c/binge-worthy-shows

Debate: Skipping the first season of a show vs watching it all

I've started skipping season one on shows that take a while to find their footing, like The Office or Parks and Rec. It saves time but am I missing crucial setup or just cutting the boring stuff? What do you all think, worth it or lazy?

Walked into a laundromat in Astoria and noticed everyone watching the same Korean drama on their phones

I was dropping off my sheets at Spin Cycle on 30th Ave last Tuesday and I swear half the people there had the same show playing on their screens. One woman was on episode 12, another guy was on episode 8, but they all had those subtitles running and the same dramatic music blasting through budget earbuds. I asked the attendant what it was and she said it's called 'The Glory' and it's been taking over the place for weeks now. She told me people come in just to sit and watch it while their clothes spin, sometimes for two hours straight. It made me think about how streaming has turned everyday spaces into personal viewing rooms without anyone saying a word. Has anyone else noticed a whole crowd glued to the same series in some random spot like a waiting room or bus stop?

Burned through The Americans in 12 days and missed whole layers of the story

I watched all 6 seasons of The Americans pretty fast on a week off from work. Problem is I later found out I missed a ton of subtle references and character arcs because I wasn't paying close enough attention. Has anyone else found that watching a dense show really fast ruins some of the payoff?

Binge watching on my laptop killed the battery in 8 months

I used to watch 4-5 episodes of The Bear every night with my laptop plugged in, and now it dies at 35% unless it's connected to power. Anyone else's battery tank from marathoning shows this way?

Appreciation post: going from weekly episode drops to full season dumps changed how I watch shows

I used to watch shows as they aired, one episode a week, waiting for Mondays to get the next part. Now I only start a series if the whole season is out on streaming. I made the switch around 2021 after I got hooked on a show that aired weekly and I forgot half the plot by the time the finale came around. It drove me nuts keeping track of characters and side stories over 10 weeks. Now I just wait until I see a post saying "full season out" and I binge it in a weekend. It feels more satisfying to get the whole story at once without commercials or gaps. Has anyone else quit weekly watching because the wait kills the momentum for you?

My five hour deep dive into the making of 'Lost' changed how I watch TV

I was just scrolling on YouTube last Thursday and stumbled on this hour long breakdown of how they filmed the plane crash scene in Lost. Turns out they used a real fuselage they found in a junkyard in Hawaii and painted it up. I ended up falling into a rabbit hole for almost five hours watching behind the scenes stuff and I swear I'll never look at a single episode the same way again. Has anyone else found one specific fact about a show that totally flipped your opinion of it?

Finally binged 'The Bear' last week after avoiding it for 3 years

I kept putting off 'The Bear' because everyone said it was stressful, but I finally started it last Tuesday after a rainy day canceled my landscaping jobs. Three days later I finished both seasons and now I'm mad at myself for waiting so long. The way they film the kitchen chaos feels so real, like I've had those same hectic days trying to finish a patio before a storm hits. My favorite part was the episode where they try to fix the family dynamics, that hit close to home. Has anyone else here avoided a popular show for years and then loved it once you gave in?

Is it normal to have a show on repeat for like 6 months?

I just realized I've watched The Office through 4 times this year according to my Netflix account stats. Anyone else have that one show they just can't seem to quit?

Blew through a 12-episode crime doc over a single Saturday and now I'm side-eyeing my neighbors

Last Saturday started with me making coffee and then suddenly it was 11 PM and I hadn't eaten or moved from the couch. The show was about this string of small town break-ins that turned into a huge murder case. I kept telling myself "one more episode" for like 8 hours straight. The narrator had this creepy calm voice that just pulled me in deeper every time. Around episode 9 I started googling my own neighborhood's crime stats on my phone while the show played. Now I keep noticing my new neighbor across the street who leaves his garage light on at 3 AM every night. Anyone else get paranoid after binging true crime docs?

Binged an entire 8-season show in 5 days and now I feel like I lost a real friend

Started watching this crime drama last Wednesday on a whim, and by Sunday night I had finished every episode, stayed up until 4am three nights in a row, and now I'm just sitting here staring at my ceiling wondering what to do with my life, has anyone else gone through that weird empty feeling after finishing a long series?

Found a hacked way to skip recaps on streaming shows

Was binging The Expanse last week and got so tired of the 90 second recap at the start of every episode. I found if you hit the skip forward button twice real fast, it jumps right past the recap and into the actual show. Tried it on three different streaming services and it worked on two of them. My friend in Denver said it works on her Apple TV too but not on her laptop. Now I save like 10 minutes per binge session which adds up fast when you are watching 6 episodes in a row. Has anyone else stumbled into a weird streaming trick like that?

Took 4 hours to find season 3 of that show in the right order

I finally sat down to binge that detective series everyone's been talking about, but my streaming app had episodes 5 and 6 swapped backwards for season 3. It took me 4 hours of rewinding and checking online forums to figure out I was watching everything out of sequence. Has anyone else run into a messed up episode order that ruined the whole plot for them?

Pro tip: The 3 episode rule actually saved me from quitting a show too early

Gave The Office a real chance for the first time last month and I just don't see what everyone loves about it

My wife and friends have been telling me for years that I need to watch The Office. So I sat down and watched the first two seasons. I kept waiting for it to click but it just never did. The cringe humor felt awkward more than funny to me. Michael Scott just came across as mean rather than goofy. I get that it's a classic and people quote it all the time but I feel like I missed the boat. Did anyone else try a show they were supposed to love and just walk away feeling nothing?

The 10-minute rule that stopped me from quitting every show halfway

I kept dropping series around episode 4 because nothing GRABBED me. Then a friend said give any show exactly 10 more minutes after you feel like turning it off. I tried it on Dark Matter and that 10 minutes had a twist that locked me in for the whole season. Now I do this every time and I've finished 6 shows this month alone. Has anyone else got a weird trick for pushing through a slow start?

Binging with subs vs dubs - which side are you on?

I used to be a die hard sub guy for everything. Thought dubs were for people who couldn't read fast enough or just didn't care about the "real" performance. But last month I'm watching Squid Game with my buddy and he puts on the English dub and I'm like dude no way. Two episodes in and I realized I was actually getting more out of the show because I wasn't staring at the bottom of the screen the whole time. I caught way more background details and facial expressions. Now I'm torn because sometimes the voice acting in dubs is kinda flat and you lose the original emotion. But other times it lets me actually watch the show instead of reading it. What do you guys do when you're binging a foreign show? Do you stick with subs or switch to dubs? And has anyone else had that moment where you realized you were doing it wrong the whole time?

Burned 12 hours on a show that got canceled after one season

I got super into this new sci-fi series called The Outpost on some streaming service last month. Binged the whole 10 episodes in like two days, stayed up till 3am on a work night. Then I looked it up and found out they canceled it after season 1 with a massive cliffhanger. Wasted like 12 hours of my life for nothing lol. Has anyone else fallen for a show that just got axed with no real ending?

My sister pointed out I was skipping the recap at the start of every episode

I've been binge watching this crime drama on Netflix for like two weeks now. Every new episode I would just hit skip intro and go straight into it. My sister came over last Sunday and was like "wait you never watch the recap?" and I told her no, I always skip it. She said I was missing a ton of context because the show has those little flashback details that connect to earlier seasons. Tried it on episode 8 and suddenly whole plot points made way more sense. Has anyone else been skipping recaps and missing important stuff?

My sister called my comfort shows 'emotional junk food' and now I can't stop thinking about it

She said I watch the same 3 series on repeat instead of trying anything new, and honestly she might have a point because I rewatched The Office for the 8th time last month lol, has anyone else had a family member call them out like that?

Showerthought: Binged all of Dark in two weeks and now I need a flowchart to function

I was at a coffee shop last Tuesday and overheard two people arguing about the timeline splits in season 2 of Dark. It got me thinking about how some shows are literally designed to break your brain if you stop paying attention for five seconds. Has anyone else had to actually pause episodes to Google family trees just to follow the plot?

Talking to my buddy about The Expanse changed how I watch sci-fi now

He said it's actually a political drama in space, not a sci-fi action show like I thought. I rewatched season 1 with that in mind and it hit way different. Anybody else have a show flip meaning after someone explained it differently?

That random stat about 'The Office' during Super Bowl episodes blew my mind

I was scrolling through Wikipedia at 2am last Tuesday and found out that 'The Office' (US version) had a 29.5 rating during the Super Bowl episode in 2009. That's almost 30 million people watching Steve Carell eat a hot dog. I had no idea a sitcom could pull those numbers from a football game. Has anyone else found a random fact about a show that totally caught you off guard?

A two-season k-drama fan told me I was watching shows wrong

I used to skip the first 3 episodes of anything to see if it grabbed me. She said I was missing the setup that makes the payoff work, so I sat through all 16 episodes of Signal from episode 1. Now I give any show a full 4 episodes before I bail. Anyone else have a hard rule about how many episodes you commit to?

Overheard a buddy say 'Severance is just office drama with a sci-fi hat' and now I can't defend it

He said it while we were grabbing coffee last Tuesday and honestly it made me rethink why I binge watched the whole first season in one sitting, anyone else feel like the concept carries the show more than the characters?

That week I tried to marathon a 10 season show in 5 days nearly broke me

Last month I decided to binge "The Walking Dead" from start to finish during my vacation. I figured 10 seasons would be easy since I had nothing else going on. By day 3 I was up until 3am every night, my eyes were bloodshot, and I started dreaming about zombies. I actually called in sick to work on Thursday because I couldn't face another 8 hour shift after only 4 hours of sleep. The worst part was when I realized I still had 4 more seasons to go and my vacation ended Sunday. Has anyone else ever bit off more than they could chew with a binge and regretted it?