Rant: Bingeing slow-burn shows vs. fast-paced thrillers now

I used to love shows like Breaking Bad where every episode had something huge happening. But lately I keep going back to slower ones like Mad Men or Better Things where nothing big happens for whole episodes. It changed about 6 months ago after I burned out on a 10-episode action show in 2 days and felt empty after. Now I prefer shows where you can miss a line and it still makes sense, you know? But I wonder if I'm just getting older or if the genre really shifted. Does anyone else flip between these two styles or do you stick with one?

2 comments

2 Comments

christopher3851mo ago

... yeah I'm pretty sure it just means we're getting old enough that our brains can't handle the rapid fire stuff anymore without shorting out like mine did last week.

simonbell1mo ago

That 2-day binge you described - I did the exact same thing with Ozark a year ago. Finished it in a weekend and felt like a zombie afterward. I used to be all about that constant tension and payoff, thought slow shows were boring. But @christopher385 might be onto something, Ngl. Now I'm rewatching Mad Men for the third time. Honestly, there's something about letting a scene breathe that hits different when you're not rushing to the next explosion. The quiet moments in Better Things feel more real than any shootout now.