Shows Such As Stranger Things and The Survival Drama Are Turning Overextended. I'm All For the One-and-Done Series
It's an all-too-familiar feeling. The follow-up season of your beloved TV show premieres online, and your mind is full of hopeful expectation. The initial run ended with such precision: upcoming stories were hinted at provocatively, and a key figure faced a shocking fate – or did they?. During the hiatus, you delved into fan discussions with other hardcores to decode subtle references pointing toward upcoming twists.
But the new season opener falls flat. The writing appears robotic and uninspired. In episode two, a beloved actor's character acts in a way that viewers recognize as jarringly uncharacteristic. As the story progresses, the writers appear to have memory loss regarding plot points heavily emphasized earlier. As the underwhelming ending arrives, you long for an earlier termination.
The Downside of Too Many Seasons
Wanting a series to end early is often late realization; viewers usually oppose premature cancellations. Consider Kaos, an amusing Greek myth parody featuring Jeff Goldblum, which Netflix dropped over poor ratings. Yet audiences can console themselves that the show's quality wasn't tarnished by a weak follow-up.
Considering the thriller Yellowjackets, I now wish it had been a limited series. The debut offered a richly imaginative setup, and its 10 episodes were note-perfect. Aircraft disaster leaves a teen girls' team isolated in 1996. Excellent actors (including Juliette Lewis, Lauren Ambrose and Sophie Thatcher) portrayed the team then and now. There were multiple award nominations, creators confidently planned five seasons to tell the story in necessary detail. Recently, news broke of a season four conclusion. This news brought me relief.
Young actors prepare for Stranger Things' next chapter.
The show has made narrative choices that have undermined its heart. Rather than leading with the girls’ return home, and their coping with awful experiences, we were taken in directions that bloated the original premise. A fatiguing tendency emerged of bringing in and focusing on new characters (like the underdeveloped daughter Callie) who added little to the overarching plot. It's disappointing, and witnessing a great series decline into annoyance is disheartening.
A Growing Trend
Yet this issue extends beyond Yellowjackets. Programs including Emily in Paris, House of the Dragon, Squid Game and Stranger Things lack original impact, and settled into familiar patterns. At times, programs must stop while successful.
The thing is, there are joys to be had in a limited, “one-and-done” series. Looking at Sharp Objects, I May Destroy You, and Adolescence, producers recognize appropriate conclusion points. But the game is over when shows such as Big Little Lies, initially a one-season story, return repeatedly with declining quality. Perhaps Adolescence's team reconsidered a second season.
The Supreme Instance
I preferred Yellowjackets as a limited run, living rent-free in our imaginations, unresolved threads included. My top series ever followed this pattern. This beloved 90s drama, the perfect 90s teen dramedy, ran for just one year yet felt epic in scale: its characters were difficult and contradictory, the cinematography was perfectly autumnal, and the dialogue was untethered from the normal “teen speak written by a 35-year-old” trope. The conclusion provided no neat resolution, yet this mirrors real life accurately of adolescent uncertainties remaining perpetual. After 18 great episodes (and one mediocre), I mourned its end and drafted follow-up stories to address unfinished business. Though stored on outdated technology, it demonstrates television's powerful connection.
The Special Relationship
When producers honor the special viewer-program bond, more series can conclude appropriately.
- Priya Elan writes about the arts, music and fashion.
