Wham Episode

"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."

— Russell T Davies

The point in a series where the story takes a sudden dramatic turn. Things will never be quite the same again.

When advertisements tease you with words such as "The most shocking episode of the season!", they're probably referring to this (unless they're not). This is the episode meant to radically alter the status quo, and in doing so send a major shock through the viewership.

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Note that it's not a Wham Episode if it turns out that the shocking events were All Just a Dream, or if the changes are reversed with a Snap Back or Reset Button, or if the series has Negative Continuity. 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 canon balls.

Almost always takes place at a Season Finale, and at times can even be a Grand Finale if it includes a high enough shock factor (which isn't always the case). Alternatively, it might come before the Season Finale, which then resolves the plot twist. Earlier than that, and it could be a Halfway Plot Switch, or if occurs even sooner a Mid-Season Twist (which usually goes down at the end of Act I). One is likely to happen at the end of a string of Not So Episodic episodes.

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What Qualifies as a Wham Episode?

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:

• 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 Important Haircut as part of a Heel–Face Turn is.
• 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 Death Is Cheap, 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 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.
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• 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.^{As an example...} A character gets superpowers and joins the team. If this is a Once an Episode 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, 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.

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The term was coined by J. Michael Straczynski, creator of Babylon 5, which is very liberally sprinkled with them.

Compare Genre Turning Point, Nothing Is the Same Anymore, Cerebus Syndrome, and The Ending Changes Everything. Contrast with Breather Episode. Related to Drama Bomb. Complete opposite of Status Quo Is God. If this is the first episode and/or the prologue, it's a Downer Beginning. If the WHAM aspect is concentrated in a single line, it's a Wham Line; if it’s in an image, it’s a Wham Shot. See also Ascended Fridge Horror, 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 Gut Punch.

Because real life is not scripted, do not add such examples.

Here be unmarked spoilers. Proceed at your own risk.

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Other examples:

Asian Animation

• Happy Heroes: Season 7 episode 50 significantly shakes up the status quo by 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.

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