With the rise of streaming services, also came the popularity of bingewatching, which meant watching more than 3 or 4 episodes of one show in one go.
The temptation of the binge
It is very tempting of course. The episode you just finished ended on such a spectacular and exciting note, and the next episode is right there, ready to be watched. So why wouldn’t you?
At the same time though, are you really getting the most enjoyment out of a show this way? Without giving yourself enough time to digest everything, what exactly is left of your experience of watching the show?
I have done my fair share of bingewatching myself (hell, I’m burning through Star Wars: The Clone Wars right now) and I love the hell out of it. “New Netflix show” weekends are my favorites, but sometimes I do wish I was able to spread it out more for myself.
Two weeks ago I watched F Is For Family in one day, which was easy since it was only six episodes, but a week later someone else tried talking to me about a certain scene in it, and I couldn’t for the life of me remember what he was talking about. All I really remember about the show are really just a few scenes.
I enjoyed the show and the experience of it, but when I think back on it, it’s actually just a giant blur.
Watching at your own pace vs. keeping up
The thing is, of course, if you want to be included in what is generally known as “the watercooler conversation”, you have to watch it all just so you’re able to participate in those conversations. You may have just finished episode three and are freaking out, but someone else may be on episode six and has long forgotten about episode three because so much has happened since then. Especially in the time of social media, it can sometimes be extremely difficult to avoid spoilers.
I tried spreading out my watching of Sense8, which I eventually finished in a bit more than a week instead of a weekend, but by the time I was at the second half, I pretty much knew all about the big stuff that was about to unfold.
Though with Marco Polo, which was arguably a lot less popular, I did manage its second half by watching one episode a day and didn’t know a damn thing about it.
Same with season four of The Killing (which was resurrected on Netflix). This was a show I loved a lot in its first three seasons, and I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to it just yet, so I watched one episode a day and was careful about what websites I would visit during that time. I would arrange this with a friend, who would also watch one episode at a time, and we’d be on the same page when discussing what had happened in the episode. This made the experience so much better.
When the wait is part of the fun
I feel like people who tend to wait until an entire season has finished airing to watch it, mostly just hate the wait between episodes and would rather watch whenever it suited them. And I get that. I do this mostly for shows I’m not heavily invested in, but would still like to finish (Justified in season five is one example). Though I do think some shows benefit from the wait in between.
The week in between new episodes of Mr. Robot was probably almost more fun than the show itself. Theorizing, rewatching, trying to find clues, getting hyped, finding out little things about upcoming episodes… It was great and helped immerse yourself more in the show.
Every time an episode was out, I would wait until it was dark outside (it aired in the Summer) and only then I would watch the episode, completely focused, and afterwards just let it simmer and go online to read everyone’s reactions about it and listen to the Mr. Robot podcast to help digest it all.
Exceptions, regrets, and finding balance
I think people that binged shows like this, of course in order to catch up quickly, missed out on a lot of subtle things the show said and was picked up on just because we had that week to wait.
Recently though, I made the mistake of waiting until The Leftovers season two was almost finished to watch it all (why? Because I’m stupid), but I did take the time between episodes to quickly go through a “Episode reactions” thread on Reddit to make sure I picked up on everything and hadn’t missed anything, before moving onto the next episode. This helped a bit, but I do feel like I missed a bit of the experience. There’s still next year though! Third season, woo!
When I discovered Breaking Bad, the show was already four seasons in. I had seen the first three episodes once ages ago, but I figure it wasn’t ready for the show yet because I didn’t continue it.
However, I wanted to try again, and decided to try from the second episode since I barely remembered anything and wanted to get the story going faster, so I skipped the Pilot, though I did rewatch this one after finishing season four.
The show was amazing, but terrible for me. When coming home from school, the first thing I’d do was start up where I left off. I’d eat meals that didn’t take long to make, and I’d eat them in front of the TV. I also had a school project to make, but not a lot of time had gone to that, because the show was just too good.
After I had finished the show, I introduced it to my brother and sister, and I’d rewatch it with them. At the same time I had also gotten the DVDs, and I’d rewatch all the episodes with audio commentary on them. It’s only because of this I, in my mind, got the full enjoyment out of the show.
Then, season five came around, and I was, just as everyone else, stuck waiting a week after every episode. Was it painful? Yes. Was it worth it? Absolutely.
Not all shows are equal
But all of the above is mostly for drama, which usually has a lot of things for you to digest. Comedies though, don’t have this as much. They’re easy, don’t take a high toll, and are much shorter, so they’re easier to squeeze in.
I recently went through eight seasons of Scrubs in less than a month and I was surprised at how much I remembered of it afterwards. Though Scrubs was a show that wasn’t easy to move on from (that finale!).
This year I also went through all seasons of Boy Meets World (which was essentially a giant rewatch), and last year I did the same with Malcolm in the Middle.
I think comedies especially benefit from bingewatching, since it doesn’t put too much focus on single episodes, and a show as a whole will feel a lot funnier.
Same now with Star Wars: The Clone Wars, which isn’t a comedy, but each episode is only twenty minutes and not all episodes are super interesting to me, but this way I can manage to burn through the few I don’t particularly care about, and give most of my attention to the ones I do find interesting.
My watching strategy
In short, the approach I take is this:
A popular new Netflix show? Bingewatch.
An unpopular new Netflix show? Probably bingewatch since my self-discipline sucks, but I’d try to watch the first 3 episodes and if I like it and don’t have much else going on, spread them out to one a day.
Older shows? Bingewatch probably. The Shield did things to me and I had trouble stopping at times, but I’m still slowly working my way through shows like Battlestar Galactica, The Wire and The X-Files.
Still airing comedy? Binge the older seasons in order to catch up, and depending on my investment decide whether to watch it week by week or to wait. Brooklyn Nine-Nine is an example of a comedy I look forward to every week, but other shows like Fresh Off The Boat, New Girl or Portlandia, all that I also like, I could definitely binge.
Still airing drama? Binge to catch up as soon as possible, then watch week by week. When the show is still on, they’ll still reference stuff from previous seasons (which you went through like wildfire), so it will still stay with you longer.
…Apparently I binge more than I’d think, but the thought remains — when I think of my favorite shows, Breaking Bad, Mr. Robot, The Killing, Dollhouse… some of them are shows that I partly marathoned, but all of them are ones I was excited for every week, even if it was just their final season.
Of course, all of this is mostly targeted to people that watch TV by themselves and not with their significant other or a close friend, since you’d already have someone to talk to about the episode you just watched and you’re not reliant on people on the Internet to digest your media.
But when you’re by yourself, and you have to find a way to organize the crazy amount of shows every year, this is the way I do it.