As most of us are veterans of many streaming video platforms (Netflix, Hulu, etc.) by this point, we have become used to the concept of binging an entire season of a show in one weekend.
When Netflix began releasing entire seasons of a show all at once, it was pretty novel. Yes, people could binge-watch a show they owned on DVD, but it wasn’t something offered by your cable TV provider or any other early streaming service.
So, when Netflix would suddenly release a brand new show with every episode of a new season of House of Cards to watch whenever we wanted, it was pretty revolutionary.
Over the years since then (House of Cards released its first entire season in 2013), we’ve become very used to watching shows in this binge style. Netflix releases virtually all of their new series (and old ones of course) all at once. Numerous other streaming platforms have followed suit, making binge-watching more of the norm than the outlier these days.
However, in early 2021, Disney Plus decided to flip the script when they released WandaVision. They turned the page back to classic TV when episodes were released once a week during the season.
While the initial experiment might have been in line with WandaVision’s format of using a classic sitcom structure to tell the story, the idea quickly caught on with Disney and with viewers. For those that grew up mainly watching shows on Netflix, when I was a kid and most of my early adult life, TV shows were released weekly.
So, the Shakespearean question viewers now have in many cases is “To binge or not to binge? That is the question.”
Benefits of Binging
Deep Immersion into a Show
I once watched the entire first season of 24 (a revolutionary show in its own right) in 24 hours, as it was playing back to back to back on a cable channel. It was a memorable, and tiring, viewing experience. Since the show was effectively happening in ‘real-time’ it was kind of amazing to watch it the same way.
It did of course bring up logical questions of ‘when does he go to the bathroom, drink water, or eat?’ but the point was the experience was incredibly thrilling and fast-paced in a way few shows since have ever matched.
Binge-watching provides a similar kind of utter immersion into a show’s story and characters. The real-world falls away for a time and you get totally sucked into the show you are binging. That whirlwind can be extremely fun to ride.
Getting it Over With
I have to put this one in here. Sometimes there’s a show you want to watch, but honestly, you kind of just want to get it over with. Maybe it’s a case where you have watched multiple seasons and now you just want to finish the last one as quickly as possible. Game of Thrones final season, anyone? Like powering through a book that you are kind of enjoying, but also just want to finish up to figure out what happens, binging lets you get to the end without devoting a huge period of time spread out over weeks or months.
Benefits of Waiting Between Episodes
Letting the Drama and Anticipation Build
Have you ever watched a show with an episode that ends on a cliffhanger? Plenty of season finales do this, but it’s also common practice during a season. When the cliffhanger episode ends, you are left trying to figure out what happens next. Sure, you can just move on to the next episode in a binge-watch scenario, but does that reduce the impact of a cliffhanger?
The point of many cliffhangers is to let viewers sit with the open questions for a while. If not, why bother with a cliffhanger at all? They are meant to build some tension and anticipation for what might happen next. If you don’t allow some time in between episodes you lose this opportunity for anticipation.
Similarly, people used to enjoy chatting with each other at work about the latest episode of their favorite show. That social aspect is part of the fun. WandaVision brought that back for viewers. While most of us were going to the office, you could watch a podcast of people dissecting the last episode before watching the next one, or you could get on social media and chat about each episode.
That anticipation and social element of more serialized viewing just can’t be delivered when you binge-watch a show.
Extending the Enjoyment
While binging may be a great way to ‘get it over with’ if it’s a show you really love, maybe you don’t want to get it over with quickly. Instead, you may very much want to savor the experience of watching every episode of Succession or Ozark.
So, watching and enjoying each episode on its own may bring you significantly more entertainment and enjoyment. I find certain books are the same. You may get toward the end of a book you love and really not want it to end. So, taking it in more bite-sized morsels can absolutely make the entire experience that much more rich and rewarding.
So, Which is Best?
There’s no real answer to that. I think some shows are more suited for binging or for slower viewing and that list probably changes for each viewer. So, what I encourage you to do is pick and choose a bit. Feel free to binge some shows, but for others, let yourself enjoy the more serialized viewing experience. This way you get the best of both worlds.
