On a binge and a prayer

Is too much of a good thing bad for you? The Spuds are split on the latest trend – binge-watching.

entertainment@thestar.com.my have been away from the office for the last three weeks, recuperating from a surgery. and I’m the sort of person who will just die of boredom at home. Growing up, I would bug my mum every two minutes – What can I do? What can I do now? Okay, now what can I do?

and usually that spelt “rotan” time (it was my mum’s version of hammer Time).

So I was a bit worried about all the time at home confined to bedrest, light exercise and no driving! arrggh. Suffice to say however, that television came to my rescue. Well, friends and family gave an enormous amount of support, of course, but in those hours when I was completely clueless as to what to do, there was always Tv.

Which brings me to our subject of the day – binge watching. I have found, in the last two decades or so of my life that computer games (when I was first pregnant I played Super Mario Brothers relentlessly, I was a bit worried my daughter would come out looking like Luigi), and good Tv programmes.

There was one time about five years back, when I spent days glued to the television, not getting up even for a shower or meal. What made me do it? Battlestar Galactica.

I hadn’t seen it when it was all the rage, and so after all the hype had died down, I decided to give it a try. I was after all a fan of the original television series in the 1970s-80s.

had me hook, line and sinker. everything about it was fascinating from the premise (set in a distant star system, where a small fleet of humans go in search of earth as a refuge), to the cast – edward James Olmos, Mary McDonnell, Katee Sackhoff, and especially the Cylons (the bad guys) made for compelling viewing.

There are over 70 episodes and webisodes, a movie and a spin-off series called Caprica. I got through most of it and all in one stretch, so I totally Feel that it earned its place inside Time’s 100 Best Tv Shows of all-time.

The last year, again, another sci-fi series got me at hello. This time it was JJ abrams and Fringe – with alternate universes, dark matter, teleportation and a whole host of other mad scientific ideas that provoked thought and kept me engaged for five whole seasons. again, I would save up episodes and watch them because the idea of as many episodes as I could swallow was enticing. anna Torv and Joshua Jackson were great eye candy, and John Noble was a delight to watch.

This time around, I went for Almost Human, a sci-fi crime drama, which sadly has not been renewed for a second season. Why pray tell?

Starring Karl Urban, Michael ealy and Minka Kelly, the JJ abrams produced programme is set in the year 2048, when science and technology have accelerated so much that they have caused crime rates to escalate at an unprecendented scale. To counter this, every human police office is paired with an android.

Urban plays a detective with a past he cannot remember, and is teamed up with the android Dorian (ealy), who unlike the other androids has a bit of heart. There is some really nice chemistry between these two and the plot lines for each episode are also quite intriguing, broaching topics and things like bitcoins and bioprinting, which make it seem realistic and not so far into the future after all. I was looking forward to getting the next season, so what a bummer that I find out they closed shop.

apart from these I also had a huge thing for shows like The Closer, Desperate Housewives (well at one time, yes) and Game Of Thrones. I can never get enough of them. all said, I think when it comes to binge watching, however, my vote goes to sci-fi, so I’m thinking of moving in on Orphan Black. Clones, you gotta love them. What say you? – AMC TO binge-watch or not? I’m kind of split at the moment. I am guilty of binge watching ... in a big way. That’s how I discovered The Sopranos in the first place. I’d missed out on the show when it first came out because, well, at the time I wasn’t really in the mood for a series about mobsters and organised crime.

But after consistent rave reviews from friends a few years into the series, I decided to give it a go. Thankfully for DvD box sets, I could. and when you have a box set with you, it’s hard to stop at just one episode.

I think I must have watched three seasons of the show over one very long weekend – I didn’t go out at all, survived on instant food like cereal or fruit and got off my couch only for bathroom breaks or to feed my dog. I became a Tv-zombie.

There are some instances where bingewatching is simply necessary.

Many really great shows kick off with a mediocre or even bad pilot, like Parks And Recreation. Other shows, like The Wire or even House Of Cards, develop rather slowly – nothing much happens in the first couple of episodes and you need time for the characters to grow on you and the story to unfold.

Unfortunately, first impressions count with me and if the first couple of episodes suck, I usually don’t bother returning. With a box set though, I’d have little choice but to carry on watching (I’ve already invested in the darn thing, after all). In the case of these three shows, thank goodness I did. They’re fabulous.

another reason I need to binge watch is because I’m growing older and with old age comes memory loss. a week is sometimes too long and I forget crucial cliffhangers in

previous episodes. Dexter did what now? Walter White said what now? and what if I miss the next episode because, God forbid, I have to work late. Wouldn’t that be tragic! OK, maybe that’s stretching things a little, but to wait a week to find out what happens is just so excruciating. I want to know now!

Having said that, I’ve scaled back on my binge-watching because, well, watching an entire series at one go takes away the enjoyment of it.

Suspense just goes out the window when you can watch 22 episodes back to back and solve the mystery of a show on the same day.

Isn’t it nice to sometimes breathe in-between episodes? To think about what happened, let it sink it, speculate about what’s going to happen next, discuss it with colleagues and fellow TVaddicts before watching how the story unfolds.

also, by binge-watching, I often get so focused on the overreaching arc of a show that I miss out on the small details. The subplots, the nuances that the supporting characters bring to the show, the witty dialogue, the pop-culture references, etc.

So I’ve come to a resolution. I’m currently catching up on the series 24. I have no choice, but to binge-watch it since the series ended four years ago and I’ve limited time before 24: Live Another Day begins.

But I’m limiting myself to two episodes (OK, maybe three) a day, three times (OK, maybe four) a week.

So far, I’m doing good – I still have somewhat of a social life, I’m still cooking my meals and my dog isn’t being neglected. I might have reached a happy middle. – SI