There are some TV shows that have garnered a reputation for including unbelievable cliffhangers at the end of seasons. Series like Lost occasionally stirred up controversy for their many plot twists, as leaving the audience on the edge of their seats can be equally engaging and infuriating. Often, these cliffhangers come at the end of a season, meaning that viewers have to wait months or years before they find out what happened to their favorite characters. This is made even worse when the seasons that come after the cliffhanger mark a decline in the quality of the series.

Though many of these are the best TV cliffhangers that changed their shows, not all of these changes were for the best. Cliffhangers can include a character's death or significant change in the series. While a shakeup can be good, it can also mean that the series' best years are behind it. There are plenty of TV shows that only get better with time, but these never reach the heights of the storylines before the cliffhanger. Even if the rest of the show is solid, it doesn't the benchmark of the writing and character development of the early years.

10 Lost

"We Have To Go Back"

When Jack (Matthew Fox) first utters the line "We have to go back" in Lost season 3's finale, it is one of the biggest twists of an already shocking show. Lost quickly established itself as a show that intended to maintain the mystery and intrigue of the first season. For a long time, Lost utilized flashbacks to show the audience the character's backstories while pushing the story forward. However, Lost revealed with this line that season 3 wasn't using flashbacks but flash-forwards, confirming the characters escape the island.

Many of the Lost involved the overlapping timelines and later time travel of the series' central characters. While the flash-forward was a successful narrative turn, Lost continued trying to outdo itself and become even more convoluted as the seasons progressed. The show even went so far as to use a flash-sideways in the final season of the series. These conflicting storylines resulted in the controversial Lost finale, which is hotly debated and contested to this day.

9 Game Of Thrones (2011–2019)

Jon Snow's Supposed Death

Jon Snow (Kit Harrington) is one of the central characters in Game of Thrones, and it's true that without him, the series wouldn't be the same. It's not the fact that Game of Thrones resurrected Jon Snow only a few episodes after he died in the finale of season 5, but that the show went in a new direction after this season. It makes sense that Game of Thrones changed beginning with season 6, as George R.R. Martin has only written five books in the A Song of Ice and Fire​​​​​​​ novel series.

There's no doubt that seasons 6 and 7 have some epic moments, like the episode "Battle of the Bastards," and they aren't nearly as uneven as the critically panned eighth season. However, when compared to the tight narrative and amazing plot twists of the first five seasons, the last three installments of Game of Thrones lack the focus and cohesion that the book's story added to the series. Jon Snow's death is part of the most recent book, A Dance With Dragons. However,​​​​​​ it's likely that Martin will take the next the next installment in a different direction.

8 Grey's Anatomy (2005–Present)

Derek's Death

Being on the air for twenty years means that a show will inherently go through many evolutions as the years progress. Grey's Anatomy is a series that's seen a high level of cast turnover as actors have come and gone, resulting in dramatic character exits and deaths. While it never gets easier to see a character killed off on Grey's Anatomy, some deaths are more impactful than others. Derek's (Patrick Dempsey) sudden ing in Grey's Anatomy came as a shock and changed the trajectory of the series forever.

Since Grey's Anatomy has already astounded the audience with deaths, births, and betrayals for so many years, many of the recent cliffhangers aren't as impactful.

Derek dies at the end of Grey's Anatomy season 11. In the seasons since, Meredith's (Ellen Pompeo) journey as a doctor, as well as the dynamic of the hospital, has shifted significantly. Overall, the tone and style of Grey's Anatomy have shifted since the early seasons, even in the way the series is shot and the narrative unfolds onscreen. Since Grey's Anatomy has already astounded the audience with deaths, births, and betrayals for so many years, many of the recent cliffhangers aren't as impactful.

7 The Walking Dead (2010–2022)

Negan's Victims

Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) is a complex figure in The Walking Dead, as he comes to redeem himself later on in the series, but in some ways, his character redemption arc hurt the TV show. The villainy that defines so much of Negan's character for most of The Walking Dead is demonstrated in the season 6 finale when the show left audiences clamoring to find out who Negan killed. It wasn't until the premiere of The Walking Dead season 7 that this mystery was solved.

Overall, season 7 is one of the weakest installments of The Walking Dead, and kicking off the story with the tragic deaths of Glenn (Steven Yeun) and Abraham (Michael Cudlitz) was a bleak beginning. The Walking Dead would go on to have a total of eleven seasons, as fans and critics were willing to keep watching thanks to the goodwill the show had cultivated. However, season 6 marked the end of the first and most successful era of The Walking Dead​​​​​​.

6 The O.C. (2003–2007)

Marissa's Accident

Marissa (Mischa Barton) is a tragic figure in The O.C., as for all her wealth and privilege, she always finds herself in the most impossible and dangerous situations. Though her relationship with Ryan (Ben McKenzie) is a bright spot in the show, their love story is cut short by Marissa's death in the season 3 finale. Just as Marissa was leaving town and starting fresh, ready to leave her mistakes behind her, she was killed in a car accident.

Matters were made worse by the fact that The O.C. season 4 struggled to live up to the first three seasons, and made Marissa's absence all the more painful.

The O.C. is an influential teen drama TV show for many reasons, but the choice to kill Marissa off was controversial. Matters were made worse by the fact that The O.C. season 4 struggled to live up to the first three seasons, and made Marissa's absence all the more painful. Though it's nice to see Seth (Adam Brody) and Summer (Rachel Bilson) get the happy ending they deserve, this is one of the only ways that The O.C. season 4 makes its mark on the show's legacy.

5 Once Upon A Time (2011–2018)

Elsa's Sudden Arrival In Storybrooke

Once Upon A Time season 1 is the best installment of the show, as it tells a tight narrative and is fueled by a sense of mystery and discovery. However, the writers and showrunners managed to maintain the momentum of the project for a few more seasons by bringing in new fairy tales and having the characters travel to distant lands. Unfortunately, there are only so many classic stories that can be brought to life before things start to go off the rails. Once Upon A Time introducing the Frozen storyline was a misstep.

The introduction of Anna and Elsa is teased throughout the season 3 finale, as Emma (Jennifer Morrison) and Hook (Colin O'Donoghue) go on one of their more epic time-bending adventures in "There's No Place Like Home." While this episode is one of the strongest of the season, the Frozen narrative didn't scratch the same itch as other storylines. The characters in Once Upon A Time still have a long way to go after season 3, but the show had already peaked by this point.

4 Glee (2009–2015)

Rachel Leaving For New York

Though it seemed unlikely that Rachel (Lea Michele) and Finn (Cory Monteith) were really going to go through with their plans to get married, it was shocking that Finn was the one to step up and call it off. After their plans to get hitched were consistently foiled throughout Glee season 3, and Rachel finally got into college in New York City, Finn recognized that it was time to let go of Rachel and allow her to follow her dreams after graduation.

When the original New Directions graduated high school and were scattered, Glee attempted to introduce a new set of characters in season 4 while keeping tabs on a few of the older characters.

When the original New Directions graduated high school and were scattered, Glee attempted to introduce a new set of characters in season 4 while keeping tabs on a few of the older characters. This ended up being confusing and much less streamlined than the first three seasons of the show. While making the transition from high school to college is a major issue for teen TV shows, Glee never recovered from the loss of its first set of characters and their inherent chemistry.

3 The Flash (2014–2023)

Iris' Disappearance

The Flash is one of the strongest TV shows in the Arrowverse, running for nine seasons and only starting to decline in quality in the last few years of its tenure. In season 6, The Flash ran into some external issues that couldn't be avoided, as the end of the season coincided with the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Unfortunately, this meant that season 6 left off on a shocking cliffhanger that saw Iris (Candice Patton) disappear after an emotional episode that pushed Barry (Grant Gustin) to his limit.

Part of the reason the early seasons of The Flash worked so well was because of the will-they-won't-they dynamic between Barry and Iris, as well as the organic introduction of new villains and enemies. By The Flash season 6, Barry and Iris were happily married, and the writers were inventing more convoluted problems for Team Flash to solve and ways to keep the central couple apart. Iris' storyline was resolved quickly at the start of season 7, and the series became more unfocused after this.

2 One Tree Hill (2003–2012)

The Car Crash

One Tree Hill is one of the best teen romance TV shows ever made, and there's little question that the series was at its best when the characters were in high school. The season 3 finale is full of confessions and realizations, culminating in a big white wedding between Nathan (James Lafferty) and Haley (Bethany Joy Lenz). However, their happiness is short-lived, as at the end of the episode, two of the characters get into a car crash, and Nathan jumps in to save them, leaving Haley watching from the bridge, wondering if he's alright.

After season 3, the series never recaptured the messiness and drama that were so compelling during the first few installments of the story.

This kind of dramatic, emotional ending is what audiences expect from One Tree Hill and was a high point for the show. Though season 4 still takes place in high school, it was the beginning of the weaker seasons of One Tree Hill. After season 3, the series never recaptured the messiness and drama that were so compelling during the first few installments of the story. Though there would be exciting moments after this, from season 5 onward, the series lost some of its magic.

1 Sherlock (2010–2017)

Sherlock Fakes His Death

2010's modernized take on the Sherlock Holmes stories was a significant departure from the period pieces that viewers had come to associate with the famous sleuth. Sherlock broke boundaries in many ways and had a strong initial run throughout the first three seasons. However, the fourth and final season is regarded as the weakest installment of the show by far. After Sherlock season 3 left off with Sherlock's (Benedict Cumberbatch) shocking death, it seemed as though the story had ended on a sad but fitting note.

However, Sherlock season 4 ended up undoing much of this work and created a convoluted way for Sherlock to come back to Baker Street after faking his death. There was a way that Sherlock could've pulled this off, but losing the show's best villain, Moriarty (Andrew Scott), and having to think of exciting new twists made season 4 an uphill battle. When revisiting Sherlock today, there's little reason to watch season 4, as the cliffhanger of season 3 makes for a better ending to the hit series.