Fan theories are now as much a part of the entertainment industry as anything else. There’s a certain satisfaction in spotting a storyline development before it’s revealed.
In a way, it makes you feel as if you’re in sync or the same headspace as the writers and showrunners.
It’s also a fun way to interact with the community. Go to any TV show’s Reddit page and you’ll find hundreds of theories and speculations on any given day. Some of them are positively brilliant, while others are totally crazy and unrealistic.
With that said, it’s still interesting to gauge other fans’ perspectives of a show that you all enjoy.
Many creators appreciate fan theories, and even go out of their way to make the wish fulfillment come true. However, others completely despise them and feel as if they hold the creative process hostage for simple fan service.
You only need to look at Star Wars: The Last Jedi as a good example of how many fans turned on the franchise because their theories were proven wrong and the story deviated from the expected.
Nonetheless, we’re here to look at the times when the fans nailed it, so beware, there are spoilers ahead.
Here are the 15 Crazy TV Show Fan Theories That Were Proven Right.
15. American Horror Story
On the surface, American Horror Story appears like a smorgasbord of oddity. It’s all over the place and features strange characters and crazy story premises.
If you listen to the fans, though, there’s method to the madness here.
In fact, the show is much deeper than what we give it credit for – perhaps having more in common with a certain epic 14th-century poem.
A theory, credited to Red Herry, suggests that each season represents one of the nine circles of Hell from Dante’s Inferno.
To sum it up succinctly, it’s that there are people being punished for the same sin in each season. Murder House is Limbo, Asylum is Fraud, Coven is Treachery, Freak Show is Greed, Hotel is Gluttony, Roanoke is Anger, Cult is Heresy, with only Lust and Violence left to be tackled.
Seven seasons of the show have been produced with two more confirmed to come, which adds up to the magical number of nine.
While the theory hasn’t been 100% confirmed, American Horror Story creator, Ryan Murphy, referenced the theory on his Instagram account with the caption “Interesting.”
It’s unlikely that Murphy will confirm this theory until the show’s conclusion because it would ruin the surprise for other fans who might not be aware of it.
Game Of Thrones
George R. R. Martin is a ruthless man, who shows no remorse for what he does to the world of Westeros. He doesn’t think twice about doing away with his own characters, and the showrunners of Game of Thrones have followed his example (“Red Wedding” was a brutal and traumatic event that we still haven’t quite shaken off yet).
Despite the show’s affinity for violence and heartbreak, many people still thought something wasn’t right about Jon Snow meeting his end in the season five finale.
First off, Jon’s passing came out of nowhere while his parentage still seemed unclear.
For a character who had served a major part of the narrative, there were still too many questions to be answered about his history.
Fans first speculated the R+L=J Theory, which was that Jon was really the offspring of Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryen – and not the son of Ned Stark.
Second, in the world of Game of Thrones, necromancy was always likely and expected – especially with people like Melisandre lurking around.
In this case, fans were proven right on both accounts. Jon was brought back to life by Melisandre and the R+L=J Theory was confirmed as well in a double whammy of reveals.
Westworld
From the get-go, Westworld was a show filled with many twists and turns. Every week, there seemed to be a whole new mystery to solve, and it quickly became a hot topic of discussion among eagle-eyed viewers who claimed to have unraveled the golden thread of the story.
One of the more popular mysteries was William’s connection to the Man in Black, and the possibility of two timelines at play. The most mind-blowing theory of the lot, however, was the presumption that Bernard Lowe was actually one of Robert Ford’s automatons.
Many viewers rejected the notion, believing it to be impossible, while others stood firmly behind their claims.
All was revealed, though, when Bernard crushed Theresa Cullen’s head, proving the fan theory to be accurate.
Actor Jeffrey Wright revealed to Digital Trends that he didn’t know Bernard was supposed to be an android when he took the role initially.
“I knew going into the second episode [of season one]. I didn’t know when I signed on. I didn’t know it when we shot the pilot. But, when we came back to full production for season one, Lisa Joy pulled me aside and dropped the bomb on my robot head,” he said.
Lost
If you had to ask most people what their favorite TV show of all time was, the answer would most likely be Lost. However, if you asked them if they were happy with how it concluded after six seasons, most would laugh at you.
You see, Lost introduced a host of mysteries and smoke (monsters) and mirrors, but never quite delivered on all its promises.
From its inception, most viewers presumed that the survivors were stranded in purgatory and that was the angle of the story.
The writers, though, did their best to divert the viewers’ attention, making sure they’d consider other alternatives and possibilities. At some point, most of the fans renounced the purgatory theme and thought it must be something else.
When the series concluded, the purgatory theory was confirmed: most of the survivors were in a form of limbo in the afterlife. Fans were angered, but the show’s co-creator J. J. Abrams stood by the finale’s reveal.
In an interview, he said, “I loved the ending. I thought it definitely provided an emotional conclusion to that show. There may have been specific technical things people felt they wanted to understand, like what the island was exactly or why it was.”
“But it’s like the briefcase in Pulp Fiction. If you show me what’s in there, I promise you it will disappoint me,” he stated.
The Walking Dead/Breaking Bad
Breaking Bad and The Walking Dead are two shows that have turned TV upside down. While the former is remembered for knowing when to quit, the latter continues to trudge along, despite the ratings plummeting week after week.
Still, when all is said and done, both will be regarded as pivotal series in TV history.
Two years ago, a popular fan theory suggested that Breaking Bad and The Walking Dead are part of the same universe. The belief is that it was Walter White and his “blue sky” product that started the zombie apocalypse.
It’s entirely plausible, since there have been reports about people turning zombie-like after a bad trip.
Well, AMC tipped its hat to this theory – but not on The Walking Dead. Instead, they did so in the prequel series, Fear the Walking Dead.
In an episode, Madison and Qaletaga go into a market and the song “Negro y Azul: The Ballad of Heisenberg” blares in the background. The song is straight from season two of Breaking Bad about a certain boss named Heisenberg and his special product.
Fear the Walking Dead showrunner Dave Erickson confirmed to Digital Spy that it was a “gentle nod of admiration” to the show. “I tried to be subtle with it. That was probably the moment when I fell the most deeply in love with Breaking Bad, when they did that cold open music video.”
Arrow
Season five of Arrow was a turning point for the series. After the backlash of season four, the comic-book show finally got back on track and back to basics.
Part of the season’s success was the introduction of a new villain Prometheus, who really made Oliver Queen’s life a living nightmare.
The showrunners did really well in keeping the villain’s identity a secret for a good chunk of the season and sent fans on a wild goose chase by throwing Adrian Chase into the mix.
In the comic books, Chase’s alter ego is Vigilante – another character introduced in season five.
Fans speculated that Prometheus could very well be Oliver’s best friend, Tommy Merlyn, who’d passed away in season one. Since no one ever stays deceased in these shows, it could’ve been possible that Malcolm Merlyn used the Lazarus Pit to revive his son and keep him in the shadows.
Arrow swerved us, though, and it was revealed that Prometheus was Chase in the end.
That didn’t stop the showrunners from making the fan theory a reality in the crossover special “Crisis on Earth-X”, though.
Prometheus made a special appearance, but it wasn’t Chase behind the mash. This time, it was Tommy’s Earth-X doppelgänger.
Doctor Who
For a show that’s been around for more than 50 years, you can be certain there are hundreds, if not thousands, of fan theories about Doctor Who.
One of the best fan theories came from a super-fan who took to an online message board to state his speculation.
This fan stated that “Doctor” was actually the character’s name, and not a title.
Since the Doctor spent most of the time going from here to there, and acting as a helper and healer, humans were inspired to use the word “doctor” to refer to their own helpers and healers as a form of tribute.
In a 2011 episode of Doctor Who titled “A Good Man Goes to War”, River Song said to the Doctor, “Doctor. The word for healer and wise man throughout the universe. We get that word from you, you know. But if you carry on the way you are, what might that word come to mean? To the people of the Gamma Forests, the word Doctor means mighty warrior. How far you’ve come.”
As it turns out, the original super-fan was Steven Moffat – the latest mastermind of Doctor Who. He took his theory and decided to make it canon. Pretty cool, right?
The Flash
The Flash fans are some of the smartest around. One thing that we’ve realized is that this show loves to recycle its actors for various parts.
For example, John Wesley Shipp being both Henry Allen and Jay Garrick, and all the infinite versions of Tom Cavanagh’s Harrison Wells.
It’s a trend that’s happened for a few seasons now, and when Savitar first showed his ugly, metallic mug, fans immediately thought there was a link between this “new” character and someone already introduced on the show.
Sharp viewers of the series picked up when Savitar said, “I’m the future, Flash” and he’s “already lived” events.
Those two bits of dialogue instantly sent the forums into a frenzy with many predicting that Savitar was actually a future version of Barry Allen.
From a storyline perspective, it made a lot of sense since Barry still harbored guilt for his Flashpoint escapades, and could be considered his own worst enemy.
The showrunners tried to delay the inevitable for as long as possible, but the fans guessed the reveal far in advance. Rather than celebrate getting it right, though, most viewers were actually disappointed by the storyline and probably wished that they’d been wrong this one time.
Black Mirror
If you want to ponder the meaning of life and how bad it can get, then Black Mirror is the only thing you should watch.
The show gets dark – sometimes funny – and touches a nerve that’ll make you question why you watched 12 hours’ worth of Netflix instead of doing something more valuable with your weekend.
Even though it’s an anthology series, many viewers have wondered if there’s a connection to it all – like a Black Mirror shared universe where all these stories take place.
It appears like series creator Charlie Brooker listened to the fans’ theory, as he confirmed to The Hollywood Reporterthat there is actually a shared universe concept applied.
“My answer to that has changed, actually. It always used to be that it’s just a bit of fun. But then sometimes we’ve done some things where we did explicitly refer to other episodes. I think the rule is that when a character says something that explicitly refers to something else, it’s canonical,” he said.
Brooker continued: “Also, they follow the same dream universe. That’s the other thing that I tend to say. There’s a line in ‘Hated in the Nation’ where someone refers to a crime that happened in ‘White Bear’.”
The Walking Dead
Funny enough, for a show where not a lot happens in an episode, The Walking Dead is still a hot topic of discussion among theorists. Maybe it’s because the series has become so bland that the viewers try to come up with more interesting plots for it.
Nonetheless, there have been a few times when fans have predicted the outcome of something before the show revealed it.
One of the most recent theories was the debate about who took the lives of the men and boys of the Oceanside group.
While all signs pointed to Negan as the culprit, it didn’t make sense considering his speeches about how people are resources.
Fans called the show’s bluff and predicted that it was actually Simon who ordered the massacre and not Negan – and they were right on the money. Negan might be a lot of things, but he wasn’t responsible for this.
At the same time, this reveal also worked on another level too, as it offered Negan another shot at redemption.
Forget about the brutal man who smashed Glenn and Abraham’s heads in, we now saw a more layered character who showed emotion in learning of Carl’s passing and learned about his love for his late wife, Lucille.
This Is Us
Kleenex must make a fortune off This is Us viewers. It’s a show that pulls on all of the heartstrings and delivers some emotionally raw and poignant moments– there’s never a dry eye when you watch it.
Ever since the first episode, fans have dreaded the time when we’d find out how Jack, the patriarch of the Pearson family, passed away.
There had been numerous teases about how and when he perished– the most revealing being Kate’s dog Louie and Jack’s possessions in the back of Rebecca’s car.
As a result, some fans pieced together a theory that Jack passed away in a house fire after going back to save Louie.
It was entirely believable since Jack is the Superman of fathers and would do absolutely anything for his family, including risking his own life for their pet.
Well, the theorists weren’t wrong and we found out exactly what happened in the fourteenth episode of season two titled “Super Bowl Sunday”.
There was a fire and Jack did go back into the house to save Louie, passing awat as a result of smoke inhalation at the hospital.
As Milo Ventimiglia, who portrays Jack on the show, told Esquire, “He sacrificed himself without even knowing that he was doing it.”
Gilmore Girls
Gilmore Girls wasn’t a series built for fan theories. It was easy to follow and relied more on the natural drama and comedic exchanges to carry it than the question-mark moments.
Still, this didn’t stop fans from scrutinizing one scene in season one and wondering if it wasn’t an Easter egg of sorts.
In episode nine of season one titled “Rory’s Dance”, a few clever viewers spotted one of Rory’s classmates in the background who looked a lot like Luke’s chef, Caesar.
It’s a blink-and-you-miss-it moment, but a quick pause of the scene will make it clearer. Could it be that Rory and Caesar went to Chilton together? Well, the answer is yes.
During a panel at a Girlmore Girls fan festival in Washington Depot, Connecticut, actor Aris Alvarado, who played Caesar, confirmed the theory to the people in attendance.
“That was Caesar. It’s funny because [the internet] just discovered that. I’ve been waiting, I never wanted to say anything [so I could] see who was going to find me one day,” he said.
Alvarado elaborated where he fell into the timeline of the show as Luke’s chef: “Three years later, you see me working at Luke’s, so I’m like 20 years old, 21 at the time.”
Pretty Little Liars
All the lies, secrets, and mysteries made Pretty Little Liars one heck of a watch. There was so much to take in and fans couldn’t stop speculating what was going to happen next.
As it turns out, the audience was thinking on the same wavelength as the writers – or the scribes were listening to the fans. Either way, it was rewarding being an invested fan of this series.
Last year, a popular fan theory suggested that Alison was actually carrying Emily’s baby.
Considering the nature of the show, it shouldn’t have sounded so far-fetched since anything was possible in a series built on a strong premise of lies and deceit.
It wasn’t quite as crazy as the usual plots of Days of Our Lives of The Bold and the Beautiful, but it did drift into the melodramatic soapie territory every so often.
Then, boom– the theory came true as predicted. Alex Drake had stolen Emily’s eggs from a donation bank and used them to impregnate Alison.
It was a huge triumph for fan theorists everywhere. In all fairness, though, Pretty Little Liars didn’t shy away from giving its fanbase what it wanted, hence the success of the show for seven seasons.
SpongeBob SquarePants
Much like Rick and Morty, an off-the-wall animated series like SpongeBob SquarePants normally has the audience digging for what’s beneath the surface.
Unfortunately, this type of rabid obsession can make such fanbases unbearable and obnoxious, as they look for deeper meaning where there often is none. Sometimes, it really is just a cartoon…
One of the longest plot devices in the series is Plankton wanting the Krabby Patty’s secret formula.
Fans have long speculated what could be in the ingredients, with some suggesting it might be the same mystery as KFC or something far more nefarious than imagined.
One dark theory suggests that a Krabby Patty contains real crabs, making Mr. Krabs sick and horrific, putting Hannibal Lecter to shame.
Deciding to put an end to the speculation, Nick.com released the official recipe for Krabby Patty for all to see – and is it turns out the fans weren’t too far from the truth.
Mr. Krabs might not be using real crabs, but he utilizes imitation crab meat to make his patties. Look, it’s a better alternative than actually destroying his own kind, but it still sounds rather weird. Would you want to eat imitation human meat?
Two And A Half Men
For many years, Two and a Half Men was one of the highest-rated shows on TV. Fans laughed until their stomachs hurt as Charlie, Alan, and Jake Harper served up the raunchy humor on a weekly basis.
Behind the scenes, though, Charlie Sheen went through a personal crisis as his demons became out of control.
The network tried to intervene several times, but the last straw was when Sheen criticized the network and series creator, Chuck Lorre, publicly. He was dismissed promptly and it looked like there was no coming back for him.
In the show’s storyline, it was explained that Charlie had been struck by a train (or pushed in front of it) – and Charlie’s ghost (as portrayed by Kathy Bates) even became a part of the series for a while.
The writers held nothing back, as elements of Sheen’s personal life became fodder and he was the brunt of most jokes.
Still, fans suspected that Charlie’s off-screen passing might’ve been all too convenient, in the case that Sheen might ultimately return to the show one day.
The series finale proved the theory right as Charlie returned to be cut off in one final gag. However, Sheen himself declined to return, so we only saw Charlie from behind.
Do you know of any other TV show fan theories that were proven right? Let us know in the comments!
