# 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:** 15\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-extreme-unresolved-cliffhangers-in-episodic-shows/765418/41 "2016-09-09T19:19:02Z")
> [@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. Putting dishes of salt in orbit solved the problem. No drama. ---
**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, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-extreme-unresolved-cliffhangers-in-episodic-shows/765418/42 "2016-09-09T19:45:09Z")
> [@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. I really liked that the parasitic enemy looked just like the creatures of Ceti Alpha V. Like they were evolved intelligent forms of the same mind-controlling species. A nice touch, wasted because the story was dropped. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-extreme-unresolved-cliffhangers-in-episodic-shows/765418/43 "2016-09-09T19:50:58Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > _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. \*The Simpsons \*started doing that often after they passed the ten-season mark. Another example is the episode where Marge opened up a successful chain of gyms (one of which was located in the vacated space of Comic-Book Guy’s shop). At the end of the episode, Marge still had the money earned from the gym franchise and the Comic-Book Guy was still without his shop but, by next week, everything was back to the pre-episode status quo without even the flimsiest explanation. The writers did things like this not so much because they didn’t care but to deliberately fuck with the continuity nerds in the Simpsons fandom. ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-extreme-unresolved-cliffhangers-in-episodic-shows/765418/44 "2016-09-09T20:06:31Z")
At the end of Season 8 of _Red Dwarf_, Rimmer ends up alone on the ship (he had gone to a parallel “mirror” universe to obtain a cure for a disease, only to discover that when he got back to the “real” universe, it had turned into the disease itself), and at the end of the episode, a character who appears to be Death shows up, only for Rimmer to kick him in the crotch. When the show returned, albeit years later, this was never mentioned. Here’s one that goes way back, although it’s not exactly a “cliffhanger”; at the end of the next-to-last season of _Petticoat Junction_, it is revealed that Betty Jo is pregnant again. However, the pregnancy is never brought up in the final season. ---
**Author:** ![oft\_wears\_hats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7993a0/32.png) [@oft\_wears\_hats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oft_wears_hats)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-extreme-unresolved-cliffhangers-in-episodic-shows/765418/45 "2016-09-09T20:12:52Z")
Season 2 of _Heroes_ had the girlfriend of a protagonist (Peter?) stuck in an alternate future in the middle of the season. Said dystopic future was averted at the end of the season, and the girlfriend was never seen or heard from again. IIRC, she was a victim of the writers’ strike as well as the temporal meddling. ---
**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, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-extreme-unresolved-cliffhangers-in-episodic-shows/765418/46 "2016-09-09T20:14:46Z")
> [@That\_Don\_Guy](#): > > Here’s one that goes way back, although it’s not exactly a “cliffhanger”; at the end of the next-to-last season of _Petticoat Junction_, it is revealed that Betty Jo is pregnant again. However, the pregnancy is never brought up in the final season. Speaking of pregnancies, Sally McMillan was pregnant twice, but no children were ever seen or heard. No indication were seen that a baby or babies unknown lived in the house. Never was there a concern for finding a baby sitter while the duo was solving the latest mystery. Only one child was listed as killed in the plane crash that took the life of poor, dear Sally, but no one cared to mourn, or even give the child a name. Next season, Mac is a single guy on the prowl, bedding a different woman each episode. The loss of the love of his life, and of his one (or two) child(ren) seemed to have been left unresolved. It didn’t apparently bother him one bit. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-extreme-unresolved-cliffhangers-in-episodic-shows/765418/47 "2016-09-09T20:28:01Z")
> [@That\_Don\_Guy](#): > > When the show returned, albeit years later, this was never mentioned. It’s actually mentioned repeatedly. Just never actually _explained_. Series X had a running gag where Rimmer tries to claim credit for saving the ship, and someone (I think always Lister, but I’d have to rewatch it to be sure) starts to correct him, only to be cut off by circumstances before he can explain what _really_ happened. ---
**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, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-extreme-unresolved-cliffhangers-in-episodic-shows/765418/48 "2016-09-09T20:32:33Z")
> [@oft\_wears\_hats](#): > > Season 2 of _Heroes_ had the girlfriend of a protagonist (Peter?) stuck in an alternate future in the middle of the season. Said dystopic future was averted at the end of the season, and the girlfriend was never seen or heard from again. IIRC, she was a victim of the writers’ strike as well as the temporal meddling. Good call. The writer’s strike really killed that season and the show never really recovered. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-extreme-unresolved-cliffhangers-in-episodic-shows/765418/49 "2016-09-09T20:40:21Z")
SLEDGE HAMMER! got cancelled, and so they ended the season with a perfect series finale: our hero attempts to disarm a nuke, which – apparently goes off. Wait, we’ve just been picked up for Season Two? Um. Kind of wrote ourselves into a corner there, didn’t we? Okay, then: SEASON TWO: THE PREQUEL. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-extreme-unresolved-cliffhangers-in-episodic-shows/765418/50 "2016-09-09T22:10:11Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > 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. Wasn’t that just a special standalone Olympics episode? Season 2 starts on Sept 22. ---
**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, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-extreme-unresolved-cliffhangers-in-episodic-shows/765418/51 "2016-09-09T22:52:33Z")
Looked like an episode to me. If not then I remove my objection Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2016, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-extreme-unresolved-cliffhangers-in-episodic-shows/765418/52 "2016-09-10T00:00:04Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > 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. Exactly. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2016, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-extreme-unresolved-cliffhangers-in-episodic-shows/765418/53 "2016-09-10T01:06:04Z")
On the gothic soap opera “Dark Shadows” there was a time when Barnabas Collins and Dr Julia Hoffman were bitter enemies and he is threatening to kill her (she is one of the few who knows he is a vampire, I guess Willie is the other one). Anyways Victoria Winters goes back in time to 1790 which reveals how Barnabas became a vampire. Barnabas becomes a sympathetic character as he was cursed by the vengeful witch Angelique (you can tell she is a which because she nevers blinks her eyes) because Barnabas fooled around for her and dumped lady’s maid for her Mistress Josette. Anyways by the time Victoria gets back to 1967 (and Barnabas has been locked in his coffin by his faithful servant), Barnabas and Julia are now good friends (although she is always pining for a romantic involvement and he never notices, going after younger and prettier women. Star trek TNG in its first season had the next to last episode “Conspiracy” as a number of Starfleet high officials possessed by an evil group of parasites apparently planning invasion. They are never seen or referred to again ---
**Author:** ![Tread](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Tread](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tread)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2016, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-extreme-unresolved-cliffhangers-in-episodic-shows/765418/54 "2016-09-10T01:10:27Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > 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. I think Lucas is working on a re-issue where Ivan shoots first ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2016, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-extreme-unresolved-cliffhangers-in-episodic-shows/765418/55 "2016-09-10T01:31:11Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > 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. I think they played that one out of order to play up the Olympics theme. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-extreme-unresolved-cliffhangers-in-episodic-shows/765418.md?page=2)