I don't think this is much deeper than modern media abusing a strong expectation set-up by past media. The short-term mysteries are only as interesting as the a

I don't think this is much deeper than modern media abusing a strong expectation set-up by past media. The short-term mysteries are only as interesting as the audiences expectation that they will be resolved in an interesting way. We are trusting the narrator not to let us down. But of course it is much simpler to create mystery than to resolve it, and whenever the resolution is bad that trust gets chipped away. I think this trust is a limited resource and it feels like too many modern stories are chipping away at it. At least thats the case for me. I've become jaded about this kind of breach of trust. The shows hope that I am not attentive enough and keep around my positive memories of the mystery after observing the awful resolution. No. I go out of my way to taint past memories and call the experience bad overall.