TV’s 10 Biggest Unresolved Cliffhangers

There’s nothing worse than when you’re watching a TV show and it either ends with a cliffhanger or the network cancel it and don’t air the remaining episodes. UGO have come up with a list of the 25 biggest cliffhangers that left us wondering what would be next. Here is the top 10.

10. The Pretender

It was bad enough that The Pretender found itself cancelled on a cliffhanger during its fourth season, before NBC pulled the plug on the final two of four TV movies designed to wrap up the series, themselves ending on cliffhangers regarding Jarod’s mother and his role in a prophecy and creation of the Centre.

09. The Sopranos

Hours upon hours of angry phone calls flooded cable headquarters the night The Sopranos ended, with many assuming their service had cut out rather than the long-running mob-drama simply cut to black in the middle of a tense climax. Did Tony live? Did he die? Why can’t Meadow park a car? And for the record, whatever happened to that Russian guy in the Pine Barrens?

08. Space: Above and Beyond

Well, that’s one way to go out. As long as you’re aware of your imminent cancellation, why not strand two characters behind enemy lines, gravely injure lead TC McQueen, and compromise Earth’s defense network on the brink of all-out war? Plans existed to address the cliffhanger in a second season, but ultimately went to waste.

07. Sliders

Granted the show had run long past its peak (particularly after moving to the Sci-Fi channel and losing 3/4 of its original cast), we’ll still never know the story’s end after show-runners deliberately installed the cliffhanger of Rembrandt injecting a Kromagg virus into himself and sliding off to face the enemy alone. Producers had hoped that the unresolved storyline would prompt a season renewal from the network heads, but to no avail. And hey, whatever happened to Arturo’s evil alternate double? Which one was the good one?

06. John Doe

Seeing as John Doe never saw a second season, the show’s producers were kind enough to answer a few of the lingering mysteries left by the finale. While it at seemed that John uncovered Digger as the head of the Phoenix Organization, a bait-and-switch would have exposed “Digger” as an impostor using facial reconstruction. Not only that, but John’s knowledge came from a near-death experience, during which “all the knowledge of the universe” is conferred upon the human brain.

05. Heroes

With the shenanigans of Robert Knepper and the mysterious carnival finally put to bed, Claire made the bold decision to dive from a ferris wheel before a cadre of cameras, effectively revealing the presence of superhumans to the world. This was all we’d ever see of volume six’s “Brave New World,” unless producer Tim Kring wraps up the series with a movie, or even graphic novel.

04. Nowhere Man

Oh hey, remember how we’ve spent the entire first season running along with Thomas Veil, trying to uncover the mystery of who erased his identity and what the real significance of his photograph was? Turns out he was a government operative brainwashed as part of an experiment and never even had a family in the first place. OR DID HE?! Oh well.

03. The Prisoner

Patrick McGoohan had never intended for The Prisoner to extend beyond six episodes, which made the series’ order for 17 increasingly bizarre and convoluted. The ending moments of finale “Fall Out” seemed to imply that even Six’s escape from the village was destined to repeat itself, with his own home part of the illusion precluding a recreation of the opening sequence.

02. Twin Peaks

Yay, we’ve solved Laura Palmer’s murder! Her father Leland did it, posessed by the spirit of Killer BOB!
What? The series ends with the aftermath of Cooper and Annie at the Black Lodge, with Killer BOB having posessed Cooper, smashing his head into a mirror while maniacally screaming “How’s Annie?!” And Fire Walk With Me is a prequel?! David Lynch help us, we’ll never get over this.

01. Lost

Everything. Ever. Why did the Island have a glowing light hole that could destroy the world? Why did that man turn into smoke? What was “The Tampa Job?” Why was Libby in a mental institution? Why couldn’t they have killed off Kate? Epilogues, character-driven storytelling and personal feelings aside, LOST shall forever remain the undisputed king of unresolved mysteries.

I would definitely add Veronica Mars and The Sarah Conner Chronicles to this list and I’m not surprised Lost was number 1. What would you add to the list? You can see the full 25 over at UGO.

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TV’s 10 Biggest Unresolved Cliffhangers

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