c/binge-worthy-shows

Hated true crime docs until a random stop in a tiny town changed that

I was passing through Boone, NC for a weekend trip and walked into this small diner. The owner started telling me about a local cold case from 1987 that got solved last year, and I couldn't stop listening. I went home and searched the case, then fell into a 5 episode doc about it. Now I'm pretty hooked on the genre, but I still can't do the ones with dramatic reenactments. Got any recommendations that skip the cheesy actors and just tell the story straight?

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shane_fisher37•3d ago

DVD box sets to streaming, my binge habit completely flipped

I used to only buy TV show box sets when they went on sale at Best Buy, and I'd rewatch the same 3 seasons for months because that's all I owned. Now I burn through a 8 season show in a weekend and can't even tell you what I watched last Tuesday. Anyone else miss the slower pace of waiting for the next disc to arrive in the mail?

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the_nathan•3d ago

Visited my sister in Chicago and her TV setup broke my brain

She's got a 75 inch screen but sits 4 feet away with subtitles on, then complained the dialogue was hard to follow. We watched 3 episodes of that new detective show and I left with a headache. Am I the only one whose family does this weird viewing thing?

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jake_torres68•4d ago

Why does every thriller have to drag out the villain reveal for 8 episodes

I just finished a new show on Prime and the killer was obvious from episode 2, but they kept feeding red herrings until the finale. I counted 6 fake clues about the neighbor, the boss, even the dog walker. It felt like they stretched 3 episodes of story into 10 just to hit a binge quota. Has anyone else quit a series halfway because the pacing was slower than a traffic jam on I-95?

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grantp28•4d ago

Binged 5 seasons of a cooking show before realizing I watched it wrong

I made it through all 78 episodes of that competition series with the audio on mute thinking it was a calming ASMR thing, then my roommate walked in on the finale and screamed, 'why are you reading subtitles for a show about screaming chefs?' and now I'm wondering if anyone else has missed the entire point of a show for that long.

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rodriguez.felix•8d ago

Just realized The Wire season 1 vs season 5 feels like two different shows entirely

I binged The Wire for the first time over the last 6 weeks, all 60 episodes. Going back to season 1 after season 5 is jarring, the early episodes take forever to build up each character while the final season is all quick cuts and montages. My buddy says the slow burn is what makes it great, but I swear after episode 20 I was just fast forwarding through the politics stuff to get to the street scenes. Does anyone else think the show lost its rhythm as it went on, or is it just me being impatient after getting hooked on the action?

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abbyg60•11d ago

Why does every thriller show end with the villain getting a redemption arc?

I just finished a 3 season series on HBO where the bad guy murdered like 5 people, but they wrapped it up with him crying and the hero forgiving him. It ruined the whole binge for me. Every other show I start seems to do this now, especially on streaming. Is it lazy writing or are they just scared to have a straight evil ending? Has anyone else noticed this pattern or am I just picking the wrong shows?

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emery199•12d ago

Saw the original vs the remake back to back, original wins by a mile

Me and my buddy watched the 90s version of the show then jumped into the 2019 reboot the same night. The pacing difference is wild, the old one lets scenes breathe while the new one crams exposition into every line. Has anyone else done a side by side and felt like the cast chemistry just can't be copied?

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jordan903•12d ago

Binged 6 episodes of a show, then realized I was watching season 3

Last night I got super into this crime drama on Hulu, thought the plot was just really ambitious, then episode 7 opened with a recap that spoiled the first two seasons completely. I was halfway through a bag of popcorn in my living room in Austin when it hit me that the app had auto-played me into season 3 from my watch history. Has anyone else accidentally skipped ahead like that, and did you just keep going or double back to the start?

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jamiew53•15d ago

The 11th episode of every HBO miniseries is where the real story starts

I used to skip ahead and then go back, but the other night I rewatched The Night Of and noticed how episode 11 is basically a whole different show, same characters. It's like the writers finally stop setting up and just let things fall apart. Is it just me or do other people find the last third of a limited series way more bingeable than the middle? I started doing this with Sharp Objects last week and now I can't watch a new show any other way.

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grantf73•17d ago

TIL I actually prefer season-long arcs over monster-of-the-week shows

Used to swear by shows like Supernatural where every episode was self contained, but after watching The Wire for the first time last month, I get it now. The way each episode builds on the last one, you can't just pick up anywhere, and honestly that's the pull. Anyone else flip on this after being a diehard episodic fan for years?

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the_susan•18d ago

My 4th attempt at a true crime binge finally stuck

I've tried getting into true crime docs about 4 times now and always bailed by episode 2. Last week I gave The Staircase another go and something finally clicked, maybe it was the pacing or just being in the right mood. I ended up watching 5 episodes in one sitting on a rainy Saturday, which NEVER happens for me. The way the defense lawyer talked about the evidence just pulled me in and I couldn't look away. Has anyone else had a show that only worked on a second or third try? What made it stick for you?

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stellachen•21d ago

Hot take: 'The Bear' season 2 is overrated as a binge

I kept seeing everyone rave about The Bear's second season, so I finally binged it over a weekend in Austin. But the constant yelling and stress scenes just made me anxious, not entertained. The episode where they go to Copenhagen for research felt like a cheap travel ad, not real character growth. Anyone else feel like the chaos is just a crutch for weak writing past episode 5?

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shane_fisher37•22d ago

Can we talk about hitting 500 episodes of a show and still not knowing the main character's name?

I finished a 500-episode drama set in Seoul last month and realized I never once learned the protagonist's actual job or name, so is it a sign of a great binge where details blur together, or a sign the writers failed at character building, and has anyone else hit that weird milestone where you suddenly question everything you watched?

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the_lily•25d ago

Binged a whole season in one night and regretted it at 3am

I started watching this new crime drama last Saturday around 8pm. By 3am I had finished all 10 episodes and my eyes were burning. The next day I was so tired I almost fell asleep during lunch at school. Has anyone else stayed up way too late for a show that was just okay?

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garcia.tyler•29d ago

Unpopular opinion: Breaking Bad is actually overrated and I'm tired of pretending it's not

My buddy Mark brought this up at dinner last night and at first I was ready to argue. He said the show drags hard in seasons 3 and 4 with all the Gus Fring setup. I rewatched episodes 8-12 of season 3 on a flight yesterday and honestly he's right. There are like 4 episodes where basically nothing happens except Jesse moping. The pacing kills the binge factor for me. Anyone else feel like the slow parts ruin the rewatch value?

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cora863•29d ago

Took me 3 months to figure out subtitles on this one show

Watched Dark on Netflix without subtitles for like 15 episodes. Kept getting lost. Finally turned them on and realized everyone was speaking German the whole time. Felt like an idiot. Anybody else miss obvious stuff like that?

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henderson.oscar•1mo ago

Was super skeptical about The Bear until I watched episode 7 of season 1 on a rainy Saturday.

That single take kitchen meltdown scene had me gripping my couch cushion and I binged the whole rest of the season that same night, has anyone else had a show flip you around that fast?

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the_alice•1mo ago

Tried to binge-watch The Wire in one weekend... still not done a month later

I thought 5 seasons would be easy to knock out in like 48 hours, but I got stuck on season 3 because the characters are so dense I kept rewinding to catch what they said. Now it's been four weekends and I'm only halfway through season 4, my whole schedule is thrown off. Has anyone else had a show take way longer than you expected to finish?

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the_faith•1mo ago

Bought into the hype on that 10-hour true crime docu-series and wasted a whole Saturday

I saw everyone on Twitter raving about that new true crime show on the streaming platform everybody uses. So I cleared my whole Saturday, ordered pizza, and settled in for what I thought was gonna be a gripping 10 episodes. Turns out the first 4 hours were just filler interviews with neighbors who saw nothing. By episode 6 I was checking my phone every 5 minutes and realized I had basically wasted 8 hours of my day off for a reveal that was obvious by episode 2. Has anyone else fallen for a show that was all hype and no payoff?

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graydavis•1mo ago

My dishwasher control board died mid-cycle last night and I spent an hour watching a repair video series instead of calling a repairman.

Ended up swapping the relay myself with a $3 part from the hardware store, now I'm curious how many other appliances I can fix with just YouTube and some basic tools - has anyone else gone down that rabbit hole?

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jade_johnson•1mo ago

Pro tip: binging with subtitles on vs off is a totally different experience

I tried watching Dark with no subtitles first and got so lost I gave up after 3 episodes. Then I restarted it with the English dub and subtitles on and everything clicked. The difference was huge because the actors' original voices plus the text helped me catch details I missed. Have you ever found a show that only made sense with subtitles?

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joseph_ellis85•1mo ago

Had to choose between The Americans and Better Call Saul for my next binge

Last month I finished a long run of lighter comedies and wanted to get into something more serious. I kept seeing both The Americans and Better Call Saul recommended everywhere and I could only commit to one at a time. I picked The Americans first because I remembered watching the pilot years ago and liking it. After three episodes I almost quit because the slow pace was testing my patience. But around episode 7 of season 1 things clicked and by season 2 I was staying up until 1 AM on work nights. The character work on that show is incredible and the tension just builds episode after episode. Now I am finally starting Better Call Saul and wondering if it will hit me the same way. Has anyone else gone through these two back to back and found one clearly better than the other?

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mitchell.lee•1mo ago

Used to marathon whole seasons in one night, now I can barely get through two episodes

Honestly, back in 2018 I'd crush a full 10 episode season of something like Ozark in a single sitting. Now I'm lucky if I stay awake through two episodes of anything after 9 PM. I think it started when I got a real job in 2021 and my attention span just tanked. Anyone else feel like they lost the ability to binge watch after their 20s hit?

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mila_brown10•1mo ago

My neighbor Earl told me to skip the first season of The Wire and I wish I had listened

After three episodes of boredom I finally jumped to season two like he said and now I get why everyone calls it the greatest show ever, has anyone else found a series that only gets good after you skip the early episodes?

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