History Main / FlashbackTwist

* ''Series/ANTFarm'' did this when Chyna was recalling when she first met Fletcher. But everything is a bit off. Olive is dressed as Gibson (which she did but in a different episode) and botched his Welcome CatchPhrase, Fletcher is carrying a scarecrow instead of a wax figure of Olive, to which Chyna says "that boy is carrying something" instead "that boy is carrying a dead body." Fletcher says gibberish instead of telling Chyna that she is beautiful, to which she replies "Dynamite" the song she sang in said episode.

* In episode 9 of ''LightNovel/{{Baccano}}'', a flashback to the SacrificialLamb's murder reveals that [[spoiler:he wasn't killed at all. Instead, he kicked the gun out of his assailant's hand and shot him. The corpse left behind was actually that of another [[TheMole mole]] that the SacrificialLamb tortured and killed shortly afterwards. Also, said not-so-SacrificialLamb is actually an assassin -- the same one [[ChekhovsGunman Luck called for in the first episode]] -- ''and'' the [[UrbanLegend Rail Tracer]] that's been picking off various mooks since episode 3]].

** Love is Many a Strangled Thing includes a flashback when Homer tries to justify how his strangling of Bart is the way he was brought up. The flashback then builds up to Abe doing the same thing to Homer… only to lightly admonish him, which causes Homer to leap up and strangle Abe.

** Brian mentions the [[Literature/TheBible Biblical]] parable of Abraham being told to kill Isaac; cue [[UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln President Lincoln]] gunning down the bartender from ''TheLoveBoat''.

* In WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold in the episode, Sidekicks Assemble, Green Arrow mentioned about how well he treated Speedy. Then, in a flashback, it revealed him ordering kid Speedy to get his bow from a bunch of alligators.

* ANTFarm did this when Chyna was recalling when she first met Fletcher. But everything is a bit off. Olive is dressed as Gibson (which she did but in a different episode) and botched his Welcome CatchPhrase, Fletcher is carrying a scarecrow instead of a wax figure of Olive, to which Chyna says "that boy is carrying something" instead "that boy is carrying a dead body." Fletcher says gibberish instead of telling Chyna that she is beautiful, to which she replies "Dynamite" the song she sang in said episode.

'''Narrator''': I do.\\

* ''Series/DoctorWho'', "The Unicorn and the Wasp": As each of the party guests says what they were doing at the time of the murder, their flashbacks show them doing something different (for example, that's not ''tea'' Lady Eddison is drinking...). A GenreSavvy viewer can spot the murderer as [[spoiler: the one person whose flashback doesn't show him doing something suspiciously different.]]

* ''UglyBetty'':

* In ''PandoraHearts,'' what's perhaps the biggest WhamEpisode of the series is revealed through a FlashbackTwist by the resident UnreliableExpositor. [[spoiler:While it is indeed true that [[SilentScapegoat Glen Baskerville]] ordered the massacre of dozens of innocent people at Sablier and that Jack Vessalius subsequently killed him in the confrontation that ensued, [[EvilAllAlong Jack]] ''[[ManipulativeBastard conveniently]]'' left out that Glen's aim in killing everyone was [[WellIntentionedExtremist to prevent them from]] [[MercyKill becoming chains]] and that Jack killed Glen because the latter was trying to prevent the former from essentially causing TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt]]. This is all revealed in an [[WholeEpisodeFlashback extended flashback]] wherein we finally see the ''entirety'' of what happened during [[spoiler:the Tragedy of Sablier one hundred years ago]].

* ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'': Happens quite often due to the format of the show, but a more recent example has Ted recalling stories of Marshall's co-worker Jenkins, imagining Jenkins as a man, before it is revealed that Jenkins is actually a woman.

-->--'''The Doctor''', ''Series/DoctorWho'', "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E7TheUnicornAndTheWasp The Unicorn and the Wasp]]"

A FlashBack is thrown to by a piece of dialogue that gives you the impression you'll know what the story is, but then produces a comic effect by surprising you.

* In ''VisualNovel/HigurashiNoNakuKoroNi'''s Atonement Chapter, Tsumihoroboshi-hen, this happens [[spoiler:to Keiichi, due to his hallucinations. It is revealed that in the Abducted by Demons Arc (Onikakushi-hen) that Rena was just trying to help Keiichi, and that Mion was just playing with him the whole time (the needle in the ohagi was ''Tabasco sauce''). The syringe is also revealed to be a ''marker''; they were going to use it on his shirt like they did to Tomitake before he left, as part of a game to keep him occupied while Irie went to fetch treatment for Keiichi's Hinamizawa Syndrome. However, this ended in a [[BatterUp tragic end]] for all three teenagers]]. [[TearJerker Not played for laughs]].

May include an UnreliableVoiceover. Related to SelfServingMemory.

* Many of the flashbacks on ''{{Lost}}'' have a twist, but for shock value rather than comic effect. In particular, "Confidence Man" seemed to give away its ending at the 10-minute mark, but the ending was quite different.

* In an episode of ''KingOfTheHill'', Lucky tells the story of how his grandfather found a walnut tree stump in the 1920s. While he says about the grandfather was on a church picnic, the FlashbackCut shows that he was actually trying to escape from prison (what Lucky calls "going to meet his maker" is also shown to be his execution by electric chair). Unlike most instances of this trope, however, it's implied that Lucky isn't deliberately lying but rather telling the story as he heard it.

* In ''VisualNovel/HigurashiNoNakuKoroNi'''s Atonement Chapter, Tsumihoroboshi-hen, this happens [[spoiler:to Keiichi, due to his hallucinations. It is revealed that in the Abducted by Demons Arc (Onikakushi-hen) that Rena was just trying to help Keiichi, and that Mion was just playing with him the whole time (the needle in the ohagi was ''Tabasco sauce''). The syringe is also revealed to be a '''marker'''; they were going to use it on his shirt like they did to Tomitake before he left, as part of a game to keep him occupied while Irie went to fetch treatment for Keiichi's Hinamizawa Syndrome. However, this ended in a [[BatterUp tragic end]] for all three teenagers]]. [[TearJerker Not played for laughs]].

* In HigurashiNoNakuKoroNi's Atonement Chapter, Tsumihoroboshi-hen, this happens [[spoiler:to Keiichi, due to his hallucinations. It is revealed that in the Abducted by Demons Arc (Onikakushi-hen) that Rena was just trying to help Keiichi, and that Mion was just playing with him the whole time (the needle in the ohagi was ''Tabasco sauce''). The syringe is also revealed to be a '''marker'''; they were going to use it on his shirt like they did to Tomitake before he left, as part of a game to keep him occupied while Irie went to fetch treatment for Keiichi's Hinamizawa Syndrome. However, this ended in a [[BatterUp tragic end]] for all three teenagers]]. [[TearJerker Not played for laughs]].

-->--'''The Doctor''', ''Series/DoctorWho'', "The Unicorn and the Wasp"

* Constantly in ''FamilyGuy''. In one episode, Peter turns down a coupon offered by a man in a chicken suit, saying, "Sorry. I don't accept coupons from giant chickens. Not since that last time..." And flashes back to an actual giant chicken that gave Peter a coupon that turned out to be expired. Peter's reaction to this was an extensive chase and fight scene.

** FamilyGuy has started hanging [[{{Lampshading}} lampshades]] on their use (and arguably, overuse) of {{Cutaway Gag}}s. In "Saving Private Brian", following one of their usual references, "They'll come after you like Peter went after that hockey coach," there isn't a cutaway. Stewie looks around and asks, "Hmm, no clip? Thought we had a clip. No? Okay." And then continues from there.

'''Carl:''' No, I... You know, I remember eatin' carpet. Not so much the lasers and the robots, though.

** Brian mentions the [[Literature/TheBible Biblical]] parable of Abraham being told to kill Isaac; cue [[AbrahamLincoln President Lincoln]] gunning down the bartender from ''TheLoveBoat''.

* The Grenada ''SherlockHolmes'' series pulled this off between ''The Final Problem'' and ''The Empty House''. In the former, Watson reads Holmes' note, and on screen we see Holmes and Moriarty battle, and then ''both'' fall off Reichenbach Falls to their deaths. Naturally, it's all in Watson's imagination, and when Holmes recaps the fight in the latter episode we see that Holmes baristu'd Moriarty off the cliff. Of course, this isn't a surprise of any sort to those who have read the original stories.