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Best “mystery box” shows?

Posted on 5/2/21 at 1:49 pm
Posted by lostinbr
Baton Rouge, LA
Member since Oct 2017
11666 posts
Posted on 5/2/21 at 1:49 pm
As much as people seem to hate Lost nowadays, the first 3-4 seasons completely sucked me in. And it seems like a LOT of newer shows, especially on the streaming services, have been incorporating “mystery box” elements.

A couple that come to mind for me:

- The 100. I thought the first 3-4 seasons did a fantastic job of both answering questions and creating new ones. Eventually the whole “violence begets violence” trope gets old and the show kind of runs out of material to explore, though.

- The Leftovers. The recent thread about this show is what made me start thinking about the genre. The Leftovers is a true mystery box in just about every way, which makes sense with Damon Lindelof as showrunner. To me it’s an example of what Lost could have been if they hadn’t felt the need to answer every question in the later seasons.

- Mr. Robot. Fantastic in so many ways. I didn’t love the ending, but I didn’t hate it either. But man, the storytelling along the way, cinematography, soundtrack, and acting are really good.

So what are your favorite mystery box shows, or favorite shows that have some of those elements?
Posted by theunknownknight
Baton Rouge
Member since Sep 2005
59144 posts
Posted on 5/2/21 at 1:52 pm to
Big Bang Theory
Posted by UndercoverBryologist
Member since Nov 2020
8077 posts
Posted on 5/2/21 at 1:54 pm to
For a while,Twin Peaks, before the network forced Lynch to solve the mystery.
Posted by truthbetold
Member since Aug 2008
7637 posts
Posted on 5/2/21 at 1:58 pm to
Fringe got really good after the first season monster-of-the-week episodes

And this is random, but for a reality show the first season of The Mole did some legit cool stuff to put clues in regarding who the mole was. In the credits, graphics, etc.
Posted by Fewer Kilometers
Baton Rouge
Member since Dec 2007
37128 posts
Posted on 5/2/21 at 2:02 pm to
The British do it better:

The Prisoner

Life on Mars
Posted by lostinbr
Baton Rouge, LA
Member since Oct 2017
11666 posts
Posted on 5/2/21 at 2:40 pm to
quote:

Fringe got really good after the first season monster-of-the-week episodes

I’m going to have to watch Fringe from start to finish. I watched a few episodes when it first started, and it definitely had a monster of the week vibe. But then I watched an episode a couple of years later and was confused as shite because it was definitely not a procedural and I had no idea what was going on.

It seems like everyone who’s seen it really likes it though so I need to check it out.
Posted by Crimson K
Tuscaloosa
Member since Dec 2018
5806 posts
Posted on 5/2/21 at 2:45 pm to
Alias was pretty fricking great for the first couple of seasons. All the Rambaldi stuff kind of disappeared after a while though.
Posted by lostinbr
Baton Rouge, LA
Member since Oct 2017
11666 posts
Posted on 5/2/21 at 2:54 pm to
quote:

Big Bang Theory

I don’t think Kaley Cuoco’s box is a mystery anymore.
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