Fannish Friday: Unfinished Stories

[lirazel]

As a general rule, I am Against revivals of TV shows, unnecessary* sequels, etc. I do not watch revivals of anything, I am So Very Over the way franchises rule film right now, etc.

* By which I mean: sequels that were not planned from the beginning. If something is a long story that is broken up into several parts, like, say, LotR or a book series that was planned to be a certain length, then that's just fine with me! I'm talking about the kind of thing where the story is over but the writer/creator decides to add more to it for no apparently reason.


But! There are sometimes stories that genuinely need to be continued! The ultimate example for me is The Hour, only of my all-time favorite shows that ended on a horrible, horrible cliffhanger. If the show hadn't been as good as it was, that ending would probably have ruined it for me. That's how bad the cliffhanger was.

That show needed to be revived, although I think it's probably too late for that now. But I would have given a great deal for it to be continued, even with one single episode.


What about y'all? Is there a story you love that you think needed more? Not that this is not "The ending was bad" but "That should not have been the ending." The distinction is important.

Comments

[princessofgeeks]

I was very disappointed that Carnival Row only got two seasons and tried to cram too much into a sort-of finale. The show was good and needed more.

[lirazel]

That's one that looked really interesting to me. I'm sorry to hear that it didn't get the time it needed to wrap things up!

[goodbyebird]

This will always be The Sarah Connor Chronicles for me. (though Santa Clarita Diet I think has had the worst cliffhanger ending I've experienced)

[lirazel]

Oh gosh, a classic!

I did not know that SCD ended on a cliffhanger! This makes me reluctant to watch it!

[gryfndor_godess]

For what it's worth, I absolutely adore SCD, and I don't hate the cliffhanger ending. It's unfortunate, and Netflix sucks for canceling it, but it was the kind of cliffhanger where it was spring-boarding off a new plot for S4 rather than leaving open a bunch of plot threads from S3. Of course YMMV, but I'd still really recommend it.

[lirazel]

but it was the kind of cliffhanger where it was spring-boarding off a new plot for S4 rather than leaving open a bunch of plot threads from S3

This distinction makes sense!

[skygiants]

SAME (re: SCC)

[goodbyebird]

🙌

[dollsome]

I know I’m biased in a negative way, but I really, really feel like Ted Lasso isn’t over yet. They might say that’s the end, even the long-planned end, but that’s not the end to me for so many reasons!!!

[lirazel]

AGREED. (I say as I still haven't watched the last three episodes because I don't want it to be over.)

[elperian]

If I could pick only one show to retroactively uncancel with all the actors available, or even uncancel now, it would The Sarah Connor Chronicles. Lena Headey! Thomas Dekker! Summer Glau! The cast was unbeatable and the storytelling was peak scifi blended with peak humanity. But the S2 finale? THE MOST INTENSE CLIFFHANGER I HAVE EVER EXPERIENCED I NEEDED S3 SO BADLY!!! It's not even bad; it's just such a cliffhanger it should have gotten a S3 to wrap it up.

[lirazel]

Yeah, that seems to be The Answer. It kind of makes me glad I never actually got around to watching the show?

[elperian]

I like that TSCC > Firefly as an answer nowadays. There is a superior show, as much as I loved Firefly in its heyday! There just is!

I'm trying to think if TSCC would be your kind of show though. I can't say it's a strong "yes" although I think you would enjoy a lot about it, so there's that.

[lirazel]

I 1000% believe it's a better show than Firefly. Though I too enjoyed Firefly back then.

I definitely meant to watch it while it was airing but kind of never got around to it, and then it got canceled and I got scared off by the news of a cliffhanger ending.

[elperian]

I can definitely say that even with the cliffhanger it holds up. It's just a - and I'm sorry there's not a better way to say this - total mindfuck and makes you really want S3 because the potential was so incredible. Like, where The Hour makes me desperate for S3 because I need to know that Freddie's alright (I've just decided he is at this point) there are so many different storytelling threads they could have developed in S3 that would have been incredible with so much worldbuilding and of course, all about the character relationships.

And it holds up enough that I go back to it every year and a half like clockwork!