8 TV Scenes That Totally Changed Our Minds About Characters

TV shows usually unfold relatively slowly compared to movies, but some scenes can immediately change how a character is perceived by the audience. Whether an antagonistic TV character redeems themselves or a beloved fan-favorite shows a darker side, some scenes can alter a character’s perception for good. TV is a medium which relies on gradual character development, or no character development at all, so scenes which reveal a lot of information at once can be even more impactful.

Often, the most memorable TV scenes aren’t those in which a character makes a dramatic shift from one side to the other. Instead, they are scenes in which new information is revealed which casts the show’s events in a different light. By altering the perspective of some events or adding vital context, a show can make viewers think about older episodes in brand-new ways. Some of the best TV characters develop organically over the course of many years, but sudden and unexpected character changes can be just as effective, as long as they are earned.

8
Kent Shuns The Statistics In Veep

Season 7, Episode 7, “Veep”

When Kent first gets sucked into Selina Meyer’s orbit during her first presidential campaign, he is a cold-blooded analytics expert who convinces her to aim for ruthless, clinical efficiency in her pursuit of better polling numbers. For every possible policy decision, campaign pledge and wardrobe choice, Kent has a spreadsheet of polling numbers from focus groups and high-tech statistical analysis. Veep‘s best seasons are about elections, and Kent believes that an election is a solved game. All the chaos and noise surrounding elections is merely a distraction to him.

In Veep‘s outstanding series finale, Selina considers an alliance with political firebrand Jonah Ryan, once a White House staffer who somehow amassed a huge following of disenfranchised voters. Jonah has no political acumen whatsoever, but he appeals to a base of bigots and conspiracy theorists. Selina rightly notes that teaming up with Jonah could give her enough delegates to take another run at the White House, but Ken screams at her to disregard the statistics for once. Even Kent has a breaking point, and some sentimental belief in politics which Selina doesn’t have.

7
Betty Shoots At The Pigeons In Mad Men

Season 1, Episode 9, “Don”

Betty Draper wants nothing more than to be a picture-perfect wife and mother, or at least, this is the image she tries so desperately to maintain. From her short-lived career as a model and her deeply ingrained regressive ideas of womanhood, Betty is taught to derive her self-worth from her appearance. This extends beyond just her looks. It also means that she has to put on a happy face for her husband, and her whole life is a hollow performance, even in her own home. However, there are a few times when the sadness deep within Betty’s soul comes to the surface.

Betty’s best moments in Mad Men often come when she allows herself to feel what she truly wants, and act on it. One early indication that she isn’t content to be a prim and proper housewife is when she decides to take a rifle into her back yard and start shooting at the neighbor’s pigeons. This is partly an act of retaliation after her neighbor threatened to kill her family’s dog if he strayed into their yard again, but it’s also a perverse way for Betty to blow off some steam. For once, Betty doesn’t think about her image and the consequences of her actions.

6
Michael Praises Pam’s Art In The Office

Season 3, Episode 17, “Business School”

In many ways, Pam is the heart of The Office. She’s an artistic soul trapped in a dead-end corporate structure that doesn’t appreciate her. Even her attempts to break free amount to much less than she had anticipated. When she draws the courage to display her art in public, her friends from The Office either can’t make it to the exhibition or judge her work in a harsh light. Ultimately, Michael is the unlikely source of validation. He praises her work with heartfelt sentiment that’s rare for him, and he tells her that he’s proud of her.

Pam doesn’t always get along with Michael, although he would never know that. His unprofessional comments sometimes come across as misogynistic or otherwise offensive. They are only ever meant as bad jokes, but Pam still has to put up with a lot from her boss. By praising her art, Michael shows that he has a more sensitive side, and that he can be a good friend if needed. Without an audience to perform to, Michael shows Pam the kindness and respect for her ambitions that nobody else could. Beneath a few layers of obnoxious immaturity, Michael has a heart of gold.

5
Claire Reveals What Happened To Boo In Fleabag

Season 1, Episode 6.

Throughout Fleabag‘s first season, the titular character is haunted by the memory of her best friend Boo, who died after stepping into the road in an attempt to injure herself. Boo was in a state of intense emotional distress because her boyfriend had cheated on her with another woman. Fleabag carries her guilt around everywhere she goes, and she still runs the cafe that she and Boo opened together. While this first seems like nothing more than survivor’s guilt, Claire reveals in the season finale that Fleabag was the one who slept with Boo’s boyfriend.

In one moment, the entire season becomes framed entirely differently. Fleabag’s wry fourth-wall breaks aren’t so cute anymore. In fact, the whole artifice of the show becomes much more sinister, since Fleabag is an unreliable narrator who is shaping the information that gets revealed to portray herself in a sympathetic light. With Claire confronting her with the truth, the camera becomes a more active character in the drama. Suddenly, there is no escape from the penetrating gaze of her own thoughts, and a character who previously seemed to be in control becomes penned in.

4
Dr. Cox Has A Breakdown In Scrubs

Season 5, Episode 20, “My Lunch”

When J.D. first walks into Sacred Heart Hospital, he sees Dr. Cox as a borderline abusive boss who goes out of his way to torment the junior doctors. Once he gets beyond this facade, he recognizes that Dr. Cox is also one of the most brilliant and savvy doctors in the hospital. One of his most vital assets is that he never lets the stresses of the job get to him. He never takes a patient’s death as a personal failure, and he never overanalyzes his decisions. This allows him to bounce back immediately, even when J.D. struggles to accept the reality of his work.

Scrubs makes fans cry as well as laugh, and “My Lunch” delivers one of the show’s saddest moments. By the end of season 5, Dr. Cox had developed more respect for J.D. and had begun to treat him as more of an equal, in between calling him girl’s names every so often. When Dr. Cox loses three patients because an organ donor had rabies, he has a complete emotional breakdown, and J.D. has to try to get him back on his feet. Dr. Cox’s once-indestructible armor shatters, and his coping mechanisms and emotional frailty are laid bare.

3
C.W. Longbottom Accepts His Nebula Award In Mythic Quest

Season 2, Episode 6, “Backstory!”

“Backstory!” is one of Mythic Quest‘s best episodes, although it doesn’t feature any of the main cast members until the plot jumps back forward in time at the end. The bulk of the episode follows C.W. Longbottom in his youth as he attempts to establish himself as a successful sci-fi writer, taking inspiration from Isaac Asimov and his peers. Despite C.W.’s frequent commitment to backstory and worldbuilding in the Mythic Quest offices, he is shown to be a misguided and uninspired writer in his early years. He falls behind his friends until Isaac Asimov reads one of his stories and returns a copy with extensive notes.

C.W. will do anything to get one over on his two friends, especially after they start a relationship with one another. C.W. takes Isaac Asimov’s rewrite and passes it off as his own work. This wins him a Nebula Award, and he is not humble about it when he sees his friends at an after party. Until this moment, C.W. is presented as an old-school novelist with unbridled creativity and a commitment to the power of storytelling. However, the episode reveals that he is an untalented charlatan who lost his passion for writing when he was consumed by jealousy.

2
Butcher Takes The Temp V In The Boys

Season 3, Episode 2, “The Only Man in the Sky”

As soon as Butcher recruits Hughie to join the Boys in their war with Vought, he explains that the corruption at Vought must be stopped. A key part of his reasoning is the idea that all supes are inherently evil, because their powers and the support structure around them allow them to operate without consequences. His methods are never squeaky clean, hence why he operates as an independent contractor, so that the US Government has plausible deniability whenever he goes too far off the deep end. Still, his decision to take Temp V represents a shift in his character.

By taking the Temp V, Butcher shows his hypocrisy. He becomes exactly what he was once so adamantly against. He may rationalize it as a mere leveling of the playing field, but he clearly enjoys the power. He also knows that he’s risking his life, but his personal vendetta against Homelander takes over his decision-making. The Boys changes the comics in a few important ways, and it strips Butcher of his powers. This makes him more of an underdog against the Seven until he decides to take the Temp V. He also knowingly risks Hughie’s life, showing how far he is willing to go.

​​​​​​​

1
Jamie Lets Dani Take The Penalty In Ted Lasso

Season 2, Episode 12, “Inverting the Pyramid of Success”

Jamie Tartt starts his loan spell at AFC Richmond thinking that his ability gives him license to act superior to everyone else. He sees the small club as a stepping stone on his path back to the top, and he’s only interested in self-aggrandization when he’s on the pitch. He’s good enough to score a few goals without being much of a team player, but this attitude alienates the rest of the squad. Eventually, Jamie begins to buy into Ted’s more benevolent worldview, thanks in part to Roy Kent shrugging off his tough guy persona to give Jamie a shoulder to cry on.

One moment that acts as a huge milestone on Jamie’s journey toward self-improvement comes when he wins a penalty in a vital game late on in the season. Instead of taking the penalty and adding to his goal tally for the year, he offers the ball to Dani Rojas, his teammate who had been struggling for confidence ever since his wayward penalty struck and killed AFC Richmond’s mascot, a greyhound. It’s one of Ted Lasso‘s most shocking moments, and it shows that Jamie is capable of positive change. His transformation continues in season 3 and his teammates forgive his old antics.