I’m trying to think of a popular media allegory for the fourth panel. Like when the main characters are ROYALLY screwed, but they need more seasons; so even though the writers haven’t thought of a way out, they get deus ex machina’d in their figurative fifth panel.
How about Sherlock? Moffat (not sure of his title but he was in charge of a lot of the writing) built up a big mystery cliffhanger on Watson seeing Sherlock die but it was really Sherlock somehow faking his death.
In the next season (or series depending on where you live) Moffat needed to explain to the audience how Sherlock did it. He needed to show the breadcrumb trail of clues he had set up ahead of time that the audience simply didn't notice or hadn't put together. You know ... the whole point of Sherlock Holmes stories and detective stories in general.
In his infinite genius Moffat had left his loyal and growing audience hanging for ages and didn't do a lick of setup or apparently even have a plan. After building up all that tension he never produced a concrete payoff to the scenario.
It sure did SuBVeRT ExPecTAtioNs! The world expected a professional, renowned writer to have a competent payoff to their big setup and Moffat subverted that by copping out.
Nope, Moffat just gave a few possible solutions, alluded to there being more, and hoped that smoke and mirrors would make people feel foolish for pointing out that the emperor had no robes.
Fans who were not cowed into silence took to the internet to assure each other that surely episode two would have a concrete explanation. It was only when Moffat still hadn't committed in the second episode that people lost hope, rationalized, or concluded that Sherlock had jumped the shark.
I really did enjoy that show's first 3 seasons, though obviously not the lack of explanation for the fake death. A video essay I watched recently (it's about 2 hours long, click at your own risk) basically explained how the show is and has always been bad. I have to say, it makes some good points, but I don't agree with everything and I did still really enjoy the show when I watched it so that's not going anywhere.
But man, that 4th season and especially the final episode... That was, ugh, something.
