I don’t know about you, but I watched Season 4, Volume 1 of Stranger Things within 48 hours of its release. After three years of waiting for the new season, seven episodes were gone in an instant. I intended to watch one episode a night in order to make the new season last longer and to focus on my studies, yet I couldn’t help but let the next episode roll onto my screen; then the next, and the next, and the next.
With streaming platforms such as Netflix, binge-watching has become a part of TV culture. Rather than waiting for the new episode to appear on BBC or ITV each week, almost the entire series is made available straight away. There is definitely a communal aspect that is lost in the release of an entire season.
For example, there is something nice about knowing that everyone is tuning in at 9.15pm on Channel 4 to watch the latest episode of Derry Girls. It creates a shared experience. Not only this, but the weekly release of episodes means more of a build-up to each episode, providing a week to talk to fellow viewers about the previous episode and theories for the next.
On the other hand, when I was binging the latest Stranger Things season, I didn’t particularly have time to evaluate each episode. They all blurred into one. I also couldn’t talk to my friends about the specific episode I had just watched as we were all watching at different speeds and the risk of spoilers was too great.
This is where I think that Netflix’s decision to split up their new season is excellent. As much as I was hankering for the last two episodes once I had completed volume 1, it is nice to know that I haven’t finished the new season and that there are still episodes to look forward to.
This break has provided the same benefits as weekly television viewing and a chance to speak with friends about the previous episodes and debate what is to come. Netflix has given us the best of both worlds with the chance to delight in a lazy day of binging volume one, but also the social elements and anticipation of a break before volume 2.
Image Credits – The MovieDB
