Why we get hooked up on TV series

There are two kinds of people in this world, and I’m not talking about typical divisions such as women vs. men or Manchester United vs. Liverpool. I’m talking about TV series vs. movies/films. I must say I am a bit of both; I enjoy them everywhere, on TV, on my computer, at the cinema… I guess I’m a sucker for some fictitious life of any kind. However, I must admit that I’d probably choose to get hooked up on a series and waste hours and hours of my life on it rather than sit still and watch a film for 2 or 3 hours. Now, I know that may not make sense for some of you, so that’s why I’ll try to explain the reasons why people like me exist and make that choice.

Firstly, movies end TOO fast. Whether it’s an action film or a rom-com, WE WANT MORE. We want to see if the happy couple did have children after their fairytale wedding. We want proof that the bad guy is actually dead (or in prison for life) or if it’s just a trick to come back with a sequel a few years later (let’s be honest, that’s bound to happen most of the times).

Now, some series may be lasting more than enough, I’ll agree with you on that (Shonda, you’re killing way too many characters), but it’s okay. In my year abroad I’ve watched at least 3 complete series, plus the ones I was following on a weekly basis (a list that includes at least one per day), and I don’t seem to ever get enough.

Secondly, most of the time I get more emotionally attached to the characters on the series than to real people. I wanted more from Dr Hart and Wade Kinsella (at least the name of their baby, guys!); I cried on the last episode of One Tree Hill (even though I have to be honest here and say I expected something else, and well, something more); I stopped watching Grey’s Anatomy the minute Dr Sloan and Lexie’s break up was definitive; I had to replay the Red Wedding at least three times in a row because I just couldn’t (didn’t want to) believe what was happening; and I certainly didn’t understand how no one was mad at Dan Humphrey on Gossip Girl (hello??).

Let’s face it, nothing will compare to Brooke’s wedding day.

Don’t get me wrong, I do have a life away from my computer screen and my lists of series (‘on-going’, ‘finished’, ‘to watch’,…). I do have a family I spend time with, friends I like to hang out with, places I travel to, things and work to do… but TV series are a great getaway.

We get hooked up on them because having a parallel reality is great to escape from our own from time to time. And they can also show you your own reality. The same way a song can make you cry or make you remember a moment that’s long gone, TV series, as well as movies, have this power too. The difference between them too is that movies, and we go back to my first argument, end very soon. They always (let’s face, almost everytime) have a happy ending. No one wants to spend their money going to the cinema to watch the hero die in 10 minutes or the girl end up with the bad guy who’s been lying to her for the last two hours. No one. Meanwhile, the girl in the TV series may also have her happy ending on the final season, but God knows when that will be (looking at you again, Shonda).

Series, as real life, are full of drama and complicated stories. Now I’m not saying you should get all Olivia Pope and try to find every dirty little secret of the guy who broke your best friend’s heart and let them all out for the world to know. I’m not telling you to become some sort of Arya Stark and change your name and the way you dress because some weird shoulder-lenght-haired guy says so. I’m telling you to enjoy that drama. Enjoy their drama, because you won’t be enjoying yours as much. You may even find some answers, or look at things from a different perspective.

I guess that’s why we like series. We just want to live a non-existent reality with the intensity we (should) live ours. We get hooked up because most of the problems in it aren’t solved in 2 hours 47 minutes. And that’s okay, because in real life, some of them won’t even get solved.

I gotta go now, I’m about to start season 4 of Scandal.