# Cliffhangers resolved by character falling off the cliff. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 18, 2020, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliffhangers-resolved-by-character-falling-off-the-cliff/852054 "2020-04-18T14:25:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Calavera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calavera/32/70_2.png) [@Calavera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Calavera)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2020, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliffhangers-resolved-by-character-falling-off-the-cliff/852054/1 "2020-04-18T14:25:35Z")
Any good examples of cliffhangers where one of the main characters is left in a a tight almost inescapable situation at the end of the episode/season, leaving viewers to think “How’s he going to escape this”, the answer being he isn’t: the bad guy who was about to shoot him shoots him. or the shark that was about to get her rips her to pieces? Not looking for things like Negan in _The Walking Dead_, (not that I was watching by that point), where it wasn’t set up as a “how’s he going to escape” style cliff hanger, it was already clearly “which one of these is the victim?” ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2020, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliffhangers-resolved-by-character-falling-off-the-cliff/852054/2 "2020-04-18T15:13:27Z")
If you find any I’d be surprised. ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2020, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliffhangers-resolved-by-character-falling-off-the-cliff/852054/3 "2020-04-18T15:21:35Z")
Blake’s Seven? ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2020, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliffhangers-resolved-by-character-falling-off-the-cliff/852054/4 "2020-04-18T15:32:47Z")
_Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid_. ---
**Author:** ![Calavera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calavera/32/70_2.png) [@Calavera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Calavera)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2020, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliffhangers-resolved-by-character-falling-off-the-cliff/852054/5 "2020-04-18T15:39:22Z")
edit, tried to edit, somehow double posted. ---
**Author:** ![Calavera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calavera/32/70_2.png) [@Calavera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Calavera)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2020, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliffhangers-resolved-by-character-falling-off-the-cliff/852054/6 "2020-04-18T15:42:33Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > _Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid_. I can’t adequately respond to this outside the Pit, but the OP was pretty short and understandable. You do this all the time, please pay attention. In Butch Cassidy it’s clear they’re about to die at the end of the film. It’s not a set up for BCatSD 2 where we see how they escaped from Bolivia. If there was a promise of such a second movie, but in the first few minutes of it we sayw Butch and Sundance slaughtered then it would be a reasonable response. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2020, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliffhangers-resolved-by-character-falling-off-the-cliff/852054/7 "2020-04-18T16:05:09Z")
I assume it’s accepted that this thread will contain spoilers. I’m not sure this quite fits, but Gregory Keyes’s _The Age of Unreason_ series is an alternate history where real magic is discovered in the 17th century. Many of the characters are real historical figures. It’s been a while since I read it, but as I recall the antagonist (de Duillier?) performs a spell that causes an asteroid to be diverted to Earth, where he intends it to strike London as a retaliation against one of his enemies. The protagonists (Isaac Newton, Ben Franklin and others I think) work feverishly to prevent this disaster. I don’t recall if it’s set up as a cliffhanger between one book and the next, but ultimately the protagonists fail and the asteroid does strike London and causes a global catastrophe far larger than even intended by the antagonist. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2020, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliffhangers-resolved-by-character-falling-off-the-cliff/852054/8 "2020-04-18T17:10:30Z")
_The Girl Who Played With Fire_ had it both ways. The bad guys have the drop on her, they march her to the grave that’s been dug for her. She tries something and we think this is where she gets loose from the situation but she gets shot and goes down face-first. Then they throw her in the grave and bury her. Then she digs herself out, being not quite dead yet (and the bad guys having been impatient and not tamped the dirt down), and goes after them ---
**Author:** ![TCMF-2L](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tcmf-2l/32/16553_2.png) [@TCMF-2L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TCMF-2L)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2020, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliffhangers-resolved-by-character-falling-off-the-cliff/852054/9 "2020-04-18T17:52:54Z")
In the final episode of **Xena: Warrior Princess** Xena died and stayed dead. But it was common for people on the show to die and later return. Plus there were unrealised plans for the show to return as a movie (or TV movie) and bring Xena back. The production staff felt, on later reflection, killing Xena was unfair on fans of the show. TCMF-2L ---
**Author:** ![TCMF-2L](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tcmf-2l/32/16553_2.png) [@TCMF-2L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TCMF-2L)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2020, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliffhangers-resolved-by-character-falling-off-the-cliff/852054/10 "2020-04-18T18:02:38Z")
The TV show \*\* Farscape \*\* liked Cliffhanger endings and finished Season 4 with John and Aeryn Sun diced into small pieces and presumed dead. The plan was to resurrect them at the start of Season 5 but the show was cancelled. Happily **Farscape** did eventually return for a few feature length episodes and John and Aeryn were saved. Phew! TCMF-2L ---
**Author:** ![TCMF-2L](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tcmf-2l/32/16553_2.png) [@TCMF-2L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TCMF-2L)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2020, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliffhangers-resolved-by-character-falling-off-the-cliff/852054/11 "2020-04-18T18:08:28Z")
This one is not a death but I think it fits the premise. Every week in the opening titles of **Quantum Leap** we were told Sam was hoping for that final leap which would take him home. In the final episode it was revealed he NEVER made it back home. TCMF-2L ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2020, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliffhangers-resolved-by-character-falling-off-the-cliff/852054/12 "2020-04-18T18:37:18Z")
> [@TCMF-2L](#): > > This one is not a death but I think it fits the premise. > > Every week in the opening titles of **Quantum Leap** we were told Sam was hoping for that final leap which would take him home. In the final episode it was revealed he NEVER made it back home. > > TCMF-2L I wasn’t a regular watcher of the show, but I watched the occasional episode that looked interesting. I always wondered, if he did get “home,” how would he know he was home for good? He’d never be able to resolve a problem, or help anyone ever again, for fear that THIS MIGHT BE THE THING HE’S SUPPOSED TO DO, that would cause him to leap again. That would suck. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2020, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliffhangers-resolved-by-character-falling-off-the-cliff/852054/13 "2020-04-18T18:51:11Z")
This doesn’t really count because there was no real tension in this show… but “The Young Ones” ended with the whole crew in a bus that drives off a cliff. Cheeky. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2020, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliffhangers-resolved-by-character-falling-off-the-cliff/852054/14 "2020-04-18T19:15:26Z")
I’m not sure this really qualifies, but it’s closer than the other examples: In **Thelma and Louise** The women were tying to escape from the cops, and were basically boxed in on three sides with a cliff coming up. They drove off the cliff to their deaths. The reason I’m not sure it qualifies is because A) it’s not a true ‘cliffhanger’ as it was one continual sequence, and b) the final drive off the cliff was depicted as being heroic and defiant, and not, ‘oh my God, their plan to get away failed.’ But the defiance was a last resort, as they would have preferred to stay alive and free. Still, we did have them in a seemingly no-win situation facing a literal cliff, which they did go over and die. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2020, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliffhangers-resolved-by-character-falling-off-the-cliff/852054/15 "2020-04-18T19:33:14Z")
In the 1958 Hammer _Dracula_ (with Christopher Lee), the 1973 tv movie _Dracula_ (with Jack Palance), and the 1979 re-make of _Nosferatu_ (with Klaus Kinski), Jonathan Harker gets turned into a vampire. _The Fearless Vampire Killers, or Pardon Me, But Your Teeth Are in My Neck_ does it twice. Near the beginning, a vampire stalks a woman. She brandishes a crucifix. In a thick Yiddish accent, he says, “Oy, vey, girl, you’ve got the wrong vampire!” and chomps her neck. At the end, the hero and heroine have defeated the vampires, and escaped from the castle. Suddenly, the heroine grows fangs, and chomps the hero’s neck. Roll credits. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2020, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliffhangers-resolved-by-character-falling-off-the-cliff/852054/16 "2020-04-18T19:46:56Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > This doesn’t really count because there was no real tension in this show… but “The Young Ones” ended with the whole crew in a bus that drives off a cliff. > > Cheeky. In a similar vein, _Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry_ has a big car chase. They escape from the cops, and are home free. Then they collide with a railroad train. The end. ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2020, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliffhangers-resolved-by-character-falling-off-the-cliff/852054/17 "2020-04-18T19:51:59Z")
After wracking my brain, I think I’ve come up with something pretty darn close: _ **Planet of the Apes** _. Taylor stumbles upon the statue of liberty, curses mankind for its warlike folly, roll credits (do they roll credits or just fade to black?). Now, you may not be expecting him to “escape” from this dark fate, but you’re probably at least wondering, after the initial stinger, where he’ll go from there. As you learn in the next movie, where you might expect to see his arc take an up-swing, his ultimate fate is to die shortly after being reintroduced to the viewer (albeit in the middle) of the next film. It turns out that was pretty much the end of his story, and his final role is to be something of a pawn. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2020, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliffhangers-resolved-by-character-falling-off-the-cliff/852054/18 "2020-04-18T20:06:45Z")
> [@Calavera](#): > > I can’t adequately respond to this outside the Pit, but the OP was pretty short and understandable. You do this all the time, please pay attention. > > In Butch Cassidy it’s clear they’re about to die at the end of the film. It’s not a set up for BCatSD 2 where we see how they escaped from Bolivia. If there was a promise of such a second movie, but in the first few minutes of it we sayw Butch and Sundance slaughtered then it would be a reasonable response. That’s not what I was referring to. [I meant this scene.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyR7XB0VBPM) It is clearly a cliffhanger within the film. ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2020, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliffhangers-resolved-by-character-falling-off-the-cliff/852054/19 "2020-04-18T20:11:56Z")
That might fit, if you had only read the title, but not the content of the OP’s actual post. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2020, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliffhangers-resolved-by-character-falling-off-the-cliff/852054/20 "2020-04-18T20:13:26Z")
> [@TCMF-2L](#): > > This one is not a death but I think it fits the premise. > > Every week in the opening titles of **Quantum Leap** we were told Sam was hoping for that final leap which would take him home. In the final episode it was revealed he NEVER made it back home. > > TCMF-2L And ending so rushed, the on-screen text misspelled his name! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliffhangers-resolved-by-character-falling-off-the-cliff/852054.md?page=2)