The Game of Thrones Binge Effect

As I mentioned to some of you on Facebook, I bought the first season of Game of Thrones for Arizona as a Christmas present. And while he was initially dubious (his only exposure to it having been the holiday episodes of South Park), he quickly got on board and we watched the first season back-to-back-to-back in, oh, eleven hours or so on New Year’s Day. Whereupon I hit Ye Olde Amazon Account and ordered up season two.

The day it arrived, I was scheduled to have dinner with a few writing friends. Rather than risk hurt feelings (mine), and having promised Arizona early in our relationship that I would do my best not to expect him to be a mind-reader, I said, “Please don’t watch season two while I’m gone. I want us to watch it together.” He didn’t just look surprised, he said, “Really?” with evident disappointment, and asked when I'd be home.

To remove temptation, I hid the disks in the bathroom, behind the tampons. 

Over the next couple of days, we watched season two back-to-back-to ... well, you get the picture. And when the final credits rolled, he looked around for season three, assuming I had ordered it at the same time as season two. The problem? Season three won’t be available until mid-Feb. It’s ordered. It’s on the way … and he’s asked me on at least three different occasions when it’s coming.

Now, this is all very cool as far as I’m concerned. I’m loving the series. More, I adore watching TV series with the hubby (Battlestar Galactica! Firefly! Doctor Who and Downton Abbey are next up!), bouncing ideas back and forth about where the story is going and where it’s been. He picks up on stuff that I miss, and vice versa, and we sometimes come at things from very different directions.

Case in point, the binge versus drag out thing. For example, I asked if he wanted me to get HBO for a few months so we could watch season four in real time, but he was all, “Nah. I’d rather wait and see it all at once.” I ran into the same thought process with readers of the Nightkeepers, some of whom would buy the books as they came out, but waited to read the series until they had Rabbit’s story in-hand. 

Me? If I can have a little bit of the story (an episode, a book), then I’ll take what I can get and then look forward to the next dribble. Then, when the series is complete, I’ll read/watch it all over from the beginning again. Arizona, on the other hand, would rather wait until it's all done, then read/watch it all together. (We watched Lord of the Rings in a weekend, then the first Hobbit. When he found out the other two (at the time) weren't out yet, he gave me a look of, So why bother watching the first one? Sheesh.)

So how about you? Binge? Drag it out? Something in-between?

And don't forget, Nick and Jenny's book, WINTER AT MUSTANG RIDGE will be hitting your Kindles and the shelf near you next TUESDAY!!! (Streamers! Confetti!) Please pre-order, mark your calendars, rev your engines, and most of all, post it to social media and tell a few friends to check it out! (With my huge thanks.)

--Doc Jess