Line #30 Main/WhamEpisode


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5	->''"The live experience is thrilling and if some dramas can replicate that and present a story to an audience as new and no-one knows what's going to happen, then '''that's''' good storytelling. That's the way it should happen."''
6	-->-- '''Creator/RussellTDavies'''
7
8	The point in a series where the story takes a sudden dramatic turn. Things will [[NothingIsTheSameAnymore never be quite the same again]].
9
10	When advertisements tease you with words such as "The most ''shocking'' episode of the season!", they're probably referring to this ([[NeverTrustATrailer unless they're not]]). This is the episode meant to [[NothingIsTheSameAnymore radically alter the status quo]], and in doing so send a major shock through the viewership.
11
12	Note that it's not a Wham Episode if it turns out that the shocking events were AllJustADream, or if the changes are reversed with a SnapBack or ResetButton, or if the series has NegativeContinuity. To count as a Wham Episode, the events must actually happen and become {{canon}}. When a series is already successful, and the writers decide to do this, it's very risky. The writers are making a bold move and risking losing a lot of their fans. The writers have balls. You might even say they have [[ArmedWithCanon canon]] [[{{Pun}} balls]].
13
14	Almost always takes place at a SeasonFinale, and at times can even be a GrandFinale if it includes a high enough shock factor ([[StockSeriesFinales which isn't always]] [[WrapItUp the case]]). Alternatively, it might come ''before'' the Season Finale, which then resolves the plot twist. Earlier than that, and it could be a HalfwayPlotSwitch, or if occurs even sooner a MidSeasonTwist (which usually goes down at the end of Act I). One is likely to happen at the end of a string of NotSoEpisodic episodes. Compare with the InnocuouslyImportantEpisode, which tries to hide itself as a Wham Episode through introducing a future ChekhovsGun or {{Foreshadowing}} the GreaterScopeVillain.
15
16	!!What Qualifies as a Wham Episode?
17	Just because an event is dramatic or has a reveal, that doesn't make it a Wham Episode. In order to qualify, the episode must:
18	* '''Signify a shake-up in the status quo.''' What happens in this episode has to be presented as something of a significant impact. A character getting their hair cut isn't a big deal; a character getting an ImportantHaircut as part of a HeelFaceTurn is.
19	* '''Show that the change is not easily undone.''' Whatever causes a Wham Episode can't be something that gets resolved quickly and easily, if it can be resolved at all. It must be an event with long-lasting effects. For instance, a character's death is sometimes a big deal, but not always. In a series where DeathIsCheap, it may just be a way to get the character out of the story for a while or into some sort of B-plot in the afterlife. The audience is thus assured that the character will still be around in some capacity. However, if the series has made it clear that [[AllDeathsFinal there's no coming back from the dead in this universe, no matter what]], a named character dying is a really big change because they're gone for good.
20	* '''Be felt by the characters within the series.''' This has to be something that the characters will be dealing with in their own ways. How the characters react to the big change, whatever it is, determines some of the impact to the audience. If the characters react like it's a big deal and have to apply significant effort to adapt to this change, the episode's likelihood of being a Wham Episode dramatically increases.[[labelnote:As an example...]]A character gets superpowers and joins the team. If this is a OnceAnEpisode occurrence, a character gets their powers the same episode that they're introduced, or the series has established that it's relatively easy to get powers, it's probably not a Wham Episode since the characters will not be very surprised to see it. Meanwhile, if a named {{muggle}} character has taken more than half of the series to get superpowers, [[EleventhHourRanger finally gets them right when the team needs it most]], and doesn't get these powers taken away or removed by the episode's conclusion, the characters in-series acting like this is a big deal will make it a big deal to the audience.[[/labelnote]]
21	----
22	The term was coined by Creator/JMichaelStraczynski, creator of ''Series/BabylonFive'', which is very liberally sprinkled with them.
23
24	Compare GenreTurningPoint, NothingIsTheSameAnymore, CerebusSyndrome, and TheEndingChangesEverything. Contrast with BreatherEpisode. Related to DramaBomb. Complete opposite of StatusQuoIsGod. If this is the first episode and/or the prologue, it's a DownerBeginning. If the WHAM aspect is concentrated in a single line, it's a WhamLine; if it’s in an image, it’s a WhamShot. See also AscendedFridgeHorror, wherein some aspects of the series leave some viewers with reason to expect a tone shift, before they see it applied by the writers. Often the first warning that the viewer is dealing with a {{Deconstruction}}. Frequently caused by or contains a GutPunch.
25
26	It can also be defined by having a series of [[TheReveal reveals]] contained in it which serve to expand or alter the series’ lore, WorldBuilding, MythArc, stakes, characters’ identities, or characters’ dynamics between each other. If the episode’s WHAM factor is defined by just a single reveal, it must be impactful enough to recontextualize the ''entire'' series’ (or arcs') premise as well as everything that both came before in previous episodes and comes after from then on out.
27
28	[[Administrivia/NoRealLifeExamplesPlease Because real life is not scripted, do not add such examples.]]
29	[[noreallife]]
30
31	'''Here be ''unmarked spoilers''. Proceed at your own risk.'''
32	----
33	!!Example subpages
34
35	[[index]]
36	* WhamEpisode/AnimeAndManga
37	* WhamEpisode/ComicBooks
38	* WhamEpisode/FanWorks
39	* WhamEpisode/{{Film}}
40	* WhamEpisode/{{Literature}}
41	* WhamEpisode/LiveActionTV
42	* WhamEpisode/{{Podcasts}}
43	* WhamEpisode/ProfessionalWrestling
44	* WhamEpisode/VideoGames
45	* WhamEpisode/WebAnimation
46	* WhamEpisode/{{Webcomics}}
47	* WhamEpisode/WebOriginal
48	* WhamEpisode/WesternAnimation
49	[[/index]]
50
51	!!Other examples:
52
53	[[foldercontrol]]
54
55
56	[[folder:Asian Animation]]
57	* ''Animation/HappyHeroes'': Season 7 episode 50 significantly shakes up the status quo by [[spoiler:having Kalo die by sacrificing himself to defeat a spaceship army. Careful S. is not happy about this since Kalo was a close friend of his, and a few episodes of Season 8 use his refusal to get over it as a major plot point]].
58	[[/folder]]
59
60	[[folder:Board Games]]
61	* ''TabletopGame/{{Pandemic}} Legacy Season 1'':
62	** January and February: The [=C0dA=] virus mutates to become incurable, and then impossible to treat. All you can do about it now is quarantining its hot spots. In March, the CDC hires a paramilitary group to help your team.
63	** April: [=C0dA=] has mutated again, and it now turns its victims into the Faded, who have translucent so that you can see the tissue beneath, and experience periods of rage when they attack anything in sight. They are dangerous to be around -- if you start your turn in a city containing the Faded, you receive a scar.
64	** September contains the biggest twist of them all: The Paranoid Soldier reveals that [=C0dA=] was a SyntheticPlague spread by a group called Zodiac to destabilize regimes. Worse, your team is revealed to be a group intended to look busy while Zodiac was continuing their plan, and [[TheMole one of your characters is a Zodiac member working to accelerate roadblocks and military installations from within]]. Now the traitor is permanently out of the game, and you have to sabotage the military network you helped build up.
65	[[/folder]]
66
67	[[folder:Music]]
68	* '''''{{Music/Nevermind\|Album}}'''''. Coming out in 1991 at just the perfect time for Grunge to take over the airwaves: Pop and Rock had almost become synonymous with how edgeless and synthetic it all sounded, people were reeling especially from the Music/MilliVanilli scandal, and [[Music/{{Nirvana}} a garage band with a killer hook]] ended up becoming an enormous hit.
69	* For Music/DragonForce, who had previously done pretty standard HeavyMithril-fare, ''Ultra Beatdown'' was this. Among the tracks were:
70	** ''Heartbreak Armageddon'', which is about a man spiraling into depression during a messy divorce.
71	** ''Scars Of Yesterday'', which is about the world seen through the eyes of a rape survivor.
72	** ''Reasons To Live'', which is about a therapist who fails to prevent one of his patients from committing suicide.
73	* "[[VillainSong In the Flesh]]" from ''Music/TheWall'', which is a DarkReprise of "In the Flesh?", and where Pink starts fantasizing about being a Neo-Nazi.
74	* Music/InTheAeroplaneOverTheSea: "Holland 1945" marks the point where the album turns from wistful to brutally depressing as it discusses Anne Frank's death paired with an extremely noisy and fast-paced sound.
75	* Music/{{Jhariah}}'s ''A BEGINNER'S GUIDE TO FAKING YOUR DEATH'' takes a turn for being much darker with "DEBT COLLECTOR". While the singer seems mostly okay with faking his death before this, mentioning that it's a much-needed change of pace and finding the overstimulation a little exciting, this song marks the point where he realizes the consequences are ''really'' piling on. His "past will come and drag him down" and people are picking up on the scam he pulled, and he has to owe up to what he did. The song's fast pace and dramatic instrumental add to it. This sets the trajectory in later songs where he begins to regret his plan and eventually decides to FaceDeathWithDignity.[[/folder]]
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Context Main / WhamEpisode