<\/p>\n
(Agn\u00e8s Ricart \/ For The Times)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n There\u2019s only one thing more shocking than your favorite TV show pulling the rug out from under you with a plot twist you didn\u2019t see coming: Not getting spoiled about it beforehand. It\u2019s a feat several of this year\u2019s Emmy nominees miraculously pulled off. Did you cover your mouth when one show killed off a main character? Scream when another\u2019s conflicted hero made a fateful romantic choice? Gasp when that perfect-looking world was revealed to be anything but? If you answered yes to any of those, then the steps the folks below took to protect their show\u2019s big shockers worked. Let\u2019s break down the biggest twists of the season and how they were kept a secret. (And it should go without saying: spoiler alert.)<\/p>\n The Twist:<\/b> Secret Service agent Xavier Collins (Sterling K. Brown<\/a>) discovering the murdered body of President Cal Bradford (James Marsden) isn\u2019t the biggest shock in the drama\u2019s pilot. The first is when, at the end, \u201c[The camera] pulls up and you realize everyone is in an underground bunker with a fake sky,\u201d explains executive producer Dan Fogelman<\/a>. The Nerves:<\/b> How to keep from losing sleep? Plan, plan, plan. \u201cYou get less nervous because you start going, \u201cOK, here’s how we’re going to execute it,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n The Security:<\/b> Fogelman recalls the twist-filled \u201cThis Is Us\u201d as \u201cfrantic,\u201d with code words and red script pages. But he\u2019s since mellowed, even giving press episodes early to screen. \u201cIf you start worrying about everybody’s worst impulses, you’ll just be hamstrung,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n The Twist:<\/b> In Season 4\u2019s fourth episode, Paul Rudd, who, as pretentious actor Ben Glenroy, was murdered the prior season, suddenly reappeared \u2026 as Glenroy\u2019s Irish-accented stunt double, Glen Stubbins. The Nerves:<\/b> \u201cWe’d kept Paul\u2019s return under wraps purposefully, and Paul was the cheerleader of that,\u201d says executive producer John Hoffman<\/a>, who admits concern over the surprise. \u201cWe had big talks in the writers\u2019 room, like, \u2018This probably is a bit too far for us.\u201d What eased his mind? \u201cThe great charm of Paul Rudd,\u201d he says. The Security:<\/b> Besides NDAs and watermarked scripts, Hoffman says, \u201cI always want the mystery to be preserved, so I’m oftentimes on set freaking out and realizing, \u2018Wait, who’s here? How locked down is the set?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n The Twist:<\/b> In the trippy drama\u2019s Season 2 finale<\/a>, Outie Mark (Adam Scott) rescues his captive wife, Gemma (Dichen Lachman), but, reverting to his innie self, sends Gemma through the exit door to stay behind with his other love, Helly (Britt Lower). \u201cThat was always seen as the end point of the season, with Mark stuck between Gemma and Helly,\u201d says Scott. The Nerves:<\/b> Scott worried more about the post-episode \u201cSeverance\u201d podcast with executive producer Ben Stiller and letting spoiler-y details slip too soon. \u201cWe\u2019d all listen through [episodes] separately to make triple and quadruple checks.\u201d<\/p>\n The Security:<\/b> \u201cThe actors are trusted with the material and the information,\u201d says Scott, also an executive producer on the show. \u201cThere aren\u2019t big secrets being kept from the cast. We\u2019re not particularly precious like that.\u201d<\/p>\n The Twist:<\/b> In the political drama\u2019s Season 2 finale, former U.S. Ambassador Hal Wyler (Rufus Sewell) calls his wife, current U.S. Ambassador Kate Wyler (Keri Russell<\/a>), and tells her the president (Michael McKean) has died, making Vice President Grace Penn (Allison Janney) the new POTUS. The Nerves:<\/b> Executive producer Debora Cahn originally thought the twist \u201csounded like the dumbest idea ever,\u201d and was embarrassed to pitch it in the writers’ room. Even after working out all the details, Cahn admits, \u201cI still thought it was going to suck.\u201d The Security:<\/b> Cahn\u2019s reservations kept the script\u2019s last pages redacted to everyone but Russell and Sewell until the cast table read. \u201cWe got to that last page, they read the last line and there were gasps and screams,\u201d she says. The moment finally convinced her that the shocking twist worked.<\/p>\n The Twist:<\/b> In Season 2\u2019s second episode<\/a>, hero Joel Miller (Pedro Pascal) is brutally murdered by a vengeful Abby (Kaitlyn Dever) while a helpless Ellie (Bella Ramsey) watches, an event that comes from \u201cThe Last of Us\u201d video game.<\/p>\n The Nerves:<\/b> Between game fans and viewers who only know the show, executive producer Craig Mazin isn\u2019t worried. \u201cOur obsession with spoilers sometimes obscures the fact that that is not why we watch things,\u201d he says, citing \u201cTitanic\u201d as a favorite even though \u201cwe knew it was gonna sink.\u201d The Security:<\/b> Scripts are watermarked and sides on set are collected and shredded but filming multiple scene versions like \u201cGame of Thrones\u201d famously did? Nope. \u201cIf I start writing a fake ending, I might be like, \u2018Wait, this fake ending is pretty good, right?’\u201d<\/p>\n\u2018Paradise\u2019<\/b><\/h2>\n
\u2018Only Murders in the Building\u2019<\/h2>\n
\u2018Severance\u2019<\/h2>\n
\u2018The Diplomat\u2019<\/h2>\n
\u2018The Last of Us\u2019<\/h2>\n