10 Great TV Cliffhangers (With Awful Pay-Offs)

10. The Walking Dead - "Start To Finish"

We're starting this list off right with one of the downright worst episodes in the history of The Walking Dead, but not in the way you might expect. The Season Six mid-season finale of The Walking Dead, Start to Finish, is an exciting hour of television leaving us excited to return to the show when it comes back in the spring. Unfortunately, Start to Finish can be credited as the episode that started the worst batch of episodes from the entire show.

Of course, we didn't know this at the time. When the episode aired it was quite fine by leaving us with some tantalizing promises. With Alexandria flooded with walkers, Rick and Carl (along with Jessie and her kids) have to make their way across a sea of the undead while covered in zombie guts. Jessie's youngest son, Sam, is mortified, however, and starts to call out for his mom at the worst time possible.

It's an exciting cliffhanger, especially if you count the post-credit scenes that introduce Negan and the Saviors to the TV universe. Looking back, the pay-off wasn't worth it at all. Negan and his goons are responsible for the worst story arc in the show due to the plot being stretched out way too thin. It's not surprising many people stopped watching, and frankly, we can't blame them.