Monday, April 16, 2018
Non-Core Post - The Americans
LOL that I started this post forever ago and just never actually wrote anything...but now that we're three weeks into the newest/last season, I can fully voice my frustrations in having to wait a week between plot advancements for one of the most densely plotted serial shows I've ever been seriously invested in. The Americans is one (in the tradition of The Sopranos, Mad Men, Breaking Bad, etc.) TV series which continually amazes me with the way it treats its ensemble character development, with casual and minuscule references here and there to events, big and small, which happened years/seasons ago in the show's timeline. The normal challenge of keeping up with significant moments of development in every character's arc is amplified by the political weight and specificity behind every plot line in The Americans. It's a great show to binge (the end credits music has no small part to play in this) but it also makes a huge difference in my overall reception of what I'm seeing. When I asked my friend (another superfan) if she and her boyfriend had seen the new season yet, she said they were probably going to wait to binge it once it was over. Now, this is an approach I can understand for some shows (Riverdale, for instance, or Crazy Ex-Girlfriend--shows I like a lot but not enough to need to keep up as it happens), but with the current political climate and everything in the news to do with Russia, trust, alliances, conspiracies, WMDs and other dangerous technologies, I don't know...there just seems like there's something urgent about The Americans right now, and the idea of not watching it at all until the entire season/show is over is (I'm showing my TV obsession) borderline unthinkable to me, tbh.
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Here I am talking about The Americans again...but as you say Sasha, it's such a great show!!
ReplyDeleteI think there's a lot to say about keeping up with a show as it airs. I am slowly learning that it may actually be more beneficial to the viewing experience, and to get used to not binging shows all the time. I really like the time to ruminate (or in many cases re watch) an episode, especially for The Americans, where there is a lot to think about every week. As much as I enjoy a good long Netflix session, I find myself more excited for a new episode every week in a way that makes me enjoy the show as a whole.
I also can't imagine waiting for this season to end just to binge it all at once. In fact, when I started the show I think I was three seasons behind and it still took me a few months to catch up. This show is just too dense and heavy to muscle through. I hate to be that person who compares TV to film, but each episode really does have its own cinematic arc--free of annoying cliffhangers and plot contrivances--that allows it to stand on its own. I got a lot of satisfaction from following last season (arguably the slowest one) week by week, rewatching episodes and fully contemplating them, and I had a similar experience over the summer with Twin Peaks. Now I'm wondering if you're right, Ana Paula--is it beneficial to stop binging shows? Or are some shows just better suited for the weekly gaps? It's really hard to say, as there's plenty of shows that I've binged (currently Sneaky Pete) that I would have never bothered to keep up with if I had to wait. I don't want to say that it's a matter of overall quality--maybe its simply that some shows, especially Netflix and Amazon originals, are made with this specific intention.
ReplyDeleteI like to watch 2-3 episodes in one sitting. I never do a FULL binge, but I cannot watch just one episode per week. Often time when I watch "bingable" shows on netflix or amazon, I completely mess with the episode arc just so I can actually go to sleep! My technique is to start the episode after a cliff hanger, watch about the first 20 min, or until the previous conflict is resolved, and once I feel "okay enough" I stop the episode before a new conflict arises. This way I can actually pause and go to bed rather than stay up until 5 am (which I have done frequently but do not recommend).
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