cliffhanger vs episode

cliffhanger and episode both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
cliffhanger	Yes	No	No	No
episode	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, episode is a hypernym of cliffhanger; that is, episode is a word with a broader meaning than cliffhanger:

Other hypernyms of cliffhanger include installment, instalment.

cliffhanger (noun)	episode (noun)
an episode that ends in suspense	film consisting of a succession of related shots that develop a given subject in a movie
a contest whose outcome is uncertain up to the very end	a part of a broadcast serial
	a brief section of a literary or dramatic work that forms part of a connected series
	a happening that is distinctive in a series of related events