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This scenario is painfully common. Season two of your beloved TV show premieres online, and you're brimming with anticipation. Season one ended with such precision: narrative threads were dangled enticingly, and a protagonist met a mysterious end – or so it seemed. After the season wrapped, you scoured online forums with dedicated fans to find some Easter egg clues shedding light on future developments.

And then season two’s premiere is a damp squib. It feels like the entire writers’ room has been fired and replaced by artificial intelligence. Cut to the second episode, a key performer makes a choice that you and Reddit user Fishy2345 agree is totally out of character. Halfway through the season, it becomes obvious the creators forgot concerning narrative arcs clearly established previously. And by the disappointing finale, you silently wish that the show had just been cancelled.

The Downside of Too Many Seasons

Regretting a show's continuation is hindsight; most fans protest when their favorite shows are canned before they can get off the ground. Consider Kaos, an amusing Greek myth parody with Jeff Goldblum, which Netflix dropped over poor ratings. Yet audiences can console themselves that their enjoyment of the series won’t have been muddied by a sophomore slump.

Looking back at the horror-mystery show Yellowjackets, I now wish it had been a limited series. The debut offered a richly imaginative setup, and its 10 episodes were note-perfect. A 1996 plane crash strands a female soccer team in wilderness. Skilled performers (with Juliette Lewis, Lauren Ambrose and Sophie Thatcher) depicted the survivors in dual eras. Numerous awards recognition occurred, and the showrunners proudly announced there would be five seasons to tell the story in necessary detail. But last week, it was announced that it would end with season four. This news brought me relief.

Young actors prepare for Stranger Things' next chapter.

Plot twists have diluted the essence. 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 introducing peripheral figures (like the underdeveloped daughter Callie) who did nothing for the broader story. It’s frustrating, and watching a beloved program become tedious is sad.

An Increasing Pattern

Yet this issue extends beyond Yellowjackets. Shows such as Emily in Paris, House of the Dragon, Squid Game and Stranger Things lack original impact, and embraced predictable tropes. Sometimes shows need to quit when they are ahead.

The thing is, there are joys to be had in a limited, “one-and-done” series. Looking at Sharp Objects, I May Destroy You, and Adolescence, TV creators know when to stop when the story has naturally reached an endpoint. But the game is over when shows such as Big Little Lies, initially a one-season story, return repeatedly with declining quality. Hopefully, Adolescence’s producers have thought twice about that rumoured season two.

The Perfect Example

I wish Yellowjackets could have been a one-and-done series, residing permanently in our thoughts, cliffhangers and all. My favorite TV show of all time has played out like that. My So-Called Life, the ideal adolescent show, concluded after a single run but was cinematic in its scope: its characters were difficult and contradictory, the visuals were beautifully seasonal, and the conversations avoided cliched adolescent writing. Its final episode was bitterly unresolved, but this reflects truth appropriately of youth queries staying forever open. After 18 great episodes (and one mediocre), I mourned its end and drafted follow-up stories to answer some of those questions. Despite existing on obsolete equipment, it demonstrates television's powerful connection.

The Sacred Bond

When producers honor the special viewer-program bond, more shows can end gracefully.

• This writer covers entertainment and style.