🔗 Share this article Series Including The Duffer Brothers' Hit and Yellowjackets Have Become Overstretched. I'm All For the Limited Series It's an all-too-familiar feeling. The follow-up season of your beloved TV show premieres online, and optimism runs high. The initial run ended so perfectly: narrative threads were dangled enticingly, and a protagonist met a mysterious end – or so it seemed. After the season wrapped, you delved into fan discussions with other hardcores to uncover hidden hints shedding light on future developments. Unfortunately, the return episode disappoints. It seems as if the creative team was swapped for algorithms. Cut to the second episode, your favorite cast member has done something that you and Reddit user Fishy2345 agree is totally out of character. Halfway through the season, the writers appear to have memory loss regarding plot points heavily emphasized earlier. As the underwhelming ending arrives, you silently wish that the show had just been cancelled. The Pitfall of Too Many Seasons Regretting a show's continuation is hindsight; audiences frequently rally against early axings. Look at Kaos, a clever mythological satire with Jeff Goldblum, axed by Netflix because of weak audience numbers. But perhaps these fans will rest better with the knowledge their enjoyment of the series won’t have been muddied by a sophomore slump. Looking back at the horror-mystery show Yellowjackets, I prefer it had remained a self-contained narrative. 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. Several prize nominations followed, and the showrunners proudly announced there would be five seasons to tell the story in necessary detail. However, a season four finale was just confirmed. I felt grateful as a viewer. Young actors prepare for Stranger Things' next chapter. The show has made narrative choices that have undermined its heart. In place of exploring post-rescue life, and watching how they deal with their horrific new secrets, the story grew padded and excessive. A fatiguing tendency emerged of bringing in and focusing on new characters (like the underdeveloped daughter Callie) who did nothing for the broader story. It's disappointing, and watching a beloved program become tedious is sad. An Increasing Pattern Yet this issue extends beyond Yellowjackets. Series like Emily in Paris, House of the Dragon, Squid Game and Stranger Things have lost the shock of the new, and embraced predictable tropes. Sometimes shows need to quit when they are ahead. The thing is, there are joys to be had in a limited, “one-and-done” series. Considering Sharp Objects, I May Destroy You, and Adolescence, writers understand when narratives find completion. However, the magic fades with series like Big Little Lies, first conceived as self-contained, extend endlessly with reduced impact. Hopefully, Adolescence’s producers have thought twice about that rumoured season two. The Perfect Example I wish Yellowjackets could have been a one-and-done series, living rent-free in our imaginations, mysteries intact. My top series ever followed this pattern. My So-Called Life, the perfect 90s teen dramedy, concluded after a single run but achieved film-like breadth: its characters were difficult and contradictory, the filming captured a fall aesthetic, 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 youth queries staying forever open. After 18 perfect episodes (and one dodgy one), I felt devastated and created my own continuation to resolve lingering mysteries. Though stored on outdated technology, it shows how series resonate profoundly. The Sacred Bond If TV creators can remember the sacrosanct relationship between viewers and shows, more shows can end gracefully. Priya Elan focuses on cultural topics.