Creating (Hyper) Tension

The aim of most shows is to get you to continue watching through the ads. (Okay, so some shows have this potential idea of actually telling an interesting story, but ultimately it's all about the ad revenue... unless you're on cable, but even then... anyway...) This is why there are mini cliff-hangers, usually badly contrived, to make the viewer go "Sheppard got shot? I must keep watching!" or "Will Victor realise that Denise was behind it all? I must keep watching!" or "Timmy's down the well? I've never seen that before, I must keep watching!" And so on...

And then there's getting the viewer back every week to see the next installment. Some will have explicit cliffhangers (hello old Doctor Who), some will hope the overarcing story will keep people tuned, some hope there is still some sense of mystery of "who will be voted off next week?". Fine, whatever they need.

But to get to the end of The Mole episode 9 and find out that... they'll reveal next week!!! That's just incredibly annoying! I just sat through an entire episode, and there was no payoff! I could have skipped it and be exactly where I started it from! I was going to watch episode 10 anyway, when they reveal the behind the scenes stuff, but that's just getting petty. Do they really think the audience will just walk away after 9 episodes if they reveal the answer? (Okay, so some would, but enough to impact the ratings? I'm not so sure.)

So, yes, I will be watching next week, but they better reveal the answer quick or... I'll just keep watching through the ad breaks, I guess...

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