Well, it’s that time of year again: the time when we laugh harder, cry harder, and rush out and buy advertised products harder than we ever have. Or so the networks hope. Yep, it’s finale time.
A season finale is a special type of episode. For most shows, it’s going to be several months before you see a new episode, and they want to make sure that you’re as hooked as possible. After all, you’ll be tempted in the fall by all the new and shiny shows that everyone is rolling out (most of which will be cancelled within the first half of the season anyway). The summer’s a long time and, as previously discussed, there aren’t as many reruns to keep you reminded of what good times you and their show had. What if you get a taste of a new show in the same timeslot and you stop watching theirs? It would be absolutely terrible.
Therefore, finales pull out all the stops. Traditional examples of finale pandering (and I won’t be including episodes/series because there are far too many): weddings! Babies! A long-awaited kiss/declaration of love! Drama! Death! Almost-death! Characters in peril! Proposals! Pregnancies! Revealed secrets! Fights! Epic storylines! Guest stars! Actual-conclusions-of-story-arcs! …and many more I’m sure you can suggest.
A lot of these are similar to sweeps storylines; again, these are episodes the networks really want you to watch. The motivation is slightly different, though—they want you to watch now so you’ll be sure to watch later. For this, they have their ace-in-the-hole: the cliffhanger. Now, I’ve already written a whole entry about cliffhangers, so I won’t go into them too much. But cliffhangers are almost ubiquitous in season-enders. They’re a great way to make sure the audience wants to watch the next season—or at least the first five minutes of the next season. If they come up with a cliffhanger intense enough—or one the audience can’t figure out how the protagonists will get out of—it has the potential to be talked about throughout the summer, which leads to high numbers for the season premiere. And if it’s being talked about, it’s likely new viewers will be brought to the show by word-of-mouth. The right season finale cliffhanger can be gold for a show (see “Who Shot J.R.?” from Dallas).
There is some danger in ending on a cliffhanger. Not all shows know if they’re coming back the next season; upfronts take place after the episodes have been filmed. Some shows get an early green light. Some shows get news of cancellation early, which is in some ways a blessing. They can find a way to wrap up their storylines and give a complete send-off to the show, knowing it will be their series finale.
But some shows are “on the bubble.” They could be renewed, they could be cancelled; it depends on what the network has on their plate for the next season. Those shows take a risk when they end on a cliffhanger, because, if they’re not renewed, that’s how their story ends. Fans are incredibly frustrated when a show is left with an open ending. If a show doesn’t take the gamble, though, they risk losing viewers the next season to shows with storylines that haven't been wrapped up in a neat and shiny bow.
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