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The seven stages of binge-watching

You can consider binge-watching an art.

Nurfaizah Faizuwan

Published: 10 February 2016, 3:42 AM

If you spent the long Chinese New Year weekend staying at home and being a couch potato, congratulations. I hope you enjoyed doing so as thoroughly as I did.

I spent most of the time binge-watching Mr Robot, which I have been meaning to watch for a while now but just didn’t have the time. Completing the first season of that has resulted in me wanting to binge-watch yet another television show. Binge-watching is such a horrible addiction.

Here are the seven stages of binge-watching that I (and all other binge watchers) constantly experience:

1. Curiosity

I first saw the trailer of Mr Robot on television, but did not have the patience to wait around week after week for a new episode. Lo and behold, I found the entire first season on this obscure and probably illegal website.

I also heard a lot of people talking about the awards that the show had won, and people commenting on Facebook and Twitter about how handsome Rami Malek is.

I STARTED WATCHING IT BECAUSE RAMI MALEK’S EYES ARE GORGEOUS…TOO GORGEOUS…TO IGNORE. PHOTO CREDIT: GIPHY.COM

2. Excitement

Since I heard so many great things about the show, I was pretty excited to start watching it. During the initial stages, I watched episode after episode of Mr Robot, which I guess was due to the binge-watching rush.

Other binge-watchers might agree with me that the binge-watching rush is a rush you’ve never felt before. It makes you forgo sleep, food, water and sometimes even the toilet breaks that you so urgently need.

THIS WAS HOW I FELT WHEN I FOUND THE ENTIRE SEASON. PHOTO CREDIT: GIPHY.COM

3. Disappointment

Some disappointment came because I didn’t expect the show to be filled with a lot of boring and intense conversations, even though the plot twists were quite interesting to me.

I think being disappointed is inevitable because it is impossible for every episode to be great.

I THOUGHT THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A GREAT SHOW.. BUT WHY DO I FEEL THIS WAY? PHOTO CREDIT: GIPHY.COM

4. Disbelief

WHAT JUST HAPPENED HERE, I REFUSE TO BELIEVE IT! PHOTO CREDIT: GIPHY.COM

I cannot believe they killed off that character. I cannot believe that happened. Like, wow, Mr Robot is a really intense and mind-blowing show. I can’t believe that’s the end of the season. Like, how could you end with such a cliffhanger??? Just shut up and just take my money if it means I can find out what is going to happen NOW.

5. Grief

I ended up watching the entire season in two days, and I now have to wait six whole months for the next season.

I DON’T KNOW WHAT’S SADDER: THE FACT THAT THE SEASON HAS ENDED OR THAT I HAVE TO WAIT SO LONG FOR ANOTHER. PHOTO CREDIT: GIPHY.COM

6. Boredom

At this stage, I’m already sick and tired of waiting. Six months is a long time and I just cannot go on without having a television show to binge-watch. Like I said before, binge-watching is an addiction and it can make you go out of control.

I USED TO COUNT DOWN THE DAYS ON MY CALENDAR BUT I DON’T BOTHER ANYMORE. PHOTO CREDIT: GIPHY.COM

7. Temptation

You’d find yourself looking through websites to find lists of “best shows to binge-watch”. My advice is to find a television show that has already ended, or one that has been running for a really long time.

But, only do that if you have a lot of time to spare, and I mean a lot.

This binge-watching culture, however unhealthy it may be, is something our generation can consider lucky to enjoy. After all, if not for the Internet or Netflix, we would perhaps have to binge-read or binge-sew instead.