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GUEST BLOG #17: Diane Holloway Observes Season Cliffhangers and Asks: Who Cares?
Bianculli here: TV has served up some strong season-ending finales this month -- Lost, 24, Grey's Anatomy, Fringe, Friday Night Lights, Dollhouse, Bones and House, just to name a few. It's become an annual TV tradition, but TV WORTH WATCHING contributor Diane Holloway asks if it's a tradition whose time has passed.
"I wonder," she writes, "just how effective cliffhanger episodes have become now that audiences are splintered, fewers episodes air, and the time between seasons pretty much erases our memory of what came in May." Click to read her full column, and to answer her query at the end...
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Who Cares About TV Cliffhangers? No, Really, I'm Asking: Who Cares?
By Diane Holloway
Suspense is a beautiful thing, isn't it? Don't we all love perching on the edge of our sofas and wondering what the heck is coming next?
I realized about halfway through this week's 24 season-ender that I had dug my fingernails into our prized leather sofa. The dog actually growled at me once, because I think I dug into him briefly, too.
But I wonder just how effective cliffhanger episodes have become now that audiences are splintered, fewers episodes air, and the time between seasons pretty much erases our memory of what came in May.
This is not to say some of these recent episodes haven't been terrific. They have. I just question their effectiveness in maintaining a heightened state of anticipation from May until September -- or in some cases October, or even January of the following year.
People who are devoted fans of Grey's Anatomy likely would be planning their fall premiere parties even if we hadn't been left with the sad prospect of either Izzie or George dying.
But I admit this was a particularly juicy twist on the long-standing rumor that Izzie would turn toes up in the finale, because Katherine Heigl has a burgeoning movie career and wanted to leave the show.
Forgotten or overlooked were the quieter rumblings that T.R. Knight longed to return to Broadway, hence the shock of George turning out to be the mangled John Doe run over by a bus.
And the "afterlife" teaser, in which Izzie and George encountered each other at the elevator: Izzie in her prom dress from before, George in his military uniform from... Later? Never?
Will we wonder all summer who lives and who dies on Grey's? Doubtful. Word likely will leak out about contract negotiations, as in who signed on and who didn't. But even if the secret remains a secret, what then?
The cliffhanger just doesn't stir up the same passion as it did when Dallas whipped up a worldwide frenzy with the "Who shot J.R.?" episode. We have more choices now, and summer is no longer the TV wasteland it once was.
Cable has given us shows to watch during the long, hot months, and even broadcast TV serves fresh fare, at least to those who enjoy watching women beg for love (The Bachelorette and The Bachelor) or unfortunate folks flopping off big red balls (Wipeout).
Nobody is going to talk about a cliffhanger all summer. It's just not going to happen. So maybe it would be better to stir up suspense and provide a satisfying conclusion in the same fabulous season-ending episode.
Is Eric dead on CSI: Miami? Probably not, so it would have been more entertaining to leave him bleeding and yelling at Callie for shooting him.
Do you really care whether Mike married Katherine or Susan on Desperate Housewives? Nah, but ending the season with a big silly wedding could have been tons of fun.
Cliffhangers may be a dying tradition, but apparently they aren't dead yet. Some show creators are still trying to squeeze extra ratings out of them. What do you think? Are you desperate to find out who tied the knot on Desperate Housewives? Have you started your office pool on the Izzie-or-George mystery?
Whatever your opinions, we promise to reveal them before September.
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Diane Holloway was the TV critic for the Austin American Statesman for 30 years, until the downturn in the newspaper business prompted her to take a buyout and early retirement. Retirement? More like between jobs. She's still sniffing out possibilities and sifting through freelance opportunities. Before newspapers, she worked in Washington for the Library of Congress, the American Film Institute and the National Endowment for the Arts. Maybe something entirely different is next. Or not.
I had already read somewhere that both Heigal and Knight were leaving Grey's anatomy, so for weeks I'd been expecting Izzy to die in the season finale. George's enlisting in the military wasn't shocking, as I knew he had to go, and had not been able to figure out how they were going to do it.
My figured out that it was George there on the table before I did, however.
As for cliffhangers generally, I don't think that they often work. However, Battlestar Galactica used them to good effect. Rather than continuing to mine the same old same old, BSG used them to drastically alter viewers' expectations and to challenge the writing team. While it was risky, it could give the show a freshness and new energy that most season-ending cliffhangers do not.
For example, when the Cylons showed up on New Caprica and took over? That was a quite the challenge to viewers. When Earth -- including the remnants of the Brooklyn Bridge -- proved to be uninhabitable, that's was quite the challenge to viewers.
I'm not sure that broadcast shows can take that kind of risk, however. And so if season-ending cliffhanger cannot be drastically more dramatic than a midseason cliffhanger, why bother?
(Speaking of cliffhangers -- you left us hanging by omitting an important noun. When you wrote "My ---- figured out that it was George there on the table before I did," did you mean wife, husband, significant other? Credit is due... -- David B.)
Depends on the show. I couldn't care less who idiot Susan marries or what the rest of the worn-out inhabitants do. This is a show that wore out its thin premise a long time ago. No cliffhanger can save it. Pretty much the same for Betty, unfortunately.
For other shows like Lost, Dollhouse, Fringe, Supernatural, cliffhangers provide the audience with reassurance that there is still some territory to be profitably explored -- some new implications that might work themselves out to fascinating effect. As to whether we will remember the questions the cliffhangers raise, you well know that the stations will make sure we do before the new season opens.
Of course if Disney repeats its hapless treatment of Lost that could change when we realize that there IS no season for that show -- just a random and disconnected bunch of "seasons" with 2 or 3 episodes each.
As to the summer season, I hope you'll be more specific in your optimism. For those who don't enjoy peeping at the trials of the pathetic in pursuit of love or lucre, it looks pretty sterile to me.
You are indeed right, Diane ... who cares? We're all too busy and/or suffering from ADD. By the time fall (or winter) rolls around, much will have been forgotten and we'll be scouring the Web for refreshers. Love you!
The simple answer is - You care if it matters to you (the viewer). Consider how episodic TV is plotted and shown in other countries like the UK or Japan. UK's "Coupling" (and the original "The Office") write for 'the season' maybe there's 6 or 10 (or more) but they are generally quality. I've found that non-US series often don't put as much focus on the 'Cliff-Hanger' because stories are done in blocks or volumes and designed to 'end'.
I follow a fair amount of Japanese animes (the type you'd see on "Adult Swim" for adults) and I'm happy to say that they actually 'end'. You may not always enjoy the ending but you feel satisfied at having gotten a "full story" with a level of closure. If it's popular they simply write another story and change things (or continue following it's Manga source material). Many fans will say, "I loved the series, but hated the ending"- they're are atleast glad to have gotten closure.
I care about cliff-hangers if they're done correctly. The correct way (as many of us know) is to drop hints of even 'better plot devices' "To Be Continued"- that is the 'tease' between seasons. I.E. at the end of "True Blood" (HBO) you learn that Vampire Bill has a daughter, she's a wild brat, and is now forced on Bill. There's a reason she's been gone and a reason she's not wanted and you even get to see her sass the most power vampires (who dump her on Bill)- so you can see she's trouble. Rather than do this at the start of Season 2, you hooked in just as you're getting 'closure' from season 1.
"House" has been VERY good at completely blowing up the structure and then spending the first 2-5 episodes of the following season 'fixing' or explaining the effect of the finale. I'm still blown away by it. "Heroes"- don't care. "Lost"- it'll keep going. "Fringe"- what I expected (no bomb shell). I loved "Terminators" finale and would've loved to see John in the future...but it was 'closure enough'. Who cares Diane? it depends on whether you like being left hanging, levels of closure, or just want it to end. I don't even watch "Greys" and I already knew Izzy was gonna get dumped after her Emmy mocking.
**My apologies- I write more than most**