Here Are 21 Of The Best TV Cliffhangers Of All Time, As Decided By TV-Bingeing Experts

Yep, Grey's and Breaking Bad are both on here twice.

Have you ever been watching something GREAT on TV – there's build-up, there's tension, there's drama, and then... Cut to black.

HBO

We've all been there!

A cliffhanger is a common storytelling device designed to keep us all watching a series. It's so common, in fact, that there are a ton of examples out there! So, with that many cliffhangers in existence, one naturally wonders, what are greatest of all time?

BET

The series-bingeing experts at findmycasino.com recently decided to delve into the world of TV and utilise YouTube statistics to identify the best TV cliffhangers ever. After months of dedicated research, here's what they came up with:

🚨 Fair warning, this post is HEAVY with spoilers, so do scroll on past any you wish to avoid (hopefully you'll forget about them as I tend to do). 🚨

21. Star Trek: The Next Generation

First-run syndication

The cliffhanger: Picard is assimilated

YouTube analysis score*: 4.48/10

Imagine your solid, dependable Captain being overtaken by an evil alien force capable of conquering Earth? This was the crisis faced by the crew of Enterprise-D in "The Best of Both Worlds" part one, in which Captain Picard is assimilated by the Borg and becomes a threat to his team. The episode is generally considered to be the origin of the famous sci-fi phrase, "resistance is futile".

*calculated using an average percentrank of YouTube views and likes.

Here's that moment for you:

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20. The Simpsons

Fox

The cliffhanger: Maggie shoots Mr. Burns

YouTube analysis score: 4.74/10

I think we all remember where we were when this episode aired, right? Chronic The Simpsons villain Mr. Burns stumbles home during twilight, only to be ambushed and shot... But by who?!?! In this iconic two-part episode, multiple suspects from Homer to Smithers are considered, before it's revealed that the youngest Simpson was responsible (albeit accidentally).

Go on, take a trip down memory lane and give this a watch:

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19. Lost

ABC

The cliffhanger: Jack wants to go back

YouTube analysis score: 4.74/10

I feel like Lost was one of the earliest US shows to become a major water-cooler type serial over here in the UK. People loved discussing what the hell was going on on that island, and this episode was no exception! After everything that happened, Jack revealed to Kate he had been trying to get back to the island, and then attempted to convince her they should both return. When she refused, Jack was left bereft.

Relive the drama in this clip:

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18. Buffy The Vampire Slayer

The WB

The cliffhanger: Buffy sacrifices herself

YouTube analysis score: 5.4/10

Who doesn't love a bit of Buffy??? Not only did this series give you horror, comedy, romance, and fantasy, it could also deliver serious dramatic moments. After "death" was prophesied to be Buffy's gift by the First Slayer, she sacrificed herself to save her younger sister Dawn in season five finale, "The Gift". It's a pretty emotional sequence, not least due to the score by Christophe Beck. This was also the final episode to air on The WB before the show moved to UPN.

Give it a watch if you haven't before (or if you have!)

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17. Grey's Anatomy

ABC

The cliffhanger: Meredith meets Addison

YouTube analysis score: 5.79/10

Shonda sure is fond of a cliffhanger, and Grey's Anatomy has had quite a few. In this bombshell scene from the season one finale, our main gal meets Addison Shepherd. Recognise that surname? Well, it might be because Addison was married to one Derek Shepherd AKA "McDreamy" AKA Meredith's longtime love interest! Viewers had no idea Derek was still married before this moment, and it sure caught Meredith by surprise too.

Press play to hear Addison's immortal first words (iykyk):

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16. ER

NBC

The cliffhanger: Lucy and Carter are stabbed

YouTube analysis score: 6.06/10

ER temporarily turned into a Scream movie in season six when the show killed off medical student Lucy Knight. Amidst an uproarious party at Cook County General Hospital, John Carter enters a room and is stabbed by a rampaging patient. When he falls to the floor, he spies Lucy bleeding out on the floor on the other side of a bed, having also been stabbed.

The whole scene is cut with "Battleflag" by Lo Fidelity Allstars, and is very jarring. Indeed, fans are still haunted to this day by the shocking sequence.

Here's that scene if you're at all curious to see it:

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15. Sons Of Anarchy

FX

The cliffhanger: Abel is taken

YouTube analysis score: 6.19/10

Sons of Anarchy is no stranger to turning up the dial to 100 in the name of drama and shock value. In the finale episode of season two, protagonist and gang leader Jax Teller is in pursuit of a rival, Cameron Hayes. Cameron has kidnapped Jax's infant son Abel as revenge against the Teller family. As they sail away on a boat, Jax falls to ground, wondering whether he'll ever see his baby again.

Here's that scene complete with ~awesome~ backing song:

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14. Stranger Things

Netflix

The cliffhanger: Hopper sacrifices himself

YouTube analysis score: 6.32/10

Stranger Things truly is a televisual sensation, and no moment had us more gagged than when Jim Hopper was killed in a dramatic cliffhanger at the end of season three. Basically, stalwart character Hopper ended up sacrificing himself to save the town of Hawkins. His knowing look gets me every time! Add into the mix Billy's death scene, and you've got one HECK of a finale.

Watch the gut-wrenching finale below:

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13. The O.C.

Fox

The cliffhanger: Marissa shoots Trey

YouTube analysis score: 6.58/10

Who didn't live for The O.C. back in the day? The Marissa-Ryan storyline was everything, but things between these two were complicated when Ryan's older brother Trey came into the picture. After Ryan found out that Trey had forced himself onto Marissa, he went to confront his brother and they ended up fighting to the death. In the end, Marissa shot Trey to save Ryan from getting killed.

All of that was dramatic enough, but WHO ON EARTH could've been prepared for the musical cue that followed that gunshot!?!?

Mmm whatcha say we watch the scene again?

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12. The West Wing

NBC

The cliffhanger: The President is attacked

YouTube analysis score: 6.97/10

You can feel the tension in the air during this pivotal scene at the end of season one of The West Wing. The episode starts and ends with the President giving a speech, and Agent Toscano feeling like something is wrong. The President exits the Town Hall meeting where he was speaking, and at the last minute, shots are fired into the crowd as the screen goes black. Ultimately, you aren't sure who's been hit, and viewers didn't find out until season two aired five months later!

Here's that dramatic finale for ya:

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11. Loki

Disney+

The cliffhanger: Loki is in a different TVA (maybe)

YouTube analysis score: 6.98/10

As one of the most singular and beloved characters from the MCU, it was no surprise when Loki got his own spin-off TV series released in 2021. Set within a mysterious agency outside the confines of space and time – the Time Variance Authority – the finale of the first season had us asking all sort of questions like, where is Loki now? Is he in a different TVA? And what happened to the old TVA?

Here's that confusing ending for you:

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10. Breaking Bad

AMC

The cliffhanger: Jesse kills Gale

YouTube analysis score: 7.24/10

For a great many reasons, Breaking Bad is often referred to as one of the greatest TV series of all time. This cliffhanger, which sees Jesse kill Gale Boetticher on Walt's orders, is the first of two on this list. Faced with the prospect that he will be killed, meth manufacturer Walt attempts to kill off his competition but is thwarted, so he enlists his accomplice Jesse to do it for him. Jesse doesn't want to murder Gale, but for Walt it's a kill or be killed situation.

The episode ends with Jesse pointing a gun at Gale and firing, but Gale's death doesn't actually happen on screen. Resultantly, fans speculated at the time that Jesse didn't really kill Gale, although the show's creator Vince Gilligan has said he never intended for the scene to be a cliffhanger per se.

Here's that scene if you're curious to see it:

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9. The Walking Dead

AMC

The cliffhanger: Negan kills the cameraman

YouTube analysis score: 7.37/10

Another show that's never short of drama and dark turns is The Walking Dead. In this particular episode from season six, the group of survivors as we know them are disarmed and forced to their knees by a new character, Negan. He forces them to submit to him and his colony, the Saviors, and taunts them with a baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire. To further coerce them, Negan selects one person to bludgeon to death with the bat, but when he strikes, we have no idea at whom as the screen fades to black.

Watch the scene unfold below:

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8. Eastenders

BBC One

The cliffhanger: Kat Slater reveals she is Zoe's mum

YouTube analysis score: 7.64/10

If you're British or at all into British culture, you'll 100% know this scene. Cast your mind back to 2001: the Slater family are enjoying a drink or two in the local Eastenders pub, The Queen Vic. Youngest sister Zoe announces she's leaving London, only for her old sister Kat to insist she can't leave. Furious, Zoe storms out of the pub and Kat follows her. The resulting shouting match made TV history, with Kat dropping the bombshell that she isn't Zoe's sister after all, she's her mother!

Go on... Relive this ICONIC TV moment here:

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7. The Good Place

NBC

The cliffhanger: Eleanor figures out she is in "The Bad Place"

YouTube analysis score: 7.76/10

I don't know about you, but I never saw things going in this direction at end of season one! As things continue to get more and more chaotic in "the good place", it dawns on protagonist Eleanor that she and her companions are not in the good place at all, but "the bad place". I'll never forget that ~evil~ laugh that Michael does when Eleanor figures it all out!

Of course, Michael soon wipes everyone's memories to start again, but not before Eleanor has a chance to leave a note for her future self.

Watch Eleanor have that realisation here:

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6. Grey's Anatomy (again)

ABC

The cliffhanger: The plane crash

YouTube analysis score: 8.03/10

Back at it with the cliffhangers, Shonda penned this penultimate episode of season eight in which Meredith, Derek, Cristina, Lexie, Mark, and Arizona are all scheduled to fly to assist in a surgery in Boise. When the plane suddenly crashes, it's not clear what has happened, and more importantly, who has survived.

Here's the scene for your viewing "pleasure":

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5. Friends

NBC

The cliffhanger: Ross says the wrong name at his wedding

YouTube analysis score: 8.55/10

Imagine watching this in real time back in 1998! This now iconic cliffhanger sees Ross ready to marry his fiancé Emily after a whirlwind romance. All looks set to pan out, that is until Rachel realises she still has feelings for Ross. Cue Rachel flying over to London to tell Ross, which sort of puts her in his head and well, he says "Rachel" at the altar instead of his intended, Emily.

We all know it, but here's that moment again for ya:

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4. Sherlock

BBC One

The cliffhanger: Sherlock jumps

YouTube analysis score: 8.82/10

Appropriately called "The Reichenbach Fall", this 2012 episode of the global hit series left audiences fearing that all was lost, as Benedict Cumberbatch's Sherlock appeared to seal his fate in a gasp-worthy conclusion. In order to save his friends, the sleuth swan-dives off the roof of a hospital. This season two finale was so convincing, some fans thought it might be genuine (spoiler, it wasn't).

Check out that swan-dive for yourself:

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3. Breaking Bad (again)

AMC

The cliffhanger: Hank figures out that Walt is Heisenberg

YouTube analysis score: 9.34/10

Could a list like this be complete without mentioning this incredible moment? After chasing drug lord Heisenberg for so long, DEA officer Hank realises that the man he's been looking for is his own brother-in-law! This simple yet genius vignette that occurs while Hank is on the toilet provided a pretty wild mid-season finale to the fifth season of Breaking Bad.

Check out Hank having his sudden realisation for yourself:

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2. The Office

NBC/Refinery29

The cliffhanger: Jim and Pam kiss

YouTube analysis score: 9.34/10

In a tie with Breaking Bad, The Office's infamous "Casino Night" episode – in which workplace besties Jim and Pam finally take the next step in their relationship – also gets second place. After spending two seasons building tension between these two, fans were relieved when writers brought them together for a passionate kiss in the dark, empty office! A classic episode, this one still has audiences shedding a tear over 15 years after it first aired.

Watch the classic moment below:

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1. Game of Thrones

HBO

The cliffhanger: The White Walkers invade

YouTube analysis score: 9.74/10

There's a reason why people got SO MAD at that Game Of Thrones final series – because the rest of it was soooooo good!! Take, for instance, the end of season seven, which throws the fate of all our favourite characters up in the air as the wall defending the Seven Kingdoms is breached. I know y'all were gagged at the white walker dragon!! I honestly remember thinking this was the end for everyone else when I watched it, and feeling SO HYPED for the next season... awkward.

Check out the epic conclusion to GOT season seven:

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That's your lot! Did we miss anything out? Shout it out in the comments below...