Programs Like Stranger Things and The Survival Drama Have Become Overstretched. I'm All For the Limited Series
This scenario is painfully common. The second series of your beloved TV show has just begun streaming, and you're brimming with anticipation. The initial run ended so perfectly: upcoming stories were hinted at provocatively, and a key figure faced a shocking fate – or did they?. After the season wrapped, you were perusing Reddit threads with dedicated fans to uncover hidden hints shedding light on future developments.
And then season two’s premiere is a damp squib. It feels like the entire writers’ room has been fired and replaced by artificial intelligence. By the next installment, a key performer makes a choice that fans unanimously declare inconsistent. By episode five, it becomes obvious the creators forgot regarding plot points heavily emphasized earlier. By the lackluster conclusion, you privately hope it had ended sooner.
The Pitfall of Too Many Seasons
Regretting a show's continuation is hindsight; audiences frequently rally against early axings. Take Kaos, an amusing Greek myth parody starring Jeff Goldblum, axed by Netflix because of weak audience numbers. However, supporters might find comfort knowing the show's quality wasn't tarnished by a weak follow-up.
Reflecting on Yellowjackets, I now wish it had been a limited series. The first season boasted an inventive concept, and every episode hit the right marks. A 1996 plane crash strands a female soccer team in wilderness. Top-notch cast members (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 fully explore the narrative. Recently, news broke of a season four conclusion. I felt grateful as a viewer.
The Stranger Things cast returns for season five.
The show has made narrative choices that have undermined its heart. In place of exploring post-rescue life, and their struggle with traumatic memories, the story grew padded and excessive. A fatiguing tendency emerged of introducing peripheral figures (like the underdeveloped daughter Callie) with minimal impact on the main narrative. It's disappointing, and watching a beloved program become tedious is sad.
An Increasing Pattern
But it’s not only Yellowjackets. Series like 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.
Indeed, pleasures exist in single-season stories. Looking at Sharp Objects, I May Destroy You, and Adolescence, TV creators know when to stop when the story has naturally reached an endpoint. 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 Supreme Instance
I wish Yellowjackets could have been a one-and-done series, residing permanently in our thoughts, cliffhangers and all. My favorite TV show of all time has played out like that. The classic teen series, the ideal adolescent show, concluded after a single run but achieved film-like breadth: its characters were difficult and contradictory, the visuals were beautifully seasonal, and the scripts transcended typical youth dialogue. The conclusion provided no neat resolution, yet this mirrors real life accurately of adolescent uncertainties remaining perpetual. Following 18 excellent installments (plus one weak one), I felt devastated and created my own continuation to answer some of those questions. It might only live on an old hard drive, it shows how series resonate profoundly.
The Special Relationship
When producers honor the special viewer-program bond, more programmes can bow out when the time is right.
- Priya Elan covers entertainment and style.
