# Which TV shows with mysteries have satisfying answers? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 27, 2016, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-tv-shows-with-mysteries-have-satisfying-answers/769868 "2016-10-27T18:17:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2016, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-tv-shows-with-mysteries-have-satisfying-answers/769868/41 "2016-10-28T19:19:21Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > The UK series “life on Mars” and “Ashes to Ashes” had a really neat (if not entirely comfortable) resolution. The US version of _Life on Mars_ had a different resolution, if a little too literal. But at least it wrapped things up. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2016, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-tv-shows-with-mysteries-have-satisfying-answers/769868/42 "2016-10-28T19:22:53Z")
One series that had a satisfying answer, but which was not revealed because they didn’t complete the run, was the 1967 series **Coronet Blue** > [@](#): > > Coronet Blue is an American TV series that ran on CBS from May 29, 1967, to September 4, 1967. > > It starred Frank Converse as Michael Alden, an amnesiac in search of his identity. Brian Bedford co-starred. The show’s 13 episodes were filmed in 1965 and were originally intended to be shown during the 1965–66 television season, but CBS put the show on hiatus when they reversed an earlier decision to cancel the drama Slattery’s People. The network had plans to show Coronet Blue the following year, and CBS head of programming Michael Dann said that, “there still is enormous enthusiasm” for it, but it would take another full year before the network aired it as a summer replacement. It proved moderately popular and developed a cult following. According to Converse, CBS wanted to renew it but by then Converse had signed to do another series for ABC, N.Y.P.D., which premiered the day after the last airing of Coronet Blue. Due to a number of pre-emptions, only 11 of the 13 episodes were shown during the initial run. The theme song was performed by R&B singer Lenny Welch. > > Frank Converse’s character (called “Gigot” in the first episode), is told by a woman and two men that they know what he is up to, after which they drug him and dump him in the river. He manages to pull himself ashore and the only words he says are “Coronet Blue”. Suffering from amnesia due to the effects of the drug, he soon discovers that he has been targeted for assassination by the same, mysterious group of killers. He adopts the name “Michael Alden,” a combination of the name of his doctor and the name of the hospital where he was taken to recover. Over the remaining episodes he attempts to discover his identity and the identities of his assailants, whom he refers to as “Greybeards”. The series ended before the solution to these mysteries was revealed, The solution: [spoiler]The series ended before the solution to these mysteries was revealed, but series creator Larry Cohen later told his biographer: “The actual secret is that Converse was not really an American at all. He was a Russian who had been trained to appear like an American and was sent to the U.S. as a spy. He belonged to a spy unit called ‘Coronet Blue.’ He decided to defect, so the Russians tried to kill him before he can give away the identities of the other Soviet agents. And nobody can really identify him because he doesn’t exist as an American. Coronet Blue was actually an outgrowth of ‘The Traitor’ episode of The Defenders.”[ [/spoiler] > **[Coronet Blue](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coronet_Blue)** > > Coronet Blue is an American adventure drama series that ran on CBS from May 29 until September 4, 1967. > It starred Frank Converse as Michael Alden, an amnesiac in search of his identity. Brian Bedford co-starred. The show's 13 episodes were filmed in 1965 and were originally intended to be shown during the 1965–66 television season, but CBS put the show on hiatus when they reversed an earlier decision to cancel the drama Slattery's People. The network had plans to show Coronet Blue the followin... ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2016, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-tv-shows-with-mysteries-have-satisfying-answers/769868/43 "2016-10-28T19:26:05Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > The Wiki article on the show says that the series was supposed to run longer, but was cancelled after 17 episodes and the ending had to be written in a few days. > > You are correct that they were writing variations on a theme, but since the ending was a variation on the themes (plot-wise and philosophical) it was IMO of a piece with the rest of the series. > > The Wiki article also talks about a proposed alternate ending, in which John Drake (the character in _Danger Man_ that Patrick McGooghan starred in) was actually Number Six, and the Village was an idea that he himself had proposed. And that was why Number Six resigned - because he wanted to be taken to the Village in order to destroy it. But then he is not sure if the Village is being run by his side, or the other. > > That’s imaginative, but it wraps things up a little too neatly. > > The example of “writing yourself into a corner” - actually twenty or thirty corners - that I think of is _Lost_, but that is another thread. > > Regards, > Shodan Oh, I would definitely agree _Lost_ is an _even better_ example of “writing oneself in a corner”. No argument there. The Prisoner reminds me more of King’s _Dark Tower_ series - the build-up was so very clever, so very genre-busting, that any actual resolution was always likely to disappoint; in both cases, one gets the impression the creator simply could not figure out what to do with the wonderful monster he had created. The problem is that creating a satisfying resolution typically has to be built in from the beginning, before the first episode or chapter is written; if it isn’t, it is really hard to retrofit one in the last book or episode. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2016, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-tv-shows-with-mysteries-have-satisfying-answers/769868/44 "2016-10-28T21:18:09Z")
Given what happened in Season 2 of _Broadchurch_, I can’t reasonably say that Season 1 had a satisfying ending. If the key matter continues, then the whole run concerning it has to be taken into account. Otherwise you’d allow ridiculous things like _Rectify_, Season 1, Episode 1 as qualifying for this thread. ---
**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:** [October 29, 2016, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-tv-shows-with-mysteries-have-satisfying-answers/769868/45 "2016-10-29T01:02:27Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > Given what happened in Season 2 of _Broadchurch_, I can’t reasonably say that Season 1 had a satisfying ending. It’s better to pretend there is no season 2 of Broadchurch. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2016, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-tv-shows-with-mysteries-have-satisfying-answers/769868/46 "2016-10-29T16:09:32Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > Oh, I would definitely agree _Lost_ is an _even better_ example of “writing oneself in a corner”. No argument there. > > The Prisoner reminds me more of King’s _Dark Tower_ series - the build-up was so very clever, so very genre-busting, that any actual resolution was always likely to disappoint; in both cases, one gets the impression the creator simply could not figure out what to do with the wonderful monster he had created. I’ll take your word for it - I reacted to the _Dark Tower_ as **furryman** did to _The Prisoner_ - started it, recognized after a bit that I didn’t care, and dropped it. > [@](#): > > The problem is that creating a satisfying resolution typically has to be built in from the beginning, before the first episode or chapter is written; if it isn’t, it is really hard to retrofit one in the last book or episode. Yes, 100%. With mysteries (just to drag myself back to the OP) I think starting with the resolution in mind is more natural. I would expect that (for instance) Agatha Christie started writing _The Murder of Roger Ackroyd_ by coming up with the idea of whodunit, and then writing everything with that in mind. She would almost have to. With TV, I expect it more common that they come up with the idea for the series and the first thirteen episodes. Then it succeeds, and they build on that, without knowing why the first thirteen episodes should make sense in light of the resolution. Regards, Shodan ---
**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:** [October 29, 2016, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-tv-shows-with-mysteries-have-satisfying-answers/769868/47 "2016-10-29T17:37:03Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > With mysteries (just to drag myself back to the OP) I think starting with the resolution in mind is more natural. I would expect that (for instance) Agatha Christie started writing _The Murder of Roger Ackroyd_ by coming up with the idea of whodunit, and then writing everything with that in mind. She would almost have to. _The Murder of Roger Ackroyd_ was an anomaly in Christie’s work. Her method was usually to set up the situation with several people who could be the killer – and not decide which one until the book was near the end. She planted motives and clues for everyone so that when she made her decision some pointed to the real killer and the others became red herrings. The resolution of _Murder on the Calais Coach/Orient Express_ benefited from this method, too. ---
**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:** [October 29, 2016, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-tv-shows-with-mysteries-have-satisfying-answers/769868/48 "2016-10-29T18:05:01Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > _The Murder of Roger Ackroyd_ was an anomaly in Christie’s work. Her method was usually to set up the situation with several people who could be the killer – and not decide which one until the book was near the end. She planted motives and clues for everyone so that when she made her decision some pointed to the real killer and the others became red herrings. The resolution of _Murder on the Calais Coach/Orient Express_ benefited from this method, too. Heh. Slight hijack, but – _before_ Superman was disguising himself as mild-mannered reporter Clark Kent, and before Batman started pretending to be millionaire playboy Bruce Wayne – Lee Falk was doing a comic strip about the masked hero known only as THE PHANTOM, who rescued and fascinated the lovely Diana Palmer; after all, the dashing mystery man seemed nothing like her foppish suitor Jimmy Wells, who to all appearances was an upper-class twit of the “idle rich” variety. And who, by coincidence, was never around when the Phantom went into action. Always seemed tired the next day, though. Well, maybe he’s just lazy. Falk intended to reveal that Jimmy was secretly the Phantom; he later realized, _no, wait; that’s stupid. Okay, everything I’ve published where he appears to be a lazy twit of the ‘idle rich’ variety? Let’s just – leave it as is, that’s actually perfect._ ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2016, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-tv-shows-with-mysteries-have-satisfying-answers/769868/49 "2016-10-29T19:01:17Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Heh. Slight hijack, but – _before_ Superman was disguising himself as mild-mannered reporter Clark Kent, and before Batman started pretending to be millionaire playboy Bruce Wayne – Lee Falk was doing a comic strip about the masked hero known only as THE PHANTOM, who rescued and fascinated the lovely Diana Palmer; after all, the dashing mystery man seemed nothing like her foppish suitor Jimmy Wells, who to all appearances was an upper-class twit of the “idle rich” variety. And who, by coincidence, was never around when the Phantom went into action. Always seemed tired the next day, though. Well, maybe he’s just lazy. > > Falk intended to reveal that Jimmy was secretly the Phantom; he later realized, _no, wait; that’s stupid. Okay, everything I’ve published where he appears to be a lazy twit of the ‘idle rich’ variety? Let’s just – leave it as is, that’s actually perfect._ …and long before Lee Falk was even born, Baroness Emma Orczy had Sir Percy Blakeney fighting for the French Aristocracy as The Scarlet Pimpernel (she evidently first did it as a stage play in 1903, and turned it into a novel in 1905) As far as I know, her hero was the first "hero with a secret identity " in popular fiction. Sir Percy , like many who followed (Zorro, Batman, Clark Kent), was apparently not interested in playing the hero, the opposite of his costumed alter ego. I wonder if this all started as a sort of mirror image of Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde? ---
**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:** [October 29, 2016, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-tv-shows-with-mysteries-have-satisfying-answers/769868/50 "2016-10-29T19:48:51Z")
:eek: > [@CalMeacham](#): > > …and long before Lee Falk was even born, Baroness Emma Orczy had Sir Percy Blakeney fighting for the French Aristocracy as The Scarlet Pimpernel (she evidently first did it as a stage play in 1903, and turned it into a novel in 1905) As far as I know, her hero was the first "hero with a secret identity " in popular fiction. Well, granted – though John Holloway maybe beat him to it, as the Human Bat. But my point, in hopes of having some tiny bearing on this thread, was that Falk wrote Jimmy with that reveal in mind – but then later decided that the rich guy who’d been written as never being around when the Phantom appeared, and as popping in and seeming awfully tired after the masked man had left, actually _was_ just some rich guy who got tired easily and happened to not be around at key times; Falk originally penned it figuring the character was offering phony excuses and putting on an act, but then Falk reconsidered and went off in a different direction by making clear that, no, everything simply was as it had seemed: when Jimmy had unconvincingly yammered on and on about having played a lot of tennis, he’d just been blandly telling the truth! ---
**Author:** ![ganthet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de0a6/32.png) [@ganthet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ganthet)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2016, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-tv-shows-with-mysteries-have-satisfying-answers/769868/51 "2016-10-29T20:30:13Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > _Babylon 5_… > > We eventually learn: > > In the last minutes of the war, the Mimbari captured a human pilot and used a device on them that, according to the Mimbari, showed that humans were being born with Mimbari souls - and Mimbari never kill other Mimbari. Even later, we learn how this is possible: thanks to time travel shenanigans involving the vanished station, a human is genetically altered to appear as a Mimbari, and sent thousands of years back in time, to when the Mimbari were just venturing into space, and founds the religion that they all follow in the show’s main timeline. And, presumably, has a bunch of kids who are _mostly_ Mimbari - with a touch of human DNA still mixed in, which eventually works its way through the entire Mimbari gene pool, hence the Mimbari device showing that we have the same “soul.” I think the originally planned resolution might have worked better: With Babylon 5 being destroyed by the Shadows just as Garibaldi’s and Sinclair’s flashforward indicated, only to have Bablyon 4 suddenly appear to replace it. After the issue with the actor playing Sinclair causing him to depart before Season 2, JMS made some remarkably deft footwork trying to adjust everything, even if it all didn’t all make as much sense. ---
**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:** [October 29, 2016, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-tv-shows-with-mysteries-have-satisfying-answers/769868/52 "2016-10-29T21:00:01Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > I, too, but I wish they had kept the first sidekick. I liked Natalie better, which is unusual for me. I _liked_ the ending to _Twin Peaks_, but then, I was going around after the first episodes, telling everyone who was complaining that they never revealed who did it, that they in fact, told us directly who did it. Granted, he was a supernatural spirit, and there were hints that he possessed someone’s body when he killed Laura, and we still didn’t know whose, but that really didn’t matter. I thought the ending, with the demented look on Agent Cooper’s face, was perfect. I also thought they did leave one thing unresolved-- what, and how, if anything, did the supernatural spirit do to Ronette Pulaski. Did the spirit possess the same person, or someone else, and if someone else, who? I didn’t especially care, but I was kind of surprised that the way people were beating the stage with their canes after the last season of episode one, and apparently harassing David Lynch, no one else seemed to care about that either. Did _Crossing Jordan_ ever resolve? I know it got revamped at one point, which involved firing most of the original writers and hiring new ones, so if the original mystery was conceived with a solution, the first writing team may have taken it with them. I stopped watching the show after Arija Bareikis joined the cast, because I knew her in high school, and I couldn’t stand her. Too bad, because I really liked it before that. I tried to watch the series finale, but too much had happened, and I couldn’t follow it. I think I fell asleep. I tried again in reruns, but my impression is that it was never resolved. Anyone else know more? ---
**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:** [October 30, 2016, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-tv-shows-with-mysteries-have-satisfying-answers/769868/53 "2016-10-30T01:16:17Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Number Six refuses to give up even in order to understand. In the end, he never does understand, but he is free. I disagree that he is free. He is Number 1. “The Kiing is a pawn as well, only less active.” ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2016, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-tv-shows-with-mysteries-have-satisfying-answers/769868/54 "2016-10-30T01:43:44Z")
The Perfect Master’s take on [The Prisoner](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/379/what-was-the-cult-tv-series-the-prisoner-all-about) What about the first few seasons of _Dexter_? I lost track about season four but the first few had pretty good overarching mysteries to resolve. ---
**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 30, 2016, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-tv-shows-with-mysteries-have-satisfying-answers/769868/55 "2016-10-30T01:53:56Z")
I drifted away from _Castle_. Did the show ever resolve the issue of why Beckett’s mother was murdered? And the mystery of Castle’s father? ---
**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:** [October 30, 2016, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-tv-shows-with-mysteries-have-satisfying-answers/769868/56 "2016-10-30T04:53:29Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I drifted away from _Castle_. Did the show ever resolve the issue of why Beckett’s mother was murdered? And the mystery of Castle’s father? The first: yes they did. And I forgot it as soon as I saw it, and never rewatched those episodes. 🙂 It was stupid, whatever it was. The second: he’s just your garden variety superspy, who happened to have an affair with Martha. ---
**Author:** ![Omega\_Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7c8e57/32.png) [@Omega\_Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omega_Glory)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2016, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-tv-shows-with-mysteries-have-satisfying-answers/769868/57 "2016-10-31T00:44:20Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > I think this is what the OP is asking about. Not mystery shows like Monk, but shows that have a hidden secret that hints keep dropping about. Lost. Kyle XY (Ok, maybe that had a ending?) , the Pretender (altho some answers were revealed in the two MfTV movies), Dollhouse. Alcatraz. I think Monk basically applies, since he was driven to find out who killed his wife, in addition to solving the mystery of the week, but yes, I primarily had shows like Lost, FlashForward etc. in mind. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2016, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-tv-shows-with-mysteries-have-satisfying-answers/769868/58 "2016-10-31T15:05:28Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > …The Wiki article also talks about a proposed alternate ending, in which John Drake (the character in _Danger Man_ that Patrick McGooghan starred in) was actually Number Six, and the Village was an idea that he himself had proposed. And that was why Number Six resigned - because he wanted to be taken to the Village in order to destroy it. But then he is not sure if the Village is being run by his side, or the other… Depending on how it was shot, that would’ve been a much better ending, I think. More clever; less self-indulgently surreal and bullshitty. > [@Malthus](#): > > …The problem is that creating a satisfying resolution typically has to be built in from the beginning, before the first episode or chapter is written; if it isn’t, it is really hard to retrofit one in the last book or episode. Preach it, brother! > [@RivkahChaya](#): > > …I thought the ending [of _Twin Peaks_], with the demented look on Agent Cooper’s face, was perfect… Noooooo! I hated, hated, _hated_ it. Poor Agent Cooper. I was actually upset for a couple of days after that. ---
**Author:** ![poulain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/41988e/32.png) [@poulain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/poulain)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2016, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-tv-shows-with-mysteries-have-satisfying-answers/769868/59 "2016-11-01T22:35:53Z")
Well Psych lasted quite a long time and had quite a satisfying ending, but I think that might have been because, in my mind I always knew that there was space for more adventures with the gang. In any case, its a lot better than killing off characters or permanent farewells. ---
**Author:** ![poulain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/41988e/32.png) [@poulain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/poulain)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2016, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-tv-shows-with-mysteries-have-satisfying-answers/769868/60 "2016-11-01T22:37:34Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I drifted away from _Castle_. Did the show ever resolve the issue of why Beckett’s mother was murdered? And the mystery of Castle’s father? They did, but I stopped watching almost after Castle and Beckett got together, the show actually started to decline in quality ever since season 2 ended in my opinion. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-tv-shows-with-mysteries-have-satisfying-answers/769868.md?page=2)