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This scenario is painfully common. Season two of your top TV show premieres online, and you're brimming with anticipation. The initial run ended with such precision: future plotlines were teased tantalisingly, and a key figure faced a shocking fate – or did they?. During the hiatus, you scoured online forums with dedicated fans to find some Easter egg clues illuminating what would happen next.

And then season two’s premiere is a damp squib. It seems as if the creative team was swapped for algorithms. By the next installment, a key performer makes a choice that you and Reddit user Fishy2345 agree is totally out of character. As the story progresses, the writers appear to have memory loss around the storylines aggressively signposted in season one. By the lackluster conclusion, you privately hope it had ended sooner.

The Pitfall of Too Many Seasons

Regretting a show's continuation is hindsight; audiences frequently rally against early axings. Consider Kaos, a clever mythological satire starring Jeff Goldblum, which Netflix dropped over poor ratings. However, supporters might find comfort knowing their enjoyment of the series won’t have been muddied by a sophomore slump.

Looking back at the horror-mystery show Yellowjackets, I currently desire it was a one-season story. The debut offered a richly imaginative setup, with ten flawless installments. In 1996, a plane carrying an all-girl high school football team crashes in the middle of nowhere. Skilled performers (with Juliette Lewis, Lauren Ambrose and Sophie Thatcher) portrayed the team then and now. There were multiple award nominations, creators confidently planned five seasons to fully explore the narrative. But last week, it was announced that it would end with season four. I felt grateful as a viewer.

The Stranger Things cast returns for season five.

Story decisions have weakened the core. Instead of focusing on the survivors' reintegration, and watching how they deal with their horrific new secrets, the story grew padded and excessive. This involved a wearying pattern of bringing in and focusing on new characters (including the flat character Callie) who added little to the overarching plot. It's aggravating, and watching a beloved program become tedious is sad.

A Growing Trend

Yet this issue extends beyond Yellowjackets. Shows such as Emily in Paris, House of the Dragon, Squid Game and Stranger Things have lost the shock of the new, and fallen headfirst into expected or comfortable cliches. At times, programs must stop while successful.

The thing is, there are joys to be had in a limited, “one-and-done” series. Considering Sharp Objects, I May Destroy You, and Adolescence, producers recognize appropriate conclusion points. Yet the spell breaks for programs including Big Little Lies, first conceived as self-contained, return repeatedly with declining quality. Maybe Adolescence's creators hesitated about continuing.

The Supreme Instance

I desired Yellowjackets as a single-season show, residing permanently in our thoughts, unresolved threads included. My top series ever followed this pattern. My So-Called Life, the quintessential youth program, concluded after a single run yet felt epic in scale: the personalities were complex and inconsistent, the cinematography was perfectly autumnal, and the scripts transcended typical youth dialogue. Its final episode was bitterly unresolved, yet this mirrors real life accurately of adolescent uncertainties remaining perpetual. After 18 great episodes (and one mediocre), I mourned its end and drafted follow-up stories to resolve lingering mysteries. Despite existing on obsolete equipment, it demonstrates television's powerful connection.

The Unique Connection

If writers recall the sacred audience-series connection, more series can conclude appropriately.

• Priya Elan covers entertainment and style.