“Wait, I need to know what happens next!” Cliffhangers are our worst enemy when watching a show. The suspense leading to the next episode leaves the viewers hungry for more. Many directors use cliffhangers because it keeps the audience waiting and wanting to watch more. Should shows and movies continue using cliffhangers? Does the audience love the suspense of waiting for what happens next? Let’s see what different shows use cliffhangers to keep viewers watching and what Millbrook students think about it.
(possible spoilers ahead)
“Gilmore Girls,” “Free Rein,” “Game of Thrones,” “The Last of Us,” and “Stranger Things” are all famous tv shows that use a cliffhanger to make the audience keep watching. The last episode of the remake of the original “Gilmore Girls” series leaves us on a major cliffhanger with Rory, the main character telling her mom she is pregnant. In the series she has love interests of three different guys, so the episode leaves the viewers questioning who the father is. Junior Annabell Moore says, “ I love watching episodes where it leaves a huge cliffhanger because it makes me want to keep watching and it leaves my face shocked. I really liked episode 10 of season 2 of the series
‘Outer Banks’ because when the yacht blew up it was surprising, but really good as well.”
Crime shows are also a very popular genre of shows that use cliffhangers for the plot of the story. The shows usually use suspenseful music, and then cut the clip off right as something happens to a character. “Criminal Minds fan,” senior Raina Freedman says, “‘Criminal Minds’ uses cliffhangers a lot. There was one episode that one agent was kidnapped and the clip cut off right as someone was injecting an unusual substance into them.” When asked if this was the best way to attract her eye and keep watching, Raina says, “ I love when shows do this. I love feeling the suspense and it makes the series more entertaining.”
Cliffhangers are what keeps the shows entertaining and what keeps the audience intrigued even if we are left in shock after every episode.
