Talked to a tv writer at a bar and now I watch shows differently

I was at a dive bar in Austin last Friday and ended up next to a guy who wrote for a Netflix series I like. He said most shows waste the first two episodes just setting up stuff they could show in a single flashback. That hit me because I binged a whole season last month and felt bored for the first hour. Now I skip the pilot if it drags and check if the show picks up by episode three. Has anyone else tried skipping ahead and missed something important?

3 comments

3 Comments

evab5213d ago

Hold on, but doesn't skipping those first episodes mean you're missing the whole point of why things happen later? In my experience, a lot of shows plant small details in the pilot that pay off episodes later. Like that one show where the main character's weird habit in episode one explained her whole backstory in the finale. If you skip it, you just get the payoff without the setup, and the whole thing feels hollow. I've tried jumping ahead before and ended up lost because I didn't know who anyone was or why they were fighting over some random object. Your mileage may vary, but for me, losing that slow burn takes the magic out of it.

taylorlewis1mo ago

Skipped the first two episodes of Succession and didn't miss a thing lol.

the_sean1mo ago

Wait, you actually didn't miss anything? I always thought those episodes were essential but now I'm rethinking everything.