As a serial binge-watcher, I strongly feel we need a word to describe the euphoric feeling that engulfs you—midway into a new series. For example, the emotion you feel after finishing a good book is called a ‘book hangover’.
There is, however, no word to describe the sadness, the loss, or the down-in-the-doldrums ache you feel when a series ends. The pain as the end credits of the season finale roll is all too real. Then begins the torturous wait for months and sometimes years for the next season to land.
I first faced this struggle when Game of Thrones had three seasons out, and somehow, I hadn’t seen a single second of the show, despite all the noise and hype around it. It was on my list of things to do, but it wasn’t till I was on a health retreat in a deserted winter town in Austria for a detox (with all the time in the world and nothing to do) that I began watching the series. In the one week I was there, I binge-watched all the seasons. And then, like everyone else, I waited for a new season.
What is the word for the euphoric feeling that engulfs you midway into a new series? The thrill of knowing you have hours of content ahead of you, the excitement of plot twists yet to unfold, and the immersion in a new world. Perhaps it’s time we coined a term for this unique high.
Similarly, the post-show blues deserve a name of their own. The emptiness that follows the finale, the longing for more, and the emotional void that only another series can fill. It’s a universal experience for binge-watchers, yet it remains nameless.
Until we have words to describe these feelings, we’ll continue to experience the highs and lows of binge-watching in our own, wordless ways.
