
Tracker’s Big Moment About Colter’s Dad
In the season 2 finale, Colter (Justin Hartley) met his dad’s former friend, who confirmed he had pushed Ashton to his death — after Colter’s mother, Mary (Wendy Crewson), seemingly asked for help.
Doctor Odyssey’s Confusing Paternity Twist
Doctor Odyssey had Us on the edge of our seats when the medical drama introduced a threesome between Avery (Phillipa Soo), Max (Joshua Jackson) and Tristan (Sean Teale) earlier this season that escalated into a condom breaking — and a pregnancy. Later in the season the show revealed Avery was never pregnant.
The Big ‘Paradise’ Series Premiere Reveal
During the series premiere, the audience was introduced to Sterling K. Brown, who played a Secret Service agent named Xavier who is assigned to protect former President Cal Bradford (James Marsden). Xavier finds Cal dead minutes into the premiere, which launched concern throughout their serene town called Paradise. The twist? Paradise is an underground bunker built for survivors of an apocalyptic event that ended the rest of humanity.
