There are certain shows, like “Lost”, or “Severance”, maybe “From” and some others, where the writers throw mystery upon mystery and plot point after plot point into their shows, without really resolving it all. It just gets more convoluted until you dont even know whats going on anymore.
I feel like sometimes writers write themselves into a corner, and then cant conclude the series with a satisfying ending because there are too many loose ends.
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Not necessarily a trope, but I’ve always heard these types of shows referred to as mystery box shows.
I’m not really sure if it’s a trope so much as it is writers losing steam or not having any follow through. Maybe similar to the idea of jumping the shark, where a show or book has reached the point where the core story is resolved, but they just introduce new dumb ideas to keep it going, but that more is when a show overstays its welcome rather than having everything go unresolved.
Puzzle show.
I’d argue severence isn’t really like that. We get answered at a pretty fast clip.
Mystery box is a term for this.
I feel like there’s a difference between things like Lost or Twin Peaks that just don’t explain things and some other just mysterious shows.
Like in twin peaks a phantom horse just materializes in a living room for no other reason than to be symbolic
TV Tropes calls it Kudzu Plot or The Chris Carter Effect.
TVTropes calls it a Kudzu Plot, and the situation that produces it is Writing by the Seat of Your Pants.
I found Westworld headed in that direction. It felt like they equated overly complex and confusing with quality.
I just want to add that, contrary to popular beliefs, beside maybe one or two minor things everything was answered or addressed in Lost
tactic to keeping paying for subscriptoon til next season trope
I despise shows like that and as soon as they abruptly go to the 2nd commercial leaving me hanging again, it get’s turned off.
Because of Lost I’ve often heard it called JJ’s Mystery Box.