What is Cliffhanger Engineering?
Episodes are structured to end at a moment of unresolved tension, so the easiest way to relieve that tension is to start the next one.
Where it comes from
Streaming Platforms (2010s)
How it hooks you
Exploits narrative tension: an unresolved scene works like an unfinished task, and the next episode is the only offered resolution.
How to resist it
Stop watching partway through an episode, at a calm moment, instead of at the cliffhanger ending.