There's a delicate balance when it comes to crafting a perfect cliffhanger in a movie or television show. A successful cliffhanger builds an air of suspense for events to come, simultaneously enticing the viewer back by grabbing their emotional investment while leaving them thirsty for more through the use of a shocking or unexpected narrative development. Walking this fine line is decidedly no guarantee; for every acclaimed outing that produced television show that turned in one of the worst cliffhangers in the history of popular culture.

Cliffhanger movie endings are trickier to implement by contrast, given that a film's story typically ends with it. As opposed to just starting a new episode, this sense of finality removes the possibility of ever resolving the conflict. There's always the more controversial approach of simply leaving the conflict unresolved, but this represents an even finer line to tread, further increasing the potential for ridicule and contempt. In any case, the difficulty in crafting a perfect cliffhanger also extends to television shows, with several notable names turning in examples that ultimately came across as more frustrating than exciting.

10 Cameron Steals Abel

Sons Of Anarchy (2008-2014)

Depicting the turbulent life and times of an outlaw motorcycle gang, Sons of Anarchy is one of television's most successful crime dramas. Kurt Sutter channels Hamlet on Harley-Davidsons to stunning effect, with Sons of Anarchy receiving consistently high reviews across the course of seven seasons. With that being said, the show was still subject to some notably shaky script writing, with IRA gun runner Cameron Hayes' abduction of Jax Teller's son Abel in the second season finale instantly springing to mind.

For all Hayes' rage as a grieving father, audiences never seriously believed that the infant Abel would come to any harm at the Irishman's hands after he kidnapped him rather than killed him, robbing this development of a great deal of suspense. The failure to resolve this loose story thread in the second season bled into Sons of Anarchy's return, dominating the third installment's narrative with a storyline that arguably didn't need to make it out of the second season finale. It wasn't a moment to make viewers quit Sons of Anarchy, but it came close.

9 Sherlock Survives The Reichenbach Fall

Sherlock (2010-2017)

Sherlock Holmes' seemingly fatal plunge from the roof of St. Bartholemew's Hospital in the second season finale of BBC hit drama Sherlock is now regarded as one of the most frustrating cliffhangers in television history; the height of irony, considering the intense speculation surrounding this plot development at the time. The self-described high-functioning sociopath's survival in such seemingly impossible circumstances led to a wildfire of theories as to how Benedict Cumberbatch's charge had survived his bone-shattering fall.

In the end, the closest thing that fans got to a solid answer to the cliffhanger after a two-year hiatus was a farcical series of events disclosed by Sherlock to Philip Anderson, who cast doubt on the theory almost immediately by instantly pointing out a series of holes in Sherlock's purported logic. The lack of clarity over such a monumental cliffhanger seriously detracted from the exact air of suspense and intrigue that such a development was supposed to cultivate.

8 Will And Hannibal Die

Hannibal (2013-2015)

A psychological horror drama canceled long before its time, NBC's Hannibal is based on Thomas Harris' series of novels focused on the character of the same name. Starring Mads Mikkelsen in the titular role, Hannibal received critical acclaim but was canceled after its third season due to low viewership. The show's finale sees Hugh Dancy's Will Graham seemingly sacrifice his own life to kill Hannibal by dragging him over a cliff, with the pair's fate left maddeningly ambiguous.

The lack of closure to be derived from Hannibal's finale was a bitter pill to swallow for many fans who had watched the show from its earliest days. While there were rumblings that the show could potentially be revived on another network, Season 4 of Hannibal has failed to materialize, leaving the conclusion to one of television's most nuanced and complex character dynamics without a clear resolution in one of the most frustrating cliffhanger endings of all time.

7 Jim And Pam Kiss

The Office (2005-2013)

The Office's long-running romantic chemistry between John Krasinski's Jim Halpert and Jenna Fischer's Pam Beesly had seemingly paid off with Jim revealing his feelings for Pam and the pair sharing a kiss in the second season finale before the credits rolled to leave fans with an almighty cliffhanger. Leaving one of the show's most important narrative threads without resolution was maddening in itself, but it was nothing compared to the frustrating Office moments that were to follow.

The third season's first episode revealed that Jim had moved away after Pam had turned down his advances, seemingly putting paid to any hopes of a blossoming romance between the pair. A conclusion to the two characters' will-they-or-won't-they dynamic had been teased for so long, only for the cliffhanger to reveal that any excitement had been for nothing. The duo would eventually get together by the end of the third season, begging the question as to why this development had been delayed another season in the first place.

6 Archer "Drowns"

Archer (2009-2023)

One of the most underrated comedy television shows of all time, the adult animated sitcom Archer was not without its flaws before the iconic show ended with its fourteenth season. Chief among said flaws was a notably weak cliffhanger that saw eponymous secret agent Sterling Archer purportedly killed off, after being gunned down and left to drown in a swimming pool by femme fatale Veronica Deane in the seventh season finale. The only issue, in this case, was that showrunner Adam Reed clearly had no intention of killing off "Duchess".

Archer's renewal for an eighth season confirmed the character's survival beyond any doubt, with the first episode revealing that Sterling's injuries had left him in a coma. To rub salt in the wounds for any fans hoping for a swift resolution to this storyline and a return to the show's tried and tested formula, Archer's coma lasted for three seasons across a range of dream-induced contemporary backdrops, none of which contentiously matched up to the quality of other seasons adhering to the traditional format.

5 Who Did Negan Kill?

The Walking Dead (2010-2022)

The Walking Dead provided the quintessential example of how not to handle a cliffhanger with the demise of Glen Rhee and Abraham Ford. The Walking Dead's season six finale ends with an almighty cliffhanger that sees Rick and his group captured by the sadistic Negan and his force of Saviors. The episode ends with the camera switching to a POV vantage, before Negan proceeds to brutally bash in the brains of the unseen mystery protagonist.

Following intense speculation, the show's big reveal in the seventh season premiere handled matters in disastrous fashion. The Walking Dead had already faked Glenn's death in the previous season and killing him off for real felt like a low blow for such a long-serving cast character; a status quo that applied equally to the graphic and demeaning depiction of his onscreen death. There was also the fact that the endlessly examined previous episode had provided zero real clues as to the victim's identity, leaving many feeling foolish for pointlessly agonizing over minute details for months.

4 Ross Chooses Between Rachel And Bonnie

Friends (1994-2004)

This acclaimed sitcom featured many excellent cliffhangers across all 10 Friends seasons. Instances like the reveal of Rachel's pregnancy at Monica's and Chandler's wedding or Ross saying the wrong name during his vows to Emily are now regarded as classic moments in the storied show's history. Unfortunately, these cliffhangers didn't always pan out so smoothly, with Friends' third season finale serving as a perfectly frustrating example.

Conflicted between his feelings for Rachel in the aftermath of their breakup and his blossoming relationship with his new girlfriend Bonnie, Ross is torn between which of the pair's respective doors to enter as he goes to bed. Unfortunately, the choice between the love of Ross' life and a woman he had been seeing for a few weeks doesn't come across as a particularly difficult decision, robbing his purported agonizing choice of any potential suspense or stakes in the cold light of day. Accordingly, the subsequent reveal that Ross chose Rachel's room lands with very little emotional impact.

3 The Story Ends With A Cut To Black

The Sopranos (1999-2007)

Chronicling the life of a fictional New Jersey mobster, HBO's The Sopranos is universally regarded as one of the best television shows of all time. A near-perfect offering that earned rave reviews while scoring multiple award wins and nominations across six seasons, The Sopranos' only conceivable shortcoming is the show's exceedingly controversial choice to end proceedings with an unexpected cut to black. Many fans were understandably frustrated that a show they had invested so much emotionally in had seemingly ended in such noncommittal fashion.

Bobby Bacala Baccalieri eerily prefenced Tony's presumed fate in the show, once commenting, "You probably don't even hear it when it happens, right?"

However, that's where the brilliance of The Sopranos' final scene becomes apparent. It might not present the exciting payoff that fans might typically associate with a cliffhanger, but the show's cut to black is likely to represent Tony's sudden death at the hands of an assassin; an instantaneous transition to eternal oblivion. The Sopranos' final cliffhanger is an anomaly in the sense that while it may have had more of a frustrating effect than an exciting one, this was undoubtedly the right artistic decision to make.

2 Ivar Mortally Wounds Bjorn

Vikings (2013-2020)

The long-running historical drama Vikings suffered a considerable fall off in quality with the departure of Travis Fimmel, which it never truly recovered from. This status quo was never more apparent than during the climactic episode of Part 1 of the show's final season. In a battle between two of Ragnar Lothbrok's formidable children, the sequence sees Ivar the Boneless deal his half-brother Bjorn Ironside a seemingly mortal blow in the heat of battle. Based on what audiences had seen, Bjorn was clearly a goner; Ivar had run him through the chest with a brutal finality that screamed "fatal".

The issue was that Bjorn was one of the longest-serving and most beloved characters on the show, and fans simply didn't buy the notion that the showrunners would let him go out in such ignominious fashion. Shockingly enough, Alexander Ludwig's character duly returned for one last hurrah to inspire his troops in Part 2's first episode before bowing out for good in a manner that came off as frustratingly contrived as opposed to uproariously exciting.

1 Jon Snow "Dies"

Game Of Thrones (2011-2019)

The cliffhanger to purportedly end all cliffhangers, Game of Thrones' decision to kill off one of their central characters in Kit Harington's Jon Snow sent seismic shock waves running through popular culture. Brutally murdered in cold blood by his own men, Snow's death represented an epic cliffhanger for television's most popular show at the time, with speculation instantly beginning as to how he could have possibly survived.

Unfortunately, Jon's "death" ultimately came across as more frustrating than exciting. Debate over his fate was nothing new considering that the novel's version of Jon had purportedly died in 2011's A Clash of Kings, only for George R.R. Martin's refusal to confirm his demise to ignite debate. As such, there was already an expectation that "Lord Snow" would return to life in some form; a situation that was not aided by multiple set photo leaks. With his "death" only lasting two episodes and the show utilizing a decidedly unimaginative depiction of his resurrection, Snow's return from the dead is a front-runner for the most frustrating television show cliffhanger.