| 1 | ---- |
| 2 | !!Resolved Examples: |
| 3 | * ''Series/The100'' likes to end each season by suddenly introducing the BigBad for the ''next'' season, in a way that blows open the doors on what we thought could exist in the show's world. |
| 4 | ** Season 1 [[spoiler: ends with many of the main characters knocked out with gas grenades by what look like special ops troops. When Clarke wakes up, she’s in an all white quarantine room inside Mount Weather, which they had spent most of the season trying to get to.]] |
| 5 | ** Season 2 [[spoiler: ends with Jaha and Murphy having made their way to an oddly intact mansion on an island. Murphy sees a video telling how an AI got nuclear launch codes nearly a century ago, while Jaha meets the AI itself.]] |
| 6 | ** Season 3 [[spoiler: has the revelation that ALIE was uploading human minds to the City of Light in order to make sure they would survive a wave of fire and radiation that would likely kill everyone within six months.]] |
| 7 | ** Season 4 [[spoiler: ends with a time jump. Even though Earth was supposed to be survivable again after 5 years, it's a bit more than 6 years later and no one has come down from space or out of the bunker. What Clarke thinks is her friends coming down from space turns out to be a prisoner transport ship coming back to Earth.]] |
| 8 | ** Season 5 [[spoiler: ends with the destruction of Earth, for good this time. Rather than waking up from cryosleep after ten years, it's been 125 years, Monty and Harper died but left a son, and he shows Clarke and Bellamy the new planet that Monty found, which might be somewhere they can survive and [[ArcWords do better]].]] |
| 9 | ** Season 6 ends with two big ones: |
| 10 | *** [[spoiler: Sheidheda has been removed from the flame, saving Madi, but escapes, presumably to take over the Eligius IV ship.]] |
| 11 | *** [[spoiler: Diyoza's previously unborn daughter, Hope, comes out of the anomaly as an adult. She talks to Octavia, who recognizes her even though she remembered nothing from her time in the anomaly just minutes before. Hope stabs Octavia in the stomach then passes out. Bellamy tries to hold Octavia up as she's bleeding out, until the anomaly comes in to the room and she disappears in a flash of green.]] |
| 12 | * ''Series/TwentyFour'': Typically uses a cliffhanger at the end of each ''episode''. The show also featured a season-ending cliffhanger in the final seconds of season 2, which, irritatingly enough, was subverted when the third season picked up three years later and the cliffhanger had already been resolved. This was later revisited in The Game, but it's annoying how the Season 2 and 7 plot arcs aren't fully explored at the end. |
| 13 | * ''Series/TheFortyFourHundred'': The SeriesFinale "The Great Leap Forward" ended on a huge one. [[spoiler: In the aftermath of the promicin infection accidentally spread by Danny, at least 9,000 more people in UsefulNotes/{{Seattle}} have promicin abilities. Jordan Collier has assumed control over Seattle, which he has renamed Promise City, and is claiming that they are closer than ever to making his dream of Heaven on Earth a reality. Diana regards him as the self-appointed dictator of the city but Maia has been won over to his cause. Kyle brings Tom a promicin shot and he is strongly considering taking it]]. |
| 14 | * ''Series/SeventhHeaven'': A few season finales have ended on cliffhangers, with the 7th season being the worst offender. [[spoiler: Is Lucy pregnant? What happened that brought the head of the church and the police force to the Camdens' front door to talk to Eric immediately? Who did Mary elope with? Did Roxanne and Chandler get married?]] Of course, it was all resolved next season. [[spoiler: Lucy wasn't pregnant, Simon got into a car accident that resulted in a young boy's death, Mary eloped with Carlos, and Roxanne and Chandler break up. Although we never did find out what happened to [[HookerWithAHeartOfGold Christine]] or why [[ChuckCunninghamSyndrome Cecilia disappeared in early season 9…]] |
| 15 | * ''Series/TheAdventuresOfBriscoCountyJr'': Made regular use of cliffhangers. The early episodes had two cliffhangers (one for each act break). Later episodes had one. |
| 16 | * ''Series/{{ALF}}'': The final episode ended with the title character preparing to return to his home planet, only to have him and his host family surrounded by government agents. This cliffhanger would be resolved in TheMovie, ''Project ALF''. |
| 17 | * ''Series/AlexRider2020'': Most episodes end on one. |
| 18 | ** Episode 1: Alex realizes that [[AnOfferYouCantRefuse Blunt won't let him go that easily]] and agrees to the mission. He goes outside and gets into a waiting car, which drives away as Jack looks on, confused and scared. |
| 19 | ** Episode 4: Stellenbosch comes in for a chat in Alex's room. After she goes, Alex starts getting ready for bed, only to find he can't finish cleaning his teeth. He drops his brush into the sink and falls to the floor, looking increasingly scared, before finally passing out. Suddenly he's strapped to a gurney, being wheeled away down a corridor. |
| 20 | ** Episode 5: [[spoiler:James has vanished, and Alex and Kyra sneak into the forbidden second floor to find answers. There, they find an exact duplicate of the school, complete with their own rooms reproduced down to the last detail. Worse, they discover their rooms have hidden cameras. They narrowly miss being seen as Dr. Greif, Eva Stellenbosch and Dr Baxter arrive and begin a conversation that ends with [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness Dr Baxter being stabbed]]. Greif and Stellenbosch then talk more, revealing to Alex and Kyra that Kyra will be next to disappear.]] |
| 21 | ** Episode 6: [[spoiler:Alex has just sledded to freedom on a modified ironing board. After evading his pursuers, he finds himself on a mountain road, stops to get his bearings... and is promptly hit by a snowplough.]] |
| 22 | ** Episode 7: [[spoiler:The Special Forces team have just stormed Point Blanc, rescued the hostages and taken Dr. Greif and the remaining duplicates prisoner. Alex, however, got separated and was nearly killed by Stellenbosch before ''she'' was killed by an explosion he just barely survived. Alex is pulled out of the rubble and put on a helicopter home. But after they've gone, someone emerges from the rubble of Point Blanc. Someone who looks exactly like Alex...]] |
| 23 | %%* ''Series/{{Alias}}'': Also a staple of J.J. Abrams' serial, as as acknowledged nod to ''Film/ThePerilsOfPauline''. Almost to the point of annoyance. |
| 24 | * ''Series/{{Angel}}'': Peril 'hanger: In the season three finale "[[Recap/AngelS03E22Tomorrow Tomorrow]]", [[spoiler:Angel is put in a box and sunk to the bottom of the ocean and Cordelia [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence becomes a higher being and disappears]].]] Huge cliffhanger. |
| 25 | * ''Series/BabylonFive'': |
| 26 | ** Season 1 ends on not one but ''three'' cliffhangers, with Garibaldi being shot in the back by a traitor in Security, Delenn entering the chrysalis to unknown effect and the death of President Santiago being announced. |
| 27 | ** Season 3 ends not only on a cliffhanger, but a cliffjumper as the main character flings himself into a bottomless chasm. |
| 28 | * ''Series/Batman1966'': Happens at the end of the first half of every two part episode in the 1960's series. |
| 29 | * ''Series/BattlestarGalactica2003'': |
| 30 | ** Season 2 of the new show ends, after having skipped a year, with [[spoiler:a Cylon fleet appearing over New Caprica, the Battlestars and remnants of the civilian fleet jumping away, and President Baltar surrendering. The first episode of Season 3 skips ahead four and a half months, when the Cylon occupation is in full swing. By the fourth episode of the season, the Cylons have been kicked out and the search for Earth resumes.]] |
| 31 | ** The first season ends [[spoiler:only moments after Commander Adama has been shot twice is the chest, right after initiating a military coup and arresting the President.]] |
| 32 | * ''Series/BetweenTheLions'' was a live action action show, but had an animated sequence in most episodes about a character named Cliff Hanger, who [[StatusQuoIsGod always starts and ends each segment hanging from a cliff]] - "''and that's why he's called [[HisNameReallyIsBarkeep Cliff Hanger]]!''". Read more [[Cliffhanger/WesternAnimation on the cliffhanger Western Animation page]] |
| 33 | * ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'' loves to do this with regards to relationships. Almost every season finale has a break up, a hook up, or both. Season 8 is probably the top, with Amy breaking up with Sheldon and Leonard confessing a drunken hook up with a colleague, putting his engagement with Penny in jeopardy. |
| 34 | * ''Series/BigWolfOnCampus'': In an unusual move, the second season of the light-hearted show ended with one of the main characters [[TakenForGranite a stone statue]] after making a HeroicSacrifice for his best friend. All the more dramatic because the show nearly didn't come back for a third season, but fortunately it was renewed and he was saved. An intentional cliffhanger, or at least the show wasn't unexpectedly cancelled. |
| 35 | * ''{{Series/Bones}}'': |
| 36 | ** Season 5 ended with Booth and Brennan and the squints going to other parts of the world after Brennan rejects Booth’s AnguishedDeclarationOfLove |
| 37 | ** Season 7 ends with Brennan framed for murder by Pelant and running away with her and Booth’s baby daughter |
| 38 | ** Season 8 has Pelant forcing Booth to reject Brennan’s marriage proposal |
| 39 | ** Season 9 has Booth nearly killed by three Delta Force agents. He kills them to defend himself and Brennan but is arrested afterward |
| 40 | ** Season 11 ends with Zach kidnapping Brennan |
| 41 | * ''Series/BoyMeetsWorld'': Ends season 5 with one: Topanga proposes to Cory during their high school graduation ceremony. |
| 42 | * ''Series/TheBradyBunch'': The three-part vacation episodes that began seasons 3 and 4 each had these at the end of the first two parts of said blocks: |
| 43 | ** "Ghost Town U.S.A."/"Grand Canyon Or Bust"/"The Brady Braves": The first part saw the family stranded in a ghost town, miles from the nearest major highway, their car stolen by a thief who somehow believes they're out to take his gold claim. Part 2 saw Bobby and Cindy get lost on the Grand Canyon floor after chasing a Native American boy. |
| 44 | ** "Hawaii Bound"/"Pass the Tabu"/"The Tiki Caves": Part 1 saw Greg wipe out during a surfing contest and barely miss hitting some coral reef, with initial concern when he didn't immediately resurface after going under. The second part saw Greg, Peter and Bobby sneak off to return a tabu idol to its sacred ground, and a mystery man stalking them in the no-outlet cave. |
| 45 | * ''Series/BrooklynNineNine'' typically ends each season with one: |
| 46 | ** Season 1 ended with Jake confessing his feelings for Amy before going undercover. |
| 47 | ** Season 2 ended with [[TheStoic Holt]] being forced to leave the squad. |
| 48 | ** Season 3 ended with Holt and Jake being threatened by a notorious [[TheDon mob boss]] they had been tracking all season, causing them to enter the witness protection program and hide out in Florida. |
| 49 | ** Midway through Season 4 the show went on a four-month hiatus after [[CloudCuckooLander Gina]] got hit by a bus. [[spoiler: She got better.]] |
| 50 | ** Season 4 ended with Jake and Rosa [[FrameUp being framed for a bank robbery]] by a DirtyCop [[spoiler: and sentenced to 25 years in prison.]] |
| 51 | ** Season 6 ends with Holt being forced to quit by [[spoiler: acting commissioner Wuntch]]. |
| 52 | * ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' had a few of these, but none were more famous than season 2s ending, [[spoiler:when Buffy had to send Angel, who in the last second thanks to Willow's spell, had regained his soul, to hell, to seal the portal close, and save the world. This leaving her so heartbroken at sacrificing the man she loved, she ran away from home, boarding a bus that was leaving Sunnydale.]] |
| 53 | * ''Series/{{Callan}}'': An early British example was this TV spy series, whose second season ended with an episode where Callan was kidnapped and brainwashed into believing that Hunter, the head of his section, was an enemy agent. Callan kills Hunter and is himself shot; the episode and season ended with him mortally wounded and gasping to Meres, a fellow agent, "Toby, old man... I've been had!" The next season dealt with Callan's recovery and return to operations while being treated with ''extreme'' caution by his superiors. |
| 54 | * ''Series/TheCape'': The series ends on one due to its cancellation. |
| 55 | * ''[[Series/Charmed1998 Charmed]]'' had a few, the biggest being season 3 [[spoiler:when Phoebe strikes a deal with the Source to rewind time in a chance to save Piper, only for him to betray her, with the final shot being without Phoebe, Shax is able to kill both Piper and Prue. Season 4 reveals that Leo was able to get there in time and save Piper, but Prue's soul had already moved on to the after-life.]] |
| 56 | * ''Series/ChasingLife'': |
| 57 | ** The first episode ends with April visiting her father's grave, and crossing paths with a girl her own age, who tells her that she's also there to visit her father. |
| 58 | ** "Finding Chemo" ends with April seeing Leo's parents in the hospital and then finding a voicemail from him on her phone, which he starts by saying that he has something really important to tell her... |
| 59 | ** "Locks of Love" ends with Leo's heart rate dropping while he's on the operating table. |
| 60 | ** "Model Behavior": April gets a nosebleed and suspects that her cancer is back. The episode ends with her crying in Dominic's arms. |
| 61 | ** [[spoiler:The series ends as April is still dealing with cancer, though she's accepted her possible death if treatments don't work out, resolving to live her life fully regardless. Beth is pregnant, and still unsure if she's going to have the baby. The police come to investigate George regarding his brother's death.]] |
| 62 | * ''Series/{{Cliffhangers}}'': An ill-fated attempt by NBC – in 1979, at a time when the network could not afford any failures – to popularize the concept of old-time movie serials into a weekly televisions series format. Three stories were featured each week, with each segment lasting about 15-20 minutes before reaching a "cliffhanger"-type conclusion and enticing the viewer to "stay tuned next week". This short lived '70s series was a homage to the old movie cliffhanger serials. The segments were as follows: |
| 63 | ** "Stop Susan Williams", inspired by the old ''Film/ThePerilsOfPauline'' serio-dramas of the 1930s. Here, the "Pauline" character is filled by model Susan Anton as the title character, a journalist who -- while investigating her brother's murder discovers that the killing was part of an international conspiracy. |
| 64 | ** "The Secret Empire", a U.S. marshal who discovers a futuristic underground city. This installment was based on "The Phantom Empire" movie serial starring Gene Autry. |
| 65 | ** "The Curse of Dracula", about the famous Brams Stoker character taking the guise of a college professor, in an attempt to achieve mortality.\ |
| 66 | Only "The Curse of Dracula" reached its conclusion within the 10-week run, as lack of viewer interest, poor reviews and [=ABC=]'s powerhouse ''Series/HappyDays'' and ''Series/LaverneAndShirley'', turned "Cliffhangers" into a show that truly left the viewer hanging after cancellation. As a postscript, the "Stop Susan Williams" and "The Secret Empire" installments were re-edited into two-hour "made-for-TV" movies for later re-airing by NBC, and included their intended conclusions. [[note]]For instance, the last "Stop Susan Williams" segment aired before ''Cliffhangers'' was cancelled was one where she was taken to the deep underground of a mine and bound before the criminals set off a time-activated nuclear bomb (that would do far more than destroy the mine and kill Williams); the clock had less than a second left before the "stay tuned next week."[[/note]] |
| 67 | * ''Series/{{Cheers}}'': One of the ways the "Diane era" was distinct from the "Rebecca era" was that the former ended each season after the first[[note]]which had such low ratings that the creators weren't sure if it would be renewed[[/note]] with a cliffhanger: |
| 68 | ** Season 2: Sam and Diane get into a ''literal'' knock-down, drag-out brawl and break up, with Diane quitting and leaving Cheers, apparently for good. |
| 69 | ** Season 3: Diane leaves Cheers to become Mrs. Frasier Crane, flying off to Europe for the wedding, only ''after'' having rekindled her romance with Sam; Sam hems and haws but eventually leaves to go after her. |
| 70 | ** Season 4: Sam has been dating a prominent local politician but his feelings for Diane once again resurface, and he has to decide between the two. The episode ends with him making a phonecall to one of them and proposing marriage - but we aren't shown which one! |
| 71 | ** Season 5: Sam and Diane are about to get married but they call off the wedding so that Diane can write a novel. She leaves Cheers and promises to return in six months. Even though she's previously left Cheers "for good" on several occasions, Sam seems to think this time she really will despite (ironically enough) her protestations to the contrary. Since Shelley Long left the show after this, he was right, although technically she did come BackForTheFinale six ''years'' (not months) later. |
| 72 | * ''Series/{{Chuck}}'' became quite famous for its season-ending cliffhangers. Generally, the season finale resolved the central conflict of the season, before introducing the new plot thread for the upcoming season in the last few minutes: |
| 73 | ** Season 1 has a bit of EarlyInstallmentWeirdness in being somewhat less arc-driven, though it was largely driven by the government's attempt to rebuild the Intersect. Additionally, the ''big'' cliffhanger is actually in the ''penultimate'' episode, with the Intersect due to come online and Beckman indicating that Casey's orders are [[spoiler:to kill Chuck to protect it]]. The actual finale ended with Devon proposing to Ellie. |
| 74 | ** In Season 2 FULCRUM has been defeated, and Chuck finally gets the Intersect out of his head. [[spoiler:But we still have about 10 minutes of airtime left, in which Chuck's father flashes on the agents escorting Bryce to receive the new Intersect, and Chuck rushing off to stop them. Chuck must upload the new Intersect himself to keep it out of The Ring's hands. And in the final moments we're introduced to what the Intersect 2.0 is capable of.]] |
| 75 | --->'''Chuck:''' Guys...I know Kung-Fu! |
| 76 | ** Season 3 follows Chuck's conflict with the Ring, culminating with his final battle against Daniel Shaw. As the family celebrates, [[spoiler:Chuck receives a posthumous message from his father, telling him that everything he had done was to find a way save Chuck and Ellie's MissingMom]]. |
| 77 | ** At the end of Season 4, Chuck has helped bring his mother back from her deep cover under Volkoff, restored his father's best friend's identity and reunited him with his daughter, and finally married Sarah. [[spoiler:And then Morgan accidentally uploads a ''new'' version of the Intersect, just as Chuck, Sarah, and Casey resolve to go into business for themselves as freelance spies.]] |
| 78 | ** Seasons 3 and 4 are also notable for their ''mid''-season cliffhangers, due to the way they were produced: The mid-season cliffhanger was intended to be a season finale, before NBC granted them additional episodes after production began. Rather than fleshing out the season, they kept the story order and essentially split the season in two loosely connected halves. |
| 79 | *** Season 3's mid-season finale resolved Chuck and Sarah's relationship, with Chuck [[spoiler:shooting and apparently killing Shaw. The second half picks up with them "honeymooning." |
| 80 | *** Chuck's search for his mother is resolved midway through season 4, and he and Sarah become engaged. This sets up the second half of the season [[spoiler:in which Chuck discovers Volkoff's daughter is being targeted by his associates, eventually leading to the reveal of Volkoff's ''true'' identity]], as well as the conflict over Chuck and Sarah's pending nuptials. |
| 81 | * ''Series/TheColbys'': The [[SeasonFinale Season 2 finale]] (and SeriesFinale) had several cliffhangers, most of which were later resolved on parent show ''Series/Dynasty1981'', the most fantastic being Fallon's [[spoiler:abduction by aliens in the California desert]]. |
| 82 | %%* ''Series/CriminalMinds'': Does this with EVERY season finale. |
| 83 | * ''Series/{{CSI}}'': |
| 84 | ** Ended its seventh season with Sara Sidle stuck in the middle of the desert (during a rainstorm) and trapped under a car. This was because the SerialKiller had put her there. |
| 85 | ** Its eighth ended with Warrick Brown apparently shot dead by the Undersheriff. [[spoiler: He was actually shot dead]] |
| 86 | ** Season 10 ended with Ray Langston being stabbed and Nick being shot |
| 87 | ** Season 11 was a milder one, ending with the question of what would happen to Ray after he killed Haskell. |
| 88 | ** Season 12 had DB's grandddaughter kidnapped, Warrick's killer out of prison, and Nick threatening to quit. |
| 89 | * ''Series/CSIMiami'': |
| 90 | ** Season 8 ended with Delko showing up to find the lab had been gassed, and everyone passed out. [[spoiler:Season 9 opens with the reveal that Jesse died in the attack.]] |
| 91 | ** Season 9 ends with the bad guy shooting H, leaving him to die, then locking Natalia in a trunk of a car, sending it off the pier, with the final seconds of the season being her feverishly, yet unsuccessfully, trying to dial in for help as the car slowly begins filling with water. |
| 92 | * ''Series/{{CSI NY}}'' had a few in the earlier seasons: |
| 93 | ** Season 4: Ends with Mac being kidnapped by a killer. |
| 94 | ** Season 5: The team is shot at while in a bar, and no one knew if anyone died until the season 6 premiere. |
| 95 | ** Season 6: Ends when Shane Casey breaks into Danny and Lindsay's apartment and has a gun pointed at their daughter. |
| 96 | * ''Series/{{Dallas}}'': |
| 97 | ** Relied on a season ending CliffHanger every year. The most famous was "Who Shot JR?" in 1980, which lasted from March 21st to November 7th. |
| 98 | ** The 14th season finale, "Conundrum," also was billed as the series' finale of the original CBS version. However, the episode itself was not unlike the other season finales. Here, J.R. fears he has lost his empire and everyone that means everything to him, and contemplating suicide, is visited by an angel(?), who, in a ''ItsAWonderfulPlot''-type dream, shows him how others would have fared without him. In the end, J.R. trains the gun at his head; Bobby, concerned for J.R.'s welfare, arrives at Southfork just in time to hear gunfire coming from J.R.'s bedroom, rushes to the door and says, "Oh my God!" Viewers are left to wonder whether J.R. killed himself ... a question that wouldn't be answered for another five years and the first of the reunion movies. |
| 99 | * ''Series/DesperateHousewives'': The third season concluded with Edie Britt's apparent suicide after Carlos dumped her. The fourth season premiere revealed that she had actually faked her suicide in order to win Carlos back. |
| 100 | * ''Series/DoctorWho'': |
| 101 | ** For most of its history consisted entirely of multi-episode serials, so obviously it's had a lot of cliffhangers. There have even been a couple of {{Literal Cliffhanger}}s. |
| 102 | *** Almost all of William Hartnell's stories were presented with a cliffhanger right at the end, except for season finales and one or two other exceptions, to create the impression of a single run-on adventure. This makes life notoriously awkward for ExpandedUniverse writers trying to find {{Time Skip}}s to put stories in — Creator/PeterPurves once joked that there is "one scene change in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS3E8TheGunfighters "The Gunfighters"]]" that holds virtually all of his Steven & Dodo audios. (Of course, at the time, there was no concern about this sort of thing.) Most Troughton stories did not do this and there is a lot more room to add material into his timeline. The practice was briefly revisited by the show in Season 12 as part of a RevisitingTheRoots approach with the new Doctor, causing similar problems fitting in adventures with the Fourth Doctor, Sarah Jane and Harry. There were also a small number of later examples, notably Nyssa collapsing at the end of [[Recap/DoctorWhoS19E2FourToDoomsday "Four to Doomsday"]], which leads into [[Recap/DoctorWhoS19E3Kinda "Kinda"]], and the ending of [[Recap/DoctorWhoS21E3Frontios "Frontios"]] with the TARDIS going out of control, which turns out to be due to it being accidentally caught in the Dalek time tunnel that features in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS21E4ResurrectionOfTheDaleks "Resurrection of the Daleks"]]. |
| 103 | *** A particularly bizarre and interesting meta-example in the Classic series is at the end of [[Recap/DoctorWhoS5E7TheWheelInSpace "The Wheel in Space"]], in which Zoe has slipped aboard the TARDIS and the Doctor is worried about the idea of taking her with him. In order to demonstrate what she will have to face, he projects some of his memories onto the TARDIS's screen — "but edited together to make it into a story". What he shows is footage from [[Recap/DoctorWhoS4E9TheEvilOfTheDaleks "The Evil of the Daleks"]] — a story that was going to be repeated in the gap between seasons — and the cliffhanger is a closeup of Zoe's face as she stares at the screen in fear. This may be the only example ever of a cliffhanger that leads into a previous episode. |
| 104 | *** The stereotypical cliffhanger (although not actually that common) involves the companion seeing something horrible and [[ScreamingWoman screaming]]! — a sound which segues into the high-pitched "Radiophonic scream" sting at the beginning of the end titles. This is occasionally played with — for instance, one cliffhanger in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS18E1TheLeisureHive "The Leisure Hive"]] features the companion looking on stoney-faced while ''the Doctor'' screams in fear (something he [[BreakTheBadass virtually never does]]). The companion Mel famously screamed at the same pitch as the end credit sting, so they blended easily ([[SensoryAbuse and painfully]]). |
| 105 | ** The modern series, which has multi-parters as a more occasional thing, makes it slightly easier to list. |
| 106 | *** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E4AliensOfLondon "Aliens of London"]] ends with the Slitheen's appearance being revealed as the Doctor, Rose, Harriet and Jackie are all threatened by them in different locations, with the Doctor being electrocuted as well. |
| 107 | *** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E12BadWolf "Bad Wolf"]] ends with the revelation that for the past century Earth has been controlled by the Daleks, and the Doctor promising he'll come rescue Rose from their clutches. |
| 108 | *** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E5RiseOfTheCybermen "Rise of the Cybermen"]] ends with the Doctor, Rose, Mickey, and several allies cornered by Cybermen who don't intend to let them surrender. |
| 109 | *** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E12ArmyOfGhosts "Army of Ghosts"]] ends five million Cybermen arriving on Earth and seizing control, and the Void Sphere opening to reveal [[spoiler: [[FromBadToWorse four Daleks]] ]]. |
| 110 | *** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E4DaleksInManhattan "Daleks in Manhattan"]] ends on the reveal of [[spoiler:the Dalek-human hybrid]]. |
| 111 | *** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E8HumanNature "Human Nature"]] ends with the Family of Blood holding Martha and Joan hostage to force a confused John Smith to turn back into the Doctor. |
| 112 | *** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E11Utopia "Utopia"]] finishes with the reveal that [[spoiler:Professor Yana is actually the Master,]] as he steals the TARDIS, leaving the Doctor, Martha and Captain Jack about to be killed by zombie-esque hordes. The episode right after that, [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E12TheSoundOfDrums "The Sound of Drums"]] finishes with [[spoiler:the Master]] aging and capturing the Doctor, imprisoning Jack, and Martha just escaping to witness the death of 10% of the Earth. |
| 113 | *** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E4TheSontaranStratagem "The Sontaran Stratagem"]] ends with the Earth's atmosphere being poisoned by the ATMOS devices while Wilf is trapped and choking inside the Nobles' car, as Donna, trying to get him out, yells for the Doctor. |
| 114 | *** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E8SilenceInTheLibrary "Silence in the Library"]] ends with Donna disappearing mid-teleport with a scream, as the Doctor and River are cornered. |
| 115 | *** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E11TurnLeft "Turn Left"]] finishes with Donna saving the day, and destroying an alternate universe where the Doctor died prematurely... but then tells him about [[spoiler: the strange blond woman who said the words "Bad Wolf"]]. At that moment, the old ArcWords from season one appear everywhere, and the [[OhCrap cloister bell]] starts ringing. |
| 116 | *** The episode right after that, [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E12TheStolenEarth "The Stolen Earth"]], ends with Daleks raging across the Earth, Sarah Jane being cornered by Daleks in her car, the members of Series/{{Torchwood}} under attack, and [[spoiler:the Doctor mid-regeneration]]. |
| 117 | *** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E17E18TheEndOfTime "The End of Time"]]'s first part ends with the Master taking over the world by turning every human into a copy of himself, and the revelation that [[spoiler:the narrator is the Lord President of the Time Lords, who are returning.]] |
| 118 | *** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E4TheTimeOfAngels "The Time of Angels"]] ends with the Doctor ''about'' to execute a plan to escape the Weeping Angels. |
| 119 | *** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E12ThePandoricaOpens "The Pandorica Opens"]] finishes with [[spoiler: Rory being mind-controlled and shooting Amy, the Doctor being locked inside an inescapable prison by ''all'' of his enemies, and the TARDIS blowing up with River inside it, destroying the entire universe.]] |
| 120 | *** The end of [[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E1TheImpossibleAstronaut "The Impossible Astronaut"]] is [[spoiler:Amy shooting the astronaut which killed the Doctor, only to reveal it to actually be a little girl.]] The [[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E2DayOfTheMoon next episode]] also has a cliffhanger, but one that isn't concluded for several more episodes, as it shows [[spoiler:the same little girl ''regenerating'' in a back-alley.]] |
| 121 | *** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E5TheRebelFlesh "The Rebel Flesh"]] ends on the reveal of the Doctor's Ganger. |
| 122 | *** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS34E11DarkWater "Dark Water"]] ends with the mysterious Missy revealing that [[spoiler:she is the Master, to the Doctor's abject horror.]] |
| 123 | *** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS35E1TheMagiciansApprentice "The Magician's Apprentice"]] ends with [[spoiler:Clara and Missy apparently having been exterminated, and the TARDIS allegedly destroyed. This was all undone in the following episode, unsurprisingly.]] |
| 124 | *** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS35E3UnderTheLake "Under the Lake"]] ends with Clara, stuck in the underwater base with the two remaining personnel, seeing [[spoiler:the Doctor's ghost]]. |
| 125 | *** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS35E7TheZygonInvasion "The Zygon Invasion"]] ends with Bonnie [[spoiler:firing a missile at the Doctor's plane.]] |
| 126 | *** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS35E10FaceTheRaven "Face the Raven"]] ends with [[spoiler:Clara being KilledOffForReal as the Doctor is teleported to an unknown destination.]] |
| 127 | *** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS36E7ThePyramidAtTheEndOfTheWorld "The Pyramid at the End of the World"]] ends on [[spoiler:the Monks taking over Earth after Bill makes a deal with them to save the Doctor.]] |
| 128 | *** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS36E11WorldEnoughAndTime "World Enough and Time"]] end with the Doctor arriving at the bottom of the ship to discover that [[spoiler:Bill has just been converted into the first Cyberman, and that the Saxon Master is onboard.]] Then the next episode, [[Recap/DoctorWhoS36E12TheDoctorFalls "The Doctor Falls"]], ends with [[spoiler:the Twelfth Doctor trying to avoid regenerating when he encounters the First Doctor.]] |
| 129 | *** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS38E1E2Spyfall "Spyfall"]]'s first part ends on TheReveal that [[spoiler:"O" is actually the latest incarnation of TheMaster. He promptly reveals he's caught our heroes on a plane with a deadlock-sealed bomb before having the Doctor sent to a mysterious dimension by one of his goons and teleporting away, leaving Ryan, Graham and Yaz stranded on a crashing, out-of-control plane without a cockpit.]] |
| 130 | *** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS39E4FluxChapterFourVillageOfTheAngels "Village of the Angels"]] ends with [[spoiler:the Weeping Angels turning the Doctor into an Angel herself]]. |
| 131 | ** Some cliffhangers situated between two different stories: |
| 132 | *** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E13Doomsday "Doomsday"]] combines this with MoodWhiplash as the Doctor, after having just said goodbye to Rose (and been cut off abruptly), suddenly discovers a wedding-dress-clad Donna Noble standing in the TARDIS, leading into [[Recap/DoctorWho2006CSTheRunawayBride "The Runaway Bride"]]. |
| 133 | *** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E13LastOfTheTimeLords "Last of the Time Lords"]] does it again, with the Doctor having just said goodbye to Martha when the TARDIS suddenly crashes into … the ''Titanic'', prompting a FlatWhat from the Doctor and leading into [[Recap/DoctorWho2007CSVoyageOfTheDamned "Voyage of the Damned"]]. |
| 134 | *** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E5ThePoisonSky "The Poison Sky"]] ends on Martha just about to walk off the TARDIS after saying her goodbyes when the door suddenly closes and the TARDIS takes off by herself for an unknown destination, leading into [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E6TheDoctorsDaughter "The Doctor's Daughter"]]. |
| 135 | *** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E2TheBeastBelow "The Beast Below"]] ends on the Doctor receiving a phone call from UsefulNotes/WinstonChurchill, who asks for help as the shadow of a [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E3VictoryOfTheDaleks Dalek]] glides towards him... |
| 136 | *** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E6TheAlmostPeople "The Almost People"]] ends on the revelation that [[spoiler:Amy has been a Flesh avatar for quite some time, as the Doctor dissolves it to return her mind to her real body — where she's imprisoned in a white tube and ''about to give birth''...]] |
| 137 | *** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E12ClosingTime "Closing Time"]] has a MoodWhiplash ending where River, studying accounts of the Doctor at the Lunar University in the 52nd century, is suddenly [[spoiler:kidnapped by the Silence and forced into the astronaut suit in order to kill the Doctor.]] |
| 138 | *** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS34E12DeathInHeaven "Death in Heaven"]], in a CallBack to the cliffhangers of "Doomsday" and "Last of the Time Lords", interrupts the credits with a scene where the Doctor, while alone on the TARDIS after leaving Clara, is suddenly visited by [[spoiler:'''Santa Claus''']], setting in motion [[Recap/DoctorWho2014CSLastChristmas "Last Christmas"]]. |
| 139 | *** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS37E1TheWomanWhoFellToEarth "The Woman Who Fell to Earth"]]: The Doctor has converted an alien transport pod into a teleporter set to send her and only her to the location of her missing TARDIS. She activates it... [[spoiler:and it sends her, along with new companions Ryan, Graham and Yaz, to ''the vacuum of space, without spacesuits''.]] |
| 140 | *** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS38E5FugitiveOfTheJudoon "Fugitive of the Judoon"]]: A conversation between the Doctor and her companions is cut short when the TARDIS picks up alerts from three continents on Earth simultaneously, leading into [[Recap/DoctorWhoS38E6Praxeus "Praxeus"]]. |
| 141 | ** The beginning of [[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E8TheImpossiblePlanet "The Impossible Planet"]] has a ShoutOut to the cliffhangers of the old series. In TheTeaser, the Ood, who look like Lovecraftian horrors, walk toward the Doctor and Rose chanting "We must feed", and the close-ups and spinning camera angles match the old Who's Cliff Hangers perfectly. Naturally, after the titles, the Ood are shown to be perfectly nice and friendly, with their apparent viciousness being a PhlebotinumBreakdown: "We must feed..." ''[whacks the translator ball]'' "...you, if you are hungry. Do you want refreshments?" |
| 142 | ** Every regeneration episode ends on one of these. The new series ones especially, due to a habit of having the Doctor crash the TARDIS at the same time: |
| 143 | *** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E17E18TheEndOfTime "The End of Time"]] has the severely damaged TARDIS falling towards Earth as the Doctor remains strangely unconcerned. |
| 144 | *** [[Recap/DoctorWho2013CSTheTimeOfTheDoctor "The Time of the Doctor"]] ends with the Twelfth Doctor informing Clara that he has forgotten how to fly the TARDIS, to her [[OhCrap considerable panic]]. |
| 145 | *** [[Recap/DoctorWho2017CSTwiceUponATime "Twice Upon a Time"]], however, manages to blow all previous regeneration cliffhangers out of the water by having the Thirteenth Doctor [[spoiler:''tossed out into freefall at thirty thousand feet'' after she presses one button, as the exploding TARDIS dematerializes to Time knows where.]] |
| 146 | * ''Series/{{Doubt}}'': Sadie finds out after winning his case that Billy’s blood is not his own due to a previous episode reveal. |
| 147 | %%* ''Series/EastEnders'': "You aint my muvva!" "Yes I am!!" Dun Dun dundundundun.... |
| 148 | %%* ''Series/{{ER}}'': Does this pretty much every season. |
| 149 | %%* ''Series/{{Farscape}}'': Every single season ending. |
| 150 | * ''Series/Forever2014'': |
| 151 | ** "The Man in the Killer Suit" wraps up just like any other episode, but then in its last minute [[spoiler: Henry gets in a cab, and the driver turns out to be Adam, who locks him in and speeds off.]] |
| 152 | ** At the end of "Best Foot Forward" one cliffhanger interrupts another. Jo has just told Henry she called off her trip to Paris with Isaac because she realized she didn't want to go ''with Isaac'', but before she can really answer his question about why, Abraham interrupts, leaving the relationship hanging — in order to tell Henry [[spoiler:"I found Mom."]] |
| 153 | * ''Series/{{Frasier}}'': Even sitcoms aren't immune. Most of its season finales ended on a cliffhanger - the biggest one being the end of Season 7, where Niles and Daphne finally got together. Even the GrandFinale ended on a minor cliffhanger. The only seasons not to end with one were 1, 2, 3 and 6. |
| 154 | * ''Series/{{Friends}}'': Ended almost all of it seasons with a cliffhanger, the most famous one being the season 4 finale, where Ross says the wrong name at his wedding. Season 7 comes close, as during Chandler and Monica's wedding, its revealed that unlike everyone believes, the positive pregnancy test Phoebe and Rachel found wasn't Monica's. As the episode closes out, [[spoiler:the camera slowly pans over to [[TheReveal Rachel]].]] |
| 155 | * ''Series/GameOfThrones'': |
| 156 | ** Season 2: Jon is set to be taken before the King Beyond the Wall and the White Walkers move to attack the Fist of the First Men. |
| 157 | ** Season 3: Jon returns to Castle Black barely alive. Yara Greyjoy sets out to rescue her brother. |
| 158 | ** Season 4: Tyrion plunges House Lannister into chaos before fleeing. |
| 159 | ** Season 5: Brienne raised her sword and sentenced Stannis to death, Myrcella was shown bleeding from her nose and collapsing after Ellaria poisoned her, Daenerys was shown surrounded by a khalasar, Sansa and Theon jumped off the wall of Winterfell to avoid Ramsey's wrath, Arya was blinded, Jon was stabbed repeatedly by his men and left bleeding in the snow. |
| 160 | * ''Series/HouseOfTheDragon'': |
| 161 | ** Season 1: [[spoiler:Lucerys Velaryon fails to rally Borros Baratheon to the Blacks and dies by the fault of Aemond Targaryen, who couldn't control his dragon. Rhaenyra learns the news of her son's death and prepares for war.]] |
| 162 | * ''Series/GangRelated'': Due to the series being canceled, many plot threads were left hanging, [[spoiler:such as whether Ryan being the mole will be revealed, or the Los Angelicos/Metas gang war, and Carlos implied intent to take the leadership of the [=LAs=] away from his brother Daniel]]. |
| 163 | * Series/TheGeorgeLopezShow ends season 5 with the episode [[LampshadeHanging "It's a Cliffhanger, By George"]], which then bleeds into the season 6 premiere "George's Mom Faces Hard Tambien", containing back-to-back doozies of cliffhangers that resolve in different directions: |
| 164 | ** Benny ends up hooking up with an ex-boyfriend... who ends up committing ''another'' crime, in turn inadvertently getting the police on Benny's tail for a history of unintentional abiding and abetting. She ends the episode begging George to help her not go to jail. [[spoiler:She's caught and arrested; she ends up spending the following season behind bars.]] |
| 165 | ** George and Ernie get the news that their company is contemplating a merger with another factory in Mexico, potentially costing them their jobs. [[spoiler:[[PseudoCrisis It ends up quietly dismissed]].]] |
| 166 | ** Angie has been feeling inexplicable morning sickness for the past few days, and -- considering she might be pregnant -- awaits the results of a pregnancy test. [[spoiler:She ends up telling George it was positive, but in the very next episode, she ends up learning it was a ''false'' positive.]] |
| 167 | ** Carmen awaits her college admission letters, and after facing multiple rejections, she's left with only one remaining letter. [[spoiler:It's an acceptance; [[PutOnABus she ends up leaving for Vermont in the following season]].]] |
| 168 | ** [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking On a lesser note (but included in the climactic cliffhanger montage)]], Max secretly swipes a pack of beer and is about to enjoy it in his bedroom. He spends the next episode ''seriously'' hungover. |
| 169 | * ''Series/GrangeHill'': Many episodes end with a cliffhanger. These are usually resolved soon afterwards, although the next episode does not follow on directly. |
| 170 | * ''Series/GreysAnatomy'': The fifth season ended with a cliffhanger. [[spoiler:Either Izzie or George]] might be headed for the big OR in the sky. [[spoiler:Or both.]] |
| 171 | * ''Series/{{Grimm}}'': Had this happen for a mid season break, just after an old enemy had returned, his best friend had been hospitalized, and immediately after Nick has found out who has been having an (unwilling) affair with his girlfriend. They seemed to be aware of how this would make the fans feel, however. 2 seconds after "To Be Continued" showed up on the screen, it was followed by "...sorry". |
| 172 | * ''Series/{{Himmelsdalen}}'': Helena escapes from the sanitorium in the Season 1 finale, going to look for Siri on the outside. As the series has apparently been canceled, it may be the show ends this way. |
| 173 | * ''Series/HouseOfAnubis'': All episodes end in a cliffhanger to be resolved in the next episode. |
| 174 | * ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'': The season 3 finale ended with Ted proposing to Stella (mind you, this was while Stella was hinted to be the title's Mother) and Barney realizing that he was in love with Robin. Stella said yes in the teaser of the fourth season premiere, and the rest of the episode took place several months after the teaser, partly because the season 3 finale had also featured Barney getting run over by a bus, which took him an entire summer's worth of physical therapy to heal from. |
| 175 | * ''{{Series/Humans}}'': All of the seasons were ended this way. With the series' cancellation, it also ended as a whole like this, with many plot threads left hanging. |
| 176 | * ''Series/{{Intergalactic}}'': The first season (and due to its cancellation, the series as a whole), ends on one with Verona having fled the crew (falsely believing she's a traitor) with the Commonworld forces still after them. |
| 177 | * ''Series/InTheHeatOfTheNight'': The second season finale "Missing" ended on a cliffhanger with acting chief Tom Dugan murdered by white supremacists and Chief Gillespie still being held hostage by the same white supremacists, with the story being resolved in the third season episode "Anniversary." Unusually, "Anniversary" was not the first episode shown in the third season, as Carroll O'Connor wanted the season opener to be the episode "Rape" in which Althea Tibbs was raped by a co-worker. "Anniversay" was the sixth episode of the season, with the FramingDevice being that Gillespie was explaining to a government agent the circumstances of his kidnapping and how it was resolved. |
| 178 | * ''Series/IslandOfTheSeaWolves'': In episode 1, Cedar heads into the den of Dagger, who lunges and catches her by the throat. There's a snarl and the camera switches to a distant view of the forest as a whimper is heard, ending the episode. |
| 179 | * ''Series/{{JAG}}'': Had several cliffhangers. The first season ended [[spoiler: with Harm being arrested for murder]], though same episode was a MissingEpisode and later adapted, thus bordering on CanonDiscontinuity. The third season ended [[spoiler: with Harm and Mac about to be shot down in a Russian jet while looking for Harm's father]]. The sixth ended with [[spoiler: Harm lost at sea, having ejected from his F-14 trying to get back in time to catch Mac's wedding]]. The seventh ends with [[spoiler: Bud stepping on a landmine while trying to prevent an Afghan boy from doing likewise]]. The eighth ended with [[spoiler: Harm leaving JAG to save Mac and Webb against orders]]. The ninth ends with [[spoiler: Webb apparently killed and the Admiral's retirement]]. The series itself ends with something like a cliffhanger, [[spoiler: leaving the audience wondering if either Harm or Mac will retire after they decide to marry and whether they'll end up in London or San Diego afterwards]]. |
| 180 | * ''Series/JaneTheVirgin'' ends every episode with a cliffhanger, seeing that this is a telenovela. The season finales also all have ended in a cliffhanger. |
| 181 | ** The first season ended as [[spoiler: Jane gives birth to Mateo, only for [[BigBad Sin Rostro]] to kidnap him. Also, Xiomara and Rogelio have a Vegas wedding, albeit being drunk and Rafael having a second sample of his sperm]]. |
| 182 | ** The second season ended with [[spoiler: Michael getting shot, Petra being paralysed by Anezka, Rose (who is NotQuiteDead and runs away with Luisa and Xiomara is pregnant.]] |
| 183 | ** The third season ended with [[spoiler: Luisa taking over the Marbella hotel, and kicking Rafael to the curb, Anezka pointing a gun at Petra on the pier and Jane’s first love Adam returning]]. |
| 184 | ** The fourth season ended with [[spoiler: Jane seeing Michael, who supposedly died in the third season show up in Rafael’s apartment and JR saving Petra from an unknown assailant.]] |
| 185 | * ''Series/KrodMandoonAndTheFlamingSwordOfFire'': Due to the series cancellation, it ends like this, [[spoiler: with Dongalor and Barnabas stuck in a tree while the heroes set out to keep up the fight.]] |
| 186 | * Used frequently in the ''Franchise/LawAndOrder'' universe. |
| 187 | ** [[Series/LawAndOrder The original series]] had only one self-contained multi-part episode, but used the cliffhanger format frequently for crossovers with other shows. |
| 188 | ** This has become more common in the later seasons of [[Series/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit SVU]]. Seasons 13 and 14 both ended on cliffhangers, and subsequent seasons have made it common to open and/or close a season with a two-part episode that involves a cliffhanger. |
| 189 | *** They have also begun doing multi-series crossover episodes again, something that they had done only once ("Design"/"Flaw") since the first season. |
| 190 | ** [[Series/LawAndOrderCriminalIntent Criminal Intent]] had two two-part episodes with cliffhangers: Season 4's "In The Wee Small Hours" and Season 9's "Loyalty". These were especially remarkable for the show because, with the alternating main cast, those episodes were the only time the show used all four main-character detectives (whoever they were at the time) in the same episode. |
| 191 | * Season's 1 final of ''Series/TheLordOfTheRingsTheRingsOfPower'' leaves many threads opened. [[spoiler:Nori and her Istari friend left for the lands of Rhun, Ar-Pharazon is planning to take over Numenor in the near future after the King's death, Disa and Prince Durin are last seen complotting against the King, Celebrimbor created the Rings of Power and lastly, Sauron just walked into Mordor.]] |
| 192 | * ''Series/LoisAndClark'': |
| 193 | ** Season two ended with Clark having just proposed to Lois. This cliffhanger lasted for four months, eventually to be resolved with the WhamLine, "Who's asking? Clark or Superman?" |
| 194 | ** Four months? It was a year in the UK. Frustration ensued, especially as UK viewers are less habituated to cliffhangers.... |
| 195 | *** Say the people who invented ''Series/DoctorWho''. |
| 196 | * ''Series/{{Lost}}'': Regularly milks cliffhangers of both types for all they're worth, and ''Series/{{Heroes}}'' is jumping in with both feet too. |
| 197 | * Season 1 of ''Series/LoveVictor'' ends with Victor [[spoiler:telling his parents and sister that he is gay, but it ends before we can see how they react to it.]] |
| 198 | * ''Series/TheMandalorian'': [[spoiler: Episode 7 ends with the Mando, Cara and Greef trying to cover from a large regiment of stormtroopers led by Moff Gideon while some scout troopers capture The Child after attacking Kuiil.]] |
| 199 | * ''Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers'': |
| 200 | ** Got in a really good one at the end of "Green With Evil Part 2". The episode ended with ''Goldar's sword apparently about to impale Jason's head.'' |
| 201 | ** Let's not forget Season 3's infamous cliffhanger with the villains' blowing up the Command Center, and leaving the Rangers pretty much screwed.[[note]]Until [[Series/PowerRangersZeo next season]], that is...[[/note]] |
| 202 | ** ''Series/PowerRangersTurbo'' ended with the mentors all captured or MIA, all powers and Ranger tech broken or destroyed, and four of the remaining five Rangers taking a space shuttle out to try and do ''something'', lack of superpowers, FTL drive, and location of enemies be damned. The series actually ended on a "to be continued" just as the shuttle took off. |
| 203 | ** ''Series/PowerRangersRPM'' ended on an open cliffhanger with Venjix seemingly defeated by the rangers, only to reveal that he survived inside Scott's morpher, which the loose ends of this would be resolved in the pentimulate episode of ''Series/PowerRangersBeastMorphers''! |
| 204 | ** ''Series/PowerRangersDinoFury'' ended with Zayto returning in his new resurrected ranger form, telling his teammates that Lord Zedd is back, and the team going to parts unknown...setting up ''Series/PowerRangersCosmicFury''. |
| 205 | * ''Series/{{Misfits}}'': Already taunting fans with severe BritishBrevity (i.e. the prospect of waiting a whole year for another six episodes), this show ended its first season on a ''horrible'' cliff-hanger: [[spoiler: the main character was left buried alive, with no obvious means of escape.]] |
| 206 | * ''Series/MissionImpossible'': Used this ''constantly'' in {{Act Break}}s (and, of course, in ''its'' two-part stories - the show's only three-parter, "The Falcon," even ended part one with Paris dangling over a cl... balcony!). |
| 207 | * ''Series/{{NCIS}}'' has nine season-ending cliffhangers: |
| 208 | ** Season 2 [[spoiler:Kate shot and killed.]] |
| 209 | ** Season 4 [[spoiler:Tony meeting his girlfriend's father, La Grenouille.]] |
| 210 | ** Season 5 [[spoiler:Jenny's death and Vance separating the team.]] |
| 211 | ** Season 6 [[spoiler:Ziva resigns from NCIS and rejoins Mossad. During a mission, she finds herself in captivity by terrorists in Somalia.]] |
| 212 | ** Season 7 [[spoiler:Paloma Alejandro and her gang walking into Jackson's store.]] |
| 213 | ** Season 9 [[spoiler:Harper Dearing planting a bomb on the Navy Yard, which goes off with Gibbs, Abby, Ziva, Tony AND [=McGee=] all still inside. Ducky gets the news at Palmer's beachside wedding and promptly has a massive heart attack.]] |
| 214 | *** [[spoiler:EverybodyLives]] |
| 215 | ** Season 10 [[spoiler:Gibbs and co. are being investigated by a sleazy DC attorney, prompting [=McGee=], Tony and Ziva to hand in their badges... Gibbs leaves on a secret mission for [=JSOC=], whereupon his teammate is mortally wounded and tells Gibbs to take up the sniper rifle... The scene changes to [[ColdSniper Gibbs]] taking up the sniper rifle and aining... at Fornell? Fade to black, Bang!]] |
| 216 | ** Season 12 [[spoiler:Gibbs is shot twice, in the knee and abdomen, and the episode ends with his assailant pointing a gun at him.]] [[spoiler: Gibbs Gets Better.]] |
| 217 | ** Season 14 [[spoiler:Gibbs and co. are in Paraguay rescuing some hostages when they get into a firefight. [=McGee=] tells the evac helicopter crew to depart and joins Gibbs on foot while more enemies converge.]] |
| 218 | ** Season 15 [[spoiler: Masahun, the one who tortured Jack and was the cause of the scars on her back kidnapped Director Vance (because he was a part of the rescue team that saved Jack and killed some of Masahun’s men), and Masahun whispers “Infidel” to Vance’s ear.]] |
| 219 | * ''Series/{{NUMB3RS}}'' actually tended to [[AvertedTrope avert this]], often writing their multi-part episodes in such a way that someone watching the first part wouldn't realize a follow-up was coming until they saw the PreviouslyOn segment in the second part. However, they did play it straight a few times: |
| 220 | ** The end of "Spree" was basically a textbook cliffhanger. |
| 221 | ** An unusual example between the last two episodes in Season 5. "Greatest Hits" ends with a cliffhanger, but not for a continuation of that particular story. In fact, all of the plot points for that episode have been neatly resolved, and then, in the last few seconds, [[spoiler:Amita is kidnapped]] in an act completely unrelated to anything that had happened in that episode, setting the stage for "Angels and Devils". |
| 222 | * ''Series/OddSquad'': Every two-parter episode, as well as every season finale, has these. "Odd Beginnings", the Season 3 premiere, also has one. |
| 223 | ** "Training Day" ends with Olive about to tell Otto exactly when her former partner [[spoiler:Todd turned to the side of oddness.]] |
| 224 | ** "O is Not For Over" ends with Otto going to Odd Todd after the latter offered the former a chance to join him, seemingly defecting to his side and becoming a villain. |
| 225 | ** "First Day" ends with Olympia demoting herself back to an agent-in-training, leaving her new partner Otis, and going back to the Odd Squad Academy after the pair are unable to find the cause of the floating people. |
| 226 | ** "Oscar Strikes Back" ends with Oprah and Oscar being approached by a horde of brainwashed, mind-controlled Scientists with no way to fight them, as Oscar refuses to put Oona in danger of becoming brainwashed herself to deliver the weapon they need to defeat them. |
| 227 | ** "Who is Agent Otis?" ends with Oprah and Otis walking out of Headquarters being fired from Odd Squad, much to the chagrin of Olympia, who inadvertently helped to get them fired. |
| 228 | ** "Odds and Ends" ends with Ohlm revealing himself as [[spoiler:the true BigBad of the season, having [[ObfuscatingStupidity faked being stupid]] to further his plans.]] |
| 229 | ** "Odd Beginnings: Part 1" ends with the Sticky Sisters breaking into the Arctic Headquarters, much to Arctic Mr. O's surprise. |
| 230 | ** "Odd Beginnings: Part 2" ends with the Sticky Sisters getting stuck outside of the Amazon Headquarters where Orla works, due to them high-fiving. |
| 231 | ** "End of the Road" ends with all of the villains in [[spoiler: The Shadow's Villain Network]] ready to unleash their powers into all the Odd Squad precincts of the world. |
| 232 | * ''Series/OneOfUsIsLying'': The first season ends with Addy, Cooper, Bronwyn, Nate and Janae all being targeted by a new stalker. Later so does the second season, with Fiona apparently poisoned in jail and some new person (perhaps Bronwyn) being murdered outside. This will never get resolved due to the show's cancellation. |
| 233 | * ''Series/OrangeIsTheNewBlack'' has had quite a few of them. |
| 234 | ** Season 1 ends with Piper giving a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown to Pennsatucky. [[spoiler: Penn lives.]] |
| 235 | ** Season 3 has Alex cornered in the greenhouse by Aydin, Kubra's hitman. [[spoiler: Lolly saves her by beating him down.]] |
| 236 | ** Season 4 has a riot about to break out, and with Daya holding a gun to Humphrey's head. |
| 237 | %%* ''Series/OneTreeHill'': EVERY season finale. |
| 238 | * ''Series/PersonOfInterest'': The first season ends with [[spoiler:[[MissionControl Finch]] being kidnapped by [[TheCracker Root]]. To track him down, [[BadassInANiceSuit Reese]] asks [[MagicalComputer the Machine]] for help ''[[InstantAIJustAddWater and the Machine answers]]'', but the episode ends before we find out what it said.]] |
| 239 | * ''Series/{{Psych}}'': [[spoiler: "Santabarbaratown", the season six finale]] did this with an excellent BaitAndSwitch: ''Psych's'' season finales are always {{Drama Bomb Finale}}s, but so far have always had everything resolved by the end of the episode (although the Yin/Yang trilogy had some suspenseful {{Foreshadowing}} and changes to the status quo to entice the viewers). This time they seemed to be following the same formula: an extra-dark, extra-personal, extra-high-stakes mystery that was wrapped up by the end of the episode...but then [[spoiler: a loose end appears at the very last moment, with Shawn and Henry both simultaneously realizing that Henry's old cop friend who is discussing the case with him at the beach was a corrupt cop just like Henry's other two old friends who had been exposed earlier in the episode. The old friend promptly guns down Henry for knowing too much, and Henry collapses, fate unknown and with Shawn still miles away at SBPD headquarters.]] |
| 240 | * ''Series/QuantumLeap'': |
| 241 | Almost every episode ends with the start of Sam's next leap. With the exception of a few episodes reusing clips from previous episodes. |
| 242 | ** "[[Recap/QuantumLeapS3E22ShockTheater Shock Theater]]" ends with Sam & Al switching roles after a lightning bolt strikes the two. |
| 243 | ** "[[Recap/QuantumLeapS4E22ALeapForLisa A Leap For Lisa]]" ends with Sam leaping into the body of Lee Harvey Oswald. |
| 244 | * ''Series/RedDwarf'': |
| 245 | ** Has had bad luck with season cliffhangers: it's tried it twice, and both times immediately went on hiatus for years. |
| 246 | ** "[[Recap/RedDwarfSeasonVIOutOfTime Out of Time]]" ended with the lead characters apparently murdered by their [[FutureMeScaresMe evil future selves]]; the audience had to wait four smegging years to find out how they got out of it. |
| 247 | ** "[[Recap/RedDwarfSeasonVIIIOnlyTheGood Only the Good]]" ended with the Red Dwarf being devoured by a genetically enhanced virus while most of the crew evacuates, and the main characters escape to a mirror universe. Except for Rimmer, apparently trapped on the disintegrating ship. The series ends with the screen saying "The End? The smeg it is!". This time the audience had to wait a full decade. [[spoiler:And strictly speaking we still don't know what happened next, because the makers invoked an UnInstallment and skipped forward to where everything was back to normal.]] |
| 248 | * ''Series/{{Revolution}}'': |
| 249 | ** [[Recap/RevolutionS1E10NobodysFaultButMine Episode 10]], the midseason finale, ends with [[spoiler: Monroe using the pendant to restore power to a fleet of attack helicopters and going after the heroes]]. [[Recap/RevolutionS1E11TheStand Episode 11]] picks up where the cliffhanger left off and resolves it. |
| 250 | ** The [[Recap/RevolutionS1E20TheDarkTower first season finale]] has one. [[spoiler: Team Matheson makes it to the special room in level 12 of the Tower and successfully turns the power back on worldwide. But then Randall Flynn comes in, launches Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles at Philadelphia and Atlanta, and then he shoots himself in the head. Team Matheson now has to figure out what to do about those missiles before it's too late. Then you have the Monroe Republic led by Tom Neville trying to break into the room with intent to kill everyone in there, and Jason Neville doesn't look too happy about it. There's also the matter of the American government Randall is working for, led by the President of the United States, hiding out in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and now they intend to come back and retake what's theirs]]. |
| 251 | * ''Series/{{Riverdale}}'' ends almost every episode in a cliffhanger, including the season finales. |
| 252 | ** Season 1 ended with [[spoiler: Fred Andrews getting shot by the Black Hood]]. |
| 253 | ** Season 2 ended with [[spoiler: Archie getting arrested for a murder he didn’t commit, all thanks to Hiram Lodge, and also the finale saw a BigBadEnsemble formed for the third season]]. |
| 254 | * ''Series/SapphireAndSteel'': Each of the six "Assignments" consists of 4-8 episodes, with cliff hangers at the end of each episode except the last one. |
| 255 | * The first season of the [[Series/SavedByTheBell2020 Saved By The Bell revival series]] ends with the gang getting a notification about [[UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic the coronavirus]] and they are clearly frightened about it. |
| 256 | * ''Series/TheSentinel'': Season 3 ended with one of the main characters having been drowned in a fountain by an evil female Sentinel and a ToBeContinued... at which point the show was cancelled. Fan outrage helped get it {{uncancelled}} for a half-season, long enough to resolve the storyline and come up with a less depressing finale. |
| 257 | * ''Series/{{Sherlock}}'': Every series. |
| 258 | ** Series 1: A face off between Sherlock and Moriarty [[spoiler:over a bomb]]. |
| 259 | ** Series 2: Sherlock [[spoiler: leaps off a five story building then turns up at his own grave]]. |
| 260 | %%* ''Series/{{Smallville}}'': Every single season of ''Smallville''. |
| 261 | * ''Series/{{Spooks}}'': |
| 262 | ** Ended most of its series on these. Exceptions are series three, five and ten (which was the last). |
| 263 | ** Series One: [[spoiler: Tom's girlfriend and her daughter locked in his house with a bomb, with him refusing to clear the blast radius.]] |
| 264 | ** Series Two: [[spoiler: Tom is framed for the assassination of the Chief of the Defence Staff, shoots Harry in the shoulder while trying to escape, and seemingly drowns himself in the ocean.]] |
| 265 | ** Series Four: [[spoiler: Angela corners several MI-5 personnel in the street with a sniper rifle, putting a bullet into Adam's lung in the process before lining up a shot on Harry...]] |
| 266 | ** Series Six: [[spoiler: Adam appears to mercy kill Jo to spare her from any more torture by the Redbacks, just as [=CO19=] storms the building.]] |
| 267 | ** Series Seven: [[spoiler: The leader of the local FSB office kidnaps Harry for reasons unknown.]] |
| 268 | ** Series Eight: [[spoiler: Ros and the Home Secretary get caught in a hotel explosion engineered by Nightingale, with Lucas also getting blown back by the explosion while trying to get back to them.]] |
| 269 | ** Series Nine: [[spoiler: Lucas' exact fate isn't specified despite the car alarms and Harry looking down from the rooftop. Harry is told by the Home Secretary "to prepare for life after MI-5"...]] |
| 270 | * ''Series/StargateAtlantis'': |
| 271 | ** The first season ended with the city of Atlantis on the verge of another wraith attack, Ford captured by the wraith, Colonel Everett surrounded by them, and Major Sheppard flying a booby-trapped puddle jumper on a suicide mission towards a Wraith Hive-ship. |
| 272 | ** The second season ended with several Wraith hive ships headed towards Earth. |
| 273 | ** The third season ended with the city stuck in the middle of empty space with limited air and a failed hyperdrive. Even if Jewel Staite was entering the show as [[Series/{{Firefly}} Kaylee]] rather than Doctor Keller, it's a bit tricky to imagine them fixing it. |
| 274 | ** Season four ended with the slightly less impressive cliffhanger of an building collapsing on the team. |
| 275 | %%* ''Series/StargateSG1'': Likewise, parent show ended almost all of its seasons with cliffhangers of varying magnitude, all with the ominous "ToBeContinued..." caption. |
| 276 | * ''Franchise/StarTrek'': |
| 277 | ** Has had a CliffHanger in nearly every non-final season since ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'''s Season Three. It's no coincidence that that cliffhanger, "The Best of Both Worlds", is considered to be the best episode of the entire series (and good arguments are made that it's the best episode of the entire ''franchise''. Edith Keeler might disagree, though...) |
| 278 | *** This one is particularly interesting in that it cleared the way for cliffhangers, previously a staple for soap operas, to be used in more "serious" TV shows. |
| 279 | *** At the time, this cliffhanger had particular punch because it was unknown whether Patrick Stewart would return for future seasons, and the episode ended with the very real possibility that his character was seconds from being killed. The writers left the second half open for this reason. |
| 280 | ** ''The Next Generation'', ''Voyager'' and ''Enterprise'' always achieved their cliffhangers by splitting a two-part episode over the end of one season and the start of the next. ''Deep Space Nine'' had a rather more interesting approach however, in which the final episode of the season would have its own storyline wrapped up within the episode itself, but the next stage of the show's story arc was set up in the process. |
| 281 | ** ''Series/StarTrekPicard'': "[[Recap/StarTrekPicardS1E06TheImpossibleBox The Impossible Box]]" ends with Elnor's and Hugh's back facing the camera, and they're armed with a tan qalanq and a disruptor, respectively. They hear the voices of approaching Romulan guards while the door to the queencell closes behind them, which blocks the audience's view. The scene cuts to black, and the final line of dialogue is: |
| 282 | --->'''Elnor''': Please my friends, choose to live. |
| 283 | * ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' does this with nearly every season: |
| 284 | ** Season One: [[spoiler:Sam and Dean finally catch up with their father, John, only to find him possessed by [[BigBad Azazel, the Yellow-Eyed Demon]]. Sam catches up to them both and bundles them both into the Impala, intent on getting John (sporting a gunshot wound) and Dean (sporting the side-effects of outright torture) to the nearest hospital... when they're suddenly t-boned by a truck, leaving all three of them unconscious.]] |
| 285 | ** Season Three: [[spoiler:Dean fails in his attempt to evade the Hellhounds and dies during the course of his last stand. The last shot of the season shows him screaming in abject agony... chained up in the depths of Hell.]] |
| 286 | ** Season Four: [[spoiler:Sam succeeds in killing Lilith. However, it is only after her death that he realises that she was, in fact, [[NiceJobBreakingItHero the final seal preventing Lucifer from entering the mortal realm]].]] |
| 287 | ** Season Five: [[spoiler:Despite throwing himself -- and therefore Lucifer as well -- into Hell with the ArchangelMichael, Sam is seen standing across the street from Lisa's house, watching his brother enjoying a normal family life.]] |
| 288 | ** Season Six: [[spoiler:Effectively double-crossing just about everyone, Castiel absorbs the ''thirty million souls'' of Purgatory and, fuelled by the immense power he suddenly wields, [[AGodAmI declares himself the new God]], demanding that the world profess their love unto him, lest they be destroyed.]] |
| 289 | ** Season Seven: [[spoiler:Crowley appears and abducts Kevin Tran (the Prophet/Word Keeper). The ensuing blast from the death of Dick Roman -- [[BigBad the leader of the Leviathans]] -- sends Castiel and Dean hurtling into Purgatory, leaving Sam alone on the mortal plane.]] |
| 290 | ** Season Eight: [[spoiler:Dean talks Sam down from sacrificing himself to close the gates of Hell, only for Sam to suddenly collapse in some sort of agony. Meanwhile, [[EvilAllAlong Metatron]] takes Castiel's grace, rendering him human, and performs a ceremony that makes every single other angel fall from Heaven.]] |
| 291 | ** Season Nine: [[spoiler: Metatron kills Dean, but then the [[TheCorruption Mark of Cain]] on his arm [[CameBackWrong brings him back... as a demon]].]] |
| 292 | ** Season Ten: [[spoiler: Rowena escapes with the Book of the Damned while hexing Castiel to attack a defenseless Crowley. Meanwhile, freeing Dean from the Mark of Cain unleashes [[TheAntiGod the Darkness]] from its [[SealedEvilInACan prison]], and the last shot is of it rolling over Sam and Dean in the Impala.]] |
| 293 | ** Season Eleven: [[spoiler: The Darkness and God come to a peaceful resolution, and both leave the physical world. Sam is confronted by a Men of Letters assassin from the British chapter remnants, and Dean discovers that his mother has been brought BackFromTheDead.]] |
| 294 | ** Season Twelve: [[spoiler: The Nephilim opens a rift to an alternate universe, where the Winchesters, Castiel, and Crowley intend to trap Lucifer. Crowley dies to complete the spell to close the rift, Castiel and Rowena are killed by Lucifer, and Lucifer and Mary are trapped inside the alternate dimension. The Nephilim is born, and is already fully-grown physically.]] |
| 295 | * ''Series/ThirdWatch'': Had Cliff Hangers after its third, fourth and fifth seasons - the latter two both involving Bosco, Faith, Cruz, and a shooting. |
| 296 | %%* ''Series/TrueBlood'': Does this frequently. |
| 297 | * ''Series/VeronicaMars'': Season One ends on several cliff hangers. [[spoiler: Aaron Echolls has been arrested, but it's unclear how Veronica's relationship will be affected. The audience knows that Logan had an incident on the bridge where he contemplated suicide, although the characters don't.]] |
| 298 | * ''Series/{{Vintergatan}}'': Had a cliffhanger OnceAnEpisode, with no sign of stopping. Fortunately, the cliffhangers don't bother people that much. Why? Because it's always been presented that way, and there's danger around every corner in-canon, so it doesn't seem forced (and even when it does, it rarely becomes {{Narm}} -- usually it's NarmCharm, and at worst, it's SoBadItsGood) -- and second, because that meant we got to hear [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic the cliffhanger jingle.]] ''DAH, DADAH-DAH DAAAAAAH!'' |
| 299 | * ''Series/TheWestWing'': |
| 300 | ** The first and fourth seasons end on extremely tense cliffhangers. |
| 301 | ** The second season ''doesn't'', if you've been paying any sort of attention, but many viewers apparently missed the cues. |
| 302 | *** The funny thing about the second season finale is that it ''does'' have a cliffhanger, for the more minor plot of the coup in Haiti. The President's reelection, however, is a much larger arc and takes up much of the focus, so the {{subversion}} there is unexpected. |
| 303 | %%* ''Series/TheXFiles'': Used constantly. Three really annoying words: "To Be Continued..." |
| 304 | ---- |
| 305 | !!Unresolved Cliffhangers: |
| 306 | * ''Series/TenThingsIHateAboutYou'': Had a pretty decent cliff hanger for the season one finale. [[BoyfriendBlockingDda Walter]] walked in on Kat and Patrick right after they finished having sex. Bianca and Dawn quit the cheerleading squad in protest over their friend Chastity being unfairly kicked off, only to find out that Chastity is transferring schools and they didn't have to quit. Bianca's boyfriend Joey had become a contestant on a reality show and she tunes in just in time to see him kissing another one of the contestants. Then the network decided not to renew the show and the season finale became an unresolved series finale. Though the [[WordOfGod series creator]] was nice enough to tell fans [[http://popwatch.ew.com/2010/06/07/10-things-i-hate-about-you-season-two/ how things would have developed if the series had continued]]. Basically, [[spoiler: Kat and Patrick's relationship would grow closer, though they'd eventually clash about college.(Kat wants to go and wants Patrick to go, Patrick doesn't think college is his thing.) We'd meet Patrick's mom and stepdad, and Walter would become a sort of father figure to Patrick. Kat's other possible love interest, Blank, would be around, but it wasn't quite going to turn into a full-fledged love triangle. Joey would get kicked off the reality show, causing him to lose a bit of his spark. His and Bianca's problems(from his cheating and bit of a personality change) would lead to Bianca confiding in Cameron, which would lead to a Bianca/Joey/Cameron love triangle. Chastity was going to be gone for good, since the actress quit the show, and Dawn would be given a bigger role to compensate]]. |
| 307 | * ''Series/{{Angel}}'': The finale is this to anyone unaware of the comics, though it did make for [[BolivianArmyEnding a pretty magnificent note to end the series on]]. |
| 308 | * Played for laughs in ''Series/AngieTribeca''. The first season finale, "The One With the Bomb", ends with a WireDilemma as Angie tries to save her partner from a bomb vest. She cuts a wire as the timer counts down to zero -- and the episode ends. |
| 309 | * ''Series/CaptainPowerAndTheSoldiersOfTheFuture'': The first [[CutShort and only]] season ended with the death of a major character, the destruction of the good guys' home, and the remaining heroes stranded in the wilderness with a damaged ship. |
| 310 | * ''Series/{{Chuck}}'s'' final season ends on a cliffhanger that was never truly resolved: [[spoiler:Sarah's memory of the events of the series has been largely destroyed by the faulting Intersect, and though fragments remain the prognosis for her fully recovering everything she lost isn't good. The final episode ends with Chuck telling Sarah their story on the beach, before finally suggesting a silly idea Morgan made about restoring her memories with a kiss. The very shot is of Chuck and Sarah sharing a kiss on the beach, but it's never revealed whether she recovers her memory or will decide to stay]]. |
| 311 | %%* ''Series/Cleopatra2525'': Ended with three interconnected cliffhangers and two [[TheReveal Reveals]]. |
| 312 | * ''Series/CriminalMindsSuspectBehavior'': Followed the above-mentioned "silent mandate" from CBS concerning this trope by putting two of the leads in life-threatening danger, with another lead having to make the choice as to which one would die. Unfortunately, the show was a dud with CBS audiences despite the lead-in from [[Series/CriminalMinds its parent show]], and the network decided to pull the plug after one season. |
| 313 | * In the fourth SeasonFinale of Series/{{Cybill}}, the main characters' prank war with Dr. Dick escalates. The episode ends with them [[spoiler:suddenly being arrested because [[DeadlyPrank their last prank supposedly killed him]]]]. Then, during the break, the series was ScrewedByTheNetwork. The German dub subsequently omitted the ToBeContinued message and gave the episode a CompletelyDifferentTitle that outright called it the end, falsely implying that the series had an intentional SuddenDownerEnding. |
| 314 | * ''Series/DarkAngel'': ended with a huge CliffHanger. The world just got aware of the Transgenics, who were claiming their own part of the town and got under siege by the police. It may be considered an unplanned BolivianArmyEnding. |
| 315 | * ''Series/DeadlyClass'': The series ends on one with its plot lines unresolved due to the show's cancellation. |
| 316 | * ''Series/TheFamily2016'': The series ended on one due to its cancellation [[spoiler: with Bridey dead, presumably at Willa's hands, and Adam revealed to be alive. He's coming back to reclaim his life from Ben.]] |
| 317 | * ''Series/{{Farscape}}'': Usually, fans become quite irate when cancellation leads to a series ending on a CliffHanger, but for some reason, when this show ended this way, the fans took this as a bold statement by the makers, refusing to give in to the [=SciFi=] Channel's decision to cancel the show. Only a few people were annoyed that, given plenty of warning and knowing how unsatisfying such an ending would be, they didn't opt for a more graceful ending. On the up side, that season's main storylines were already resolved, with the last few minutes used to set up a ''new'' bit of drama for the cliffhanger. And we ''were'' eventually rewarded with a GrandFinale miniseries. |
| 318 | ** Plenty of warning? They'd already ''filmed'' the finale, and were working on pickups for other episodes when they found out. So much for a two-season pickup? |
| 319 | * ''Series/FastLane'': The season and, as it turned out, SeriesFinale had two major characters being taken over by Jay Mohr, and another jabbed with a potentially-fatal overdose of drugs. |
| 320 | * ''Series/FastLayne'': Being a miniseries and all, the last episode ends with Layne discovering VIN's DNA has been hacked and her life is not quite back to normal just yet. |
| 321 | * ''Series/FlashForward2009'': The series finale, instigated after the show was canceled, ended with [[spoiler: the second blackout happening 14 minutes after the future caught up, Bryce finally finding Keiko, Simon and Demetri stuck inside the NLAP mainframe, Olivia and Lloyd kinda/maybe/sorta/probably ending up together, Aaron managing to reunite with his daughter and revive her, Janis being wheeled unconsciously from the hospital by one of the Big Bad's henchmen and the almost certain death of Mark as the FBI building explodes. Adding to this a series of disjointed flashforwards from unknown characters, excluding Charlie's one of her in the future, gives us next to nothing solid to finish up the story properly.]] |
| 322 | * ''Series/GameShakers''' GrandFinale ends with Babe torn between three different lovers, with no answer toward who she picked in the end. |
| 323 | * ''Series/{{Galavant}}'' wrapped up pretty much all plot threads from the series, but left the door open for more, with Madalena going to see the D.E.L, (Dark Evil Lord), to continue her training in [=DDew=], (Dark Dark Evil Ways) and Gareth and Sid preparing to embark on another adventure to save her from herself. |
| 324 | * ''Series/HandOfGod'': The series ends on this, given its cancellation. Several plot threads are left dangling. |
| 325 | * ''Series/{{Heroes}}'': The de-facto series finale ended with Claire Bennett revealing her power to the world by jumping off the top of a Ferris wheel and healing via news cameras; this was the beginning of the series' 6th Volume, Brave New World, which never came to fruition due to the show's cancellation by NBC in May 2010. |
| 326 | * ''Series/HotelBabylon'': Got CutShort after four seasons due to low ratings but ended on a huge cliffhanger (unusual for the show that previously had few story arcs) [[spoiler:after Sam finds out Juliet, his ex-wife whom he had been dating again, had aborted his baby years ago he struggles to decide if he wants to continue their relationship and work past it or begin a relationship with Emily who he had been getting close to]]. No ending was ever written. |
| 327 | * ''Series/ICarly'': The last episode of the fourth season ended with Sam kissing Freddie, whilst Carly watched in the window. |
| 328 | * ''Series/{{Invasion}}'': Partially avoided this by wrapping up most of the series' plots in the last couple of episodes, but still managed to end on a minor cliffhanger. |
| 329 | * ''Series/JoanOfArcadia'': Was canceled in the episode where the series' {{Satan}} equivalent was introduced, gaining control of everything and everyone in Joan's life and poised to ruin it all. |
| 330 | * ''Series/JohnDoe'': Another revelation 'hanger: What turned out to be its final episode revealed William Forsythe's character to be one of the bad guys. |
| 331 | * ''Series/LasVegas'': The final episode of the fifth season ended with Cooper's plane having crashed with him onboard, and Danny & Delinda changing their wedding to a memorial service for him. After the musician plays a sad song, Cooper suddenly appears at the back, clapping, and Delinda goes into labor. The End. |
| 332 | * The final season of ''Series/TheLWord'' ended on an unresolved cliffhanger, of the viewers not knowing who killed Jenny Schector. |
| 333 | * ''Series/TheLodge'': Season 2 ends with Ben pointing out to Skye that North Star Lodge is on fire. |
| 334 | * ''Series/MadMen'': Season 5, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YocBfe1N598 ends]] with [[spoiler: Don Draper being propositioned by a woman. The credits start before we can see if he really has decided to cheat on Megan. It's strongly suggested the LadyKillerInLove is gone and the philanderer is back.]] |
| 335 | * ''Series/OdysseyFive'': The 2002 sci-fi series ends with astronaut Angela Perry abducted by the [=AI's=] and scientist Kurt Mendel being arrested on suspicion of killing her. Plus the mysterious Cabal, which the team assume have something to do with the [=AI's=] and the impending destruction of the Earth, turn out to be a government force trying to ''stop'' the [=AI's=] and who believe that the Odyssey 5 team are the traitors. |
| 336 | * ''Series/{{Popular}}'': We don't find out who Harrison chose, but more importantly the episode ends with Nicole gunning her car at Brooke, Brooke screaming as the headlights bear down on her, a fade to black, and the sound of sirens. Then the series wasn't renewed for the third season like TPTB said it would. |
| 337 | * ''Series/PowerRangersRPM'': Ends with a [[spoiler:glowing red light coming from one of the morphers - the trademark of Venjix, the Big Bad. Looks like he survived by downloading himself into it...]] but ''RPM'' was the final season at the time of production. The series was later UnCancelled with ''Series/PowerRangersSamurai'' and they did do a crossover with ''RPM'', but acted as if it happened during ''RPM'' instead of after, thereby not giving any resolution. |
| 338 | * ''Series/{{Primeval}}'': The third series ended with [[spoiler: Danny trapped in the Pliocene, Connor and Abby trapped in the Cretaceous, and Sarah coming up with an unknown idea to sort things out.]] And then ITV announced there wouldn't be a fourth series. There is talk of a movie, however (it's been renewed for a fourth and fifth season, so looks like Connor and Abby will finally get out of that tree). |
| 339 | * ''Series/{{Rubicon}}'': The series ends on one due to its cancellation. Will has compiled a report based on the evidence he's gained on the conspiracy. It's left unclear if he'll go public with it however, as the conspirator he speaks with claims people won't believe it. |
| 340 | * The final "Assignment" of ''Series/SapphireAndSteel'' ended with the two title characters apparently trapped in a pocket universe with no means of escape. |
| 341 | * ''Series/SesameStreet'': The classic Ernie and Bert sketch featuring Ernie writing an "epic" story ... but it turns out to be the alphabet. Bert's enthusiasm (at least in the 1970s remake) quickly fades into irritation as he hears Ernie recite the alphabet, and give an over-the-top, overdramatic reading of the 'sad part" (letters H through P) and an over-enthused "action part" that represents Q through V. Bert really flips, however, when Ernie fails to finish the "big finish", leaving the story at "Y" and failing to reveal the obvious ending ("Z"). When Bert presses for Ernie to say the letter "Z" (without saying said letter), Ernie justifies failing to resolve this unresolved "cliffhanger" by suggesting that if he did, "then you'll never want to read it for yourself." Cue Ernie's trademark giggle and an annoyed sigh from Bert. |
| 342 | * ''Series/SledgeHammer'': In the last episode of the first season, the title character accidentally triggers a nuclear explosion in the middle of the city. DaChief can be heard screaming "Hammer!" as "To Be Continued Next Season?" appears on screen. The second season begins with a HandWave explanation that the following episode(s) occurs five years before the explosion (regardless of the fact that Sledge met his partner for the first time at the beginning of the series -- but this could be explained if we assume that there was a five-year gap between the final two episodes of the first season). |
| 343 | ** A bit of a subversion, really, as the series was not expected to be renewed for a second season - which is precisely ''why'' creator Alan Spencer had the bomb go off in the first place! |
| 344 | * ''Series/{{Soap}}'': The final ep ended on ''four'' cliffhangers. It is yet unknown whether the South American guerilla militia firing squad Jessica ended the episode in front of were [[BolivianArmyEnding Bolivian]]. |
| 345 | ** Later, in an episode of the spin-off ''Series/{{Benson}}'' Benson was visited by Jessica's ghost, leading many fans to believe that, yes, they were [[BolivianArmyEnding Bolivian]]. |
| 346 | ** The final episode of ''Series/{{Benson}}'' also ended on an unresolved cliffhanger. Benson is running for Governor, while incumbant Governor Gatling is running for re-election as an Independent making for a three-way gubernatorial race. In the final scene, Benson and the Governor resolve their personal differences, then sit together watching the TV as a newscaster says, "And the Governor for the next four years is-" |
| 347 | * ''Series/{{Starcrossed}}'', canceled by the CW network, ends on a whopper, with [[spoiler:Taylor possibly about to perish in a fiery car accident, and the signal from the ''Suvek'' having been received by a fleet of Atrian warships, which heads for Earth.]] |
| 348 | * ''Series/StargateUniverse'': Midway through season 2, the ''[[CoolStarship Destiny]]'' is headed for intergalactic space, most of the crew has been placed in stasis in order to conserve resources and only Eli remains. Will he be able to guide the ship and put himself into stasis and get out again? Tune in nex week to learn that the show has been ScrewedByTheNetwork and cancelled. |
| 349 | * ''Series/{{Surface}}'': Ended with the sea levels rising and the world now apparently dominated by monsters, with most of the issues raised in the series (such as who created the monsters and why) still unresolved. |
| 350 | * ''Series/TheShannaraChronicles'' Season 2 ends with a doozy of a cliffhanger. Just as you are crying over [[PureHeartedHero Wil Ohmsford]]'s {{heroic sacrifice}}, the ending reveals that he is actually alive and that [[LoveInterest Mareth]] suspects this. But it is left a mystery where he has ended up, or what kind of shape he's in or even how it's possible that he survived. Oh right, and it's kind of a literal cliffhanger, in that [[MakesSenseInContext Wil saves the world by going over a waterfall]]. Unfortunately, though unsurprisingly, the series was not continued. |
| 351 | * ''Series/TerminatorTheSarahConnorChronicles'' ended with a massive cliffhanger of [[spoiler:John, John Henry and Weaver having been sent into the future, and Cameron possibly dead]]. |
| 352 | * ''Series/TimeAfterTime'': The series has this, due to being canceled before most of the episodes had even aired (in most places, only the first five did). [[spoiler:H. G. travels to a {{bad future}} in 2021 where John is still alive somehow, and has also developed gene enhancement techniques which are used for making {{super soldier}}s fighting WorldWarThree. Vanessa is dead, and Jane's suffered a {{fate worse than death}} of some unspecified kind.]] |
| 353 | * ''Series/TotalRecall2070'': The show ends with Farve getting possibly damaged beyond repair and going into hibernation, the future of David and Olivia Hume as a couple being uncertain because of trust issues, and Calley getting contacted by Farve's creator, who has apparently survived the destruction of his body. Since the series was cancelled at this point, these dangling plot threads were never resolved. |
| 354 | * ''Series/TowerPrep'': Just before the show was cancelled it ended on a big cliffhanger, where the students finally escaped from the school, just to find out that there is still much more to discover with the mystery. |
| 355 | * ''Series/TwinPeaks'': "How's Annie? How's Annie? How's Annie?" |
| 356 | ** Considering [[Creator/DavidLynch who made it]], [[TheWalrusWasPaul that was probably completely intentional]]. |
| 357 | * ''Series/Tyrant2014'': The series ends on one due to its cancellation. [[spoiler: Emma was murdered. Barry has become the tyrant of the title. He and his wife Molly vow vengeance against the Caliphate. A war is coming against them.]] |
| 358 | * ''Series/V2009'': Ends with [[spoiler: Diane murdering her mother, and her adopted child being able to give Humans Bliss.]] |
| 359 | * ''Series/VagrantQueen'': Season One ends with Lazora dead at Elida's hand, everything seeming good as Elida and Amae start to get into a romance. Then Elida's mother takes the Sterzaad and goes off... toward Earth. Thanks to the show's cancellation, this won't get resolved. |
| 360 | * ''Series/WeddingSeason'': The final scene of the show is Stefan watching Katie [[spoiler:approach their shared car... and then the car blows up, leaving it unclear what happened to Katie.]] |
| 361 | * ''Series/TheWheelOfTime'': The ending of Episode 6, "Flame of Tar Valon". [[spoiler:The Waygate is closing and Mat still hesitates to enter it.]] |
| 362 | * ''Series/WorldOnFire'': 1.05 ends without revealing the fate of Tom and Gregorz, caught out in the open on the Dunkirk beach during a Stuka bombing run. |
| 363 | * ''Series/Zero2021'': The series ends on one which will never get resolved due to its cancellation. [[spoiler:Omar can't turn off his invisibility and has left for Paris with Anna. A mysterious woman who is called The Virgin is aware of his invisibility, and introduced Awa to the fact she has an ability too, who inadvertantly harmed or perhaps killed a girl after seeing her boyfriend cheating with her. The Virgin appears to be connected with whoever is behind Ricci, and interested in Omar.]] |
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