Sometimes, shows leave the fate of beloved characters up in the air with unnecessary cliffhangers. 

Treadstone Season 1 Episode 7 was one of those episodes, leaving us to ponder whether Doug died in a house explosion. 

Caring about these plots is not easy because they're the sign of a show that thrives on shock value and little else.

Treadstone Season 1 started thrillingly, but the constant action has had a detrimental effect on the series. 

Action-oriented series are a lot of fun, but it's imperative that the action surrounds well-drawn characters worth the investment of cliffhanger after cliffhanger. Treadstone hasn't earned that yet.

For example, Doug recognized danger was surrounding him, and he planned a future on the run with Sam. If one of them has to go, it should be Sam because we need to take everything she says with a pinch of salt. 

Her close bond with Doug, as well as her lies, is all we know of her. How do we know she's not more immersed in the world of Treadstone than she's telling us? 

On a show like Treadstone, each character has an agenda of their own, but the show is slowly slipping into the Tim Kring way of storytelling. 

You spent all that time training those Cicadas and you are the one who ended up programmed.

Yuri

• Permalink: You spent all that time training those Cicadas and you are the one who ended up programmed.

That includes big action sequences and little in the way of plot progression. Most of "The Paradox Andropov" could have been told in a matter of scenes, but no, we got gunfights, car chases, and a lot of death. 

We've already had an arc leaving Soyun's fate up in the air. Now it's Doug's turn. Poor Megan never stood a chance. 

Tara's guilt will take center stage because she brought Megan into the whole mess. That's a storyline that should have some resonance as we delve into the final few episodes. 

The mission was personal for Tara from the beginning, and that death will only drive that point home. Megan was saying goodnight to her child in one scene and was dead shortly after that. 

It's a cutthroat series in terms of deaths, but they're not on an even keel by any means.

Now, Tara faces an uphill battle to complete the mission, and she will likely join forces with another character. 

Petra is all on her own, and Yuri is probably going to cause problems for Tara. That could be the team-up we've needed.

Petra spent much of her life guarding the missile, and it led to her killing her lover. She's not going to forget that in a hurry. 

Randolph: We're on different sides, Petra.
Petra: I don't have a side anymore.

• Permalink: I don't have a side anymore.

Despite getting ruled a traitor in 1973 for helping Randolph, she's far from a bad person. There was pain in her eyes when she realized that the then-potential Cicada got earmarked for termination. 

She fell in love with him along the way, but we're still not privy to what happened after they came to an understanding.  

Is Randolph even alive in 2019? That's one of the bigger questions that could be doing with an answer about now. 

Petra is a smart woman who could have found a way to hide his whereabouts from the prying eyes of the KGB. 

I remember everything, what you did to me. What you made me do. You've taken everything from me.

Randolph

• Permalink: I remember everything, what you did to me. What you made me do. You've taken everything from...

There are so many unanswered questions that need to get addressed. Even though Yuri wanted Petra dead at one point, allowing her to return home suggests he still holds a torch for her. 

Then again, does Petra deserve to live? Chatting with the barman about Yuri's yacht was one thing, but peering over the edge to get a good view of Yuri was absurd. There were people around -- people who could pick up the phone or the walkie talkie and report back to good old Yuri. 

Her training would have been drummed into her mind in her earlier years, so I refuse to believe she got sloppy in her later years. 

There was an undeniable excitement in her demeanor about leaving farm life behind. She had a spring in her step when she got back on the job, similar to the one she had in 1973 when she turned against the KGB. 

Traitors don't tend to have a long shelf life, so surviving this long is surprising. 

SoYun's new identity didn't exactly make for riveting material. She's coming into her own as a fighter, but she also has to understand that she's being watched. 

It's easy to let silly mistakes slide, but it's difficult to believe she doesn't think her every move is being watched. The same could be said for all of the characters at this stage. 

The only plot that is consistently interesting is the one involving Mr. Edwards because he is the only character who seems to have common sense. 

The rest are making silly mistakes and leaving a mess behind. 

With three episodes remaining, the characters need to start crossing paths. It should have happened before now. 

Treadstone needs to scale back the action and focus on character and development. Most of them have not changed since Treadstone Season 1 Episode 1. They're still unsure of what's going on, and that's pretty sad. 

What did you think of all the action? Are you tired of it?

What do you think happened to Randolph?

Hit the comments below. 

Remember you can watch Treadstone online right here via TV Fanatic. 

Treadstone airs Tuesdays on USA Network. 

Paul Dailly was an Associate Editor for TV Fanatic.Follow him on X.