Gallery
Contents of this path:
- REVENGE opens the series with a flash forward to set up narrative enigmas, a complex strategy that has become increasingly common in the past decade.
- BATTLESTAR GALACTICA offers an exemplary narrative special effect.
- THE WEST WING, "Noël", climaxes with a powerful example of a narrative special effect
- TWIN PEAKS begins with a languid credit sequence, setting the mood for its celebrated tonal juxtapositions
- ALIAS begins with a flash forward at a moment of crisis, before winding back to a point of origin
- PUSHING DAISIES spends its first minutes establishing both a whimsical tone and a complex narrative concept
- 24 begins by establishing its norms of temporality and split-screen composition
- AWAKE's opening moments highlight how a series must establish its tone and narrative conventions immediately.
- VERONICA MARS series opener starts with an explicit homage to film noir, framing genre expectations.
- BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER introduces Dawn in the 5th season premiere - even though she is a teenager who has seemingly lived her whole life in Buffy's family.
- LOUIE encourages a blur between his character and authorial identity by fictionalizing a real life incident.
- BREAKING BAD's third season concludes with unintentional ambiguity.
- DEXTER reveals crucial character information to both the audience and the title character
- BREAKING BAD's "Pilot" opens with a vivid flash forward to introduce us to Walter White
- BREAKING BAD, "Cornered" features an iconic confrontation highlighting character interiority
- REVENGE, "Reckoning" features dialogue whose layers of meaning only emerge as we learn more about an unnamed character
- DEXTER introduces Rudy as the mysterious killer, but his relationship to Dexter only makes sense in retrospect
- ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT uses voiceover and cutaways to both manage memory and create humor
- BATTLESTAR GALACTICA's final episode features an example of surprise memory, where previously seen scenes shock viewers via flashback
- SOPRANOS in 7 Minutes compresses the first five and a half seasons of the series into a brief humorous recap
- CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM episodes include interwoven multiple plotlines and invite the viewer to connect threads and running gags.
- BREAKING BAD focuses on the psychological and moral complexity of Walt deciding to let Jane die
- LOST uses the storytelling devices of science fiction time travel in service of romantic melodrama
- THE GOOD WIFE interweaves legal and romantic plotlines through atemporally complex editing
- DOCTOR WHO narrates a convoluted timeline between the title character and River Song, while a BBC paratext reorders the story from her perspective
- BREAKING BAD misdirected viewers about Brock's poisoning, but one fan posted a video theory that proved to be true in the next episode
- LOST presented many maps in the series, but the so-called blast door map was one of the most iconic for fans
- BATTLESTAR GALACTICA created an unintentional YouTube sensation through an ironic juxtaposition with an inappropriate commercial
- LOST revealed many answers to lingering mysteries via the transmedia ARG The Lost Experience
- BREAKING BAD's online video "Team S.C.I.E.N.C.E." offers a "what if?" approach to transmedia
- LOST's final moments emphasize emotional closure and meta-storytelling, the hallmark of many series finales
- THE WIRE's last season focuses on its own storytelling dynamics via the fictionalized version of The Baltimore Sun
- THE SOPRANOS ended with a legendarily ambiguous scene
- HOMELAND's first season finale starts with this jarring opening, raising political questions that depend on its serial contexts
- BREAKING BAD comes to its emotional peak in its third to last episode, with Walt berating Skyler with multilayered meanings