Unlocking Secrets: TV Spoilers and Cliffhangers
Unlocking Secrets: TV Spoilers and Cliffhangers
A cliffhanger doesn’t have to involve gunshots or explosions. Sometimes, it can be as simple as a look or a sentence.
The tv show Doctor Who is known for its dramatic, twisting cliffhangers. One example is the Doctor’s regeneration. Regeneration allows the Doctor to survive, but at a price.
Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai Upcoming Story Who
There is a huge amount of information out there about Doctor Who, but much of it assumes a certain level of familiarity with the show. That's understandable, as the show's history is rich and complex. The Unlocking Secrets series will explore key episodes and themes from each era of the long-running sci-fi classic.
When the first Doctor, William Hartnell, died in 1966, it became clear that the role of the Time Lord needed to be recast. A solution was found in the concept of regeneration, which allows a reincarnated incarnation of the Doctor to take on a new appearance and personality.
The show has had many incarnations of the Doctor since, and each has been able to offer something different from the previous one. But one thing has remained the same — cliffhangers and surprises.
In The Stolen Earth, the audience sees the Doctor reunited with two of his companions from earlier adventures, Dorothy "Ace" McShane and Tegan Jovanka. Then, just as the audience is starting to get comfortable with this pairing, things are thrown into disarray by an invasion of Cybermen and Daleks. The Master even shows up to add a bit of extra chaos.
As the climactic confrontation approaches, it seems like there can only be one winner. And sure enough, the Doctor emerges victorious. But just as the TARDIS blasts open and he is carried into it, the Master spoils the surprise by ensuring that the Doctor gets a face-full of his own weapon's energy. It's a spectacular cliffhanger that, for a while at least, left the entire universe in doubt. But, in true Who fashion, the next episode quickly set everything right again.
The Walking Dead
AMC's long-running zombie apocalypse series ended with a bang this month, delivering a bloody and fiery series finale. But there were a few surprise turns in the Angela Kang-, Corey Reed- and Scott M Gimple-penned Rest in Peace.
The first surprise came when Maggie confronted Negan. Despite their strained relationship, the two found themselves on the same side for once. Negan infiltrated the Whisperers and assassinated Alpha, while Maggie thwarted Pamela's plan to sacrifice the lower classes to the walker variants.
But the show's rapid pacing leaves the finer points of the battle a bit unclear. Pamela's inner sanctum, the Estates, is secretly surrounded by our heroes with Mercer's remaining armored Commonwealth soldiers protecting them. Our protagonists then lure the zombie herd and a host of walker variants into the Estates by using music (a neat nod to Luke's use of music against the Whisperers). Once there, they blow up the place, symbolizing a change in social regime as the wealthy are no longer leeching off the commoners.
One more surprise: Andrew Lincoln and Danai Gurira make brief cameos as Rick Grimes and Michonne, respectively. Their scenes don't take place in the final episode but somewhere between Rick's exit in season 9 and Michonne's departure in season 11. They are both prisoners of the CRM, and Michonne has evolved into an even tougher warrior than before. This sets up the two for their upcoming spinoff series, Rick & Michonne.
Homeland
When Showtime’s multiple Emmy-winning spy drama ended its eight-season run on Sunday, it did so with a bang. As the series finale unfolded, the CIA agent Carrie Mathison (Claire Danes) found herself in Moscow arm-in-arm with Yevgeny Gromov (Costa Ronin), but allegedly sending intel back to her boss Saul Berenson (Mandy Patinkin).
The season’s final moments were a fitting conclusion for a show that has been known for its prophecy factor and, indeed, it seemed as though everything had come full circle. The premiere opened with a return to the series’ first season, when Damian Lewis’s Sgt. Nicholas Brody was captured by the Taliban and rescued after ten years of captivity. In the show’s first episode, Carrie was tasked with investigating whether Brody had been turned by a foreign power.
Unlike some shows that run out of ideas in their final seasons, the writers of Homeland kept the series grounded by reintroducing elements from previous episodes and focusing on Carrie’s relationship with Saul. Rather than giving into the temptation of stunt casting major names, the writers returned to the Middle East and allowed the season to end with Carrie questioning her mentor’s motives.
With a little luck, the writers of this unique and polarizing television series could be in for one more surprise. If they’re smart, this will be the beginning of a new chapter. If they’re lucky, the fans will stick around for it.
Succession
With its series finale last night, Succession bid adieu to the wealthy Roy family, Cousin Greg and all the wild bon mots that fueled so many watercooler conversations. But what did it all mean? And who won in the end?
A few weeks ago, we sat down with showrunner Jesse Armstrong and asked him about the finale of his acclaimed HBO drama. His response was simple: "Succession won." It's a fitting sentiment, because with its satirical twists and sharp eye for human foibles, the show's final episode, With Open Eyes, proved to be just as satisfying as it had been all season long.
In the end, it's Tom Wambsgans who winds up CEO of Waystar after a tense boardroom vote that saw the Roy siblings truly shatter, and the GoJo deal goes through. Those who weren't even close to Logan's power -- like Connor, Gerri and Karolina, as well as those who are adjacent to it but not embroiled in the business, like Norm and Marcia and smarmy GoJo CEO Lukas Matsson — came out on top.
As for those closest to Logan, such as Kendall, Shiv and Roman — they lose. After obliterating their relationships with each other and sacrificing their morals, they wind up getting nothing. As he takes a look out at the churning river waters, Kendall is clearly deflated. But perhaps he'll finally turn a new page and start building his own pile, separate from his father's legacy. After all, he doesn't have a lot left to lose.
Game of Thrones
The world of Game of Thrones is full of backstabbing, betrayal and bloodletting. It also features a plethora of cliffhangers that take a long time to resolve (that cryptic black shadow Melisandre gave birth to is just one example). The show has become famous for its heady narrative turns and arguably executes the cliffhanger better than any other television series on the planet.
HBO’s hit fantasy series is based on George R.R. Martin’s best-selling book series A Song of Ice and Fire. The first two seasons each covered a single book, but the show has since moved past that and is now covering material from books four and five. The showrunners, David Benioff and Dan Weiss, have indicated they plan to run the series for seven full seasons.
This means that the show is fast approaching the end of its life as we know it. Fortunately, the showrunners have made it clear that they’re going to finish the story on their own terms, rather than following Martin’s final words.
So, if you’re a true fan, you’ll want to keep your eyes peeled for spoilers, even after the show is over. That’s especially important on Twitter, where people can ruin the show for you by commenting on the latest episode or revealing upcoming plot points. The best way to avoid these spoilers is by using an alternate Twitter app like TweetDeck, Fenix or Tweetbot for iOS. These apps allow you to mute keywords, which will help you avoid unwanted GoT chatter. Alternatively, you can use the official Twitter app but add a large list of keywords to prevent yourself from seeing spoilers. You can even block people from your timeline that you don’t want to talk to about the show.