Game of Thrones has recently come to an underwhelming end. Even though, I wasn’t a fan of the last episode, I will still mourn the loss of a television show that really captured the country like it did. This made me stop and think about how we consume our shows now.
Binge Watching
Most people are impatient. When we drive, we never want to get stuck behind someone slower than us. When we get invested in a television show we want to know what happens next. Between Box sets of DVD and the more modern take with Netflix just dumping out an entire season of a show at one time, we have become binge watchers.
It seems like more shows are heading towards the binge watching method since Netflix has been so successful.
The Water Cooler
The first show that I really remember taking over the world was Lost. Each weekly episode brought questions. Immediately, the internet would be shuffling through things trying to figure out what signs meant or what would happen next. The next day at school/work, all the talk would be about what happened.
With Binging, you don’t really get that same impact. You fire up the show and you power through episodes, never really getting to process or digest what just happened, because you’re on to the next. The water cool talk turns into spoilers about the entire season if you haven’t caught up, you’re screwed.
The conversations also change. People aren’t analyzing everything, because they get to look at the bigger picture – like the arc of the season.
Anticipation
The thing I really miss, and one of the things that I think really worked well for Game Of Thrones, is the anticipation each week. I loved getting ready for an episode, turning off all the lights, turning my phone off, etc. Then I’d get an hour of my favorite television show.
On Game of Thrones, we got to talk about all the underhanded moves that the characters were taking. We got to theorizes about who would be the next major character to die (although we were usually wrong). Also, we wondered who would be sitting on the Iron Throne at the end of the episode. There was space to breathe between these. We got to think things over.
I miss that already.
Binging Isn’t Bad
All said, Binging isn’t bad.
I love being able to power through things, but I do wish that we had more shows that would release weekly rather than a big drop.
But I’m as guilty as everyone else. When the new season of Stranger Things drops, you know I’ll be all over it as quick as I can. But I will stop and wonder… would this be better if it had room to breathe?
What do you think? Do you like the Binge model better or would you rather have weekly shows? Let me know!