It’s 1 a.m. and a school night. I’m finishing an episode of a brand-new season from my favorite show that just came out earlier today. The bright white “continue watching” button seems to be calling my name—only one episode left until the finale. It wouldn’t hurt that much; it’s only another hour or two of sleep that I’m losing anyway. Might as well see what happens, right? Suddenly, school starts in three hours, and I haven’t slept a second.
So, was it worth it?
It turns out bingeing shows like that hasn’t been the case for years, and maybe it’s for the better. With more shows going back to releasing episodes weekly or even in parts spread out across multiple months, the tradition of watching shows all at once could be dead.
Personally, I really enjoy seeing how the internet reacts to each new episode of different shows. It’s thrilling to see so many people enjoying the same episodes at the same time and sharing similar opinions on which characters everyone likes, or dislikes, the most. Episodes coming out weekly or in parts have actually improved my enjoyment, and also my sleep schedule.
“The Summer I Turned Pretty,” is the show that’s taken over this past summer, and it is a perfect example of this. Amazon Prime Video releases an episode of it every Wednesday, which makes quite an impact, ultimately deciding whether the fans are happy or not for the rest of the week. From the cliffhangers each episode ends with two smaller details only perceivable after watching it five times, the release schedule definitely keeps people talking about the show.
Streaming services, like Prime, are moving towards weekly episode releases for this exact reason. The longer they can keep people talking and posting about it, the more subscriptions they get.
“The Summer I Turned Pretty” isn’t the only show doing this, though. Some notable ones that have come out recently are “Dexter: Resurrection,” “The Rookie” and any new Marvel Cinematic Universe series. While the more obsessive fans might hate waiting every week, these shows are doing better than they would’ve if they had been released all at once.
Netflix is unique in the way they release new seasons of shows; they do it in parts. More popular shows like “Wednesday” or “Stranger Things” are split into two to three sections that will be released at separate times, usually in the span of a few months. It generally has the same effect of weekly episodes; it combines that “binging feel” with the anticipation that keeps fans talking for longer periods of time.
