I hate giving up on most things, including books, movies, TV series, and pints of ice cream. Leaving one unfinished feels a little like you accidentally left the front door open — forever. For much of my life, I’ve tried to see stories through, to satisfy the completist within, an exacting fellow who demands that I close the door with a click so I can move on to the next room.
I’ve encountered many others through the years who’ve also found it hard to let go of a story — usually a TV story — once they’ve invested time and emotional energy in it. Watching a show rot in a DVR queue, it feels like failure to them. If they’re no longer in love with a series, if great has given way to grate, still they feel they must plow ahead, as if there’s a gold star and a yo-yo for waiting for them at the finish line. If they’re going to have a legitimate opinion, they think, it has to be based on the entirety.
People, it’s time to stop the madness.
I have found my way out, and I encourage you to find your way out as well. Join me, won’t you, in this movement to save time and add enjoyment to your life? This isn’t about loyalty or commitment or endurance; it’s about time on Earth. If you have started a series, and liked it, and stayed with it for years, still you must learn how to turn away from it when it no longer appeals. There are too few hours in our days to waste them on dreck, even if said dreck stars beloveds like Bryan Cranston (“Your Honor”) or Steve Carell (“Space Force”). Impatience is a virtue.
If you want to stay up to date with your once-favorite characters, but you aren’t relishing the show, fair enough. Then the internet is your friend. Find recaps on TV sites or on Wikipedia, and read them as if they were Christmas letters from afar delivering all the highlights. I’ve done this with the “Sex and the City” sequel “And Just Like That,” which I was refusing to give up simply because I wanted to follow the characters’ long-term arcs. I was cringing at the show, but, after decades with Carrie & Co., I still wished to know their overall movements. At the end of season 2, I read up on them and it was sufficient, almost like checking an old friend’s social media simply to stay up to date on births, deaths, job changes, and the like.
Likewise, I used recaps to finish up “Killing Eve,” which went over the deep end, and “Glee,” which became smarmy. I stuck with “True Blood,” “Orange Is the New Black,” and “Dexter” because I felt obligated to for my job — but otherwise, I’d definitely have exploited the other folks who get paid to watch. No one who isn’t being paid to watch should stick with any scripted series out of obligation. That voice urging me not to quit? I stuffed plot blurbs in its big fat mouth and didn’t look back. Once I even upped the playback speed just to get a show’s final two episodes — which, by the way, I was not reviewing — out of my way. Sure, I’ve had prestige guilt before, when you know everyone loves a “quality” show like “Killing Eve” but you’ve begun to hate it; but I’ve shaken it off.
If you’ve just started a show, the rules are different in my book. How long should you stick with a new series? It varies, depending on a few factors. If it comes highly recommended, for example, if it’s a drama, and if it’s got a serialized plot, you might want to give it more than one episode. It’s not uncommon for a series to take some time to get going, to put the premise in place and position the characters. I’ll never forget how much I initially wanted to abandon “Six Feet Under”; four episodes later, though, I was fully on board, and it now has a place in my personal-favorites hall of fame.
Comedy, for me, is a different story. I think you tend to know faster whether a certain style of filming (single camera, multi-camera with audience, animated) or a certain style of comedy (broad, ironic, character-driven, densely packed) is for you or not. Certainly some comedies can take a while to gel; the cast needs to develop their rapport, the writers need to start writing for the cast, the comic rhythms need to be refined. They can improve enormously — “Seinfeld” and “The Good Place” being prime examples, and “Schitt’s Creek” being another. So if you like the tone, or the concept, or the actors, give it a fair chance — perhaps, if it’s a half-hour comedy, four episodes. But once it feels like drudgery, click elsewhere and be at peace.
There are so many good shows to choose from these days, you don’t need to waste time on shows that don’t capture you, or shows that have completely lost their minds. When it comes to protecting your time, you may need to be all those bad things: ruthless, brusque, and willing to walk away in the middle of everything.
Matthew Gilbert can be reached at matthew.gilbert@globe.com. Follow him @MatthewGilbert.