I dunno... I don't really think there is that much suspense in the Lord of the Rings. It's not a cliffhanger, really. I mean, we get situations where Frodo has been stung by Shelob, and then captured by Orcs, and we don't really know what's going on, but I don't think there's any real doubt as to the outcome.
Like X Phial says, it's more about how the heroes get out of the situation. Like Bo and Luke Duke (hey, I didn't start the analogies, don't blame me) - you know that after the commercial break, the General Lee is gonna land, and be completely undamaged, Rosco is gonna end up in the river, and the 'good old boys' drive off to more whacky adventures with their cousin Daisy.
The Shelob cliffhanger is an interesting one, because yes Tolkien himself does put a spoiler in for the quick minded. There are, I'm sure, some people who when they first read that part thought, "No, Sam's wrong, he's just asleep like in Galadriel's Mirror." Not me, but there are lots of clever people out there.
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Also, Tolkien says how the story was recorded in The Red Book, so it's clear that Sauron didn't really take over M-E.
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Oh, wow, yeah that got me too - otherwise I probably would have thought that the bad guys win. Come on - when does
that ever happen??