A cliffhanger or cliffhanger ending is a plot device in which a movie, novel, or other work of fiction contains an abrupt ending, often leaving the main characters in a precarious or difficult situation. This type of ending is used to ensure that if a next installment is made audiences will return to find out how the cliffhanger is resolved. The phrase comes from the common end of episode situation of the protagonist left hanging from the edge of a cliff. Some serials end with the caveat "To be continued" (Duckman and Clone High parodied this caveat). In television series, the following episode usually begins with a "Previously...".

Although a cliffhanger can be enjoyable as a page turner at the end of a chapter in a novel, a cliffhanger at the very end of a work can be frustrating. Cliffhangers can build anticipation (and, subsequently, profits) for sequels. However, if no sequel follows, effective suspension of disbelief can leave the audience or readership wondering what happened in the work's fictional realm. Sometimes (for example at the end of Blake's Seven) that goes so far that people write fan fiction (or even publish a novel) deciding what happens next.

In the case of the cliffhanger in The Next Generation Season 3 finale Best of Both Worlds which leaves Captain Picard held by the Borg, some television stations have decided that that cliffhanger inflicts too much mental cruelty on the audience, and show the cliffhanger episode and the next episode strung together in one session.

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@MustachedCorwin I lost interest in that long stretch of season 3 where they ignored season 2's cliffhanger and added 10 new characters.
aalgar (AAlgar) Tue, 05 Jan 2010 20:31:44 -0000
@MustachedCorwin I lost interest in that long stretch of season 3 where they ignored season 2's cliffhanger and added 10 new characters.
Cliffhanger Cliffhanger Cliffhanger Cliffhanger Cliffhanger Cliffhanger @ #desperatehousewives
HansdeKruijf (Hans de Kruijf) Tue, 05 Jan 2010 20:29:52 -0000
Cliffhanger Cliffhanger Cliffhanger Cliffhanger Cliffhanger Cliffhanger @ #desperatehousewives
@rosssayswhat same! I can't wait for the next season!!!!!!!!!!! It ended in a cliffhanger! :(
rachaelkuwaitan (Rachael Kuwaitan) Tue, 05 Jan 2010 20:09:36 -0000
@rosssayswhat same! I can't wait for the next season!!!!!!!!!!! It ended in a cliffhanger! :(
@KMWeiland No, not really. I like when there's something on the horizon to have me reaching for the next book, but not an actual cliffhanger
saracrocker (Sara Crocker Lambert) Tue, 05 Jan 2010 20:08:28 -0000
@KMWeiland No, not really. I like when there's something on the horizon to have me reaching for the next book, but not an actual cliffhanger
Ahhh... Assassin's Creed II story is TOO Mad! The ending seems like a cliffhanger. lol. Maybe a link to No.3 eh? Legacy lives!!!
XVIFox (Waqel Amey Hassan) Tue, 05 Jan 2010 20:05:24 -0000
Ahhh... Assassin's Creed II story is TOO Mad! The ending seems like a cliffhanger. lol. Maybe a link to No.3 eh? Legacy lives!!!
@Shannon_Delany wow!! I can't wait, such a bloody cliffhanger!!!!! did I mention that Jess has a rival for Pieter, I fight hard...just sayin
LovesSam (Carla ) Tue, 05 Jan 2010 20:04:02 -0000
@Shannon_Delany wow!! I can't wait, such a bloody cliffhanger!!!!! did I mention that Jess has a rival for Pieter, I fight hard...just sayin

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