The 9 Most Frustrating Cliffhangers of the 2020-2021 TV Season
The 2020-2021 TV season may have been a bit different — it started later, some episode counts were shorter — but one thing remained the same: finale-ending cliffhangers that will have us talking for quite a while.
For some, at least one main character’s life was hanging in the balance (Chicago Fire took that to another level). For others, a significant moment in a relationship happened just as the episode ended (New Amsterdam already made us wait long enough!). The worst are the ones for which we’ll probably never see what happens next (like Debris and Prodigal Son).
Scroll down as we take a look at the most frustrating cliffhangers from the 2020-2021 season.
A Million Little Things
It took an entire season for Eddie (David Giuntoli) to find out who hit him in last spring’s finale — or, rather, hear the person’s voice. But who called him to confess? We have to keep waiting to find out. Speaking of waiting, we’ve wanted some sort of justice after Sophie (Lizzy Greene) was assaulted by her music teacher Peter (Andrew Leeds), and when the police couldn’t provide any, Gary (James Roday Rodriguez) took matters into his own hands. At the end of the finale, he not only went to Peter’s house, but he also put a bag over his head and dragged him back inside. What exactly is Gary going to do?
Chicago Fire
The longest-running of the One Chicago shows left fans in the same state as all but four members of Firehouse 51: worried about the fates of Squad. Severide (Taylor Kinney), Cruz (Joe Minoso), Tony (Anthony Ferraris), and Capp (Randy Flagler) were in the middle of a water rescue when the boat shifted and their way out was blocked — and they ran out of air. We’re stuck waiting until the fall to find out if all of them live.
Chicago P.D.
We were left wondering if Officer Kim Burgess (Marina Squerciati) would be OK after she was attacked at the end of the penultimate episode of Season 8, and the finale left us … wondering if she’d live after she was shot, lost too much blood, and was brought to the hospital. Plus, Sergeant Hank Voight (Jason Beghe) pulled a Voight and buried a body after possibly manipulating the situation so Detective Hailey Upton (Tracy Spiridakos) would have to shoot a suspect he’d roughed up. Oh, and speaking of Hailey, how did she handle that? She proposed to her boyfriend and partner Detective Jay Halstead (Jesse Lee Soffer). This might be the one time we’re OK if his answer turns out to be “no” or at least “not yet.”
Debris
Maybe the way the first season of Debris ended wouldn’t be as hard to take as it is if NBC hadn’t canceled the drama. What is the event that resulted in Bryan (Jonathan Tucker) being the “third man” and how exactly was he affected by debris? What’s going on with the Finola (Riann Steele) in suspension? The finale left us with so many questions.
FBI: Most Wanted
Who took a potentially fatal shot and who was on the other end of the bullet? That’s the question fans are left with all summer. Sarah’s (Jen Landon) ex was armed when he tracked her down at Jess’ (Julian McMahon) at the end of the finale. Jess’ daughter Tali (YaYa Gosselin) encouraged Sarah to take a gun as they hid in the bathroom. Jess and Crosby (Kellan Lutz), over to check out his boss’ motorcycle, grabbed guns before heading inside once the former realized who was in his house. And as the episode ended, all five had converged, and we only heard gunshots. There are too many possibilities for how that will end to even begin guessing.
NCIS
The long-running CBS procedural doesn’t land on this list for making us wait until Bishop’s (Emily Wickersham) exit for her and Torres (Wilmer Valderrama) to acknowledge their feelings and kiss — NCIS has a history of being that level of frustrating with Tony (Michael Weatherly) and Ziva (Cote de Pablo) and Gibbs (Mark Harmon) and Jack (Maria Bello). It’s also not because the finale ended with Gibbs’ boat exploding. (We know he’s alive.) It’s because we’re left wondering if Gibbs blew up his own boat — without showing us how he got it out of his basement.
New Amsterdam
Which doctor’s story left us hanging in the most exasperating way? Was it the fact that we barely saw Max (Ryan Eggold) and Helen (Freema Agyeman) finally kissing before she closed the door? Was it that Bloom (Janet Montgomery) just risked her job to get her girlfriend, Leyla (Shiva Kalaiselvan), a residency spot at New Amsterdam and we fear we’re about to see her happiness come to a crashing halt? Was it that Reynolds (Jocko Sims) accepted a promotion only to find out the doctor who extended the offer is the husband of Lyn (Frances Turner), with whom he’s now involved? Or is it that Iggy (Tyler Labine) says he’s done seeing patients?
Prodigal Son
For two seasons, we watched profiler Malcolm Bright (Tom Payne) fight to not be like his father, serial killer Martin Whitly (Michael Sheen), only to stab (and possibly kill) him in self-defense in the finale’s last moments. And to make matters worse, not only were we left wondering what would come next — Would there be legal ramifications for Malcolm? Is Martin dead? — but we won’t get to see it. Fox canceled the thriller, and our only hope of seeing a third season is if it’s picked up elsewhere. Should we even bother to mention the fact that Malcolm and Detective Dani Powell (Aurora Perrineau) finally kissed at the worst time ever and never got a chance to talk about it?
Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist
Zoey (Jane Levy) and Max (Skylar Astin) were both left speechless at the end of the Season 2 finale — and not because of a declaration of love (though the two did get back together). Instead, to their shock, it was Max who heard Zoey singing him a heart song, revealing how she feels. Does he now have that power, too? Is it just an extension of her power? With NBC canceling the musical dramedy, will we ever find out?
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O
I am frustrated at the way so many shows get canceled leaving viewers with a cliffhanger ending--especially sci-fi series. I am always leery of watching a new sci-fi series, but enjoy the genre, so I usually give in and hope for the best. I will be left wondering about Bryan and Finola on "Debris" but am more worried that "Manifest" will also be canceled. Last night's season finale of "Manifest" really left viewers hanging.
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L
Pretty much what I said about Manifest on another board. My tv listings said "FINALE" vs "Season Finale," which made me despondent. I understand the 6 year plan thing, but this season just meandered too much, negatively effecting chances of renewal, and if this is it, that finale may be the straw that breaks genre show fans' backs, and makes the viewer/cancellation vicious cycle continue on. Genre show fans tend to discover things after the 1st season is in the can BECAUSE we've been burned by too many cancellations. But despite them often treating genre shows like Mexican jumping beans, fans need to watch live in order for the numbers to save them from premature cancellation.
Prodigal Son is a perfect example. Numbers were good enough to get it trending on Twitter during live airs, but airing was too discontinuous to make live watching easy to keep up with, It was rated higher than many renewed shows, and the streaming numbers were good, something that makes sense, as it's hard to watch an episode of PS and have to sleep an hour later.
Debris followed a similar programming pattern as PS, and meandered for too many episodes before it became gripping. And its airing pattern coupled with lack of promotion made it clear the network was not invested in its success, but rather treated it as something to burn off during pandemic-created programming gaps.
I wish, with all the streamers, they'd create one devoted to genre shows, so more would have a chance.
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O
I know the pandemic made it difficult to produce upcoming episodes of our favorite shows. People are restless and frustrated that we are watching re-runs of our favorite shows. We may love 5he shows and wr may be fathful to watch the same episode of earlier seasons but it is a deal breaker when you already know the ending. Almost like reading a best seller 2 or 3 times it gets boring. Please hurry with the new episodes NCIS, NCIS LA, AND OF COURSE THE NEw NCIS HAWAII. I enjoy my show and look forward to the new. Thanks for filling in the blanks.
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G
Would like Matt to answer my questions about Magnum
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