After Amazon finally dropped a trailer and release date for the anticipated fifth season of The Expanse, it soon became clear that we would be receiving the first three episodes on the 16th of December – and then a new episode every Wednesday. This mixed format obviously allows for the pleasure of binge-watching the first three episodes while maintaining the suspense of the inevitable cliffhangers for the rest of the season.
Netflix, Amazon Prime, and other streaming services have undoubtedly changed the way we consume our media. Waiting a whole week (sometimes even longer) for a new episode is a thing of the past as most streaming services allow us the pleasure of watching something at our own pace. While some shows are designed to be consumed from the beginning to the end and still leave you craving for more long after the last episode is finished, it is fine to enjoy others bit by bit.
Many fans immediately took to Facebook groups and forums to discuss the stretched-out release of the new season where it received a mixed reception and sparked an immediate exchange of viewers’ tastes and all the pros and cons of binge-watching versus waiting.
I encountered The Expanse when it was still on Netflix and binge-watched the first two seasons before I was left craving for more. The third season aired on Syfy roughly half a year later where I had to wait a week for each new episode and was almost driven mad by the insane cliffhangers that the third season delivered. When Amazon took up The Expanse, I embraced the fact that I could once again watch as much as I liked – whenever I liked. Now that we’re back to receiving one episode per week, I’m confronted with a question: Do I want to watch at Amazon’s pace or will I wait until I can watch it all at once?
One clear advantage Amazon gets from the spaced-out release is obviously a monetary one. While viewers might have subscribed to the Prime service for three days, watched the show, and then canceled their subscription again if the fifth season had been dropped at once, Amazon can now keep these viewers tethered to their service for almost two whole months. As a long-term subscriber, this argument doesn’t bother me personally, but it certainly plays a role for everyone not usually using the service.
Another strong point is also hard to deny: delayed gratification. A binge-watched show is a pleasure that comes and goes in a matter of days (or one day, if you’re into that) and also a pleasure that might be forgotten shortly after. If the episodes are spaced out over several months, the show has a chance to build suspense, draw out its cliffhangers and keep the audience talking and engaged over the space of many weeks while they’re continuously waiting for more. I still remember going nuts over certain cliffhangers during the third season of The Expanse and, honestly, I still haven’t forgiven them for that. The episode Delta-V brought me several sleepless nights.
Yet with all the advantages for viewers and the service itself, there are also drawbacks to having the episodes air over several weeks. Some viewers might be familiar with The Expanse novels, others might not be, and readers have a clear advantage here. Having read the books multiple times by now, I already have a pretty good idea of what is going to happen in the fifth season and, judging from the trailer, it seems that they are going to stick quite closely to the literary source. And that is exactly a point that makes me think this season might not be entirely suitable for a spaced-out release.
During the first season of the Expanse, we had little idea what was even going on and we didn’t know for sure until the different plot lines came together towards the end of the season. While the show already hinted at what is going to happen, the fifth novel was a lot less clear and reminds of the first book where different characters go out and each discovers a piece of the story that they can’t put together until it is already too late. The Expanse book series and TV show are insanely complex, small events or actions can cause great change and it can be hard to keep track of it sometimes.
A little hint from a book reader: In case Amazon carries the show into a seventh and eighth season, pay close attention to what happens in this one because it is going to be very important later on. Spacing the episodes out over the span of two months makes it a lot harder to remember all the details and keep track of what each character is up to unless you want to rewatch the other episodes before enjoying the new one. Especially a complex show like The Expanse greatly benefitted from giving its viewers a choice to watch it all in one go.
The second disadvantage is the setting of a mood. While many people turn on their TV for background noise, others deliberately choose a show for a specific story or a mood – and that mood gets lost once it’s interrupted after only 50 minutes every week. Binge-watching a show allows the viewers to dive deep into a story, really feel, and grow with the characters and only stop after the particular experience is lived through. Having these 50 minutes spaced out over several months doesn’t really allow for a deep dive as a binge-watch does.
And finally, dropping the episodes at once gives viewers the chance to set their own pace. Some like to watch one episode at a time, others two, and again others take a whole day off to finish a season in just one go. Whatever type you are, releasing all episodes at once allows you to decide for yourself when and how much you want to watch.
While some argue that we’ve been spoiled by Netflix and other streaming services and should return to the old system, others have come to think of binge-watching as the superior form of consuming TV shows, so it’s unlikely one way of releasing a show is ever going to make everyone happy at the same time.
While I did kind of enjoy clawing at my own hair over certain cliffhangers during the third season of The Expanse, I do hope I will have the strength to wait until all the episodes have been released to watch at my own pace. I already know that the Wednesday release doesn’t suit my weekly schedule and, at worst, I might save the episodes for the weekends when I can devote my full attention to this amazing TV show, yet I still hope that I have the patience to wait for all the episodes to fully dive into the story and see if I love it as much as I loved the book.
For more on the Expanse check out these articles
Actor Cas Anvar of ‘The Expanse’ accused of sexual misconduct
The Expanse S4: Can the show keep up with Cibola Burn?
Five reasons you should be watching The Expanse
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