It’s the “mystery box” phenomenon. Somehow a lot of TV producers and viewers have moved to an episodic narrative structure where a mysterious box appears, peopl

It’s the “mystery box” phenomenon. Somehow a lot of TV producers and viewers have moved to an episodic narrative structure where a mysterious box appears, people debate what to do, shake it, steal it from each other, argue about it, and ultimately, at the end of the episode, with great tension, open the box to reveal... Next week's mystery box. But there is a lot of genuinely good stuff out there too. You just have to recognize mystery boxes and bail.