Stranger Things might be the death of episodic television

I don't understand you

Stranger Things is a pretty good television show. I’ll get that out of the way, for fear of sounding overly negative in this rant. The production is actually gorgeous. It has perfect attention to detail in every aspect of its recreation of the 80s. The design of the upside down world, and in particular Winona Ryder’s house (with its meticulously placed Christmas lights used as mood lighting) is stunning. It has a really good atmosphere and creepy synth soundtrack!

But, I don’t know, that’s kind of it?

I just didn’t love it as much as most people I guess. And that’s fine! I’m glad that others have enjoyed it as much as they have. However, the biggest problem I have with it is not with the show’s content, but with the larger trend it represents in the television industry. I think Stranger Things is the first truly successful show to embrace the “binge-watching” Netflix model, and that terrifies me.

Of course there have been other successful streaming shows, Orange Is The New Black being the best example of one that has both critical acclaim and a passionate fan base. Yet you could argue that show would work just as well, if not better, on a traditional week-by-week viewing schedule. It’s a huge show with a rich world and endless characters in its ensemble, but putting emphasis on one character’s flashback in each episode gives these episodes focus individually. There is a serialized nature through season and even series-long arcs, but you could also watch a single episode and be satisfied. 

I would argue that right now 80-90% of dramatic television works this way. In fact, I would say that its format as a streaming Netflix show actually hurts Orange. This is because most of its viewers have a tendency to binge it all at once in the week or two following a season’s release (and then quickly forget about it for a year), rather than digesting each episode individually and giving its standout moments some weight. Any conversation I’ve seen or partaken in regarding season 4 has completely revolved around one shocking event and its aftermath, which takes place in the final two episodes of the season. It’s a shame that some of the earlier episodes of the season, like the one featuring deranged inmate Lolly, didn’t receive more attention. Orange certainly isn’t hurting for viewers if we use media coverage as a metric, so it may be successful in that sense. But wouldn’t it have a bigger place in cultural discussion if all those think pieces were spread out over 13 weeks, instead of clustered into 2-3? With its episodic template it could easily support a week-by-week structure, which would help prevent entire seasons from boiling down to one or two “shock factor” moments.

Back to Stranger Things. Can you imagine watching just one episode of this show? Sure, of course you can. Not everyone is a binge-watching animal; some just have time for one episode a night, two if they’re awake enough. But the show is absolutely designed with a binge in mind. Individual episodes do not have beginnings and ends, or cohesive themes tying them together. It essentially plays as an 8 hour movie. It takes advantage of the streaming format, knowing that its audience is going to have access to all of it at once, in a way that shows like Orange don’t necessarily. It’s certainly not the first show to do this. House of Cards, Daredevil, and Transparent all tell long stories that are arguably best absorbed as a whole rather than through individual episodes. It’s the other 10-20% of tv dramas, but I would say Stranger Things is the first critically and commercially (again, based on media coverage and user created content because streaming networks rarely release viewership statistics) successful show of this format. For many viewers, this probably isn’t a problem. Netflix suggests that binge-watching IS the way most people watch tv, so it makes sense that writers and showrunners would embrace the format and assume that people are consuming content this way.

I might be old fashioned, but I am a firm believer that the episodic format is what makes television the best entertainment medium. I find comfort knowing that my favorite shows are on every week. Watching a weekly tv show is like hanging out with old friends. You never exactly how it will play out, but you have a pretty good idea. The best thing about this is the excitement that builds between weeks, and the internet has enhanced this by allowing us to dissect, analyze, and discuss each episode in the meantime. 

There’s also the anticipation that a “perfect” episode may be coming. A perfect episode of a tv show is inspiring; it plays within the show’s established structure while being completely unique and testing the limits of what the audience thought was possible in that show. I can list the best episode of all my favorite shows, and usually have specific memories attached to them. Mad Men? “The Suitcase”, of course, which is everything great about that show condensed into 45 minutes. You’re The Worst? “There Is Not Currently A Problem”, because it’s an extremely serious episode where multiple characters just dance mindlessly in a corner for about half of it!

I can’t list my favorite episode of Stranger Things. You could say that each episode is equally entertaining, and that might be true, but it’s much less exciting to me than the opportunity afforded by a more episodic tv show to experiment. And with the outrageous success and praise that it’s gathered since its release last month, it could become a problematic trend. If television is increasingly designed to be watched in one or two sittings it sacrifices much of what made it a great medium to begin with.