Cliffhangers have always been a part of serialized storytelling, but they've grown especially common in the last decade. It seems no show can end a season or even a sweeps episode without some big bit of unresolved business. Sometimes, they really work, and it sets an example for all other shows to follow. Sometimes, however, the effort has an inverse effect. We see the strings of manipulation trying to operate on us, and we resent it. Here are the worst TV cliffhangers that only whet our appetites to go find better shows to watch.
Worst TV Cliffhangers
There's a fine line between intriguing fans and ticking them off. We've compiled the worst TV cliffhangers that crossed that line.
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By Evan Saathoff March 5, 2012 |
Credit: CW
| 1 | One Tree Hill |
Soap operas are lousy with bad cliffhangers, and every cliffhanger on One Tree Hill is the worst cliffhanger ever. This is the kind of show, after all, where a man about to get a heart transplant watches as doctors drop his new heart on the floor where it gets eaten by a dog, and viewers are supposed to take it seriously. Cliffhangers on this show have run the gamut from fires to car wrecks to pregnancies to everything in between.
Probably the most extreme was Season 7's cliffhanger in which lovers Clay and Quinn are shot by a crazy lady named Katie who is unhealthily obsessed with Clay. You have to respect a show that will have minor characters just shoot slightly less minor characters willy-nilly to create major drama. Luckily, you can respect these things from afar.
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