Waiting for new seasons is annoying. But what’s making me angry is writers pitching an idea, getting green-lit, and then we learn they don’t have any plan.
I would suspect every writer starts with an idea that includes a beginning and an end. Not so much for television writers. See the current documentary about season 5 of “Stranger Things.” They went into filming of the final episode without a finished script. They really didn’t know how the show would end.
“Lost” was similar. They had an idea and then piled on one mystery after another without a real plan. They even changed what they worked on when fan theories hit too near.
JMS had a plan with Babylon 5. He knew how to carry a series forward, figured out alternate plans in case of emergencies, and despite everything, people still remember it 25-30 years later.
Same with Sam Esmail and Mr. Robot. Or The Expanse, despite how many cancellations it got.
The only thing people remember Lost for is how much they fucked up the ending. Or BSG… fantastic series, terrible ending. Just wasted potential tarnishing their legacy.
At least, Vince Gilligan has a good track record.
I mean things do change.
Starting with Pluribus, Vince Gilligan has said he expects about four seasons from Pluribus. He’s also said he could probably keep going after that. So he has an idea of how things end, but it isn’t set in stone.
Also look at How I Met Your Mother, it’s clear they had an idea for an ending from the start. However the show got renewed and extended and eventually outgrew the originally planned ending. Unfortunately the finale then had to undo a bunch of things just to get that original ending.
Going back to Vince Gilligan, if you watch Better Call Saul it’s clear that the first season was shot with the idea that if it didn’t get any more seasons, it would be a decent ending. Once it was renewed it started to expand and setup where the series would end up. The result however is that season 2 has some season 1 retreads.
Then don’t. I only watch finished series and I seem to be the odd one out, but it seems like such an obvious idea. I will watch a series when all seasons are available.
There is no shortage of finished series anyway. And you get to check reviews of the whole thing before you commit to it.
