The Single-Season Solution to Modern Television's Overextension Problem
Nearly two months after its controversial finale, Stranger Things continues to face backlash from disappointed fans. The cast has been forced to deny rumors of a secret final episode, while critics argue the show's magic faded long before its fifth season conclusion. For many viewers, the perfect ending arrived much earlier—after season one, episode eight.
The One-and-Done Philosophy Gains Traction
Stranger Things originally presented a compelling eight-episode narrative: a boy vanishing into a parallel dimension and his mother's desperate fight for his return. The Duffer Brothers initially pitched the series as an anthology with rotating casts each season, but Netflix rejected this approach in favor of franchise-building potential. What followed was a gradual dilution of the show's groundbreaking elements, with even star Winona Ryder reportedly left with diminished material in later seasons.
This pattern extends far beyond Hawkins, Indiana. Numerous recent series would have benefited from concluding after their initial runs, including Killing Eve (whose finale scored a dismal 3.4 rating compared to its first season's 8.3), Industry, Bad Sisters, and Nobody Wants This. The latter prompted media outlet Cracked to declare it "didn't need a second season" despite its renewal.
The Economic Pressures Behind Television Bloat
The contemporary media landscape creates unique challenges for television creators. With commissions shrinking, budgets tightening, and competition intensifying, showrunners face unprecedented uncertainty about renewal prospects. This environment paradoxically encourages some creators to pour their best ideas into first seasons, resulting in tight, self-contained narratives.
Christopher C Rogers, co-creator of tech drama Halt and Catch Fire, acknowledged this dynamic in 2017: "I think uncertainty reinforced a hold-nothing-back mindset in the storytelling that got us to our best work quickly." He contrasted this with the pitfalls of narrative stretching: "When you hold story back or try to draw it out, the audience can tell."
The Franchise Imperative Versus Creative Integrity
As Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan observed recently, "We live in a world of IP [intellectual property], where the safest thing to do is reboot something that has an audience." This franchise mentality means successful shows face pressure to extend beyond their natural conclusions, often sacrificing storytelling quality for merchandising opportunities and spinoff potential.
Stranger Things exemplifies this trend, expanding beyond television into Broadway productions, novel series, and upcoming animated adaptations. Similarly, Bad Sisters creator Sharon Horgan originally conceived her show as a limited series with a "lovely, satisfying end," only to see it renewed for additional seasons.
Exceptions That Prove the Rule
Not every multi-season series suffers from narrative bloat. Classics like The Simpsons, Mad Men, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer maintained quality across multiple seasons, while contemporary hits like Succession demonstrated consistent storytelling excellence throughout its four-season run. These exceptions highlight that the problem isn't inherently with longer formats, but with the economic pressures that force extensions of stories that have naturally concluded.
The evidence suggests that many modern television creations would better serve audiences and preserve their artistic merit by embracing the single-season model. As the industry continues to evolve, perhaps more creators will follow the lead of those who recognize when a story has reached its perfect conclusion—and resist the temptation to stretch it beyond recognition.
