TMC
01-29-2022, 01:07 AM
https://www.buzzfeed.com/kenwhanley/disappointing-second-tv-show-seasons?d_id=3078382&ref=bftwbuzzfeed&utm_source=dynamic&utm_campaign=bftwbuzzfeed
1. Westworld
2. Big Little Lies
3. True Detective
4. Jessica Jones
5. American Gods
6. Wayward Pines
7. Bates Motel
8. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
9. Making a Murderer
10. Friday Night Lights
Friday Night Lights (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Series/FridayNightLights): Season 2, which bafflingly changed gears from the first season's subtle, understated, and authentic portrait of small-town life to Landry murdering a rapist and hiding the body, Matt having a sexy affair with his grandmother's live-in caretaker, and Tim Riggins running afoul of Dillon's dangerous local meth dealer. Many fans feared that the show had lost the plot for good, only for it to return for a brilliant third season once again in the best spirit of the show's original intentions and with even less filler than the already-brilliant first season.
11. The Following
12. Vice Principals
13. Mr. Robot
14. Twin Peaks
Twin Peaks (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Series/TwinPeaks). David Lynch (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Creator/DavidLynch) explicitly stated that he never wanted to bring the Laura Palmer story to a close, preferring to use it as a frame for the sub-plots and span it over several seasons, but ABC (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Creator/ABC) didn't think the audience would stick around (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ExecutiveMeddling). As a result, her killer was revealed halfway through Season 2 (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SecondSeasonDownfall) and the show became nothing but sub-plots. Lynch justifiably backed mostly out of its production to continue with his film career, directing only a few episodes with others directed by filmmakers of various skill levels.
The first season and the beginning of the second were a cultural phenomenon, considered by critics to be some of the best television ever created. Then, creator David Lynch succumbed to Executive Meddling and revealed Laura Palmer's killer, who until that had been the major driving force of the plot, and in so doing left the show directionless. To make things worse, Lynch suffered some serious Artist Disillusionment (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ArtistDisillusionment) after this and left the show, leaving it in the hands of writers who really didn't know what to do with it. The episodes post-Lynch were pure filler, and ratings plummeted, leading to its cancellation at the end of the second season. Luckily, there was a brief upswing in quality once the replacement writers got their game together, and Lynch came back to direct the (awesome) series finale.
The Laura Palmer reveal would not have led to the cancellation of the show only half a season later under most circumstances. Unfortunately, the development of the most viable remaining storyline on the show, Audrey and Cooper's romance, was forbidden by Kyle MacLachlan (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Creator/KyleMacLachlan) when the writers were preparing to do just that, leaving them scrambling for new storylines. Kyle did so because he didn't think Cooper would date a high school girl and this was given as the explanation in-universe. Cooper then proceeded to date a woman exactly two years older than Audrey. Eventually, Cooper's motivation was changed to his wanting to protect Audrey (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AuthorsSavingThrow).
15. Scream Queens
16. House of Cards
House of Cards (US) (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Series/HouseOfCardsUS):
Following the critical acclaim of the first two seasons, coupled with the epic cliffhanger of Frank weaseling his way into the presidency, many viewers found the third season to be a step down in quality. Now that Frank had become president, the writers seemed to try to make him face more challenges and obstacles, but instead it made the cunning, Machiavellian Frank come off as bumbling and counter-productive (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TookALevelInDumbAss). The season focusing around a single state primary that even by Frank's admission would make very little difference to who would win the nomination also came across as somewhat unambitious, especially after two seasons in which he worked his way into the Vice-President and then President's roles. Additionally, this season saw Frank and Claire pitted against each other in what felt like drama for the sake of drama (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ConflictBall).
17. Penny Dreadful
18. Riverdale
Riverdale (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Series/Riverdale) is an...interesting case. If it was a normal show then it could claim that the rot set in halfway through season two. However, said rot hit so hard and so fast that the show looped around to So Bad, It's Good (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SoBadItsGood), and the fanbase followed. It's in this case that Season 4 is the true culprit. To be fair, it had some unavoidable struggles - the need to write in Fred Jones' death due to Luke Perry (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Creator/LukePerry)'s own passing at the season's beginning, and then cutting it short due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Still, it seemed to fire all it's zaniest plots in the first few episodes before settling into So Okay, It's Average (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SoOkayItsAverage) territory - quite the opposite of what fans hoped for. Fortunately, season five was seen as a return to form if not doubling down on the series' now-beloved madness.
19. Prison Break
Prison Break (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Series/PrisonBreak) fans either cite the third or fourth season as the show's worst. For Season 3, the Sona prison turned out to be much less scary than the ultra-creepy penitentiary viewers spotted in the Season 2 finale, the plot suffered from the usual Padding (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Padding) and brave-step-forward-two-steps-back plotting that affected the other seasons, the new plotlines regarding the Company gave them a dose of Villain Decay (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/VillainDecay), and Sara's death upset the fanbase tremendously. Sure, Sara came back in one piece for Season 4, but the Mission-Impossible-meets-A-Team retool (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Retool) sent the series' signature ridiculousness to levels beyond recovery. The fact that the convicts-turned-fugitives get captured by police so quickly to assemble a secret agent squad contradicts their mostly-successful evasion for most of Season 2. In addition, the once scary Company continues to get neutered by Villain Decay, and the sideplots only get crazier and more illogical. And then there's the ending, which almost every Prison Break fan hated.
20. Heroes
Heroes (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Series/Heroes):
Season 2 (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/SeasonalRot/LiveActionTV): Half the characters had boring storylines, one of the more interesting ones was mostly offscreen (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/OffscreenMomentOfAwesome), and Maya Herrera (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheScrappy). The season was cut short by the 2007 writers' strike and acknowledged by the writers as inferior to Season 1. The main plot also required Peter Petrelli to carry the largest Idiot Ball (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/IdiotBall) in recorded history to keep it from being resolved before the season ever started.
1. Westworld
2. Big Little Lies
3. True Detective
4. Jessica Jones
5. American Gods
6. Wayward Pines
7. Bates Motel
8. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
9. Making a Murderer
10. Friday Night Lights
Friday Night Lights (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Series/FridayNightLights): Season 2, which bafflingly changed gears from the first season's subtle, understated, and authentic portrait of small-town life to Landry murdering a rapist and hiding the body, Matt having a sexy affair with his grandmother's live-in caretaker, and Tim Riggins running afoul of Dillon's dangerous local meth dealer. Many fans feared that the show had lost the plot for good, only for it to return for a brilliant third season once again in the best spirit of the show's original intentions and with even less filler than the already-brilliant first season.
11. The Following
12. Vice Principals
13. Mr. Robot
14. Twin Peaks
Twin Peaks (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Series/TwinPeaks). David Lynch (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Creator/DavidLynch) explicitly stated that he never wanted to bring the Laura Palmer story to a close, preferring to use it as a frame for the sub-plots and span it over several seasons, but ABC (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Creator/ABC) didn't think the audience would stick around (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ExecutiveMeddling). As a result, her killer was revealed halfway through Season 2 (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SecondSeasonDownfall) and the show became nothing but sub-plots. Lynch justifiably backed mostly out of its production to continue with his film career, directing only a few episodes with others directed by filmmakers of various skill levels.
The first season and the beginning of the second were a cultural phenomenon, considered by critics to be some of the best television ever created. Then, creator David Lynch succumbed to Executive Meddling and revealed Laura Palmer's killer, who until that had been the major driving force of the plot, and in so doing left the show directionless. To make things worse, Lynch suffered some serious Artist Disillusionment (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ArtistDisillusionment) after this and left the show, leaving it in the hands of writers who really didn't know what to do with it. The episodes post-Lynch were pure filler, and ratings plummeted, leading to its cancellation at the end of the second season. Luckily, there was a brief upswing in quality once the replacement writers got their game together, and Lynch came back to direct the (awesome) series finale.
The Laura Palmer reveal would not have led to the cancellation of the show only half a season later under most circumstances. Unfortunately, the development of the most viable remaining storyline on the show, Audrey and Cooper's romance, was forbidden by Kyle MacLachlan (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Creator/KyleMacLachlan) when the writers were preparing to do just that, leaving them scrambling for new storylines. Kyle did so because he didn't think Cooper would date a high school girl and this was given as the explanation in-universe. Cooper then proceeded to date a woman exactly two years older than Audrey. Eventually, Cooper's motivation was changed to his wanting to protect Audrey (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AuthorsSavingThrow).
15. Scream Queens
16. House of Cards
House of Cards (US) (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Series/HouseOfCardsUS):
Following the critical acclaim of the first two seasons, coupled with the epic cliffhanger of Frank weaseling his way into the presidency, many viewers found the third season to be a step down in quality. Now that Frank had become president, the writers seemed to try to make him face more challenges and obstacles, but instead it made the cunning, Machiavellian Frank come off as bumbling and counter-productive (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TookALevelInDumbAss). The season focusing around a single state primary that even by Frank's admission would make very little difference to who would win the nomination also came across as somewhat unambitious, especially after two seasons in which he worked his way into the Vice-President and then President's roles. Additionally, this season saw Frank and Claire pitted against each other in what felt like drama for the sake of drama (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ConflictBall).
17. Penny Dreadful
18. Riverdale
Riverdale (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Series/Riverdale) is an...interesting case. If it was a normal show then it could claim that the rot set in halfway through season two. However, said rot hit so hard and so fast that the show looped around to So Bad, It's Good (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SoBadItsGood), and the fanbase followed. It's in this case that Season 4 is the true culprit. To be fair, it had some unavoidable struggles - the need to write in Fred Jones' death due to Luke Perry (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Creator/LukePerry)'s own passing at the season's beginning, and then cutting it short due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Still, it seemed to fire all it's zaniest plots in the first few episodes before settling into So Okay, It's Average (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SoOkayItsAverage) territory - quite the opposite of what fans hoped for. Fortunately, season five was seen as a return to form if not doubling down on the series' now-beloved madness.
19. Prison Break
Prison Break (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Series/PrisonBreak) fans either cite the third or fourth season as the show's worst. For Season 3, the Sona prison turned out to be much less scary than the ultra-creepy penitentiary viewers spotted in the Season 2 finale, the plot suffered from the usual Padding (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Padding) and brave-step-forward-two-steps-back plotting that affected the other seasons, the new plotlines regarding the Company gave them a dose of Villain Decay (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/VillainDecay), and Sara's death upset the fanbase tremendously. Sure, Sara came back in one piece for Season 4, but the Mission-Impossible-meets-A-Team retool (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Retool) sent the series' signature ridiculousness to levels beyond recovery. The fact that the convicts-turned-fugitives get captured by police so quickly to assemble a secret agent squad contradicts their mostly-successful evasion for most of Season 2. In addition, the once scary Company continues to get neutered by Villain Decay, and the sideplots only get crazier and more illogical. And then there's the ending, which almost every Prison Break fan hated.
20. Heroes
Heroes (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Series/Heroes):
Season 2 (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/SeasonalRot/LiveActionTV): Half the characters had boring storylines, one of the more interesting ones was mostly offscreen (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/OffscreenMomentOfAwesome), and Maya Herrera (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheScrappy). The season was cut short by the 2007 writers' strike and acknowledged by the writers as inferior to Season 1. The main plot also required Peter Petrelli to carry the largest Idiot Ball (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/IdiotBall) in recorded history to keep it from being resolved before the season ever started.