Cliffhangers are a double-edged sword. On the one hand, there’s nothing more exciting than speculating “what-if” scenarios with friends and family. On the other hand, there is nothing more painful than being forced to wait!
Some television moments are so impactful, fans still haven’t completely gotten over them. They remain as fresh in our minds as the day it transpired.
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To better understand what I mean, here are 10+ wild TV cliff hangers fans can’t get over.
*Dexter*: Rita in the bathtub
At this point in the series, many fans were growing tired of Rita.
That being said, no one could have anticipated the fourth season concluding with Dexter finding her dead in their bathtub.
*Sherlock*: Sherlock Holmes is alive!
It was a heartwrenching and sobering sight watching John Watson standing over the grave of Sherlock.
Fans felt a wave of euphoria when the camera panned to reveal Sherlock was most assuredly alive. It made waiting the full year for the season premiere that much more difficult.
*Weeds*: The standoff
Weeds used to be such a great show. Those first few seasons are pretty well near perfect.
The drug-dealer standoff in season two, which took place in Nancy’s kitchen, remains firmly atop the list of greatest season finales.
*Buffy the Vampire Slayer*: Buffy pushes Angel into the vortex
We literally had no idea what would happen, and that was more than enough to drive us crazy until we found out.
*Jane The Virgin*: When we found out Michael wasn’t dead
Jane the Virgin is a satirical play on the modern-day Soap Opera.
No finer proof of this fact exists than in season 4 when fans learned that Michael was still alive!
*The Vampire Diaries*: When Damon and Bonnie “died.”
Obviously, we knew that at least Damon would come back, as there is no show without him.
But we were very scared for Bonnie!
*Gossip Girl*: Chuck Bass gets shot in Prague
We all knew that Chuck’s big mouth would land him in trouble sooner or later.
Still, choosing to end the season with him lying shot in the streets was a pretty powerful cliffhanger, to say the least.
*Friends*: Was it Rachel or Bonnie?
I loved this episode of Friends . I still laugh when I think about Joey waking up in the sand, complete with two large sandcastle breasts.
The cliffhanger, however, came at the conclusion of the episode where it wasn’t clearly shown whose room Ross was going into.
*Manifest*: Not knowing who got shot
So, watching a character get shot but not knowing if they survive is one thing, but not knowing who got shot at all?
That’s pure torture.
*Orange Is The New Black*: Daya grabs the gun
The show ended on such a tense moment, and we had to wait months upon months to find out what she would do with the gun.
Pure torture.
*Supernatural*: When Sam & Dean got hit by a truck
OK, so maybe no one actually thought that the Winchester brothers were actually dead. It’s kind of hard to go forward when you kill off your two main protagonists in a single motion.
Still, there was at least some uncertainty regarding the brothers’ fate going into season 2.
*Breaking Bad*: Did Jesse kill Gale?
When Jesse shows up to kill Gale in the final moments of Breaking Bad season 2, that is without a doubt one of the most intense moments in television history.
BANG! And fade to black…
*Law & Order: Special Victims Unit*: Alex getting shot
What is with television shooting characters and then just not telling us what happens?
It’s cruel is what it is!
*The Walking Dead*: Who did Negan kill?
As I mentioned before, I read the comics before ever watching this episode. So sadly, I already knew Glenn’s fate.
But even in the face of assured demise, I was still praying he’d somehow come out the other end.
*Supernatural*: Dean is a demon
“No, it can’t be! Dean can’t be a demon! Noooo!”
I’m paraphrasing but that’s pretty much exactly what I sounded like after watching this scene.
*Avatar: The Last Airbender*: Azula shooting Aang with her lightning
Okay, raise your hand if you thought Aang was actually going to die!
No? Just me? Okay, cool.
*On My Block*: Ruby and Olivia get shot.
Not knowing who would live and die from this made us pull our hair out for a long time before we found out.
*The Sopranos*: Who gets whacked?
The Sopranos finale is still discussed to this day. There are countless subreddits dedicated to answering one simple question: what the hell happened?
Some believe Tony dies, others that the audience was “whacked.” What do you think?
*Star Trek: The Next Generation*: Picard is assimilated by the Borg
Considering he’s probably one of the most beloved sci-fi characters of all time, seeing this happen to him was gut-wrenching.
*The Simpsons*: Who shot Mr. Burns?
This became a national treasure hunt.
There were contests, clues, and all kinds of fun incentives to encourage fans to write in and answer “Who shot Mr. Burns?”
*The Office*: When Jim and Pam finally kiss
This was such a paradoxical moment. I remember feeling so much joy at watching Jim and Pam share their first kiss.
But reality quickly set in after realizing I’d have to wait an entire year to hear the outcome.
*The West Wing*: White supremacists shot at the president
Oh, and then the screen went black.
Talk about a heart attack to a fan! The waiting game after this episode was torturous.
*Game Of Thrones*: Jon Snow is murdered by the Night’s Watch
I refused to believe my eyes when I saw this for the first time.
As if witnessing the death of Jon Snow wasn’t bad enough, fans then had to wait an entire year for the next season!
That was cruel.
*The Good Place*: The gang finds out they are in the Bad Place
Okay, not to toot my own horn, but I actually knew from the start that would be the case.
But for those who didn’t, this moment was definitely gasp-worthy.
*Brooklyn Nine-Nine*: When Jake and Rosa were arrested
So, since it’s a sitcom, we had a pretty good feeling that everything would be worked out.
But we couldn’t be certain!
*Alias*: Sydney wakes up two years in the future
We didn’t know what had happened, we didn’t know what would happen, and it was a plot twist no one expected.
So, basically, it was perfect.
*Friends*: The one where Ross says the wrong name
Poor, poor Ross. He can just never seem to come out on top, no matter how hard he tries.
Having to wait a whole year to find out the consequences to his biggest blunder yet was nearly impossible.
*Jane the Virgin*: When Jane’s baby was kidnapped
So season one of Jane the Virgin is dramatic but mostly feel good.
But when the baby is kidnapped in the finale of the season, it made us realized that this show was here to be DRAMATIC.
*Glee*: When Quinn got in a car crash
Most teen drama shows have a moment like this, but for some reason, Glee was the best at making sure we were always on the edge of our seats.
*The 100*: The flash-forward
So this majorly sucked.
We had no idea who was alive or dead, how they were surviving, and what had happened to the characters we loved in the years that passed.
*Game of Thrones*: The Red Wedding
Though it didn’t leave us with many unanswered questions, this was probably one of the most frightening moments of the entirety of Game of Thrones .
