Cliff hanger culture: Wait for it...

In the rise of streaming culture, TV watchers have a love hate relationship with cliff hanger endings...

Josh Hague
14th March 2023
Image credit: IMDB
I am sure over the last few years, everyone who is reading this has faced the horror of learning that a show they have grown to love has been cancelled after being left with a major season ending cliffhanger and unfortunately, no resolution. This fate, faced by many shows in the streaming age, has become all too common and it begs the question, why must there be cliffhangers?

Cliff hangers were often utilised in the age of broadcast television to help draw in viewers and maintain them. Whether that be between weekly episodes, or between season gaps, the cliff hanger was used to ensure viewers would return to find out what happened next. But with streaming, this almost always becomes obsolete. Cliff hangers between episodes aren’t needed when binge viewing is encouraged by full season releases from sites such as Netflix and Amazon Prime. Because of this, it is only the end-of-season cliff hanger that holds any weight. But when streaming services subsequently cancel the show leaving viewers asking questions, such cliff hangers’ only achievement is to create an extremely dissatisfied audience.

Cliff hangers between episodes aren't needed when binge viewing is encouraged by full season releases from sites such as Netflix and Amazon Prime.

For example, take the second season of the Amazon Prime show, The Wilds. After a successful first season, The Wilds returned in May of 2022 to mixed but overall good reviews and ratings. The season concluded with a shocking finale twist that left its viewers wanting answers to all their questions and desperate to see what would happen next. Unfortunately for myself and many others who shared their upset across social media, these questions would never get answered as it got cancelled only two months after the season’s release. I was heartbroken. But I also felt as though my time had been wasted by a show that would never see a proper, satisfying ending, and this is the main issue of cliffhangers.  Shows are meant to have an arc that audiences can see unfold from season to season, one that follows the simple structure of having a beginning, middle and END. So when shows get cancelled after using cliffhangers to maintain an audience, the cliffhanger results in an unfinished story that cheats the audience out of a satisfying conclusion.

It is better to end your show's season with a satisfying conclusion, rather than end up in the graveyard of cancelled shows

That’s not to say the blame falls solely on the show. Of course, it makes sense to end a season with something that will keep an audience interested; it is the streaming service that cuts the story short. But when cancellations are on the rise, maybe it  would be best for these shows to play it safe and not use cliffhangers so freely. After all, would it not be better to end your show’s season with a satisfying conclusion, rather than end up in the graveyard of cancelled shows that fell victim to an inconclusive ending that chose shock value over a satisfying story arc.

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