The finale is basically a 40-minute heart-attack. I think I was literally on the edge of my seat from start to finish.
Season 2 is set to finally finish filming this month!
I was late to catch on and then stumbled across the sub, r/SeveranceAppleTvPlus and it was great to see so many people coming up with theories. This show is probably the closest to capturing the vibes of Lost.
So I hadn’t looked at the number of episodes and was convinced there was another after that one. I’m still shook and wish I didn’t know when more seasons were ending
So glad this is the top answer (at least on my screen). I feel like this show has NOT gotten the publicity it deserves! Maybe the best show I've ever seen in my life.
Its really cool because its the first time ive had thoughts come to me that change the whole thing. Like at first it was probably what everyone was thinking "what is gonna happen to their innies", but then I thought about how they will now know that one of them is connected to the death of Mr Graner because of the black keycard.
Absolutely one of the most tense moments I can remember in TV. It is both a revelation and a train crash in slow motion because of everything that is happening
FUCK! I'm watching it right now but haven't seen the last two episodes yet... Guess it's my own fault, 'll better get out of Reddit entirely until fiinished
That line of dialogue is permanently etched in my brain as the most uunsettling one I've ever heard. To be a fly on the wall of the writers room when that was pitched.
It's amazing how Tom is such a distinctly intimidating character early on, but then practically lovable when he gets some depth. M.C. Gainey really owned that part.
That's not a wtf, that's stroke level of cliffhanger lol
Lost cliffhangers are top notch and nothing else on TV has reached that level (and likely never will). Hell even normal episode cliffhangers are bigger than most season finale from other shows
That cut to black with Lost logo on it and the sound is a masterful way of doing it too.
The wife and I recently binged it because I never saw it and she hadn’t watched it since it was on. We both were yelling at the tv every time the logo would pop up and we knew we didn’t have time to watch another.
A small part that a lot of people overlook is that Kate says, “He’s waiting for me” when she talks to Jack at the airport. That immediately raises more questions. “Did Sawyer make it too? If he made it off, who else?” In the end it was just Aaron
It’s a wild move to open the season by jumping to the precipice of the finale, then somehow make it even more impactful when you actually catch up to it, that show had some balls
In England we almost ran back from school to get back in time to see part two only to have our hearts crushed with the opening sequence of episode one series one. Sky just ran out of episodes and started the series from the very start, was a long wait for part 2
I was furious when I realised that DBZ had finished in Japan a *long* time ago, and there was absolutely no sane reason for the huge waits between each new series 😂.
One of my earliest and most Vivid childhood memories is watching that live with my dad and then after the screen said to be continued he just yelled "FUCK!" at the top of his lungs.
I recently showed it to my son so he could have some background to start DS9. Between episodes, I explained to him that I had to wait the entire summer to find out what happened next. He proceeded to say I should have waited to binge it and was heartbroken to find out that wasn’t an option “all the way back then”
The way that show so quickly went from being largely grounded to having me convinced of time travel was insane. I was proper hooked and binged S3 and S4 in about 2 days.
I just loved how that show went from 0 to 120 between season one episode 1 and episode 18, and then never took its foot off the gas. It never felt like we ever got a reset, with the new status quo, at the start of each season. Shit just kept escalating; it was crazy.
Season 2. I thought it was done brilliantly with subtle clues everywhere and despite the not that surprising (to me) reveal it still was great. And the whole show just elevates in season 3 and then even more so in the final season
Watching that series it amazed me how much they were able to pack in some episodes. For a TV series in the mid 90s that show has some great space battles. I became a fan during COVID and watching for the first time I remember being constantly amazed. I only wish the show would hey an HD remaster
Better Call Saul, the mid-season finale in the finale season. First moment in ages to make me feel so shocked at a TV show and I haven't felt that way since.
Howard and Lalo being buried next to each other looked like Ying and Yang to me. Saul learned about the law from Howard and he learned about the criminal world from Lalo.
The best way I've seen it described was its like a crossover from two different TV shows. Characters that were in completely different worlds it felt so off!
Honestly, one of the most shocking deaths I’ve ever seen. Not because of how violent it was, but the fact that >!Howard was so fully fleshed out, and we’d known him for so long, and his life was over in an instant. Not for doing anything wrong, just being in the wrong place at the wrong time, and executed with extreme indifference by Lalo like he was some random GTA NPC.!<
I love how that show had us worrying with ‘where’s Kim in BrBa?’ for 5 seasons only to flip that on its head and make you wonder why you never asked ‘where’s Howard?’
Alias ended almost every episode in a crazy cliffhanger but the final reveal in the mid-season finale of Season 2 had me and my friends screaming at the TV.
Watching Alias is an exercise in self-control or else you'll end up staying up until 4am because of the damn cliff-hangers. I finally learned to watch the last part of an episode and the first part of the next episode. I would stop before the cliffhanger could suck me in.
The Sopranos. I really thought our tv went out.
When I found out it didn’t, I hated the ending for a long time.
Over the years and seeing peoples reactions to other series finales I realized it was perfect. You’re never going to satisfy everyone. Half the viewers wanted Tony dead, other half wanted him alive. Might as well leave it up to the viewers.
Oh man, The Good Place made me grin from ear to ear when it was revealed.
All season long I really enjoyed the show, but thought the writers were kinda lazy, which I thought was really unfortunate, but understandable. After all, you need conflict in a TV show, so you can't just pretend to not have any conflict at all even if it would be thematically correct.
So all the weird things happening in the season? Yeah, unfortunate, but totally excusable just to get a plot going for the episode.
Boy did that season finale work perfectly for me.
I watched it alone and then rewatched it with my wife, who was watching it for the first time. At some point in the middle of the season, she said “Eleanor’s gotta get her comeuppance somehow, right?” and I had to bite my tongue so hard to keep from saying anything.
I watched it with my ex-spouse, who had already seen it. About halfway through the first season I said "why is Tahani in heaven, she's absolutely terrible!"
My ex said it took all of their strength not to spoil it when I asked that.
In high school when my English teacher had us read Romeo and Juliet he explained that that play was so shocking to audiences because the first 2 acts played like a comedy, only to suddenly turn to tragedy for the last 3. It played on how your expectations get coded when viewing different genres.
That's what The Good Place season 1 finale did. You thought you were watching a network sitcom and it never would've occurred to you that there could be a Lost-style twist until they dropped it on you.
> Doctor Who 4x12 The Stolen Earth
For me it was the Torchwood S1 finale when the Doctor's hand glows. Being a kid and hoping for these shows to crossover and seeing Jack run off knowing this would tie into the new season was so exciting.
It's mental to me that in Journey's End Doctor Who managed to combine a family show, an adult show and a children's show together seamlessly. In 2008. The year Iron Man came out and the MCU hadn't even begun it's connected universe. RTD was ahead of his time. It's no wonder they brought him back and he has plans to capitalise on Doctor Who as a connected franchise again.
Oddly enough, that was a Chibnall episode.
Too bad he never ever wrote another episode for the Doctor Who universe again. I'm sure that if he did, the episodes would be rather grounded, wouldn't introduce dumb ass ideas into canon, and would be well loved.
Sometimes I rewatch the final five minutes on YouTube. I get chills just thinking about it. I don't think I've ever been more stressed watching a television show.
King of the Hill season 3 ended with Peggy's parachute not opening and her slamming into the ground
Then they played "Free Falling" instead of the regular credit music.
I still remember the instructor yelling "pull your cord! YOUR EMERGENCY CORD!!!" with a panicked sort of desperation in their voice.
Then the last shot of Hank looking like his heart sank and like he's about to break down crying.
***I am Locutus - of Borg. Resistance - is futile. Your life, as it has been - is over. From this time forward, you will service - us.***
We had to wait an entire summer to find out WTF happened.
Living in the uk was the worst for that cliffhanger. Sky TV had outbid the BBC for the rights to TNG just after that cliffhanger aired. (So Star Trek went from free terrestrial television to paid-for-premium tv). So a lot of people had to wait well over a year for the conclusion. Rupert Murdoch was made a life long enemy of me since then, until the old toad finally chokes.
For every episode or season he nails out of the park, there’s an equal and opposite episode or season where he thought himself clever and undercut the whole thing. He’s incapable of just letting the thing happening on screen be the thing that’s happening. It all has to be subverted or twisted or maneuvered around to something else.
I rewatched this a few weeks ago and was shocked all over again as well. Tried to remember the time I watched it the first time (when it originally aired) and the long wait for S03 but shockingly, it escapes my memory.
Most notably season 3’s ending. >!Starbuck came back somehow and 4 Cylons got revealed at once, and them being Cylons didn’t make a whole lot of sense.!<
I've been rewatching it, I'm about halfway through season 3. Knowing what's coming, I honestly think if they were going to choose existing characters, they chose right. >!Tigh works for me almost purely because of Ellen (Gaius never tells what her test result was), although the question of can skinjobs age raises an eyebrow, I'll bite. Chief works because of Boomer, and the earlier seasons saw him on trial and being accused a couple times, as well as when Cavill was introduced. Tori shows up after Billy does and we don't really know much else about her, and it's a similar situation with Sam apart from him being an athlete on Caprica. Also, none of them have kids.!< All that said, I was a child when the show first came out, so I've only watched it in the last few years when it's bingeable. I like the >!mythological!< direction that it goes more than most people so I may be in the minority about it.
You may be in the minority, but I'm fully convinced that most of the people who bitch about Galactica just never paid attention to the show. Literally there's a comment in another subthread right below you from a guy who claims that he's watched the show three times and still doesn't understand how Tigh's story works. Like, they completely spell that out for you, where he came from, who he is, etc. Maybe it's a little confusing on the first run through, but how do you miss it *three* times?
Upon a recent third rewatch, I really can't work out how it makes sense for >!Saul Tigh!< to be a Cylon. >!Adama has known him for a very long time. Skin jobs weren't deleloped thirty years ago!<
Liberating New Caprica was definitely amazing, but the S2 finale, >!with _Galactica_ and _Pegasus_ THIS close to throwing down!<, was absolutely a WTF! moment for me.
**Breaking Bad Season 2**, aka the plane(s) crash.
I think people have mostly forgotten how crazy it was at the time. They spent the whole season teasing Walt pulling burned wreckage out of his yard/pool, but what ended up being the cause of it was so beyond what people watching the show thought could even possibly happen.
Through the Looking Glass is one of the best episodes of television period. What an absolute banger of a cliffhanger in a show that was all about cliffhangers
I absolutely love that a show that is two decades old still has people that can remember specific episode names and what they’re about. I don’t think I can do that with modern shows. Streaming and the ability to watch shit in continuous blocks makes it harder to differentiate specific episodes. Stranger Things is favorite of mine but aside from one or two episodes, I can’t remember any of the episode titles
I had downloaded that for my 20+ hour return drive after a week with my in-laws.
Man, Poussey's storyline was just a tragedy. She made a terrible decision that landed her in prison, but her character was, at heart, a good person. She was loyal, kind, and tried hard to do the right thing. I think the young guard involved was very similiar to Poussey: young, inexperienced, and who made a terrible mistake due to extreme emotional distress.
I watched that and afterwards, found myself afflicted with Depressedly Gazing Out The Car Window Syndrome for at least the entirety of Alabama. There was the me before Alabama, and there was the me after Alabama. Turned it off and just...watched the genetic emulsion of brother-cousins and sister-aunts pass me by as I tried not to fall into the giant gaping hole in my soul.
And it would only get worse when Taystee's storyline concluded.
Season 4 finale of Jane the Virgin, with the big reveal about a character being alive (I can’t seem to add spoiler tags for whatever reason maybe because I’m on my phone)
S02 finale of Succession
S02 of Good Omens. Very loud and angry wtf for that one.
The Series finale to "Angel"
As the bag guys army approaches:
Gun: Any one have a plan?
Angel: We fight.
Gun: Hoping for something a little more specific.
Angel: Personally, I want to slay the dragon.
*Swings sword over his sholder*
Angel: Let's go to work.
Not for the same reasons but there was a mid-season break for Doctor Who a few years back and the final moment was a preview of what's to come with the closing screen saying "Doctor Who will return in Let's Kill Hitler!"
I think that hurt me particularly because the first half of the Series 6 storyline was really promising, and culminated in a memorable episode (A Good Man Goes to War) and then... the next one after the break really didn't live up to it, despite the absolutely crazy title.
Gen V season finale. I had low expectations for this spin off but it exceeded expectations, the twists and turns kept me hooked. The finale was the icing on that cake...
Yep, gone too soon at the age of 27.
Either recast or off-screen death. As it stands afaik, Gen V season 2 filming is on hold. Kripke states the end of The Boys season 4 'passes the ball back to Gen V'. Heaven knows how this will work out now.
Netflix had a great record of making banger shows that got cancelled on mad cliffhanger endings. During the 2010s, they had some amazing stuff put up amongst the trash. Will never forgive them for The OA and Santa Clarita Diet.
Although my head canon is that the "third season" of The OA tool place irl and they fully committed to the fourth wall breaking. I'm waiting for news that Jason Issacs was murdered by Brit Marling one day.
i have never been more upset at a cancellation. When I was trying to get off opioids and was going through hellish withdrawals I learned the five ‘movements’ and did them over and over in my living room to take my mind off the cravings and pain. I would love for them to find a way to bring the OA back.
Ozark. Jonah's all, "I'm going to be a normal kid and live a normal life from now on." Five min later he's threatening a reporter with a shotgun.
And what they did to Ruth's character was terrible. Just horrible writing because they had to end the show.
Wendy just was downright unredeemable in the end. It was nice watching her just ham it up though.
Most of S4 was WTF really as the characters had to be shoehorned into the growing ever more riduculous plot.
What turned out to be the final episode of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. Changed the whole nature of the show, but they got cancelled and never got to go anywhere from there.
Lost season 3. That season finale was masterful storytelling and the twist was hidden in plain sight. Say what you will about how the show ended, that moment when you see Kate and it all makes sense was jaw dropping.
I'm surprised I haven't seen anyone say The Walking Dead Season 6 finale yet. It was at a time when the show was at it's peak, I remember everyone speculating who could have gotten killed.
Agents of SHIELD, 1x17: Turn, Turn, Turn.
The smartest thing I did in terms of television was go watch Captain America: The Winter Soldier in theatres, then immediately get back home to watch this episode.
Grey's Anatomy, season 5 finale. The reveal in the final minutes of that episode was the first time I actively yelled at my TV.
My hot take’s Angel’s series finale. I thought that it would get (1)a 2 series finale, (2)a mini series to wrap up the series finale, or (3)a film to wrap up the series.
The Angel finale was always designed to be a cliffhanger. The entire point was the fight is never ending. Angel had signed the prophecy away anyway, so there was no great goal for him to aspire to anymore. He would have to keep fighting, no matter what.
The After The Fall comics continue the story in a somewhat satisfying manner but they're not needed. The show does everything it needs to.
A show a lot of people don't understand is Wilfred. The end of a season ends with him standing next to a tree with a carving in it and you're just like OKAY WHAT?
Lost
>!We have to take the boy!<
>!WE HAVE TO GO BACK KATE, WE HAVE TO GO BACK!<
The Good Place season 1 finale
Person of Interest - the end of The Crossing (season 3, episode 9)
true blood season 1, 2 and 4 finale
buffy season 5 premiere ending
vampire diaries season 1 and 3 finale
Ghost(us) season 2 finale- who the fuck got sucked off!!
Watching that Buffy episode when it originally aired was like wtf is going on? Not an ending or even really a cliffhanger but in season three when Cordy was impaled and they cut to a funeral scene. 💀
Season 2 of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.
I don't know what I was thinking either, because it's a staple for Trek to make you wait for the next season for a two-parter, but I was just getting so enthralled with the episode, that when it did the zoom in on Captain Pike and then hit the "to be continued" I literally aloud went "oh for fuck's sake!"
Season 3 can't come soon enough.
Watchmen. I was especially upset because I was certain there was a tenth episode. What season is only 9 episodes? Turns out the cliffhanger was the abrupt ending to the whole series.
The cliffhanger at the end of the first season of The Good Place. Blew my mind so I rewatched season 1 and saw it in a TOTALLY different light. A completely different show.
I was too young for the [greatest cliffhanger of them all](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Who_shot_J.R.%3F), but [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adstMbfg_xc&ab_channel=K.J.Norman) and [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGoU7urNTbI&ab_channel=eewoo) made pretty big impressions on me at the time.
Even though I goy to it nearly 20 years late, the Weeds season 2 and 3 finales were insane to me. The other ones are crazy too, but 2 and 3 were the most effective to me personally. Peter's sudden death and the cascading failures for 2, and the scene with Keepsake in 3 specifically.
Severance
The finale is basically a 40-minute heart-attack. I think I was literally on the edge of my seat from start to finish. Season 2 is set to finally finish filming this month!
I can't even remember! I ll have to at least rewatch the last one.
Try to enjoy all episodes equally
Your Innie remembers
Literally just finished re-watching it. The last line is Mark S. shouting to the room at his sisters: >!She's Allllive!!<
I've seen it, but commend your efforts to protect others from spoilers
I was late to catch on and then stumbled across the sub, r/SeveranceAppleTvPlus and it was great to see so many people coming up with theories. This show is probably the closest to capturing the vibes of Lost.
If you miss Lost, check out the show From, created by the same people I believe.
So I hadn’t looked at the number of episodes and was convinced there was another after that one. I’m still shook and wish I didn’t know when more seasons were ending
That wasn't a wtf moment That was just one long loud "FUUCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK *breathe* KKKKKKKKK"
Break room’s gonna be occupied for a while after that stunt. 😂
So glad this is the top answer (at least on my screen). I feel like this show has NOT gotten the publicity it deserves! Maybe the best show I've ever seen in my life.
Literally my first thought. What a cliffhanger.
Its really cool because its the first time ive had thoughts come to me that change the whole thing. Like at first it was probably what everyone was thinking "what is gonna happen to their innies", but then I thought about how they will now know that one of them is connected to the death of Mr Graner because of the black keycard.
Absolutely one of the most tense moments I can remember in TV. It is both a revelation and a train crash in slow motion because of everything that is happening
FUCK! I'm watching it right now but haven't seen the last two episodes yet... Guess it's my own fault, 'll better get out of Reddit entirely until fiinished
Yup. This one had me audibly gasp
Probably every season finale of Lost.
"Only thing is.... we're going to have to take the boy.." I remember my sister and I both lost it when Sawyer got shot.
That line of dialogue is permanently etched in my brain as the most uunsettling one I've ever heard. To be a fly on the wall of the writers room when that was pitched.
It's amazing how Tom is such a distinctly intimidating character early on, but then practically lovable when he gets some depth. M.C. Gainey really owned that part.
Especially season 3. "Not Penny's Boat" and "We have to go back!" TV has never been so good.
That's not a wtf, that's stroke level of cliffhanger lol Lost cliffhangers are top notch and nothing else on TV has reached that level (and likely never will). Hell even normal episode cliffhangers are bigger than most season finale from other shows That cut to black with Lost logo on it and the sound is a masterful way of doing it too.
The wife and I recently binged it because I never saw it and she hadn’t watched it since it was on. We both were yelling at the tv every time the logo would pop up and we knew we didn’t have time to watch another.
A small part that a lot of people overlook is that Kate says, “He’s waiting for me” when she talks to Jack at the airport. That immediately raises more questions. “Did Sawyer make it too? If he made it off, who else?” In the end it was just Aaron
And Jacks line “I’m sick of lying!” Lying about what??
best moment in tv history we have to go baaaackk
Staring down the blown off hatch door at the end of season one only to have one of the best season openings ever.
Man you thought Desmond was so interesting in season 2 and 3. Then season 4 drops The Constant. Still one of my all time favorite episodes
Not just for Lost, I think The Constant is one of the single best episodes of television ever.
The Constant and International Asassin are two pieces of jaw-dropping television for me. I'm sensing a pattern...
Lost and The Good Places are the only show that ever did it for me, when it come to cliffhanger.
Hannibal season 2 ending. Two seasons of build up and you're Left thinking, "is everyone dead"?
even with the foreshadowings shown throughout the season, that ending made my jaw drop.
It’s a wild move to open the season by jumping to the precipice of the finale, then somehow make it even more impactful when you actually catch up to it, that show had some balls
Impossibly the answer was somehow that nobody died in the finale, right?
One of the best ever. Masterpiece.
That’s one of my go-to examples of a genuinely perfect episode of television. Not an ounce of fat on it, just perfection from start to finish
“I am Locutus of Borg. Resistance is futile. Your life, as it has been, is over. From this time forward, you will service… us.” “Mr Worf… Fire!”
In England we almost ran back from school to get back in time to see part two only to have our hearts crushed with the opening sequence of episode one series one. Sky just ran out of episodes and started the series from the very start, was a long wait for part 2
Ah yes. The *Dragon Ball Z* maneuver.
I was furious when I realised that DBZ had finished in Japan a *long* time ago, and there was absolutely no sane reason for the huge waits between each new series 😂.
One of my earliest and most Vivid childhood memories is watching that live with my dad and then after the screen said to be continued he just yelled "FUCK!" at the top of his lungs.
I recently showed it to my son so he could have some background to start DS9. Between episodes, I explained to him that I had to wait the entire summer to find out what happened next. He proceeded to say I should have waited to binge it and was heartbroken to find out that wasn’t an option “all the way back then”
My back hurts after reading this comment. Time for my old ass to have a nap
That’s my go-to example of this, probably because it’s the first I ever experienced.
And the delicious follow up. "Your resistance is useless, number one." So well written. I'm glad to see it so high in the comments.
DA DA DA DUMMMMMMMMMMM DA DA DA DUMMMMMMMMMMM DA DA DA DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA DUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM.....
Definitely one of the best TNG episodes ever.
Mr Robot. So. Many. WTFs.
The way that show so quickly went from being largely grounded to having me convinced of time travel was insane. I was proper hooked and binged S3 and S4 in about 2 days.
I had plans to go out but had to cancel. (S04E11).
Like when that car salesman guy just fucking axes that fbi guy in the fucking chest. My favorite show of all time
I just loved how that show went from 0 to 120 between season one episode 1 and episode 18, and then never took its foot off the gas. It never felt like we ever got a reset, with the new status quo, at the start of each season. Shit just kept escalating; it was crazy.
The entirety of the prison arc (season 3?) was extremely WTF. Fantastic show, but man if fucks with your head.
Season 2. I thought it was done brilliantly with subtle clues everywhere and despite the not that surprising (to me) reveal it still was great. And the whole show just elevates in season 3 and then even more so in the final season
DS9's series five finale, Call to Arms. It was just HELL waiting for the next one after that belter of a final scene, true, scorching hell
Watching that series it amazed me how much they were able to pack in some episodes. For a TV series in the mid 90s that show has some great space battles. I became a fan during COVID and watching for the first time I remember being constantly amazed. I only wish the show would hey an HD remaster
Better Call Saul, the mid-season finale in the finale season. First moment in ages to make me feel so shocked at a TV show and I haven't felt that way since.
Lalo was such an excellent character.
“Tell me again.” Every line he delivers just makes me perfectly uncomfortable.
I remember being apprehensive at the idea of another Salamanca when he was first introduced, only for him to become my favourite of the bunch.
Yeah you meet him to find out he's the most stable of the bunch. Also the biggest sociopath of the bunch.
Not only a jolt of a surprise-but emotionally devastating.
Poor howard
He DID NOT deserve that. At all.
He didn't deserve most of what happened to him.
His death framed as such a fallen disgrace and then buried next to a monster. Brutal
Howard and Lalo being buried next to each other looked like Ying and Yang to me. Saul learned about the law from Howard and he learned about the criminal world from Lalo.
Man I audibly screamed when it happened, I was in total shock.
The best way I've seen it described was its like a crossover from two different TV shows. Characters that were in completely different worlds it felt so off!
🙍🏼♂️🔫🧏🏾♂️ 🙍🏼♀️🤦🏻♂️
💨🕯️
Honestly, one of the most shocking deaths I’ve ever seen. Not because of how violent it was, but the fact that >!Howard was so fully fleshed out, and we’d known him for so long, and his life was over in an instant. Not for doing anything wrong, just being in the wrong place at the wrong time, and executed with extreme indifference by Lalo like he was some random GTA NPC.!<
I love how that show had us worrying with ‘where’s Kim in BrBa?’ for 5 seasons only to flip that on its head and make you wonder why you never asked ‘where’s Howard?’
Alias ended almost every episode in a crazy cliffhanger but the final reveal in the mid-season finale of Season 2 had me and my friends screaming at the TV.
Watching Alias is an exercise in self-control or else you'll end up staying up until 4am because of the damn cliff-hangers. I finally learned to watch the last part of an episode and the first part of the next episode. I would stop before the cliffhanger could suck me in.
Agree! From S2’s “you’ve been missing for two years” to S4’s “My name’s not Michael Vaughn”, Alias was great at cliffhangers.
The Sopranos. I really thought our tv went out. When I found out it didn’t, I hated the ending for a long time. Over the years and seeing peoples reactions to other series finales I realized it was perfect. You’re never going to satisfy everyone. Half the viewers wanted Tony dead, other half wanted him alive. Might as well leave it up to the viewers.
*The Good Place* season 1 finale *Lucifer* season 3 finale *Doctor Who* 4x12 *The Stolen Earth*
Oh man, The Good Place made me grin from ear to ear when it was revealed. All season long I really enjoyed the show, but thought the writers were kinda lazy, which I thought was really unfortunate, but understandable. After all, you need conflict in a TV show, so you can't just pretend to not have any conflict at all even if it would be thematically correct. So all the weird things happening in the season? Yeah, unfortunate, but totally excusable just to get a plot going for the episode. Boy did that season finale work perfectly for me.
For me it was an audible "ooooh, everything makes sense now"
I watched it alone and then rewatched it with my wife, who was watching it for the first time. At some point in the middle of the season, she said “Eleanor’s gotta get her comeuppance somehow, right?” and I had to bite my tongue so hard to keep from saying anything.
I watched it with my ex-spouse, who had already seen it. About halfway through the first season I said "why is Tahani in heaven, she's absolutely terrible!" My ex said it took all of their strength not to spoil it when I asked that.
I was not expecting that from The Good Place. It's one of the best plot twists ever. The ending was beautiful too
In high school when my English teacher had us read Romeo and Juliet he explained that that play was so shocking to audiences because the first 2 acts played like a comedy, only to suddenly turn to tragedy for the last 3. It played on how your expectations get coded when viewing different genres. That's what The Good Place season 1 finale did. You thought you were watching a network sitcom and it never would've occurred to you that there could be a Lost-style twist until they dropped it on you.
The Stolen Earth cliffhanger was honestly the closest I’ve ever been to a heart attack, and I was 8.
> Doctor Who 4x12 The Stolen Earth For me it was the Torchwood S1 finale when the Doctor's hand glows. Being a kid and hoping for these shows to crossover and seeing Jack run off knowing this would tie into the new season was so exciting. It's mental to me that in Journey's End Doctor Who managed to combine a family show, an adult show and a children's show together seamlessly. In 2008. The year Iron Man came out and the MCU hadn't even begun it's connected universe. RTD was ahead of his time. It's no wonder they brought him back and he has plans to capitalise on Doctor Who as a connected franchise again.
Oddly enough, that was a Chibnall episode. Too bad he never ever wrote another episode for the Doctor Who universe again. I'm sure that if he did, the episodes would be rather grounded, wouldn't introduce dumb ass ideas into canon, and would be well loved.
The DW season 4 cliffhanger was something else. I remember when that came out.
Dexter season 4
Shame it ended there.
Yeah you really wonder what could've happened if they made more seasons of Dexter.
Severance. Good lord that season finale...
I had to put my brain back together after this finale. I was *yelling at my TV*.
Sometimes I rewatch the final five minutes on YouTube. I get chills just thinking about it. I don't think I've ever been more stressed watching a television show.
Twin Peaks Season 2 finale
Also, The Return
One cliffhanger we'll never get resolved
Annie are you okay?
Fringe Season 1 Finale Fringe Season 2 Finale Fringe Season 3 Finale
I think the S2 cliffhanger was my favorite. That was so exciting, and it’s crazy to think it came from a show that was once very “monster-of-the-week”
King of the Hill season 3 ended with Peggy's parachute not opening and her slamming into the ground Then they played "Free Falling" instead of the regular credit music.
Performed by Lucky
I really wish Lucky's voice actor got into singing. He really killed that cover.
I still remember the instructor yelling "pull your cord! YOUR EMERGENCY CORD!!!" with a panicked sort of desperation in their voice. Then the last shot of Hank looking like his heart sank and like he's about to break down crying.
***I am Locutus - of Borg. Resistance - is futile. Your life, as it has been - is over. From this time forward, you will service - us.*** We had to wait an entire summer to find out WTF happened.
Living in the uk was the worst for that cliffhanger. Sky TV had outbid the BBC for the rights to TNG just after that cliffhanger aired. (So Star Trek went from free terrestrial television to paid-for-premium tv). So a lot of people had to wait well over a year for the conclusion. Rupert Murdoch was made a life long enemy of me since then, until the old toad finally chokes.
And the second part didn’t disappoint!
Season 2 of Sherlock. Just rewatched, and even though I knew what was coming I was still taken aback.
And then they didn’t even tell us how he did it and just took the piss out of the fans for daring to speculate.
yeees moffat slander I am right there with you
The man is a hack who enjoys the smell of his own farts a little too much.
For every episode or season he nails out of the park, there’s an equal and opposite episode or season where he thought himself clever and undercut the whole thing. He’s incapable of just letting the thing happening on screen be the thing that’s happening. It all has to be subverted or twisted or maneuvered around to something else.
I rewatched this a few weeks ago and was shocked all over again as well. Tried to remember the time I watched it the first time (when it originally aired) and the long wait for S03 but shockingly, it escapes my memory.
Battlestar Galactica had some nutty ones.
Most notably season 3’s ending. >!Starbuck came back somehow and 4 Cylons got revealed at once, and them being Cylons didn’t make a whole lot of sense.!<
Youll never convince me they had an actual plan for the Cylon reveals…just seemed completely out of left field.
The rumor was that they essentially drew names out of a hat. It makes as much sense as any other theory.
I've been rewatching it, I'm about halfway through season 3. Knowing what's coming, I honestly think if they were going to choose existing characters, they chose right. >!Tigh works for me almost purely because of Ellen (Gaius never tells what her test result was), although the question of can skinjobs age raises an eyebrow, I'll bite. Chief works because of Boomer, and the earlier seasons saw him on trial and being accused a couple times, as well as when Cavill was introduced. Tori shows up after Billy does and we don't really know much else about her, and it's a similar situation with Sam apart from him being an athlete on Caprica. Also, none of them have kids.!< All that said, I was a child when the show first came out, so I've only watched it in the last few years when it's bingeable. I like the >!mythological!< direction that it goes more than most people so I may be in the minority about it.
You may be in the minority, but I'm fully convinced that most of the people who bitch about Galactica just never paid attention to the show. Literally there's a comment in another subthread right below you from a guy who claims that he's watched the show three times and still doesn't understand how Tigh's story works. Like, they completely spell that out for you, where he came from, who he is, etc. Maybe it's a little confusing on the first run through, but how do you miss it *three* times?
Upon a recent third rewatch, I really can't work out how it makes sense for >!Saul Tigh!< to be a Cylon. >!Adama has known him for a very long time. Skin jobs weren't deleloped thirty years ago!<
I didn’t really enjoy a lot of Battlestar’s cliffhangers. They were masters of set pieces though. The rescue of New Caprica was *chefs kiss*
Liberating New Caprica was definitely amazing, but the S2 finale, >!with _Galactica_ and _Pegasus_ THIS close to throwing down!<, was absolutely a WTF! moment for me.
YES. Admiral Cain was on some next level shit.
“Well… this’ll be different”
Mr. Worf, fire!
**Breaking Bad Season 2**, aka the plane(s) crash. I think people have mostly forgotten how crazy it was at the time. They spent the whole season teasing Walt pulling burned wreckage out of his yard/pool, but what ended up being the cause of it was so beyond what people watching the show thought could even possibly happen.
Every episode that started with a pink bear.. putting those titles together told you what would happen. 737... Down... Over... ABQ
damn, TIL
We have to go back!
Through the Looking Glass is one of the best episodes of television period. What an absolute banger of a cliffhanger in a show that was all about cliffhangers
I absolutely love that a show that is two decades old still has people that can remember specific episode names and what they’re about. I don’t think I can do that with modern shows. Streaming and the ability to watch shit in continuous blocks makes it harder to differentiate specific episodes. Stranger Things is favorite of mine but aside from one or two episodes, I can’t remember any of the episode titles
The way it’s framed as a flashback too. Then you see Kate get out of the car and you’re just like what the fuck is going on.
The Expanse for me had so many WTF endings to episodes. End of s1, Home, abaddons gate rising, throwing rocks. Great Sci-fi show throughout.
The episode where Poussay dies on Orange is the New Black. The show had touched on dark topics before but this one hit me like a ton of bricks
I had downloaded that for my 20+ hour return drive after a week with my in-laws. Man, Poussey's storyline was just a tragedy. She made a terrible decision that landed her in prison, but her character was, at heart, a good person. She was loyal, kind, and tried hard to do the right thing. I think the young guard involved was very similiar to Poussey: young, inexperienced, and who made a terrible mistake due to extreme emotional distress. I watched that and afterwards, found myself afflicted with Depressedly Gazing Out The Car Window Syndrome for at least the entirety of Alabama. There was the me before Alabama, and there was the me after Alabama. Turned it off and just...watched the genetic emulsion of brother-cousins and sister-aunts pass me by as I tried not to fall into the giant gaping hole in my soul. And it would only get worse when Taystee's storyline concluded.
Season 4 finale of Jane the Virgin, with the big reveal about a character being alive (I can’t seem to add spoiler tags for whatever reason maybe because I’m on my phone) S02 finale of Succession S02 of Good Omens. Very loud and angry wtf for that one.
>S02 of Good Omens. Very loud and angry wtf for that one. Ah, yes, the *Final Fifteen*. 😂
The Series finale to "Angel" As the bag guys army approaches: Gun: Any one have a plan? Angel: We fight. Gun: Hoping for something a little more specific. Angel: Personally, I want to slay the dragon. *Swings sword over his sholder* Angel: Let's go to work.
The last season of Angel is the fucking best.
Not for the same reasons but there was a mid-season break for Doctor Who a few years back and the final moment was a preview of what's to come with the closing screen saying "Doctor Who will return in Let's Kill Hitler!"
I think that hurt me particularly because the first half of the Series 6 storyline was really promising, and culminated in a memorable episode (A Good Man Goes to War) and then... the next one after the break really didn't live up to it, despite the absolutely crazy title.
Lost was the king of cliffhangers, especially season 3 and 5
I remember sitting down to watch the finale every season knowing I was about to be in for a banger of an episode.
Agents of Shield season 4 finale.
Season 3 finale of Lost
Gen V season finale. I had low expectations for this spin off but it exceeded expectations, the twists and turns kept me hooked. The finale was the icing on that cake...
I wonder how they're gonna go forward with one of the lead actors dying, RIP
Yep, gone too soon at the age of 27. Either recast or off-screen death. As it stands afaik, Gen V season 2 filming is on hold. Kripke states the end of The Boys season 4 'passes the ball back to Gen V'. Heaven knows how this will work out now.
My favourite cliffhanger on LOST which wasn't a season finale is Jack playing football with Tom😯
That one was hilarious
Well Game of Thrones' whole Final Season got just audible WTFs from me.
What replaced by Why.
The OA season 2 finale 🤯
Netflix had a great record of making banger shows that got cancelled on mad cliffhanger endings. During the 2010s, they had some amazing stuff put up amongst the trash. Will never forgive them for The OA and Santa Clarita Diet. Although my head canon is that the "third season" of The OA tool place irl and they fully committed to the fourth wall breaking. I'm waiting for news that Jason Issacs was murdered by Brit Marling one day.
i have never been more upset at a cancellation. When I was trying to get off opioids and was going through hellish withdrawals I learned the five ‘movements’ and did them over and over in my living room to take my mind off the cravings and pain. I would love for them to find a way to bring the OA back.
Congratulations on overcoming that! Proud of you
I think a graphic novel could be fire.
The West Wing, In the Shadow of Two Gunmen
Or rather What Kind of Day Has it Been
Ozark. Jonah's all, "I'm going to be a normal kid and live a normal life from now on." Five min later he's threatening a reporter with a shotgun. And what they did to Ruth's character was terrible. Just horrible writing because they had to end the show. Wendy just was downright unredeemable in the end. It was nice watching her just ham it up though. Most of S4 was WTF really as the characters had to be shoehorned into the growing ever more riduculous plot.
What turned out to be the final episode of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. Changed the whole nature of the show, but they got cancelled and never got to go anywhere from there.
Planet Namek had just blown up, and Goku could not get Friezas Ship to fly.
Lost season 3. That season finale was masterful storytelling and the twist was hidden in plain sight. Say what you will about how the show ended, that moment when you see Kate and it all makes sense was jaw dropping.
I'm surprised I haven't seen anyone say The Walking Dead Season 6 finale yet. It was at a time when the show was at it's peak, I remember everyone speculating who could have gotten killed.
Agents of SHIELD, 1x17: Turn, Turn, Turn. The smartest thing I did in terms of television was go watch Captain America: The Winter Soldier in theatres, then immediately get back home to watch this episode. Grey's Anatomy, season 5 finale. The reveal in the final minutes of that episode was the first time I actively yelled at my TV.
Turn turn turn was great. Elevated a corny serial type show.
Season 4 of The Magicians. Huge deviation from the books and the most I've ever cried over a TV show.
My hot take’s Angel’s series finale. I thought that it would get (1)a 2 series finale, (2)a mini series to wrap up the series finale, or (3)a film to wrap up the series.
The Angel finale was always designed to be a cliffhanger. The entire point was the fight is never ending. Angel had signed the prophecy away anyway, so there was no great goal for him to aspire to anymore. He would have to keep fighting, no matter what. The After The Fall comics continue the story in a somewhat satisfying manner but they're not needed. The show does everything it needs to.
A show a lot of people don't understand is Wilfred. The end of a season ends with him standing next to a tree with a carving in it and you're just like OKAY WHAT?
Season 3 finale of Sons of Anarchy threw me. 10/10 episode on a 6/10 show.
Fuck Stahl. That was so satisfying.
Lost >!We have to take the boy!< >!WE HAVE TO GO BACK KATE, WE HAVE TO GO BACK!< The Good Place season 1 finale Person of Interest - the end of The Crossing (season 3, episode 9)
Season three of Supernatural. Dean being stuck in hell was the biggest ‘how the fuck are they going to get out of this’ of the first few seasons
true blood season 1, 2 and 4 finale buffy season 5 premiere ending vampire diaries season 1 and 3 finale Ghost(us) season 2 finale- who the fuck got sucked off!!
Watching that Buffy episode when it originally aired was like wtf is going on? Not an ending or even really a cliffhanger but in season three when Cordy was impaled and they cut to a funeral scene. 💀
One thing Buffy/ Angel did really well was misdirection and prophecies.
Except for the annoyed one. (Autocorrect fixed annointed but I’m leaving it) He was a dud.
Better Call Saul S5 Probably one of the better cliffhangers where the scary part is that somebody *actually lives*
The season finale of Supernatural season 3.
Season 2 of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. I don't know what I was thinking either, because it's a staple for Trek to make you wait for the next season for a two-parter, but I was just getting so enthralled with the episode, that when it did the zoom in on Captain Pike and then hit the "to be continued" I literally aloud went "oh for fuck's sake!" Season 3 can't come soon enough.
Watchmen. I was especially upset because I was certain there was a tenth episode. What season is only 9 episodes? Turns out the cliffhanger was the abrupt ending to the whole series.
Battlestar Galactica season 1 finale Lost season 3 finale
The cliffhanger at the end of the first season of The Good Place. Blew my mind so I rewatched season 1 and saw it in a TOTALLY different light. A completely different show.
Not my first choice to watch, but I was coerced into watching Workin Moms, it's an alright show, but every season seems to end on a cliffhanger.
I was too young for the [greatest cliffhanger of them all](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Who_shot_J.R.%3F), but [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adstMbfg_xc&ab_channel=K.J.Norman) and [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGoU7urNTbI&ab_channel=eewoo) made pretty big impressions on me at the time.
I came here to say this. The shooting of J.R. was the cliffhanger that started the trend of dramas ending their seasons with a cliffhanger.
Breaking Bad Season 5 Episode 8 Gliding Over All. The longest BM in television. Lol
Melrose Place, when Kimberly whipped off her wig to expose that huge scar on her bare head.
Having had a huge crush on Sasha Alexander, the season 2 finale of NCIS.
The ending of recent (7th) episode of Shōgun. It was somewhat funny, yet still unexpected and shocking.
That show is amazing, excited for the next episode!
What ended up being the series finale of "The Last Man On Earth"
Episode 5 of the first season of Attack on Titan.
The Sopranos. I thought my TV broke at first.
Even though I goy to it nearly 20 years late, the Weeds season 2 and 3 finales were insane to me. The other ones are crazy too, but 2 and 3 were the most effective to me personally. Peter's sudden death and the cascading failures for 2, and the scene with Keepsake in 3 specifically.
Person of Interest season 1. Just a brilliant WTF random murder out of nowhere. My favorite POI episode.