# Series where each subsequent installment is better than the one before it **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 24, 2018, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-where-each-subsequent-installment-is-better-than-the-one-before-it/823449 "2018-10-24T17:48:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![MacSpon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@MacSpon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacSpon)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2018, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-where-each-subsequent-installment-is-better-than-the-one-before-it/823449/21 "2018-10-26T03:02:57Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Wait, they’re making a fourth one? Are you serious about that, or is it just a presumption based on the profit they made? Because they brought the story to its complete and logically inevitable conclusion. At some point, any storyteller needs to know when to stop. Disney is in charge. Of _course_ they’re making a fourth. Alas. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2018, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-where-each-subsequent-installment-is-better-than-the-one-before-it/823449/22 "2018-10-26T04:46:19Z")
The Witcher 2 (RPG video game) was better than the first, and The Witcher 3 was better than the second. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2018, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-where-each-subsequent-installment-is-better-than-the-one-before-it/823449/23 "2018-10-26T14:01:26Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > Eh, I think it’s more of an outlier to think that episode 2 is better than 1. They are both crap, but at least there were some good parts in 1. 2 was just all crap from start to finish. That’s not my observation. The giant battle at the end of Clones is a crowd pleaser and TPM is almost always at the bottom of people’s lists of the movies (except for people that really hate The Last Jedi). But it’s all subjective anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2018, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-where-each-subsequent-installment-is-better-than-the-one-before-it/823449/24 "2018-10-26T14:41:00Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Wait, they’re making a fourth one? Are you serious about that, or is it just a presumption based on the profit they made? Because they brought the story to its complete and logically inevitable conclusion. At some point, any storyteller needs to know when to stop. It’s in production and is scheduled for a Summer 2019 release. The story will be about Woody and Buzz setting out to find Bo Peep. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2018, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-where-each-subsequent-installment-is-better-than-the-one-before-it/823449/25 "2018-10-26T16:17:44Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > Can you think of a series where each subsequent installment is better than the one before it? So, the opposite of Pullman’s Dark Materials (_Golden Compass_) trilogy? ---
**Author:** ![Hermitian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hermitian/32/470_2.png) [@Hermitian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermitian)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2018, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-where-each-subsequent-installment-is-better-than-the-one-before-it/823449/26 "2018-10-26T16:27:43Z")
Breaking Bad Metacritic ratings for each seasons went 73-\>84-\>89-\>96-\>99. Also their user scores for BB went 9.2-\>9.3-\>9.4-\>9.5-\>9.7. The Season 5 user score of 9.7 is their top user rating for a TV show ever. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2018, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-where-each-subsequent-installment-is-better-than-the-one-before-it/823449/27 "2018-10-26T19:16:23Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Sure, but no way is each subsequent installment better than the one before it. Over the course of 40+ books, there were better ones and worse ones quite a bit. Yes, but they trended upwards for a good portion of that 40. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2018, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-where-each-subsequent-installment-is-better-than-the-one-before-it/823449/28 "2018-10-26T19:56:12Z")
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Each season better than the one before. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2018, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-where-each-subsequent-installment-is-better-than-the-one-before-it/823449/29 "2018-10-26T20:22:30Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Maybe the _Gap_ series by Stephen R. Donaldson. I agree. The first book was nothing much, a rather bizarre and skeevy trifle about a couple of rapists and their victim. The final book featured interstellar warfare and the overthrow of the human political and economic order. When I finished the series the first time, I was rather gobsmacked that all _this_ (the larger story) followed from _that_ (the first book.) So I re-read the first book and found to my surprise that it was all there - Holt Fasner, the Amnion, Warden Dios, Hashi Lebwohl, etc etc etc. Definitely fits this thread - good suggestion! ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2018, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-where-each-subsequent-installment-is-better-than-the-one-before-it/823449/30 "2018-10-26T21:27:56Z")
John Varley’s “Gaea” trilogy. “Titan” is a gripping science fiction adventure story. “Wizard” cranks it up to 11. With “Demon” he pretty much breaks off the knob. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-where-each-subsequent-installment-is-better-than-the-one-before-it/823449.md?page=1)