š Share this article Series Including Stranger Things and The Survival Drama Are Growing Bloated. I Advocate For the One-and-Done Show It's an all-too-familiar feeling. The follow-up season of your favorite TV show drops on your platform, and your mind is full of hopeful expectation. The debut season ended so perfectly: future plotlines were teased tantalisingly, and a protagonist met a mysterious end ā or so it seemed. During the hiatus, you were perusing Reddit threads with dedicated fans to find some Easter egg clues shedding light on future developments. Unfortunately, the return episode disappoints. It feels like the entire writersā room has been fired and replaced by artificial intelligence. Cut to the second episode, a beloved actor's character acts in a way that you and Reddit user Fishy2345 agree is totally out of character. By episode five, itās clear that the showrunners have had collective amnesia around the storylines aggressively signposted in season one. By the lackluster conclusion, you long for an earlier termination. The Downside of Overextension Wishing for cancellation can only be retrospective; audiences frequently rally against early axings. Take Kaos, a clever mythological satire starring Jeff Goldblum, which was binned by Netflix due to low viewing figures. Yet audiences can console themselves that the program avoided a disappointing second season. Looking back at the horror-mystery show Yellowjackets, I currently desire it was a one-season story. Season one had a creatively abundant premise, and its 10 episodes were note-perfect. Aircraft disaster leaves a teen girls' team isolated in 1996. Top-notch cast members (with Juliette Lewis, Lauren Ambrose and Sophie Thatcher) depicted the survivors in dual eras. Several prize nominations followed, producers originally mapped out a five-season arc to fully explore the narrative. But last week, it was announced that it would end with season four. 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. Instead of focusing on the survivors' reintegration, and their struggle with traumatic memories, the narrative expanded unnecessarily. This involved a wearying pattern of highlighting added personalities (like the underdeveloped daughter Callie) with minimal impact on the main narrative. Itās frustrating, and as a viewer, it is depressing to see your favorite show morph slowly into a hate-watch. An Increasing Pattern Yet this issue extends beyond Yellowjackets. Shows such as Emily in Paris, House of the Dragon, Squid Game and Stranger Things no longer surprise audiences, and embraced predictable tropes. Occasionally, series should end on a high note. The thing is, there are joys to be had in a limited, āone-and-doneā series. Considering 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 desired Yellowjackets as a single-season show, occupying our minds endlessly, unresolved threads included. My top series ever followed this pattern. This beloved 90s drama, the ideal adolescent show, lasted for only one season but was cinematic in its scope: the roles were challenging and multifaceted, the filming captured a fall aesthetic, and the conversations avoided cliched adolescent writing. The conclusion provided no neat resolution, yet this mirrors real life accurately of never having real, definitive answers to the open-ended questions from your teenage years. After 18 perfect episodes (and one dodgy one), I mourned its end and drafted follow-up stories to address unfinished business. It might only live on an old hard drive, it shows how series resonate profoundly. The Unique Connection If writers recall the sacred audience-series connection, more shows can end gracefully. The author focuses on cultural topics.