To Be Continued: The Oldest Trick in the Book

By: Charbarred | in: TV |

For the past few weeks I have been living in a perpetual state of anxiety. No, it’s not because I work too hard, and neither is it because I’m late with my electricity bill…it’s these pesky TV shows.

It’s no secret that the successes of shows like 24 and Lost mean that no show will ever end in with any form of closure in the foreseeable future. To be honest, I prefer a series with some meat on the bone; you won’t catch me rushing home to see the next installment of CSI. After all, it ended last week pretty much the same as it will this week.

But lately, it seems that TV writers aren’t trying hard enough. I’ve identified three types of endings used in serials:

The Cliff Hanger: This is the cheapest form of ending, where our hero is just about to be killed or caught red handed. It was perfected a few years ago by J.J. Abrams’ team in Alias. Most episodes in the first season ended with Sydney facing a horrible fate. The following week the suspense would get resolved in the first two minutes of the episode and a completely different story will begin after the opening credits.

The Never Ending Story: This has become quite popular with the emergence of Lost. The show is pretty much built around the viewer getting no answers whatsoever. Whereas the episode does not necessarily end in suspense, neither does it divulge any crucial information about anything. It is slowly becoming the standard for today’s serialized drama.

The Big Bad: Termed in one of the early ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ seasons, it simply means there is a central conflict throughout the whole season. In the meantime, there are a lot of standalone episodes that keep that ‘big bad’ in mind, but resolve their own arcs each week without leaving the viewer hanging.

So how did my favorite show become such a nightmare to follow?

Sadly, writers are over-using the first two options in today’s shows. When ‘24’ came out, you expected nothing to resolve itself until the last hour. Lost, however, keeps you guessing forever…the only way you will ever get answers, is if you and your friends stop watching it and they have to cancel the show. Some shows like ‘Vanished’ and ‘Kidnapped’ have already gone to a better place for trying to torture us with never ending stories. The new show ‘Day Break’ actually had to commit to finishing the story by episode 13.

But the worst of the bunch is that despicable cliff hanger. I was amazed to find it in last week’s episode of ‘The Class’. I can forgive them for solving the problem in the first two minutes of this week’s installment; it’s a sitcom after all. But then I was shocked to find they used the exact same shtick in the end of the show.

Heroes and Prison Break are also walking a fine line with not being able to produce a full story in the 45 minute slot they have been given. Jericho slowed down the whole doomsday plot in favor of weekly adventure episodes.

And the “Joss Whedon award for being able to write a proper weekly series” goes to: Veronica Mars. Sure there is a big mystery every season, but they always resolve. The best thing about it is that in the midst of the entire whodunit, they manage to churn out a good arc each week – beginning, middle and, most importantly - end.

Even the makers of G.I. Joe got rid of Cobra after a while, so I’m hoping writers will give us better entertainment in the upcoming weeks. Will I keep punishing myself knowing that I’ll never get any satisfaction from Lost? Probably yes, after all I try to quit each week and never succeed. Is there a bottom line for all of this? Sure there is, but you’ll have to read about it next year…

To be continued…

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Posted on November 16, 2006

Comments

4 Responses to “To Be Continued: The Oldest Trick in the Book”

keren on November 16th, 2006 9:46 am

Brilliant! So true, So frustratingly true……

Tracy on November 17th, 2006 6:24 am

I’ve been watching Heroes and have to agree.
Another favorite of mine that usually finishes it’s stories and has a great plot is Smallville.

etherius on November 17th, 2006 7:28 am

I’m planning an uprising. After “Miracles” (also starring Skeet Ulrich from Jericho) was bungled and dropped by network (replaced by repeats of the assinine Michael Jackson specials), I vowed to never again get involved in
an ongoing “to be continued” style show.

I’m thinking about filing a class-action lawsuit against the next network that dumps one of these shows after the viewer gets “addicted” to the series.

TCho on December 6th, 2006 6:26 pm

I still care about what the hell is going on in Lost and who the Others are, but I am getting a little frustrated this season. Plus they keep killing off good people!

I love Heroes. In some respects they give us more answers than Lost in each episode.

I like Six Degrees and Uglly Betty too. Oh and The Nine.

I can’t wait for Traveler in January.