Five Cliffhangers Comparable To The Walking Dead’s Negan Kill

The question of the summer, “Who did Negan kill?” will be answered next weekend.

As The Walking Dead‘s seventh season approaches, fans who were once angry about the mystery concluding the show’s sixth season seem to be coming around in anticipation to find out who will die in the new hour.

Cliffhangers are nothing new on television. All of the best TV shows are sure to end their yearly runs with moments which raise major questions to keep fans guessing and talking throughout the off-season and return to their couches when new episodes arrive in the fall.

In honor of The Walking Dead‘s cliffhanger mystery coming to an end in the next few days, let’s take a look at some of the biggest cliffhangers in television history.

What’s in the Hatch?

In 2004, ABC’s LOST was arguably the hottest show on television.

The survivors of Oceanic flight 815 landed on an island in the south Pacific and for years would go on to discover mysteries about each other and the island which they were now inhabiting.

As it would turn out, they weren’t the first people living on the island.

The 2004-2005 first season of the series from Cartlon Cuse and Damon Lindelof ended with one of the biggest mysteries on television, and, given the enormous ratings the show hauled in week after week, one of the most talked about in the off-season.

Just as the season was coming to a close and the survivors were facing the threat of being killed by the island natives, they blew open a hatch in the ground in search of Sanctuary. What was inside? Well, we would have to wait until the fall to find out.

Who Shot J.R.?

Arguably the biggest cliffhanger in all of television, the question of “Who shot J.R.?” set the precedent for how to end a season of any series.

In the final scene of the 1979-1980 season for Dallas, J.R. Ewing stood outside of his office building, investigating a suspicious noise. However, what he would find was a couple of bullets being lodged in his body with the shooter’s identity being held for the show’s entire off-season.

J.R. would survive the shot and the shooter’s identity would remain a secret until the fourth episode of the show’s fourth season which aired eight months later. 

Jon Snow – Dead or Alive

Negan’s kill isn’t the only big mystery in the last year. In fact, Game of Thrones fans may argue that Negan’s kill isn’t even the biggest.

Capping off its fifth season, the HBO series took the fan-favorite character of Jon Snow and shoved a bunch of knives into his chest and stomach. The final moments showed him lying on the ground bleeding into the snow.

All hope for characters who fans liked seemed last but the question of whether or not Jon Snow was dead plagued the long off-season for the 10-episode-per-season series. As we now know, Jon did in fact die, but would come back to life in the Season 6 premiere earlier this year. (Spoiler alert!)

Star Trek: The Next Generation

“I am Locutus of Borg. Resistance is futile.”

With Captain Picard captured by The Borg and transformed into a Borg drone, fans of Star Trek: The Next Generation thought they might be starting a new season without Patrick Stewart or his character next year.

As his rebuilt body threatened his former allies, the tough decision was made by Commander Riker…

“Fire,” Riker said.

The final moments of the season seemed to be either the final moments for Picard or his Enterprise crew as the battle would almost certainly end with several fatalities. Luckily, Patrick Stewart and Picard would return to the series.

Did Tony Die?

One of the biggest cliffhangers of any TV series is one which will never be resolved. When The Sopranos ended back in 2007, fans thought they sat on the remote and accidentally turned off the television until the credits rolled.

In case you missed it, the tension was peaking it. Tony Soprano was at dinner with his entire family and a handful of enemies wanted the mob boss dead. Fantastic direction from David Chase made potentially innocent bystanders appear to be threats for Tony.

As one man took a stroll to the bathroom, fans’ palms leaked with sweat, wondering if their favorite Jersey Italians would be offed to end the deadly series with Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing” blaring in the background.

Cut to black. Cut the sound. We’ll never know.