Summary

• TV shows often introduce plotlines that are later dropped without any resolution.
• Examples include the character of Caitlin in Heroes and the warp speed limits in Star Trek: The Next Generation.
• Lost and The Simpsons also had unresolved plot elements, such as Walt's mysterious powers and Principal Skinner's true identity.

Some TV shows set up dozens of threads and plotlines, only to drop some without a trace and move in a different direction. To be clear, this is not about shows where there is a promising setup, but it's unable to complete it because the show was canceled too soon, but actual plot devices that were left behind with no resolution. When a TV show is being made, and at each point in the production process, new ideas and storylines can be introduced, not every idea is strong enough or has a worthwhile ending, so some shows choose to just forget and move on.

However, there are few things more frustrating than when a TV show sets up a promising storyline, and then completely moves beyond it without any further acknowledgment. Laying a trail of breadcrumbs for some big conflict or a mystery reveal, only to drop the thread and ignore that it ever happened. Plenty of shows do this, introducing an interesting new rule for how space travel works, only to never reference it again, or revealing a prominent character isn't who they said they were, only to go back on it in the following episodes and pretend it never happened.

10 Caitlin Stuck In The Apocalypse

Heroes (2006 - 2010)

Heroes was a promising series that was plagued with bad luck with delays and cuts due to writers' strikes, and the series unfortunately struggled to keep its momentum after the second season. As a result of this inconsistency, one character was left in limbo. When Peter Petrelli accidentally took Caitlin to the plague-ridden future, and he was compelled to return to the present, she became trapped there. When Peter returned to the present and prevented that future, it became entirely unclear what happened to Caitlin, and whether she survived, or became a victim of the future, never to be seen or heard from again.

9 Warp Speed Limits

Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987 -1994)

Star Trek: TNG was a revelation for the series and became many people's first with the franchise. Throughout TNG, new worlds, new aliens, and new aspects of Starfleet and its operations were explored. With so many new elements being introduced, it makes sense that some things fall by the wayside, such as the natural laws and limitations on warp speed that were introduced in TNG season 7, episode 9, "Force of Nature." After discovering the ill effects of ing warp five, a galactic speed limit was introduced, only to be mentioned twice more that season and then dropped forever.

8 Walt's Mysterious Powers

Lost (2001 - 2010)

Lost explored several mysterious happenings throughout its six-season run, but while some mysteries got explanations, others were ignored. The most egregious example of this comes with Walt's character, the only child from the plane crash. He was a prominent part of the show in season 1 when Walt began to exhibit strange psychic powers. By season 2, Walt's character faded into the background to a more minor role, which continued to be reduced each season until he didn't even appear in the last season. And after season 2, there was no further exploration of his powers.

7 Armin Tamzarian

The Simpsons (1989 - Present)

The Simpsons have told hundreds of stories since 1989, but some ideas are left in the past without any further reference. One example of this came almost 10 years into the show's running, in season 9, episode 2, "The Principal and the Pauper." The episode revealed that Principal Skinner, who had been a large part of the show from the very first episode, was an impostor by the name of Armin Tamzarian. Despite this huge revelation, the fact that Skinner is not Skinner has been ignored ever since, which is probably for the best.

6 The GS Ball

Pokémon (1997 - 2023)

Early in the Pokémon series run, the show introduced a mysterious gold and white Pokéball, the GS Ball. Initially, the ball appeared prominently for a few episodes, and with multiple professors trying to uncover its secrets, it appeared as though it would play an important role in the story. However, fans were disappointed when the ball was later given to Kurt and forgotten about for the remainder of the more than 1,000 episodes. The ball did appear in the games, and the original plan was eventually revealed (via Game Rant), but the show never resolved the mystery.

5 Quaithe Of Qarth

Game Of Thrones (2011 - 2019)

During the second season of Game of Thrones, Daenerys spends much of her time in the merchant city of Qarth. While there, she becomes embroiled in the politics of the city and crosses paths with a mysterious masked woman named Quaithe. The introduction of Quaithe, and the lack of expanding on her in-depth knowledge about the inner workings of the city were never explored after they left the city, despite the character feeling like a setup for something potentially bigger and more important. In fact, the entire city of Qarth is ignored after season 2.

4 The Doctor's Daughter

Doctor Who (2005 - Present)

In the 60 years since Doctor Who began, there have been countless plots and stories making it near impossible for Doctor Who to have a consistent story free of plotholes. However, in the modern series, season 4, episode 6, "The Doctor's Daughter," the show introduced a character who was technically a clone/genetic offspring of the Doctor. Near the end of the episode, it appeared that she was dead, but, thanks to Time Lord DNA, Jenny, recovered with regeneration energy and flew off into space, creating a loose end that begged to be explored, and never came back.

3 The Suicide Squad

Arrow (2012 - 2020)

Large IPs like DC contain a huge library of characters to explore for film and TV, but things can get complicated if characters are due to appear in a film, and the shows need to change their plans to free the characters up. This is what happened in the case of the Suicide Squad, an obscure team of villains who were being set up to appear in Arrow during seasons 2 and 3. Despite introducing several of the team , the show had to kill them off ahead of movies starring the characters and thus had to change its plans.

2 Heath Literally Disappears

The Walking Dead (2010 - 2022)

Heath is a major character in The Walking Dead graphic novels, and when he showed up in season 6 of the TV show, fans were excited to finally see the character. However, the following season, Heath and Tara go on a supply run and run into a horde of zombies. In the struggle, Heath falls from a bridge and into the fast-moving water, quickly disappearing. The show has frequently featured characters disappearing only to return at a later date, but Heath never came back, and his fate was left uned for in The Walking Dead or its spin-offs.

1 Fez And Laurie's Marriage

That '70s Show (1998 - 2006)

When Fez is facing deportation in That '70s Show season 5, the Foreman's daughter, Laurie, agrees to marry him. The relationship is obviously one that was manufactured to help Fez out of a tough spot, but the show continues to play with their relationship throughout season 6 before Laurie moves to Canada and the series, and Fez, forgets about her. For the remainder of the show, the character is absent, and this is noted in the series finale when Kitty asks "has anyone seen Laurie?," but there's no resolution about whether Fez and Laurie divorced or if they remained married.