What are the most effective cliffhangers you have ever seen?

[-Sentinel-]

Related question: what makes an effective cliffhanger?

I don't think a cliffhanger where one of the main characters is in mortal danger is an especially effective cliffhanger, in and of itself. At least, the cliffhanger's biggest question should not be "Is he/she going to survive?", because the answer is almost always a yes, and the viewer knows it. Even when mainstream works of fiction have the guts to kill major characters, they rarely do so at the beginning of an episode/season (that is, right after a cliffhanger), though there are exceptions, such as one famous Breaking Bad episode.

There needs to be another ingredient. I think a good cliffhanger is one that either brings an interesting development, or teases the answer to a long-standing question. There needs to be a sense that this is the culmination of many of the things that have happened so far.


Two of my favorite cliffhangers are the following. (Spoilered for length, not for actual show spoilers.)

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Smallville season 1, the tornado. We know that Lex Luthor is destined to become a villain, but he starts out as a sympathetic character; a rich kid with a good heart who's just struggling to get out from under his scheming, domineering father's thumb and build his own thing. You don't know when and under what circumstances he'll become a bad guy, and his predestination gives you complicated feelings: you like him and root for him, while knowing that you're just setting yourself up for heartbreak. And then comes the tornado, ripping through Lex's mansion while his father Lionel is present. Lionel is pinned under falling masonry and begs his son to come to his rescue. Lex hesitates... no doubt thinking about how convenient it would be for him if his father were out of the picture. And the season ends on that note.

Now... Lionel is a despicable character, and a major driver of Lex's slow journey from good guy to villain. As a viewer, you know that the world would be better off without him. You're not worried for him... you're worried for Lex. The question isn't "Is Lionel going to survive?", but rather: "Is Lex going to rescue his father like the good guy I want him to be, or will he leave him to his doom like the bad guy he is destined to become?"

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My other good cliffhanger is the end of Lost, season 1. The survivors have faced all sorts of strange and even supernatural occurrences on the island they've crashed on. Every clue they find, such as a string of mysterious numbers, only deepens the mystery. They put some of their clues together, and the season ends with them managing to open a mysterious locked door, revealing the inside of a modern underground facility on an island they thought deserted. The plot thickens! Now it looks like they are actually about to get some damn answers! Or at least, they have found some common thread that they can follow.

Note that I did not watch subsequent seasons of Lost, as I later learned that virtually no one considers the show to have satisfying answers and I did not want to set myself up for further disappointment. Sometimes you've got to cut your losses, even if you're dying to know what the next episode/season brings. I'm just saying... it was an effective cliffhanger, by the metric of "I really want to see the next episode".

[Peelee]

There was this one scene with Calculon, Jr. in the hit show All My Circuits. Without ruining anything, I can say that whoever was directing it was a master of suspense.

[Traab]

I'll tell you tomorrow.

[AdmiralCheez]

First one that came to mind is The Best of Both Worlds, from Star Trek: TNG.

Spoiler: Just In Case

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Captain Picard is captured by the Borg and assimilated by them, turned into an emotionless cyborg that's part of their collective hive mind, giving them access to all the knowledge he had in life. The first part of the 2-part episode ends with him threatening the Enterprise, and Riker giving the order to fire their newly-developed weapon that should wipe out the entire Borg ship and Picard along with them.

What makes that cliffhanger effective is that it puts a main character in danger after already doing horrific things to them. You're not sure if they'll survive the start of the second episode, and if they do, whatever survives won't be the same. And it's made all the more tragic that it's another main character, their trusted friend, giving the order.

From what I've heard (I wasn't around when it first aired, so I don't know how true it is), it was even more effective at the time because there were rumors floating around that the actor may have been leaving the show, and this might have been the way they wrote them out.

[Lurkmoar]

The Empire Strikes Back

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The movie ends with Han Solo encased in carbonite, Luke learning that Darth Vader is his father after said father hacked off his hand and the general state of the rebellion not being good. And yet, it pans out to a beautiful spiral galaxy and ends in a triumphant theme. Glad my parents had them on VHS, and I didn't have to wait years for the next movie!

[Dr. G. Ravenpie]

The last chapter of Rick & Morty second season, “The Wedding Squanchers". Not saying that it's the most effective I have ever seen, but surely one of the most...and one of the most recent for me (I started quite late with this series). I'm not going to spoil anything but...that song. Oh, God, that song...

[Mordar]

"Who shot JR?"

Nothing (in television) has generated the hype, response, speculation, etc, of the Dallas season finale. I didn't much care (being very young), but I certain remember watching the show. For the next 3 months a wide array of media published articles, had story segments, and begged for spoilers...and not just the era's versions of "Entertainment Tonight".

ASIDE: A downside to binging shows/streaming/whatever is that we no longer have built in percolation.

- M

[Peelee]

Nothing (in television) has generated the hype, response, speculation, etc, of the Dallas season finale.

With a claim like that, you had to expect this as a contender: M*A*S*H series finale.

[Mordar]

With a claim like that, you had to expect this as a contender: M*A*S*H series finale.

Fair. The most-watched TV episode ever, IIRC.

While that did have coverage, my recollection is the Dallas cliffhanger had greater staying power in the news and more...response? Discussion? Speculation?

Everyone knew M*A*S*H was ending, everyone wanted to watch...but it was the wrap, so a very different feel.

- M

[Rodin]

Do ending cliffhangers count? If so, I nominate Blake's 7.

Spoiler: Spoilers for a 70s TV show I guess

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Avon's "hat" in the show was being the treacherous, untrustworthy one. The guy who always had a scheme or a way out, and that scheme didn't always include his friends.

Yet in the final episode, it's Avon that becomes so convinced Blake betrayed them that he shoots Blake. When the real traitor reveals themselves seconds later, Avon stands in shock as the entire cast die one by one from the faceless Federation troopers that storm the room. He's left alone, surrounded by troopers with their guns pointed at him from point blank range. He slowly raises his gun...and smiles.

Cut to black over gunshots. End of show.

I was a kid when I saw that on re-runs from PBS. We had just come back from vacation so I knew there were several more episodes we hadn't seen...and I was shocked to silence when I was told that was the final episode. To this day I'm convinced Avon escaped somehow, that he pulled another rabbit out of his hat.

It's easily the most shocking TV moment I've ever witnessed. It's one hell of a cliffhanger, and it would only be spoiled if we found out "yeah he fell off the cliff" or "no, he survived because TV MIRACLE". The lack of a resolution makes the resolution all the more compelling.

[Formion]

If we are talking about cliffhangers that make you want to watch the next part right now I suppose too many episodes of Attack on Titan fill this niche. It probably is the show's hat.

[Psyren]

I've found a number appealing but the biggest WHAM gut-punch cliffhanger for me in recent memory was the Season 1 finale of The Good Place:

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Where Eleanor figures out the main cast were actually in the Bad Place all along, and that affable Michael is actually a demon, followed by all their memories getting wiped and them reinserted into their pocket hell.

I'll tell you tomorrow.

I see what you did there

[Peelee]

I've found a number appealing but the biggest WHAM gut-punch cliffhanger for me in recent memory was the Season 1 finale of The Good Place:

That was a mindfork.

[BeerMug Paladin]

I've found a number appealing but the biggest WHAM gut-punch cliffhanger for me in recent memory was the Season 1 finale of The Good Place:

Spoiler

Show

Where Eleanor figures out the main cast were actually in the Bad Place all along, and that affable Michael is actually a demon, followed by all their memories getting wiped and them reinserted into their pocket hell.

I was going to mention the ending of the very next episode as more of a moment like that for me,

Spoiler: The Good Place S2E1

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The first season ends with a hint that Michael's plan to reset things will not work, with Eleanor putting a plan into action to undermine the attempt of a mindwipe reset. That provides some guess about what the plot of the next episode will be. The season opener makes clear that Michael will just keep hitting the reset button as many times as it takes to make his plan work without sabotage and there's just no way for them to escape. As far as cliffhangers go, that ending left me wondering what could even occur to allow the show's premise to continue. I had no idea what could come next.

[Arutema]

Doctor Who new series episode 'Utopia', first part of the three-part series 3 finale:

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The Master survived the time war by hiding out at the natural end of the universe. And he's stolen the TARDIS. And we find out who this mysterious Mr. Saxon we've been hearing about all season is.

There's little doubt the Doctor will remain trapped there, given how an earlier scene mentioned Jack Harkness's broken vortex device. But there's a definite feeling that much has changed with the re-introduction of the Master.

Pity the finale of that arc relied so heavily on the reset button.

[Yora]

Well, there is of course the eternal classic:

"Hang on, lads. I got an idea."

And there was never a part 2, nor was one planned.

[Lord Vukodlak]

In terms of never saw the resolution. The end of Cleopatra 2525 had quite the cliff hanger ending,

[Yora]

Season 1 of The Expanse is pretty great. Putting the final third of the first novel into the start of the second season of course helped with that, but ending the season right on the big reveal worked really well.

[Rakaydos]

Babylon 5, end of season 3.

The hero has set up a big sacrifice play, dropping a nuke on his own head in the middle of the archvillian's main base. at the last moment, a psychic voice we recognize as belonging to a dead (but not entirely gone) character tells him to jump into a bottomless pit.

The standoff at the hero base that was waiting to see if the hero turns breaks off. But the hero's second in command is missing, too- taken by the villians.

...see you in 6 months! (or after you buy the next DVD set)

[Storm_Of_Snow]

Do ending cliffhangers count? If so, I nominate Blake's 7.

Spoiler: Spoilers for a 70s TV show I guess

Show

Avon's "hat" in the show was being the treacherous, untrustworthy one. The guy who always had a scheme or a way out, and that scheme didn't always include his friends.

Yet in the final episode, it's Avon that becomes so convinced Blake betrayed them that he shoots Blake. When the real traitor reveals themselves seconds later, Avon stands in shock as the entire cast die one by one from the faceless Federation troopers that storm the room. He's left alone, surrounded by troopers with their guns pointed at him from point blank range. He slowly raises his gun...and smiles.

Cut to black over gunshots. End of show.

I was a kid when I saw that on re-runs from PBS. We had just come back from vacation so I knew there were several more episodes we hadn't seen...and I was shocked to silence when I was told that was the final episode. To this day I'm convinced Avon escaped somehow, that he pulled another rabbit out of his hat.

It's easily the most shocking TV moment I've ever witnessed. It's one hell of a cliffhanger, and it would only be spoiled if we found out "yeah he fell off the cliff" or "no, he survived because TV MIRACLE". The lack of a resolution makes the resolution all the more compelling.

Paul Darrow wrote a series of books (Lucifer, Lucifer: Revelation and Lucifer: Genesis) based on conversations he had with Terry Nation before the latter's death - Big Finish has done narrated versions (Paul Darrow did the first two, Stephen Greif narrated the last as Paul had died), and part of that setting is used in The Way Ahead, Big Finish's 40th anniversary release.

My choice has already been mentioned - "Mr Worf, Fire!"

[McGarnagle]

My choice has already been mentioned - "Mr Worf, Fire!"

Yep, that's the one.

[runeghost]

The end of The Two Towers (the book, by J.R.R. Tolkien).

[tomandtish]

First one that came to mind is The Best of Both Worlds, from Star Trek: TNG.

Spoiler: Just In Case

Show

Captain Picard is captured by the Borg and assimilated by them, turned into an emotionless cyborg that's part of their collective hive mind, giving them access to all the knowledge he had in life. The first part of the 2-part episode ends with him threatening the Enterprise, and Riker giving the order to fire their newly-developed weapon that should wipe out the entire Borg ship and Picard along with them.

What makes that cliffhanger effective is that it puts a main character in danger after already doing horrific things to them. You're not sure if they'll survive the start of the second episode, and if they do, whatever survives won't be the same. And it's made all the more tragic that it's another main character, their trusted friend, giving the order.

From what I've heard (I wasn't around when it first aired, so I don't know how true it is), it was even more effective at the time because there were rumors floating around that the actor may have been leaving the show, and this might have been the way they wrote them out.

There were. Key word being rumors.

Moore, Frakes, Dorn, and some others did an interview in 2015 for Hollywood Reporter. They freely acknowledge that everyone on the show had heard the rumors as well, but Stewart had already signed his contract. But the rumors circulated and made everyone think that Stewart might be leaving the show, so get killed off.

These were made worse by the fact that Moore had said they didn't know how it was going to end. People took that to mean that they couldn't finish it until they knew whether they were going to have Stewart or not. And what he actually meant was they literally hadn't written any of it yet and didn't know how it was going to end (even with Stewart staying).

[Lord Vukodlak]

There were. Key word being rumors.

Moore, Frakes, Dorn, and some others did an interview in 2015 for Hollywood Reporter. They freely acknowledge that everyone on the show had heard the rumors as well, but Stewart had already signed his contract. But the rumors circulated and made everyone think that Stewart might be leaving the show, so get killed off.

These were made worse by the fact that Moore had said they didn't know how it was going to end. People took that to mean that they couldn't finish it until they knew whether they were going to have Stewart or not. And what he actually meant was they literally hadn't written any of it yet and didn't know how it was going to end (even with Stewart staying).

I think they deliberately kept Stewards contract renewal under wraps to hype the episode. Make the possibility they’d kill Picard seem real.