Why TV series should end sooner

A quick heads-up: this article contains spoilers for Prison Break, The Office US, The Queen’s Gambit, Peaky Blinders and Suits. Read on at your own risk.

Cows are for milking. At least from a business point of view. So it stands to reason that if a TV series resonates with audiences, it’s foolish not to film further seasons – or to milk the cow.

This is what transpired in 2005 with one of my favourite series, Prison Break. You see, the «prison break» that gives the series its name happens at the end of season one. Essentially, the story’s over. And yet, in the years running up to 2017, four additional series and a feature film came out on its heels. Why? Because they hadn’t milked the cow dry yet.

As the saying goes: I’m not angry, just disappointed.

Quit while you’re ahead

Prison Break missed its moment to bow out of the game gracefully. The first season was a masterpiece, the second was very good, the third so-so. After that, Prison Break began to exhibit the classic symptoms of an overly drawn-out thriller. In a bid to trump previous seasons in the drama stakes, the plot ramped up and the characters became increasingly powerful. One antagonist even had to be prevented from taking over the world.

Protagonist Michael Scofield’s original mission – to free his wrongfully convicted brother from prison before his execution – was relegated to subplot status long before that. The authors dug deep into their bag of tricks to keep the story going. Gunshot wounds healed within hours, and if a dead character turned out to be necessary again, they were simply brought back to life.

At least Prison Break held onto the main actor who carried the series until the very end. The US version of The Office wasn’t so lucky. Its main character Michael Scott, played by Steve Carell for seven seasons, left The Office in a touching farewell after 148 episodes. It would’ve been a perfect, well-deserved send-off.

Instead, series creator NBC dragged the remaining actors in front of the camera for another two seasons. Watching seasons eight and nine feels like watching Cristiano Ronaldo play football today: you have the greatest respect for what once was, but there’s not much left of that former glory. In The Office, desperate, random guest stars were wheeled in to try and fill the hole left by Steve Carell. But neither Robert California (James Spader) nor Nellie Bertram (Catherine Tate) captured audiences’ hearts.

Peaky Blinders is another example of a TV cash cow that’s been milked for all it’s worth. In seasons one and two, the Shelby gangster family ingeniously and illegally takes control of Birmingham and London. Main character Tommy Shelby (actor Cillian Murphy’s springboard to the upper echelons of Hollywood) marries the love of his life and moves to the countryside. Cue the sunshine and rainbows. If you ask me, it could’ve ended there. But unfortunately, the series continued to be stretched out. The drama intensified, with the family even becoming entangled in international political intrigue and harrowing experiences. After a while, the series’ overall vibe degenerated from «hell yeah» to «oh dear» and all the fun dried up.

Miniseries are the future

I’m casting my mind back to the real gems of pop culture: the films, series, bands and games that seemed to temporarily take over my entire life, then vanish. The Linkin Park CD that kept me company on countless road trips. The Happy Tree Friends videos that used to make us laugh our heads off. The browser game Travianer, which I’d sprint home from school to play. Good things are good because they eventually come to an end.

Netflix’s hit series The Queen’s Gambit is of a similar calibre. Consisting of just seven episodes, it tells a coherent, well-rounded story. And most importantly, that story’s told in its entirety. The protagonist conquers her demons and achieves her goal of beating the Russian world chess champion. Following it up with another season would be excessive and totally unnecessary, even though people would undoubtedly tune in. Sure, it’d be possible to go on milking this particular cow.

But at what cost?

While TV stations used to broadcast successful series for as long as they could, miniseries have now become a popular narrative tool for Netflix and other streaming services. A show’s duration and scope are clearly defined from the outset, with plans for subsequent seasons firmly off the table. It’s a development I’m pleased about. The medium-length format, consisting of around ten one-hour episodes, offers the opportunity to delve much deeper into the plot than in a film. At the same time, miniseries force creators to tell the whole story within a set framework and timeframe, and to round off any subplots.

At least until someone decides that even a miniseries could be ripe for milking for the right price. But hey, that’s a debate for another day.

It’s up to us to pull the plug

If a series misses the opportune moment to finish, I give it a helping hand by refusing to continue watching. And that’s exactly what I’d advise any frustrated TV buffs reading this to do. If you notice that the plot’s starting to drag on, just stop watching.

The last time I did this was with courtroom drama Suits. At the end of season five, all seemed right with the world. But then, protagonist Mike (Michael Ross) had to go to prison so that there’d be new drama and, as a result, more material for subsequent seasons. Before it could get that far, however, I simply tuned out. Because of that decision, Suits has retained its place in my head as a well-rounded, self-contained story with a perfect length and a happy ending.

We series junkies often rave about the first two or three seasons of a show, only to wistfully say, «After that, it gets kinda boring and over the top». Well, except for my colleague Domagoj Belancic. He even loved the last season of Lost.

All joking aside, why don’t we just limit our attention to the good stuff? Given that the pool of watchable series is famously bottomless, you can go ahead and pick out the best episodes per series and still have enough to binge.

At least that’s what I do now, deciding for myself when the cow’s been milked dry.