History HopeSpot / LiveActionTV

** Has too many to count, but a particularly cruel one happens to Tony Almeida on Day 3. [[spoiler:After an agonizing 4 or 5 hours of knowing his wife Michelle is trapped in the hotel where a fatal virus has been released, he learns she's immune and breaks down crying in relief. As Michelle is on her way out of the quarantine zone she's taken hostage by the Big Bad, who immediately forces Tony into a SadisticChoice between betraying all of his colleagues or letting his wife die after all.]]

* ''Series/{{Arrow}}'': In Recap/ArrowS3E9TheClimb, Oliver has challenged Ra's al Ghal in a duel to the death. It goes to a horrific start as it's clear that Oliver Queen is clearly outmatched in sword fighting. Near the end of the fight, Oliver seems to be getting the hang of the battle at last, and the triumphant music of the series begins to play... only for him to be chopped in the throat, the music stopping abruptly altogether, and is impaled on one of the swords.

** In "[[Recap/BreakingBadS5E15GraniteState Granite State]]", [[spoiler: Jesse nearly escapes the Aryan compound, after fooling Todd, not noticing the camera on the boundary. During his moment of escape, he is captured again. Todd and Jack drive Jesse to Andrea's house, where Todd lures her out on pretext of Jesse's information. When Andrea is in clear view of Jesse, he panics as he tries ''desperately'' to save her. Todd shoots her quickly, with Jack warning Jesse another such attempt will lead to Brock's death. [[ForcedToWatch Jesse's breakdown]] [[TearJerker really seals the deal.]] ]]

** [[Recap/DoctorWho2007CSVoyageOfTheDamned "Voyage of the Damned"]]: Astrid has driven herself off a precipice into the ship's reactor in order to off the BigBad. As the Doctor returns to the other survivors, he is reminded that she was wearing a teleport bracelet with a system for rescuing passengers who run into trouble with it on. [[spoiler:So he attempts to recall her... only to find that the system does not have enough power, and all that's left of her is constituent particles in her image, which he has to disperse. Hell of a TearJerker.]]

** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E17E18TheEndOfTime "The End of Time"]] is ''very'' mean about its Hope Spots. The Doctor has just saved the Earth and possibly the universe from the opening of the sealed time bubble and the return of Gallifrey, and he's still alive, despite thinking that the Master's return was what was supposed to have killed him. Then [[spoiler:he hears a sound... four knocks, from Wilfred, on the inside of the flood chamber for the radiation, which the Doctor will activate if he lets Wilfred out, spilling the radiation on him... the entire rest of the special is a class one TearJerker through and through.]]

** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E7AGoodManGoesToWar "A Good Man Goes to War"]]: Rory saves his and Amy's daughter from being kidnapped. Amy takes the baby and hides, while Rory, the Doctor, and the various aliens he recruited to help out form a line of defense to stop the last of the troops coming to get little Melody Pond. [[spoiler:It turns out that the baby Amy was holding was just a "Flesh" replica, and the real baby had been kidnapped long ago. [[TearJerker Yeah...]]]]

* ''Series/VeronicaMars'': It has one. [[spoiler:Logan's mother dies]], and he is convinced that she is still alive. He asks Veronica to find her for him, and she tries to do so ([[spoiler:encouraged by the knowledge that the woman who supposedly witnessed the suicide was a liar]]) until Weevil finds a freshman with a tape that shows, amongst other pointless things, [[spoiler:something dropping off the bridge at around the time that his mother jumped.]] Logan then gives up until Veronica gets a hit on one of his mother's credit cards- someone used one. They go to where it was used and find a woman there. [[spoiler:Logan]] tentatively asks 'Mom?' only to have the woman turn around to be revealed as... his sister, Trina. [[TearJerker Makes you want to cry.]] Supposedly her death was purposefully left ambiguous in case the writers wanted to bring her back, so does that count as only a half-futile hope spot?

* ''{{Series/Degrassi}}'': Rick comes to school with a gun after being pranked by Jay, Spinner, and Alex, and the first person he meets is Paige. He slowly starts pulling out the gun...but stops when Paige says that the prank pulled on him was childish and unnecessary. He apologizes for hurting Terri, and then goes to his locker and puts the gun away, seemingly having calmed down. But while he's in the bathroom trying to clean up, Jay and Spinner stage a conversation framing Jimmy for the prank, and Rick snaps again, which ends with Jimmy getting shot and Rick getting killed by Sean in a struggle for the gun.

** For Hank, Jesse and Gomez and perhaps even Walt himself in the events of "[[Recap/BreakingBadS5E13Tohajiilee To'hajiilee]]" and "[[Recap/BreakingBadS5E14Ozymandias Ozymandias]]". After [[spoiler: successfully baiting Walt to get to his money, the trio corner him and arrest him, and Hank even personally calls Marie to inform they got Walt. 5 minutes later, Walt's 'backup' arrives, armed to the teeth, and corner Hank and Gomez. The resulting shootout leaves [[KilledOffscreen Gomez dead]], Hank seriously injured, and Jesse hiding below Walt's car. Walt negotiates in vain to save Hank, [[BoomHeadshot who is killed by Jack soon after]], and Jesse is captured beneath Walt's car and MadeASlave to Jack's gang. Oh, and it is at this point, Walt, livid with Jesse's role in snitching against him, which led to the shootout in the first place, [[KickTheSonOfABitch decides to break the truth about Jane's death]]. The trio went [[MoodWhiplash from utterly victorious to dead and ruined]].]] ''And after that...''

** And let's not forgot Wesley's ''hilarious'' "I think we're ''winning!''" in "[[Recap/AngelS02E20OverTheRainbow Over the Rainbow]]". Cut to shot of the good guys tied up.

** In Recap/BabylonFiveFilm01InTheBeginning [[spoiler:Emperor]] Londo Mollari sees his homeworld in ruins, but as he tells two young children and their caretaker, there is still hope, it will be hard, but as long as one keeps fighting, there is hope. As he speaks, he recalls when [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeNBJ5o-b7s humans were in a hopeless spot but still didn't give up fighting.]]

** Wesley's final battle in [[Recap/AngelS05E22NotFadeAway the finale]] might be another example; the demon has him beaten with magic, so Wes resorts to a knife. The demon then blocks him, grabs a bigger knife, and proceeds to fatally wound Wes.
** There's a great subversion when the demon tries it again. Unfortunately for him Illyria is quite able to kill him with the one free punch he offers her.

** After the heist is over, Cassian heads back to Ferrix, makes sure his mom, B2EMO, and Bix are okay, then uses his cut of the money to retire to a nice beach resort town on Niamos. He's there for less then a week before [[spoiler:he ends up on the wrong end of a power-tripping shoretrooper who arrests him for "being involved" in a random crime just because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time, resulting in him getting a six year prison sentence.]]

** In the third episode, a Velaryon soldier is shown being spread out by the Crabfeeder, intent on feeding him to the crabs, when [[DraginRider Daemon Targaryen shows up with Caraxes]]. The soldier cries out in joy and calls out to Daemon... only for Caraxes to land right on top of him, crushing him underfoot.
** The DragonRider [[TheChase chase]] At the end of Season 1. Lucerys, on the back of Arrax, is chased in the skies of the Stormlands by Aemond on the back of the [[RentAZilla gigantic]] Vhagar. When Arrax escapes Vhagar in a [[AerialCanyonChase canyon]], it looks like Lucerys will make it. Sadly, he doesn't, as Vhagar ends up devouring them both, to the shock of Aemond.

** ''Series/HouseOfTheDragon'': The DragonRider [[TheChase chase]] At the end of Season 1. Lucerys, on the back of Arrax, is chased in the skies of the Stormlands by Aemond on the back of the [[RentAZilla gigantic]] Vhagar. When Arrax escapes Vhagar in a [[AerialCanyonChase canyon]], it looks like Lucerys will make it. Sadly, he doesn't, as Vhagar ends up devouring them both, to the shock of Aemond.

* ''Series/GameOfThrones'':
** Being based on ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'', it is no surprise that the show does this a lot, too. An altered scene that adds an additional HopeSpot on top of those already in the books occurs in the middle of Season 2. Catelyn Stark manages to secure an alliance for her son Robb with Renly Baratheon, the sanest and most powerful claimant to the Iron Throne who also hates the Lannisters, in return for a token show of submission to Renly once the war is over. [[spoiler:No sooner has Renly agreed to this before he is slain by a monstrous LivingShadow created by Melisandre, shattering his coalition which results in the Stormlands bannermen joining Stannis's cause, and the Tyrells eventually switch sides to the Lannisters.]]
** In season 4 Tyrion has been accused of murdering [[spoiler:Joffrey]]. The people still loyal to him are powerless to stop his conviction so Tyrion chooses Trial by Combat as a final TakeThat to his father. It looks like Tyrion will be killed by The Mountain in the duel when [[spoiler:Oberyn Martell]] offers to be Tyrion's champion. During the duel it soon becomes clear that The Mountain is losing and with his death Tyrion will be exonerated. Then [[spoiler:right before delivering the final blow, Oberyn gets careless and The Mountain grabs him and crashes his skull with his bare hands. With his champion dead, Tyrion is pronounced guilty and sentenced to death.]]
** [[TortureTechnician Ramsay Snow]] deliberately creates these situations, understanding that providing the illusion of hope and then ripping it away at the last minute is far more psychologically damaging than providing no hope at all. This could be something as simple pouring water out in front of someone dehydrated, or as complex as [[spoiler:acting like a friend and helping them escape, only to lead them right back to more torture, as he did with Theon. While still pretending to be Yara's agent and pretending he's escorting Theon to her, he listens to Theon reflect out loud on everything that brought him to this point. By the end, Theon's so overwhelmed with guilt and regret that he's fighting back tears. "Maybe it's not too late," Ramsay tells him. Theon says that it is, that he made the wrong choice, and he's burned everything down. "Not everything, my lord," says Ramsay, the implication being "You still have your sister, who sent me to rescue you. You're safe and free now." And ''then'' he leads Theon back into the torture chamber and reveals it was all a lie.]]
** Viserys has a villainous one in "A Golden Crown". He threatens Drogo, demanding that the man helps him secure his claim to the throne. Drogo responds that he will give Viserys a golden crown "that men will tremble to behold", and Viserys is pleased until Drogo's bloodrider Qotho breaks his arm, making him drop the sword, and kicks him to the floor. Drogo melts his golden belt in a pot, while Viserys begs Daenerys to help him. Ser Jorah tells her to look away but she won't. She watches as Khal Drogo "crowns" Viserys by pouring molten gold over his head, causing Viserys to cry out in pure agony.
** Ned Stark is set to resign to the Night's Watch, then Joffrey has him executed.
** During a counterattack, Tyrion and his men rout the crew of a battering ram and raise a cheer, only to find more enemies charging them.
** Locke stops threatening his captive with EyeScream only to inflict another punishment.
** Robb is set to receive reinforcements, is expecting his first child, has reconciled with his mother, and is about to be reunited with his little sister Arya when he is betrayed and butchered along with his wife, his mother, and nearly all his bannermen.
** At the end of Season 2, Sansa's betrothal to the horrifically abusive Joffrey is annulled, so the latter can marry Margaery Tyrell and form an alliance with her house by marriage. Sansa briefly thinks this means she can go home, but Littlefinger reminds her that the Lannisters still have use for her as a prisoner, and that Joffrey will still abuse or even rape her if he so desires.
** Sansa finally escapes, only to find herself in the hands of Littlefinger.
** In the midst of battle, Ygritte hesitates to kill Jon Snow and TheBigDamnKiss seems imminent until an arrow sprouts from Ygritte's chest.
** Yara Greyjoy's rescue party finds her brother, only for Theon to reject and bite her. Then Ramsay arrives with reinforcements and forces her to retreat.
** Brienne of Tarth finds the object her quest- Arya Stark, whom she has sworn to protect- and things appear to be going well, until the Hound notices the Lannister lion on her sword and instigates a very nasty deathmatch.

** Brienne of Tarth finds the object her quest and things appear to be going well, until the Hound notices the Lannister lion on her sword and instigates a very nasty deathmatch.

* The first season finale of ''Series/{{Timeless}}'' looks almost like a series finale. Mason reveals he was playing a long game to take Rittenhouse down, operatives arrested, Flynn captured and Lucy is offered to take the time machine on one last trip to restore her sister to life. But then Lucy goes to her mother Carol, to confess what she's been up to and her plan to bring back Amy...and Carol reveals ''she'' is from "Rittenhouse stock" and has known all along what Lucy has been doing. And she doesn't care about bringing back another daughter as Rittenhouse is going to continue on their plans as Emma is shown stealing the time machine.

* ''Series/OnceUponATime'': In "Good Form", Emma and the others are desperate to give Henry some sign, some hope that he can be rescued. Without which he would likely [[spoiler:fall into darkness and become a Lost Boy.]] They do get a message to him by the end of it.

* ''Series/ElInternadoLasCumbres'': After student Manuel disappears, his friends try to report him as missing, but the principal dismisses them and all their efforts fail. Adèle asks Alba, the girl she tutors, to go to the police on their behalf. Later on, the girl's mother finds her daughter's body hanging from a tree.

** And let's not forgot Wesley's ''hilarious'' "I think we're ''winning!''" in "[[{{Recap/AngelS02E20OverTheRainbow}} Over the Rainbow]]". Cut to shot of the good guys tied up.

** "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS7E4Help}} Help]]", where [[MeaningfulName Cassie]] (teenage girl who has had a premonition of her own untimely death) is saved by Buffy from being killed by a demon... but then a lethal trap goes off... and Buffy saves her just in time for a heart attack to kill Cassie.

* ''Series/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'': Parodied in the scene where Ford and Arthur are about to be blown out the Vogon airlock into deep space, and Ford suddenly says: "Wait a minute! What's this switch!", complete with a [[TheDayTheMusicLied hopeful swell of music]]. But it turns out he's just being a jerk, there's no switch, and they do indeed get blown into space.

** In arguably the TropeCodifier for the cliffhanger season finale, "[[{{Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS3E26S4E1TheBestOfBothWorlds}} The Best of Both Worlds]]". After the Borg abduct and assimilate Picard, Riker gives the order to fire the superweapon improvised from the main deflector dish. The music swells and ''Enterprise'' opens fire. Only for Part 2 to reveal the Borg have already adapted for that weakness, because they learned of it from Picard. The Borg NoSell the attack, ''Enterprise'' is temporarily disabled, and the cube heads to [[CurbStompBattle Wolf 359]].
** Two seasons earlier, Picard had one in "[[{{Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS1E24Conspiracy}} Conspiracy]]" when he was trying to escape from a room of possessed admirals and ran into Riker, only to discover that ''he'' was possessed, too. [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]], though, when Riker revealed that he was only ''acting'' possessed so he could get close enough to shoot the admirals.