As of: February 12, 2024, 8:41 a.m
By: Michelle Anskeit
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Spoiler: If you still can't figure out Sherlock's fake death a decade later, then you'll definitely feel represented in this list of cliffhangers.
There are those moments when you're watching a series and you're just watching in despair as the final seconds of the season slip away... and suddenly you're sitting in front of the dark screen and have to accept that it's over.
This is especially bad when they are the show's final moments and you just think to yourself: Wow, the show really would have been better off without this season.
But it's almost as bad when you're left with a soul-destroying cliffhanger and know that you'll now have to wait months or even years for the next season.
A pain that I have had to suffer from time to time over the last few years and I am sure that you can only agree with the following examples.
Note: Spoiler alert!
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1. Sherlock – Season 2, Episode 3 (2012)
BBC's Sherlock is one of those shows that is so good that I want to forget about it and watch it again.
No wonder, because season 2 had one of the most emotional cliffhangers I've ever seen.
But that wasn't just because the master detective faked his own death, no.
Shortly before, his opponent Moriarty acted as if Sherlock had simply invented him.
He led journalists to believe that Sherlock had hired him to portray a supervillain.
And honestly?
For a few minutes even I almost believed it.
These literal mind games then made the rest of the episode feel like a fever dream.
Sherlock throws himself to his death?
Moriarty wins?
John standing at his grave?
What's going on here and WHERE is season 3?!
2. Sherlock – Season 1, Episode 3 (2010)
And because we're talking about that cliffhanger that divided the internet back then, we obviously also have to talk about the one about two years earlier.
At the end of Season 1, Sherlock finally met the mastermind behind many of the crimes we were just talking about: James Moriarty.
Andrew Scott plays him so sassy and scary at the same time that for many fans he is one of the villains who are more captivating than the heroes.
This is also because neither you nor Sherlock himself ever really knew what Moriarty would do next... which ultimately led to Sherlock almost blowing up him, John, and himself in the season finale.
Fans didn't find out what really happened until TWO years later in season 2.
The fact that “Sherlock” appears twice on this list is just further proof that the series ended far too soon.
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3. Stranger Things – Season 3, Episode 8 (2019)
Season 3 is rightly the favorite of many fans who have watched the series about Mike and his superhero girlfriend El on Netflix.
It has everything: the best 80s songs, scary monsters, lots of (love) drama and a big cliffhanger.
It hit us particularly hard because it was about the person who has become more and more like a father to El: Hopper.
In season 3, he not only infiltrated a secret Russian base, but also sacrificed himself to thwart the opponents' plans.
The fact that his death wasn't final was hinted at at the end of season 3, but fans only got real certainty three years later!
4. You - Season 1, Episode 10 (2018)
Actually, the series' storylines are always concluded quite nicely.
We see Joe once again getting away with murder as he recites one of his creepy You'll Love Me monologues.
The exception came right in season 1, when Joe's ex-girlfriend Candace shows up... who we actually thought Joe killed.
Of course, she vows to get revenge on him, which is why he ends up leaving LA too.
Fans found out exactly one year later who he was killing in his new home.
5. The Umbrella Academy – Season 2, Episode 10 (2019)
Season 2 of Netflix's The Umbrella Academy was wild.
We got great, deep storylines that dealt with issues like racism and sexuality in the 60s.
In the end, everything seemed fine... until the final moments when the Umbrellas went back to the present.
There they see that a) their father is still alive, b) he doesn't recognize them and c) the Umbrella Academy is now called the "Sparrow" Academy.
Oh and also, her friend and somehow-brother Ben, who was believed to be dead, is still alive.
Two years passed before we figured out what the hell it all meant.
6. Alf – Season 4, Episode 24 (1990)
Oh, do you still know Alf?
This cute series about the Tanner family and their alien bestie who lived with them for a long time.
At the end of the show, Alf decided to explore a newly discovered planet with his friends and leave the Tanners... where the story could have ended.
Instead, the producers decided on one of the series endings that many fans would like to erase from their memories.
Because Alf was quickly arrested by the US police and it wasn't until six years later that what happened to him was explained in a film.
7. Breaking Bad – Season 3, Episode 13 (2010)
We didn't have to wait quite as long as "Breaking Bad" held us out after Season 3, but the whole thing still felt cruel.
After all, we didn't know for over a year whether Jesse really shot Gale in the dramatic season finale or whether he somehow missed the point.
The bad thing about it: series creator Vince Gilligan didn't even intend that!
Gale's murder should actually be very obvious.
8. Better Call Saul – Season 3, Episode 10 (2015)
Are you one of the fans who think the “Breaking Bad” spin-off “Better Call Saul” is even better than the original series?
Then I would be really interested to know how much you suffered at the end of season 3.
In it, the lawyer Chuck McGill kicks over a lamp in his house, causing it to burst into flames.
It wasn't until about a year later in season 4 that we found out that Chuck ultimately died in the fire.
9. The Boys – Season 1, Episode 8 (2019)
If you've watched the series about the slightly different group of superheroes on Amazon Prime Video, then you know that there's hardly anything about it that should shock you.
All I'm saying is Homelander and breast milk... but hey, if we're talking about that awful guy, we now have to talk about the Season 1 finale.
In it we find out that Becca - Billy's wife, who was actually believed to be dead - and her son with Homelander are alive after all.
Fans found out what happened to this decision about a year later in season 2.
But one thing was already clear beforehand: Within just a few episodes, Homelander himself had secured a place as one of the most horrible and unlikable series characters of the last 20 years.
10. The End of The F***ing World - Season 1, Episode 8 (2017)
When 17-year-old James introduces himself in episode 1 as being "pretty definitely a psychopath," we had the completely wrong idea of where the series was going.
Instead of killing his potential victim and soon-to-be girlfriend Alyssa, he genuinely falls in love with her.
Along the way, he and we realize that James is more traumatized than mentally ill.
That made the cliffhanger at the end of season 1 all the more soul-destroying.
In their final minutes, James flees the police alone to protect Alyssa.
When the squad's last shot was fired offscreen, we didn't even know whether there would be a second season.
We had to wait a whole two years to find out James' fate.
Continuing the series was simply the only right decision, as James is not one of the 20 best male series characters of the last 20 years for nothing.
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with Hannah Marder (writer for BuzzFeed US)