7 TV Spinoffs and Reboots We Wish Would Resolve Loose Ends
Networks have reboot fever lately. That means some of the more famous loose ends in TV history are about to be solved.
Disney Channel’s Girl Meets World got the attention of Millennials everywhere when it announced that it would resolve one of Boy Meets World’s biggest and most emotional mysteries: What happened to Mr. Turner after his motorcycle accident?
The heart-wrenching episode saw Shawn and Cory’s cool, leather-jacket-wearing teacher trying to stop Shawn from joining a creepy cult called the Centre, only to inexplicably get into an accident on his motorcycle. It was the kind of shocker that offered a new kind of bafflement to young audiences–reflecting the kind of tragedies we witness in real life, yet heightened. The last we saw of Mr. Turner, he was in a coma with Shawn begging God not to take him away. But now, we discover that Mr. Turner made it through, and will live on to be just as hip and relatable to Cory’s daughter and her friends!
With so many series getting rebooted or spawning spinoffs these days, there are countless loose ends that need to be tied up or burned off completely. Some are the kinds of plot holes that have nagged at us since the series’ cancellations (whether those endings were planned or came as a surprise), while others are as emotionally grounded as the need to know if Mr. Turner would wake up. From The X-Files to Fuller House, we’re dying to know if the world ended, how a new world started, and how one character got amnesia and how another got PTSD. Check out the loose ends we want to see resolved, and share your own!
Better Call Saul: Saul’s new life
Yes, season one of Better Call Saul briefly flashed forward to former lawyer Saul Goodman’s new life as Gene, a Cinnabon manager worried about his past catching up with him. But for the most part, the first season was obsessed with another, earlier version of Saul–Jimmy McGill, hopeless public defendant. While it’s vital that we learn how Jimmy became Saul, we’re equally curious to see this chameleon’s latest transformation. After all, learning how he gets from Albuquerque to Omaha via the vacuum cleaner repairman is our last tie to Breaking Bad.
The X-Files: The End of the World
“The Truth,” the aptly named series finale for The X-Files, revealed the damning truth Mulder and Scully had long been searching for: there will be an invasion, on December 22, 2012. The finale aired in 2002, and the last X-Files movie came out in 2008; but with the rebooted series coming in 2016 at the earliest, we have to know–did the world actually end? Or did it transform into something entirely new?
Twin Peaks: Dale Cooper’s Fate in the Black Lodge
With the news that Showtime is renewing David Lynch’s bizarre mystery series Twin Peaks, every fan likely has a different loose end they want to see tied up. But one of the most prevailing questions concerns the fate of the real Dale Cooper—not his evil doppelgänger, possessed by malevolent spirit BOB, who entered the real world by the end of the series. The prequel/sequel film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me allowed us to glimpse Cooper, imprisoned in the Black Lodge. But with Kyle MacLachlan signed on for the reboot-slash-sequel, his conclusion will have to take precedence over any new mysteries.
Fuller House: Michelle Tanner’s Amnesia
It seems too easy for us to accept that darling little Michelle got amnesia and then conveniently regained her memory, all in the space of the two-part series finale. Even though Fuller House focuses on sisters D.J. and Stephanie creating their own modern family, we want to see a cameo from Michelle. Another mystery is whether Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen will even sign on for the spinoff…and if they don’t, how will the show explain away Michelle’s absence?
Heroes: Reborn: How Does the World Respond to Superheroes?
“Save the cheerleader, save the world.” The tagline for Heroes got subverted in the series finale “Brave New World,” when regenerating cheerleader Claire Bennet took a page from Tony Stark and jumped off a Ferris wheel in front of the news cameras. While Hayden Panettiere has not signed on for Heroes: Reborn, we imagine that the world of this sequel miniseries must have been transformed by Claire’s action. You know who is coming back? Her father, Noah Bennet–otherwise known as HRG—who called Claire’s gesture heartbreaking and is (judging from the trailers, at least) now rounding up more superpowered individuals.
Ash vs. Evil Dead: What the Hell Happened to Ash?
In a fun post-credits scene for 2013’s Evil Dead remake, Bruce Campbell as Ash Williams says the one word to make us realize he’s back: “Groovy.” But according to the synopsis for Ash vs. Evil Dead, this anti-hero is far from groovy: “Ash has survivor’s guilt,” Campbell explained. “You could have a heyday with his PTSD. He’s a war vet.” Yet, the last time we saw Campbell in Army of Darkness, he was glibly recounting his deadite-slashing adventures to his fellow S-Mart employees. So, what could have happened in the intervening 20-odd years to tear Ash up inside? Is it simply his adventures coming back to haunt him, or the return of the deadite threat?
Fear the Walking Dead: The start of the Zombie Apocalypse
Concerning The Walking Dead spinoff, the biggest loose end is the most obvious one: What the hell happened to the rest of the country while Rick Grimes lay in his coma? We already know that the four main characters’ lives are based around a school in Los Angeles; it’s unclear if the infection starts there or makes its way over. This is the only way in which Fear the Walking Dead will be connected to its predecessor—that is, they exist in the same zombified future. So, while we look forward to a similar structure of family drama against the end of the world, we want to know how it got like that in the first place.