Series Like Stranger Things and Yellowjackets Have Become Bloated. I Advocate For the Limited Program
It's an all-too-familiar feeling. The second series of your favorite TV show drops on your platform, and optimism runs high. The debut season ended with such precision: future plotlines were teased tantalisingly, and a protagonist met a mysterious end – or so it seemed. After the season wrapped, you were perusing Reddit threads with dedicated fans to find some Easter egg clues illuminating what would happen next.
But the new season opener falls flat. The writing appears robotic and uninspired. Cut to the second episode, a key performer makes a choice that fans unanimously declare inconsistent. Halfway through the season, it becomes obvious the creators forgot regarding plot points heavily emphasized earlier. As the underwhelming ending arrives, you silently wish that the show had just been cancelled.
The Downside of Prolonged Runs
Regretting a show's continuation is hindsight; most fans protest when their favorite shows are canned before they can get off the ground. Consider Kaos, an amusing Greek myth parody with Jeff Goldblum, which was binned by Netflix due to low viewing figures. But perhaps these fans will rest better with the knowledge the show's quality wasn't tarnished by a weak follow-up.
Looking back at the horror-mystery show Yellowjackets, I currently desire it was a one-season story. The first season boasted an inventive concept, and every episode hit the right marks. Aircraft disaster leaves a teen girls' team isolated in 1996. Skilled performers (with 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. And as a fan, I let out a sigh of relief.
Young actors prepare for Stranger Things' next chapter.
Plot twists have diluted the essence. In place of exploring post-rescue life, and their coping with awful experiences, the story grew padded and excessive. That included the show’s tiring habit of highlighting added personalities (like the underdeveloped daughter Callie) who did nothing for the broader story. It’s frustrating, and watching a beloved program become tedious is sad.
An Increasing Pattern
Yet this issue extends beyond Yellowjackets. Programs including Emily in Paris, House of the Dragon, Squid Game and Stranger Things have lost the shock of the new, and settled into familiar patterns. Sometimes shows need to quit when they are ahead.
Actually, benefits come from self-contained series. Looking at Sharp Objects, I May Destroy You, and Adolescence, writers understand when narratives find completion. However, the magic fades with series like Big Little Lies, originally a limited series, return repeatedly with declining quality. Hopefully, Adolescence’s producers have thought twice about that rumoured season two.
The Perfect Example
I preferred Yellowjackets as a limited run, residing permanently in our thoughts, cliffhangers and all. My favorite TV show of all time has played out like that. My So-Called Life, the ideal adolescent show, ran for just one year yet felt epic in scale: the personalities were complex and inconsistent, the cinematography was perfectly autumnal, and the scripts transcended typical youth dialogue. The ending left questions unanswered, but that is perfectly in keeping with the reality of youth queries staying forever open. Following 18 excellent installments (plus one weak one), I mourned its end and drafted follow-up stories to resolve lingering mysteries. It might only live on an old hard drive, it demonstrates television's powerful connection.
The Unique Connection
If TV creators can remember the sacrosanct relationship between viewers and shows, more shows can end gracefully.
- This writer writes about the arts, music and fashion.
