# Most extreme unresolved cliffhangers in episodic shows **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 9, 2016, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-extreme-unresolved-cliffhangers-in-episodic-shows/765418 "2016-09-09T10:46:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-extreme-unresolved-cliffhangers-in-episodic-shows/765418/21 "2016-09-09T15:17:39Z")
_Good Wife_ seems to have ended each season with a Huge Crisis that more or less blows away in the first few eps of the next. That’s probably stretching the model, though, and isn’t too uncommon anyway. ---
**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:** [September 9, 2016, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-extreme-unresolved-cliffhangers-in-episodic-shows/765418/22 "2016-09-09T15:21:51Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Yep. Thomas pulled the trigger. My guess is that Naval Intelligence covered up the killing and everybody just pretended it didn’t happen. I don’t really buy that. Col. Greene would have loved to charge Magnum. If he was forced to cover it up, it would have affected how he treated Magnum in later episodes. I don’t know what happened, but I doubt it was an official coverup. And what of the driver? I hope they didn’t shoot him, because he could testify to Rick being there. If they’d have just made a passing mention to Magnum claiming self-defense, we wouldn’t have this unresolved ending. Plus, the ending still makes Magnum a murderer, no matter how you slice it. I don’t care if Ivan deserved it 10 times over, it’s still murder. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-extreme-unresolved-cliffhangers-in-episodic-shows/765418/23 "2016-09-09T16:16:20Z")
Current sitcom Superstore has just started season 2. Season 1 ended with all the characters being fired, and the assistant manager/ loss prevention specialist promising them to not worry because [Wal\*Mart] the corporation will have them all replaced with no interruption in the store’s business. Season 2 opened with everyone back at work, no mention of the mass layoff. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-extreme-unresolved-cliffhangers-in-episodic-shows/765418/24 "2016-09-09T16:19:05Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > I have to agree with **Leaper**. There was no cliffhanger. There was some aftermath that never got addressed, but the end of the episode was perfectly clear. That’s exactly right. The gunshot is a perfect dramatic end to the episode. However now they have a dead Russian diplomat/spy that someone is going to miss and Thomas just murdered. The next episode is a Simon and Simon crossover. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-extreme-unresolved-cliffhangers-in-episodic-shows/765418/25 "2016-09-09T16:20:28Z")
Season two of _24_ ends with a sudden, surprise assassination attempt on President David Palmer. Season three is set over a year later, with everyone basically saying, “Gee, good thing we got out of _that_ situation okay, eh?” :smack: _The Simpsons_ has a number of episodes which end in unresolved cliffhangers, though it’s mostly played as a joke. One example is the episode which was a parody of _The Prisoner_, which ends with the family still trapped on The Island. ---
**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:** [September 9, 2016, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-extreme-unresolved-cliffhangers-in-episodic-shows/765418/26 "2016-09-09T16:20:50Z")
Farscape nearly ended in a big cliffhanger if they had not gotten to make a movie to wrap it up. It would have been excruciating. Main dude and main girl died. Spoiler: they come back. Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles ended with a total cliffhanger, something about a new present timeline where no one knows who John Conner is. Hannibal ended with both Will and Hannibal jumping/falling off a cliff. Angel brilliantly ended with the heroes in various states of health, all heading off to kill demons and a dragon. “Let’s go to work.” was the final line. Awesome. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-extreme-unresolved-cliffhangers-in-episodic-shows/765418/27 "2016-09-09T16:21:37Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > Magnum P. I. > > [spoiler]Magnum, TC, and another guy Nuzo had been captured & tortured by a Soviet agent Ivan during the Vietnam war. It turns out Ivan also brainwashed TC, and has come to Hawaii to use him to assassinate someone (the Japanese emperor maybe?) During the episode, Ivan has a bomb planted in Magnum’s car, but it kills Magnum’s friend instead, whose last words are “Let’s drive out and watch the sunrise!” > > At the end of the episode, Magnum has of course saved the day, but Ivan has diplomatic immunity and is going back to the Soviet Union. Magnum and Rick kidnap him and drive him to the middle of nowhere. Ivan tells Magnum he knows him better than he knows himself, and there’s no way Magnum will kill him in cold blood. Magnum asks, “Did you see the sunrise this morning?”, Ivan replies “Yes, why?”, and Magnum turns around, raises his gun, and shoots. The final frame is the muzzle blast from the gun. > [/spoiler] I think 30 years is the spoiler statute of limitations. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-extreme-unresolved-cliffhangers-in-episodic-shows/765418/28 "2016-09-09T16:40:15Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > That’s exactly right. The gunshot is a perfect dramatic end to the episode. However now they have a dead Russian diplomat/spy that someone is going to miss and Thomas just murdered. The next episode is a Simon and Simon crossover. Ok, but that’s more of a tying up loose ends problem, not a cliffhanger. If you’re not desperately waiting to find out what happens next, it’s not a cliffhanger. > [@Loach](#): > > I think 30 years is the spoiler statute of limitations. Rosebud shot JR. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_John\_Marcej](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Richard\_John\_Marcej](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_John_Marcej)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-extreme-unresolved-cliffhangers-in-episodic-shows/765418/29 "2016-09-09T16:58:45Z")
Didn’t Mork & Mindy end season 4 with a cliffhanger, the world knowing he’s an alien, and the show was never picked up? I’d read somewhere that season 5 was going to be Mork trapped in limbo bouncing around through time and landing in different eras. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-extreme-unresolved-cliffhangers-in-episodic-shows/765418/30 "2016-09-09T16:59:38Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > I think 30 years is the spoiler statute of limitations. Yeah, but it also spoils the remake, “Terms of Enrampagement”. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_John\_Marcej](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Richard\_John\_Marcej](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_John_Marcej)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-extreme-unresolved-cliffhangers-in-episodic-shows/765418/31 "2016-09-09T17:04:37Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > That’s exactly right. The gunshot is a perfect dramatic end to the episode. However now they have a dead Russian diplomat/spy that someone is going to miss and Thomas just murdered. The next episode is a Simon and Simon crossover. But how do we know Magnum actually killed him? ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-extreme-unresolved-cliffhangers-in-episodic-shows/765418/32 "2016-09-09T17:24:16Z")
> [@Richard\_John\_Marcej](#): > > But how do we know Magnum actually killed him? Do you think Thomas missed? Did my mother cry for nothing? ---
**Author:** ![lost4life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@lost4life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lost4life)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-extreme-unresolved-cliffhangers-in-episodic-shows/765418/33 "2016-09-09T17:49:10Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > “Did you see the sunrise this morning?” Did you see [Regis](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gdj62aqx-w) this morning? ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-extreme-unresolved-cliffhangers-in-episodic-shows/765418/34 "2016-09-09T18:18:42Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > That’s exactly right. The gunshot is a perfect dramatic end to the episode. However now they have a dead Russian diplomat/spy that someone is going to miss and Thomas just murdered. The next episode is a Simon and Simon crossover. Yeah, Thomas kills a few people that they never talked about again and he never had to answer for. I imagine IRL someone in their respective organizations would want to avenge LeBull, or that Chinese gangster guy that blinked before he struck. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-extreme-unresolved-cliffhangers-in-episodic-shows/765418/35 "2016-09-09T18:25:02Z")
And you’d certainly expect there to be some fallout from the samurai who stabbed half a dozen ninjas at the airport. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Shine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr_shine/32/464_2.png) [@Mr\_Shine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Shine)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-extreme-unresolved-cliffhangers-in-episodic-shows/765418/36 "2016-09-09T18:52:00Z")
Note to everybody: I’m not going to hijack my own thread, you can talk about what you want, but in my mind I was specifically **not** talking about last episode unresolved scenarios. “Cliffhanger” was probably not be the right word, I was more thinking of things like a character losing **all** their money in an episode, with creditors lining up to take him apart, yet spending as normal in the next with no apparent source of income. The Hawaii 5-0 example **Folacin** gave is ideal. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-extreme-unresolved-cliffhangers-in-episodic-shows/765418/37 "2016-09-09T18:56:16Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > Ok, but that’s more of a tying up loose ends problem, not a cliffhanger. If you’re not desperately waiting to find out what happens next, it’s not a cliffhanger. > > Rosebud shot JR. > [@Mr\_Shine](#): > > Note to everybody: I’m not going to hijack my own thread, you can talk about what you want, but in my mind I was specifically **not** talking about last episode unresolved scenarios. “Cliffhanger” was probably not be the right word, I was more thinking of things like a character losing **all** their money in an episode, with creditors lining up to take him apart, yet spending as normal in the next with no apparent source of income. The Hawaii 5-0 example **Folacin** gave is ideal. That’s what I was going to say. My example does not fit the OP exactly but it is closer than episodes that became unresolved cliffhangers because the series was cancelled. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-extreme-unresolved-cliffhangers-in-episodic-shows/765418/38 "2016-09-09T19:06:21Z")
The episode “Conspiracy” On Star Trek: The Next Generation had a parasitic enemy almost take over Star Fleet. The main bad guy slug sends out a signal into deep space presumably for back up. It felt like it was the start of a long story arc…it wasn’t. ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-extreme-unresolved-cliffhangers-in-episodic-shows/765418/39 "2016-09-09T19:14:43Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > The episode “Conspiracy” On Star Trek: The Next Generation had a parasitic enemy almost take over Star Fleet. The main bad guy slug sends out a signal into deep space presumably for back up. It felt like it was the start of a long story arc…it wasn’t. Thats just what they want you to think. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-extreme-unresolved-cliffhangers-in-episodic-shows/765418/40 "2016-09-09T19:17:16Z")
It was _intended_ to be the introduction of the Borg, but they rethought the concept. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-extreme-unresolved-cliffhangers-in-episodic-shows/765418.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-extreme-unresolved-cliffhangers-in-episodic-shows/765418.md?page=3)