5 TV Cliffhangers That Had Terrible Resolutions

1. Millennium, "The Time Is Now"

Plot Summary: Millennium Group members are seen in bio-hazard suits, cleaning out a house full of bodies. Outside, dead birds litter the ground. Later, Frank Black (Lance Henriksen) is contacted by a man named Gilbert, who warns him that their lives may be threatened by the Group's activities. When Gilbert is later killed in a car accident, Frank suspects the Group. Subsequently, Frank learns that a Soviet-engineered virus has been reappearing in the United States. The Millennium Group has developed a vaccine €“ but only manufactured enough doses for its members. The Cliffhanger: Frank flees with his family from the city to his father's woodland cabin. He was only able to get one dose of the vaccine, and he and his wife decide to give it to their daughter, Jordan. Later that night, Catherine wakes up sick, and realizes she has the disease. Rather than wake up Frank, she quietly leaves the cabin and goes out into the forest to die. Frank wakes up in the morning, finds blood on her pillow, and realizes that she is dead. His hair turns white, and as he cradles his daughter images of the collapse of civilization flash on screen, interspersed with chilling video noise. The Resolution: The third season picks up eight months later. It turns out the virus didn't bring the end of civilization as depicted at the close of season two €“ it was just a scare that claimed a few thousand lives. The Backstory: Executive Producers Glen Morgan and James Wong, along with series creator Chris Carter, believed that the second season of Millennium would be the program's last. In an interview, Morgan said the season finale was inspired by his research into possible end-of-the-world scenarios. Then, almost at the last minute €“ and too late to change the final episode of the season €“ Fox decided to renew the show for a third season. Rather than continue the world-ending scenario suggested by "The Time Is Now," however, the producers elected to write off most of the second season finale and continue the show from there. These attempts to re-tool the series weren't entirely unsuccessful, but they failed to attract new viewers, leading to the show's final cancellation at the end of the year.