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Cliffhangers Are Ruining the Golden Age of TV Cliffhangers Are Ruining the Golden Age of TV
(1 day later)
The Emmy nominations were announced this morning, and CW’s superhero series “Arrow” did not get a nod for best drama series. The CW superhero series “Arrow” did not get an Emmy nomination for best drama series.
“Arrow” is not in my regular TV rotation, but it tops my teenage teleholic niece’s. Together we watched its Season 5 finale (spoiler alert): the ensemble is gathered on an island, and the protagonist and villain are adrift on a boat in the ocean. Then, without warning, the island explodes. It’s not in my regular TV rotation, but “Arrow” tops my teenage teleholic niece’s. Together we watched its Season 5 finale (spoiler alert): the ensemble is gathered on an island, and the protagonist and villain are adrift on a boat in the ocean. Then, without warning, the island explodes.
We clutched at each other and gasped. What. Just. Happened? She couldn’t believe it! She FaceTimed her friends: Could they believe it? They could not. Could I? No one could believe it!We clutched at each other and gasped. What. Just. Happened? She couldn’t believe it! She FaceTimed her friends: Could they believe it? They could not. Could I? No one could believe it!
I had a billion questions. The first was, why manipulate us like this?I had a billion questions. The first was, why manipulate us like this?
This year’s Emmys celebrate shows that, for many critics, constitute a golden era of TV. “Stranger Things,” “The Handmaid’s Tale” and many others employ the cliffhanger to advance and intensify the narrative, to heighten feelings and to deliver on the mind-body promise of art and entertainment — and also to ensure that viewers find the edges of their seats and stay there.This year’s Emmys celebrate shows that, for many critics, constitute a golden era of TV. “Stranger Things,” “The Handmaid’s Tale” and many others employ the cliffhanger to advance and intensify the narrative, to heighten feelings and to deliver on the mind-body promise of art and entertainment — and also to ensure that viewers find the edges of their seats and stay there.
I think it’s a golden era, too, but — hate to talk behind TV’s back — I also think artistry is in special danger of becoming mere stimulation.I think it’s a golden era, too, but — hate to talk behind TV’s back — I also think artistry is in special danger of becoming mere stimulation.
Even great shows surrender storytelling’s functions by overusing them, and then sacrifice the narrative to meet the frenzied demands of an industry that’s always improving upon sitting still.Even great shows surrender storytelling’s functions by overusing them, and then sacrifice the narrative to meet the frenzied demands of an industry that’s always improving upon sitting still.
Cliffhangers can serve storytelling or hijack it, can reward audiences or scam them, can put us off or suck us in and possess us. The cliffhanger can even help us understand the best and worst of TV, as well as the tension between creative possibilities and commercial pleasures.Cliffhangers can serve storytelling or hijack it, can reward audiences or scam them, can put us off or suck us in and possess us. The cliffhanger can even help us understand the best and worst of TV, as well as the tension between creative possibilities and commercial pleasures.
The best-drama nominee “Stranger Things” showcased a great cliffhanger finale. Rather than breed confusion, it fueled speculation. It didn’t mess with us; it enlisted our participation. More mysterious than inconceivable, it left us with our own theories; its last scenes are ours to interpret and to try to shake. I still see the final image when I blink.The best-drama nominee “Stranger Things” showcased a great cliffhanger finale. Rather than breed confusion, it fueled speculation. It didn’t mess with us; it enlisted our participation. More mysterious than inconceivable, it left us with our own theories; its last scenes are ours to interpret and to try to shake. I still see the final image when I blink.
“Arrow” is an example of cliffhangers gone too far.“Arrow” is an example of cliffhangers gone too far.
Streaming media has taken the cliffhanger craze up a notch, or 500. Subscription services (I’m up to four) compete for our undivided attention with their magnitude and features like autoplay, which can briskly carry us through hours of TV, from one seductive cliffhanger question to the next, and the next.Streaming media has taken the cliffhanger craze up a notch, or 500. Subscription services (I’m up to four) compete for our undivided attention with their magnitude and features like autoplay, which can briskly carry us through hours of TV, from one seductive cliffhanger question to the next, and the next.
It goes like this: “Just one episode.” Cliffhanger. “My life depends on knowing what happens. Just another.” Cliffhanger. “Last one, I swear,” having sworn it before. Cliffhanger, and canceled plans.It goes like this: “Just one episode.” Cliffhanger. “My life depends on knowing what happens. Just another.” Cliffhanger. “Last one, I swear,” having sworn it before. Cliffhanger, and canceled plans.
Midbinge, “Time to watch one more?” is rhetorical. We must find out what happened; finding out becomes the priority, the plan for the day. We make time to kill time.Midbinge, “Time to watch one more?” is rhetorical. We must find out what happened; finding out becomes the priority, the plan for the day. We make time to kill time.
We don’t so much watch “Orange Is the New Black” as consume it, as one would potato chips. TV binge culture has adopted the language of junk food. We crave, devour and gorge, trying and failing to sate our ungoverned hunger. More than once I’ve salivated over a series, most recently the Emmy-nominated “Westworld.” Just as I’ve fallen into a food coma, I entered a hypnotic fugue when Hulu released “The Path,” snubbed by the Emmys.We don’t so much watch “Orange Is the New Black” as consume it, as one would potato chips. TV binge culture has adopted the language of junk food. We crave, devour and gorge, trying and failing to sate our ungoverned hunger. More than once I’ve salivated over a series, most recently the Emmy-nominated “Westworld.” Just as I’ve fallen into a food coma, I entered a hypnotic fugue when Hulu released “The Path,” snubbed by the Emmys.
Streaming sites are our delivery systems, and cliffhangers are the carrot.Streaming sites are our delivery systems, and cliffhangers are the carrot.
The very intensity of our immersion allows for anything. A series can be great, but it can also be stupefyingly bad. At some point I stop asking “Is it good?” and instead plead, “Is there more?”The very intensity of our immersion allows for anything. A series can be great, but it can also be stupefyingly bad. At some point I stop asking “Is it good?” and instead plead, “Is there more?”
The critic and author Michelle Orange points to the original seasons of “Twin Peaks” as “a master class in the difference between building an authentic, cumulative sense of suspense (Season 1) and the completely gratuitous, cheap use of cliffhangers to keep people tuning in next week (Season 2).”The critic and author Michelle Orange points to the original seasons of “Twin Peaks” as “a master class in the difference between building an authentic, cumulative sense of suspense (Season 1) and the completely gratuitous, cheap use of cliffhangers to keep people tuning in next week (Season 2).”
The distinction between legitimate tension and manipulation and histrionics is thinning all the time. “Grey’s Anatomy” is cliffhanger K-12. Now in its 13th season, it has kept me on the hook my entire adult life, from its first cliffhanger finale (the estranged wife shows up and surprises the new girlfriend) to its eighth (who will survive the plane crash?) to the latest one (I don’t even remember).The distinction between legitimate tension and manipulation and histrionics is thinning all the time. “Grey’s Anatomy” is cliffhanger K-12. Now in its 13th season, it has kept me on the hook my entire adult life, from its first cliffhanger finale (the estranged wife shows up and surprises the new girlfriend) to its eighth (who will survive the plane crash?) to the latest one (I don’t even remember).
As seasons advance, a fantastic series can get indefensibly artificial, running on fumes and cliffhangers, until “Who will die?” is the main reason to watch. Part of artistry is to elicit an emotional response; but to elicit and elicit (and elicit) is commercialism.As seasons advance, a fantastic series can get indefensibly artificial, running on fumes and cliffhangers, until “Who will die?” is the main reason to watch. Part of artistry is to elicit an emotional response; but to elicit and elicit (and elicit) is commercialism.
Agonizing is not the same as being left in suspense, and a constant state of cliffhanger suspense gets boring. For example, the point of “House of Cards” — created after Netflix collected and analyzed subscriber data, then synthesized our tastes to guarantee our obsession — has become to watch more of “House of Cards,” a point I’ve taken to heart.Agonizing is not the same as being left in suspense, and a constant state of cliffhanger suspense gets boring. For example, the point of “House of Cards” — created after Netflix collected and analyzed subscriber data, then synthesized our tastes to guarantee our obsession — has become to watch more of “House of Cards,” a point I’ve taken to heart.
So it’s the golden age of television with an asterisk. Now TV can be surveyed and engineered. Now it’s art by algorithm, with artistry going with the whim of data analytics and gimmicks.So it’s the golden age of television with an asterisk. Now TV can be surveyed and engineered. Now it’s art by algorithm, with artistry going with the whim of data analytics and gimmicks.
I wonder if, in some way, we’ve spoiled our appetite for artistry.I wonder if, in some way, we’ve spoiled our appetite for artistry.
Maybe artistry has gone down and cliffhangers have skyrocketed because art gets us out of the house. Art puts us more in touch with life outside and doesn’t compel us with cosmic force to actively submit, to alternate between trance and withdrawal, between replenishment and exhaustion.Maybe artistry has gone down and cliffhangers have skyrocketed because art gets us out of the house. Art puts us more in touch with life outside and doesn’t compel us with cosmic force to actively submit, to alternate between trance and withdrawal, between replenishment and exhaustion.
But streaming as a medium and cliffhangers as a tool haven’t turned us into fanatics. Rather, it’s the behavior and attitude toward our lives that media consumption has been orchestrated to encourage. Bingeing, aided by cliffhangers, sells engagement by way of disengaging; together they make a sport of spectatorship.But streaming as a medium and cliffhangers as a tool haven’t turned us into fanatics. Rather, it’s the behavior and attitude toward our lives that media consumption has been orchestrated to encourage. Bingeing, aided by cliffhangers, sells engagement by way of disengaging; together they make a sport of spectatorship.
Most of us can’t stand an open narrative loop, so we persevere and sprint back to our devices, again and again. Cliffhangers deny us resolution and closure so that we may never find peace, may not turn off the machine, may continually dissolve into some violent or exotic disaster involving a volcano.Most of us can’t stand an open narrative loop, so we persevere and sprint back to our devices, again and again. Cliffhangers deny us resolution and closure so that we may never find peace, may not turn off the machine, may continually dissolve into some violent or exotic disaster involving a volcano.
Perhaps this played into the critical and collective swoon over the series finale of “The Leftovers,” replete with nuptials, reunions, answers, infants and love that conquers all, even time and space.Perhaps this played into the critical and collective swoon over the series finale of “The Leftovers,” replete with nuptials, reunions, answers, infants and love that conquers all, even time and space.
Resolution, closure — these, too, are things to binge on.Resolution, closure — these, too, are things to binge on.