TV’s Penultimate Episode Problem: Why โฃFlashbacks Are losingโ Their Impact
NEW YORK, NY – Television โwriters are โขincreasingly relying โขon โpenultimate โขflashback episodes โto explain character motivations andโค pastโค traumas,โฃ a tactic critics argue has โbecome predictable and detrimental โฃtoโค pacing. โA recent Vulture article highlights a growing trend of shows pausing momentum right before their finales โto deliver extensive backstory, often โฃcentered around a โshared inciting incident.
The โpiece points to two unnamed shows sharingโค aโข similar plot point – the death ofโค a child in a car crash – as an example of this “awkward copy-paste job.” These episodes, rather than building anticipation for the finale, “halt the fun cliffhangerโฆto rewind the clock and introduceโ a new set of โคcharacters theโฃ audience has no interest in or attachment to.”
Though, the article notes that compelling storytelling doesn’t require this structure. Adolescence isโฃ praised for its “one-shot conceit” โwhich avoidsโข flashbacks, maintaining “thoughtful uncertainty.” The Lowdown successfully resolves a noir mystery without extensive backstory, andโ The Gilded Age clarifies character relationshipsโ through current-day exposition.
Flashbacks aren’t inherently flawed, the author concedes.โค The Pitt utilizes brief flashbacks asโฃ “in-text PTSD โคepisodes” without making themโค central to the plot. The โkey difference, according to the article, is that the conflict in The โคPitt stems from the experience of flashbacks, not the โคrevelations โwithin them.
Ultimately,โ the piece argues that overuse of the penultimateโ flashback has “drained away” its power, โฃturning it intoโค a “lazy delay tactic” that โขsuggests “all complexity in human โbehavior can be explained withโข oneโฃ neatโ backward-looking trick.”
