10 Great TV Cliffhangers (With Awful Pay-Offs)
6. True Detective - "Night Finds You"
Everyone remembers the outstanding first season of True Detective, so when the second season rolled around, people were excited. A new story with a brand new cast was a tantalizing prospect. The first episode wasn't fantastic, but there was no real reason to worry. Then the second episode delivered shock and awe with a fantastic cliffhanger as Colin Farrell's character Velcoro took not one, but two shotgun rounds to the chest.
People wondered if the writers really just killed off one of the main faces of Season Two in the second episode. It was a bold move and yet also worrisome. Velcoro had been, up to that point, the most complex character of True Detective's second season. Would they really kill off their ace in the hole? The answer is no.
One week later, it was revealed that Velcoro got shot with rubber-pelleted riot control rounds. Instead of raising the stakes, True Detective lost many of its fans right then and there. The fake-out left many upset and unwilling to stick around for the rest of the season.