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While a well-executed cliffhanger can keep audiences on the lookout between seasons or episodes, causing them to come back and watch the resolution, a bad cliffhanger can leave viewers disappointed and frustrated. Due to the tantalizing nature of the cliffhangers, most of them revolve around romantic subplots, like Jim kissing Pam in Office, or a life and death situation, like Glenn’s fate in The walking dead.
Most bad cliffhangers also don’t work because they are a cheap gimmick designed to manipulate fans such as The simpsons get fans to vote to decide the fate of Ned and Edna’s relationship or because the cliffhanger resolution is unsatisfactory or never fully developed by the series, like Bull’s heart attack in Taurus.
Boy Meets World – Season 5
Like season 5 of Boy meets the world ended, the main characters were preparing to graduate from high school and had to make some important decisions about their future. Topanga was debating whether to go to Yale or choose a school where she could be with Cory. During their graduation ceremony, Topanga made his decision and proposed to Cory at the end of the season before the audience could see his answer.
Cory and Topanga’s transition from friends to lovers is one of the best parts of the show, but the resolution of this moment felt rushed and out of character as they quickly ran off before switching to another. opinion. There was little tension as the two ended up together and the resulting runaway attempt made no sense.
Taurus – Season 2
At the end of Taurus season 2, after a particularly grueling case, Bull walked out of the courthouse, stretched out on the steps, and called an ambulance as he had a heart attack, leaving viewers to mull his fate for several months between seasons.
While the series obviously wasn’t going to kill the main character, this cliffhanger could have at least been the start of an interesting story dealing with his health. However, by the start of Season 3, he was already on the road to recovery, completely denying any drama that the cliffhanger created in the first place.
The Office – Season 2
After two seasons of loving drama between Pam and Jim, Jim finally confessed his feelings for Pam at Casino Night at Office. She rejected him but the two kissed later before ending the season looking at each other in silence.
Jim and Pam are a loving couple who go through many ups and downs together. But that cliffhanger felt like the show was treating too much of the will that they weren’t going to appear too much by making it seem like they weren’t going to reunite, then showing them a kiss, only to then pull them apart for another season.
Jane the Virgin – Season 4
Although Jane and Michael were a wonderful couple, her death forced her to move on and grow as a person. However, Joan the Virgin Season 4 ended with the shocking twist that Michael was somehow still alive. The following season would explain his return and how he was living with amnesia.
Michael’s death was a heartbreaking and pivotal moment on the show, and his return reversed it all. Considering everything they had been through, Jane choosing to divorce Michael and be with Rafael was difficult to watch. However, due to the telenovela style of the series, this kind of twist wasn’t as unsatisfying as it would have been in other series.
Friends – Season 3
Throughout his run, Ross and Rachel’s intermittent relationship continued Friends fans awaiting resolution. Season 3 ended with the group in a beach house and saw Ross forced to choose whether to walk into his girlfriend Bonnie’s bedroom or Rachel’s bedroom.
The cliffhanger was immediately undermined at the start of Season 4 when Ross entered Rachel’s bedroom and found Bonnie was inside as well. Bonnie isn’t one of Ross’s best girlfriends on Friends and so it was never really in doubt that he would choose Rachel. On top of that, the resolution was funny but less than satisfying, especially after the build-up of suspense.
The Simpsons – Season 22
After 22 full seasons, it’s understandable that The simpsons would rely on whimsical cliffhangers to keep audiences engaged. At the end of Season 22, the series left the fate of Ned and Edna’s relationship to viewers, encouraging fans to head to a website and vote on whether or not they would stick together.
The Season 23 premiere revealed that audiences voted to keep the couple together. Keeping these characters together for the sake of some cheap gimmick rather than compelling story reasons made the whole cliffhanger hopeless.
See you soon – Season 4
One of the main plots of the first seasons of Cheers was the unresolved sexual tension between Sam and Diane. This tension came to a head in the Season 4 finale when Sam made a call and proposed over the phone, with audiences wondering if he was proposing to Diane or Janet.
The following season began with Diane rejecting Sam’s proposal and forcing him to do it again in a more romantic way. The telephone offer was only a cheap way to conceal the identity of the recipient. The show passed up the opportunity to deliver a satisfying, romantic moment in exchange for a whimsical cliffhanger.
Dynasty – Season 5
Following the popularity of Dallasiconic “Who Shot JR?” suspense, Dynasty tried to raise the ante by putting virtually all of the main characters at risk during the Moldovan massacre in which the royal wedding was disrupted by armed terrorists.
While the cliffhanger setup was successful and quite convincing, the resolution was disappointing as it was revealed that only two minor characters were taken down. If the series had been brave enough to kill off the main characters, this might have been one of the best cliffhangers ever, but instead it was one of the most disappointing.
The Walking Dead – Season 6
In the middle of season 6 of The walking dead, Glenn and Nicholas found themselves helpless surrounded by walkers. It appears to be the disappearance of the two of them, with close-ups of Glenn’s screaming face as the walkers tear up a body. Several episodes later, it was revealed that Glenn did indeed survive.
Fans sensed this twist almost immediately, and most didn’t believe Glenn was dead. Plus, the show brought him back just in time to use him in another cliffhanger at the end of the season before killing him. The fake death undermined the real death, and both cliffhangers frustrated many viewers.
ALF – Season 4
ALF Season 4 ended with ALF attempting to leave Earth and finally reunite with his people. However, just as he was about to be rescued, the US government tracked him down and abducted, concluding the season with a message that the story must continue.
However, the show was canceled before the story could continue, resulting in one of the most disappointing series finals of all time. The cliffhanger was finally resolved 5 years later in a poorly received TV movie that did not feature any of the other main characters in the series. Due to these circumstances, ALF Season 4 features the worst cliffhanger in television history.
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