Cliffhanger

Categories: Narratology | Television terminology

For other uses, see Cliffhanger (disambiguation).

A cliffhanger or cliffhanger ending is a plot device in which a movie or novel contains an abrupt ending, often leaving the main characters in a precarious or difficult situation (The phrase comes from the example of a story ending with a main character hanging precariously from the edge of a cliff). Traditionally, most cliffhangers end with the caveat "to be continued" (Duckman and Clone High parodied this caveat).

Although a cliffhanger can be enjoyable as a page turner at the end of a chapter in a novel, a cliffhanger at the very end of a work can be frustrating. Cliffhangers can build anticipation for (and, subsequently, profits for) sequels. However, if no sequel follows, effective suspension of disbelief can leave the audience or readership wondering what happened in the work's fictional realm.

In 1001 Nights, Queen Scheherazade tells stories every night to her mad husband, King Shahryar, stopping at dawn with a cliff-hanger, so the king will postpone her execution in order to hear the rest of the tale.

Cliffhangers were especially popular in 1930s serials when movie theaters filled the cultural niche now primarily occupied by television.

Cliffhangers are often used in television series, usually in the last episode of a season, to be continued in the first episode of the next season. This is to ensure consistent viewer ratings in the new season. Prior to the early 1980's season-ending cliffhangers were rare on US television (the first such season-ender on US TV was in the dramedy Soap in 1978), although several Australian soap operas such as Number 96 and Prisoner had ended each year with major and much publicised catastrophies such as characters being shot in the final seconds of the closing episode for the year.

In the US it was the phenomenal success of the "Who shot JR?" cliffhanger on Dallas, which closed the show's third season, that led the cliffhanger to become a popular staple on TV dramas and later sitcoms as well. Another notable cliffhanger was the "Moldavian Massacre" on Dynasty in 1985, which fueled speculation throughout the summer months regarding who lived or died (in the story, almost all the characters attended a wedding in the country of Moldavia, only to have revolutionaries topple the government and machine-gun the entire wedding party). The "Best of Both Worlds" episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation in 1990 is also cited as a reason that season-enders are popular today.

Cliffhangers are also sometimes deliberately inserted by writers uncertain of whether a new series will be commissioned, in the hope that viewers will demand to know how the situation is resolved.

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Examples of films with cliffhanger endings

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Examples of television series which regularly do cliffhangers

Of course, cliffhangers are the main "hook" of soap operas. Other genres also use them as well, as can be seen here.

  • 24 - drama/action: Every episode ends with a cliffhanger in the last five seconds.
  • Alias -- the structure of episodes in the first season had the last ten-fifteen minutes spent on setting up the next episode with a cliffhanger, usually with the main character(s) in life-threatening jeopardy.
  • Doctor Who - British science fiction television show. In its original run (1963–1989), most stories were comprised of four to six episodes. All but the last episode of a story would end on a cliffhanger. One episode ended with the Doctor literally hanging from a cliff by his umbrella. The new series (2005–current) has also used cliffhangers, but less frequently.
  • Green Wing - Literal cliffhanger, With Guy, Mac and Martin all stuck in an ambulance hanging over the edge of a cliff.
  • JAG often featured cliffhanger episodes at the end of seasons.
  • King of the Hill - The second and third seasons ended with cliffhanger episodes.
  • Lost - drama/action: most episodes end with a cliffhanger, as did the first season finale
  • Star Trek series - Since Star Trek: The Next Generation, all of the seasons of the various series have ended with a cliffhanger
  • The Simpsons - The "Who Shot Mr. Burns?" cliffhanger episode, which was itself a parody of such episodes.
  • The West Wing - political drama
  • Xena Warrior Princess several episodes end with a cliffhanger
  • Xiaolin Showdown Each season ends with one of the Xiaolin monks having been temporarily turned to evil.
  • Pokemon Every episode end with the phrase To Be Continued...
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Unresolved TV (and other media) cliffhangers

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Some TV shows were cancelled in between seasons, and viewers were left wondering what happened. In addition some other media also have shown unresolved cliffhangers.

  • Angel - The show's finale episode was written with the knowledge that it would be the last, but still creator Joss Whedon decided to end with a cliffhanger, involving the main characters about to square off with an army of demons, ending the series with "Let's get to work."
  • Benson - The famous "Who Won?" cliffhanger featuring a gubernatorial race between the title character and his former employer was never resolved.
  • Caroline in the City - This sitcom ended with the sudden appearance of Richard Karinsky (Malcolm Gets) at Caroline's wedding.
  • The Series finale of Crime Story.
  • Dallas - A close up of Patrick Duffy's character saying "Oh my god" in reaction to entering JR Ewing's room (from where a gunshot had just been heard) ended this primetime soap's final episode in 1991, and it was not until 1996 that it was revealed what happened (Ewing had shot a demon-possessed mirror instead of himself).
  • First Monday - As law clerk Ellie Pearson and Justice Deborah Szwark's CIA attorney daughter walk to a restaurant, Szwark's daughter is struck by a car. Ellie cradles her and screams for help, as the season (and the series) ends with a cliffhanger ending.
  • Flamingo Road - The primetime soap ended in May 1982 with the murder of villain Michael Tyrone. At the very end of the series finale, Michael rises from the dead in a burning barn.
  • Last Man Standing - The show was cancelled on a cliffhanger, with Cam about to confront Adam having just remembered a drunken conversation about his affair with Zoe.
  • Moesha - The show was cancelled on a cliffhanger, with Moesha's younger brother Miles having been kidnapped and a positive pregnancy test suggesting that one of the girls in Moesha's dorm was pregnant. The cliffhanger was originally planned to be solved on the Moesha spinoff The Parkers but the writers of the show ultimately declined, feeling that the spinoff had a cliffhanger of its own to solve with the season premiere.
  • Dynasty - This soap ended with a multitude of cliffhangers, for example Alexis falling off a balcony and Blake getting shot.
  • Models, Inc. - Emma Samms getting shot.
  • Twin Peaks - Two words: "How's Annie?"
  • Peyton Place - When this evening soap opera was cancelled in 1969 the final episode made no attempt to tie-up the various story threads in the expectation another network would pick-up the show.
  • Popular - This show's second season finale ends with a cliffhanger that was never resolved due to an unexpected cancellation by the network after the episode was already shot. In the cliffhanger, Tammy Lynn Michaels' character runs over a former friend of hers (played by Leslie Bibb) with her car and it is unclear if the latter survives the hit or not. Also, it was revealed a drag queen (RuPaul) was the father of Leslie Grossman's character.
  • ReBoot - In the end of the last season, it is revealed that the clone of Bob is an upgraded version of the virus Megabyte, who is inside Mainframe's core office and in a position to destroy it.
  • Sonic the Hedgehog (SatAM) - The final scene set up the introduction of a new villain for the next season. It was revealed in 1999 that Ixis Naugus was the mystery villain being set up.
  • John Doe - In the unplanned series finale the Stocking Cap man seemingly in charge of the evil Phoenix Organization is revealed in the last seconds as "Digger" one of John Doe's closest friends.
  • Star Trek: Deep Space 9 - In the last episode Benjamin Sisko is taken by the Bajoran Prophet into the Celestial Temple, leaving his son and pregnant wife behind on DS9.
  • The Big O - In the last episode, Angel becomes the Fourth Big, Big Venus, and begins removing Paradigm City from reality. Roger and Big O attempt to negotiate with her on the survival of humanity. Afterwards, Big Venus and Big O walk towards each other and the screen fades to white. In the last few minutes, the opening of the first episode is shown, with Dorothy and Angel watching Roger drive off unlike in the original footage. This does not tie up any plot threads, and simply confuses people further, as not only was Roger driving off to rescue Dorothy in the first place, but Angel should not appear until Episode 3.
  • XIII In the last ten seconds of the game, the ultimate conspirator is revealed and the hero is left in a potentially deadly situation. Poor sales of the game led to the conclusion that the story would not be completed, in game format at any rate.
  • The Animorphs series of children's books also ends with a cliffhanger, which disappointed many fans.
  • Halo 2, the popular Xbox game ended with Spartan John 117 ordering the UNSC fleet to cease fire on the Forerunner ship that he had stowed away on, to "finish this fight." No direct sequel to the game has been officially announced yet, though it is almost certain.


More TV cliffhangers can be found (including details of what happened) at To Be DIScontinued! - The Hall of Unresolved TV Cliffhangers.

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See also

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External link

Word Detective.de:Cliffhanger fr:Cliffhanger nl:Cliffhanger ja:クリフハンガー (海外ドラマ用語) pl:Cliffhanger fi:Cliffhanger