10 Horror TV Shows That Ended On A Cliffhanger
6. Wayward Pines
Based on the successful book series of the same name, partially helmed by horror master M. Night Shyamalan and flexing some series Twin Peaks-esque muscles, Wayward Pines looked set to soar. And initially, it did! Seeing FBI agent Ethan Blake (played by an excellent Matt Dillon) travel to the titular town to seek out two fellow agents who went missing in the area, Blake finds himself unable to leave and lacking the means to seek answers about his idyllic prison; itself revealed to be surrounded by a post-apocalyptic earth inhabited by bloodthirsty mutants known as ‘Abbies’.
The show kept piling on plot-twist after plot-twist, reveals and revelations throughout its run. Just when you thought you had a handle on what was going on, the rug would be pulled once again. It was, frankly, awesome.
Intended to be a one-and-done affair, the show’s success saw it renewed for a second season. This is where its reach exceeded its grasp, however. As we’ve seen with comparable sophomore efforts like True Detective’s troubled second season, sometimes lightning only strikes once. Wayward Pines season 2 was marred by a plodding story, a lack of inherent mystery and a painful leading-man gap left from Ethan Blake’s heroic death at the end of season one.
A combination of these elements led to its official cancellation in 2018 but not before we were teased with what might have been: the town once again in ruins, humanity’s last sealed away in cryo-pods hoping to wake to a better future and a wild group of Abbies seemingly caring for a fully human baby. A bold revelation for sure, and one we’ll never have the answer for.