For the LIFE of me I do not understand why I am currently in my 5th hour of Chopped re-runs on The Food Network, yet I haven’t watched any of the final season of Da Vinci’s Demons. You know, that came out in October… OF LAST YEAR. I was practically begging STARZ to livestream the season straight into my brain, yet when it came out… nada.
What was keeping me from a mostly shirtless Tom Mison with long flowing locks and a smile that turned my legs into jelly? Why wasn’t I immediately bathing in the production values of this god damn pretty show? I dunno. Suddenly it seemed like too much effort to marathon it and make myself an emotionally available Hallmark card because it was the final season and I wasn’t ready? Maybe. Or maybe it was just easier to see which house a fiendishly annoying middle-class couple would choose on this episode of House Hunters, which I’m pretty sure I had already seen.
When did I become such a passive viewer? I am the bane of the television world in that I never watch live and it takes me weeks… months… god even years to catch up on an episode or season that I let slip by. And I honestly don’t understand why.
I have a very addictive personality and part of me wonders if that’s why I try not to binge watch anything anymore (except apparently EVERYTHING on the Food Network and HGTV, I swear I’ve gained 10lbs just watching Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives). When I first started Game of Thrones I watched three seasons in a week. Like, I lived and breathed that show when I wasn’t in class or at work. I was left destitute after I’d finished because it would be a whole MONTH before Season 4 started. I managed to keep up with it, but I still haven’t seen Season 5 beyond the first two episodes. Why? Too much effort? I don’t actually want to be Khaleesi??
The same goes for Supernatural. I was determined to finish the ENTIRE SERIES SO FAR before San Diego Comic Con… two years ago. I was making pretty good progress. The first five seasons went down like a fine whisky (because they’re the best, let’s just be clear on that), but struggled through season 6 and I’m still stuck in season 7 purgatory two years later. Season 7… that really did get to be too much effort.
I got so into those two series as I dived in, that I think I drowned a bit. It became too much and I had to step away. It just seems that I just kept stepping away… until I was about thirty miles away with car keys in my hand ready to drive to Tampa. But then it happened with new shows that I was really excited for. Remember all that stuff I wrote about The Librarians? The review, the lists, the interviews with the cast and crew? I was keyed in to that and the fandom from the get go, I could have had a great run with that content wise and I loved the premiere. It was everything I wanted in a television show.
But I still haven’t seen all of the first season.
Yeah, and it’s myself. WHYYYYYY, KRISTINA?! WHYYYY?
I was afraid of getting sucked in I think. I was worried my excitement would switch ovre to it and leave everything else I was already excited about all the time. Maybe?
I was so excited for Peter Capaldi’s Doctor that I fell off the bed when he walked out during the announcement event. I wrote about him quite a few times, gushed about his work, and actively reassured people he’d be fantastic. I still haven’t seen ANY of the last season. Though honestly I think a lot, if not all of it, has to do with Clara and that I despised her and didn’t want to deal with her seesawing characterization and the fact it wasn’t Doctor Who anymore but Clara What.
There’s a few reasons for all of this apparently, and yet not really a common denominator. Do I just not care anymore? Are my fangirling days and anxiety waiting for the new episode to air over? Or am I just in a (very long) slump and things will pick up again?
If you were expecting this to end with some sort of philosophic claim about the human mind in an age of technology and having too many choices and thus diminishing our desire to become properly engaged with our media, I’m sorry to disappoint you. I’m sure that’s a think piece somewhere and it probably has a great deal of merit.
Meanwhile, if anyone has any tips for me, I’d love to hear them because people are being stupid on The Food Network.
Very Nerdy Curly 