TV show retcons can be incredibly annoying, especially when they ruin their shows. inconsistent TV shows that always retcon themselves, and viewers can quickly grow tiresome of trying to keep up with what is still canon and what isn’t.

Some retcons are for the best, though, and when a TV show abandons a storyline that has been poorly received, it helps keep audiences on board. However, certain retcons are completely unnecessary, and there are times when shows can't recover from them. From fake-out deaths to risky lore changes, these TV shows should’ve thought these retcons through before enacting them.

5 The Timeless Child

Doctor Who

Doctor Who’s the Timeless Child storyline is one of the wildest lore changes to the show ever. In fact, parts of this arc are now retconned themselves. Throughout Doctor Who’s classic era, the Doctor is just another Time Lord from Gallifrey. While it’s clear that they’re special and someone the High Council keeps a close eye on, the Doctor is depicted as more of a rebellious figure against their planet’s socialities and government. However, the Timeless Child establishes that the Doctor is actually the reason the Time Lords exist.

The Doctor is found as a child, an incarnation audiences have never seen before, and is taken back to Gallifrey. The Time Lords experiment on the Doctor, discover their ability to regenerate, and implement it into their own genetics. This groundbreaking storyline alters the Time Lords’ origins, let alone the Doctor’s, and changes the show in a massive way. Not only does it make the Doctor the creator of the Time Lords, but it also calls the 12 regenerations limit into question (unless they are granted extras, like the Eleventh Doctor in season 7).

Strangely, Doctor Who retcons key Timeless Child lore again in season 15. Now, the Doctor’s origins are completely unclear, but hopefully, future installments of Doctor Who will provide some sort of clarification about this. However, there’s a good chance that this retcon will be slowly phased out and never really mentioned again, like the Eighth Doctor supposedly being half-human.

4 Roseanne's Book

Roseanne

The events of Roseanne season 9 are another retcon that is weirdly retconned yet again later down the line, but it doesn’t make up for the fact that it happens in the first place. In Roseanne season 9, the futures of the Conner family look brighter than ever. After years of barely avoiding the poverty line, the Conners win the lottery. Season 9 feels rather different, but it works in the show’s favor, and it’s great to see the characters finally get some luck.

However, in the finale, it’s shockingly revealed that everything that happens is a part of the book the titular character is writing. It’s astounding that all the Conners’ good luck is simply a part of Roseanne’s imagination, but audiences are even more outraged when they discover why she is writing the book in the first place: to distract her from her grief over Dan’s death. Throughout season 9, Dan is a tougher character to root for because he has supposedly had an affair. Of course, this isn’t true, and it’s just Roseanne’s way of dealing with it.

Even though it took over a decade for this retcon to be retconned, and Roseanne season 10 revives John Goodman’s Dan Conner and sees him alive and well, the whole thing is still infuriating. Roseanne’s original ending in season 9 wraps the show up on a rather somber note, and regardless of the fact that it is supposed to serve as a finale, “Into That Good Night Part II” dampens all of Roseanne’s past installments. It’s annoying for this to happen at any time, but during what is meant to be the end is the worst time to do it.

3 Michael's Death

Jane The Virgin

The return of Michael Cordero Jr. in Jane the Virgin should be a good thing, but the fallout of it ends up ruining the show. Jane’s first husband dies in the season 3 episode “Chapter Fifty-Four” from delayed complications with his heart, which are a result of him being shot on their wedding day. The show then jumps ahead a few years, and Jane moves on with her life, ending up with Rafael and planning a wedding with him. That is, at least, until Rafael discovers Michael is alive and brings him back to Miami in the season 4 finale.

It turns out that Sin Rostro fakes Michael’s death, causes him to lose his memories, and abandons him. Michael is no longer Michael, and is now Jason, and he works on a ranch in Montana. He speaks and acts differently, and despite trying, he struggles to regain his memory as Michael. Over time, he re more, but it’s clear that the real Michael will never fully return. However, the biggest frustration with bringing Michael back to life is how Jane deals with the situation, which ends up being one of the most underwhelming TV character reunions ever.

Michael's return from the dead in Jane the Virgin wasn't planned originally, but the show's creator, Jennie Urman, later decided to bring him back.

Jane leaves Mateo and Rafael behind to go with Michael/Jason to Montana so she can see if there’s anything between them still. While it’s not Jane’s fault she and Michael split in the first place, it’s still unbelievably infuriating to see all of her character development go out the window so quickly. At no other point in the show would Jane ever do this, nor would she be so obnoxious or selfish enough not to understand why Rafael is so hurt by her decision.

Thankfully, the pair work things out and marry at the end of the show. Even still, it’s annoying that Jane the Virgin retcons Michael’s death just to cause all this chaos, only for an anticlimactic resolution.

2 Sara's Decapitation

Prison Break

There are a few fake-out deaths in Prison Break, including lead Michael Scofield’s, but Sara’s is by far the most ludicrous. Sarah Wayne Callies isn’t in Prison Break season 3 because she is killed off-screen, but the show doesn’t immediately explain this. After season 2’s gripping ending, Callies’ Sara suddenly vanishes from Prison Break. It’s explained that Sara is taken hostage by the Company and LJ in an attempt to force Michael to break out. However, when Lincoln fails to catch the hint, Sara leaves, and she is taken into a van. Gretchen later boasts that she beheaded Sara.

Her head is later found in a box, quite literally, and one of the show’s most haunting moments is when it arrives at Lincoln’s garage. Audiences at the time were outraged at this, and new viewers today are as equally shocked by this revelation. Plenty of TV deaths happen off-screen, but there aren’t many that later provide overly graphic evidence that the character is in fact dead. Despite the unbelievable imagery, Prison Break later reveals Sara’s death had been faked.

When Michael tracks down Gretchen in season 4’s premiere, he initially plans to get revenge on her, but she suddenly announces that Sara is actually alive. Prison Break justifies this with the fact that Lincoln doesn’t fully inspect the box. The head is real, but it’s just that of another woman, and it’s totally understandable why he doesn’t take the time to fully analyze every little detail of the decapitated head.

Behind the scenes, this is a result of audience backlash, as at the time, there was an uproar over Prison Break killing Sara off. However, this fake death is just one too many, and it’s hard to take any further deaths seriously after this.

1 Peter's Powers

Heroes

Every main character’s power in Heroes is interesting, especially as there’s a personal connection between them and their abilities. Peter Petrelli has the ability to absorb and mimic the powers of others, which is also known as empathic mimicry. This power makes Peter stand out from the bunch, and not just because he is a lead. Peter has an advantage over the rest and isn’t necessarily limited to one ability, and he also has the benefit of being able to resist others’ powers.

Because of his background as a hospice nurse, this power is the perfect choice for Peter. It’s not only a cool part of his character, but it also makes his backstory even more impactful. However, in season 3, his powers are taken from him. In “Dying of the Light,” Peter is stripped of his empathic mimicry during a confrontation with his father, who steals it from his own child. He later regains his empathic mimicry when he injects himself with the formula in “Dual,” but the damage is already done, both to Peter himself and Heroes.

Even though Peter is only without his empathic mimicry for seven episodes, it’s still infuriating. It’s apparent that the writers realize Peter has become too powerful at this point, and so they scurry to restrict him, rather than finding creative solutions in Heroes’ story instead. Plus, when Peter gets the empathic mimicry ability back, it isn’t as strong as before, which feels a little lazy and a way for the writers to avoid repeating their same mistake. Peter’s character unfortunately goes downhill throughout every season of Heroes, but this moment feels like the beginning of the end.