(mixed Trope) Surprise Realism/realistic Consequences

In TV and movies we have the idea that things are supposed to operate via Movie Logic. We suspend disbelief and just enjoy the ride. This trope is about taking that expectation and throwing you for a curve.

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend

This is the entire premise of this musical series. A woman bumps into an ex-boyfriend she dated for a couple months 10 years ago and decides to quit her high paying job in New York to move to his hometown in California. If this were a rom-com she would be a girl swept up by true love. But it’s treated realistically, and she just has Borderline Personality Disorder.

For realistic consequences: In later season we see all the spending she’s done over the past 3 seasons—on top of leaving a lucrative job to take a much lower paying one across the country, and then leaving that job to start an unsuccessful pretzel business—cumulate with her becoming completely broke. At the time it took me by surprise because this was a TV show and money had never been an issue with her before, but it's revealed she's blown through her savings trying to get the guy. Realistic because reckless spending and impulsive behavior are symptoms of BPD.

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

A woman who's been held in an underground bunker by a madman since middle school moves out of her nowhere town and into NYC! What follows is a wacky fish out of water comedy as she adjusts to the modern world. A load of laughs! Then season 2 comes around and the show reminds you there's really only one reason an adult man would hold a young girl captive.

In season 1 there was some debate about whether the show would address the elephant in the room or if they would just gloss over it. Given the tone of the show people assumed they probably wouldn't. The show still worked with the occasional dark humor wink-nudge while mostly ignoring it.

But they did eventually acknowledge it. In season 2 they explored her trauma response to intimacy and in season 4 she outright called her captive a rapist.