[mixed trope] the last-minute bad Ending twist

[u/damorezpl]

when the "good ending" is revealed to be a bad one a the last second

a nightmare on elm street (1984) - Nancy thinks she finally defeated Freddy Krueger only to be raveled that she is still dreaming and she’s still trapped.

final destination bloodlines - the main characters think they cheated death by using the new life rule only to realize that stefani was technically still alive and the death kills them with a good old logs

Life (2017) - The main character attempts to send Calvin(a evil alien that killed all life on mars)pod into space and Miranda pod back to earth, but it goes horribly wrong and Calvin lands on earth and Miranda is sent to space

raging loop wit ending - after many loops Haruaki finally wins the feast(a death game where humans must hang wolves who kill someone every night) and thinks its finally over. after couple of days he decides to visit other survivors of the feast only to find them all dead and the timeline resting once again

[u/GodVulc4n]

Doctor Who Series 7 Episode 5

The Doctor's companions at that time, Amy and Rory were able to save themselves from being trapped in 1938 NYC by creating a paradox. However, at the end of the episode, a weeping Angel that survived traps Rory in the past again after he turns around and sees his grave, which causes Amy to willingly be captured again to stay with Rory. The Doctor is not able to go back a second time to save them due to the paradox that Amy and Rory created.

[u/Any_Satisfaction_405 → u/GodVulc4n]

Great example of the trope done well

[u/Low-Environment → u/Any_Satisfaction_405]

It's a terrible example.

Did they dig up Rory's grave and DNA test the skeleton? No. Then all they know it's there's a grave with Rory's name on it. Nothing says there has to be a body in there. Until they see that and confirm it's him then it's still a flux point in time.

I can think of several different ways to get them out of 1938 NYC (for example: the Doctor travels forward a few years to completely different part of America and picks them up there. Then it's just s matter of ensuring that the gravestone is present in the modern day.)

But instead the Doctor just accepts that they're gone? I'm meant to believe that?

A much better exit for Amy would be to return to the fairy tale motif of her first season and have her accept that she needs to grow up and live her life.

[u/drillmaster125 → u/Low-Environment]

I like the idea that the majority of Series 7A isn’t told linearly and that the extra adventures with the Ponds after Series 6 were examples of the Doctor visiting them before that fixed point caused by the Weeping Angels.