We’ve all done it, we have all started a new show on Netflix and promised ourselves that we were not going to let it consume our lives…and then it does. Once the show pulls you in, there is no going back! It doesn’t matter if it's Grey's Anatomy, Dexter, Army Wives, or Orange is the New Black, but something happens and suddenly this show is consuming your life.
1.The dramatic events in the show suddenly become dramatic events in your real life!
After you get the initial hook into the show, and you’re about five episodes in and something dramatic happens, your favorite character gets a divorce, there is a shooting, or someone leaves (already)! You feel this drama in real life, sometimes it puts you in a bad mood and sometimes it’s all you can think about… sorry school, just one more episode I promise. But it’s okay because that’s how you know you found a really good show, the dramatic moments feel real.
2.You start talking about the characters on the show like they are your friends, to your real friends and they start to think that you are crazy…
You start a lot of your conversations with “and last night Meredith and I were up all night drinking tequila and having a dance party because Derek left us… again” At first your friends will question who this new Meredith girl is and then when they realize you don’t have a friend named Meredith, you were simply just binge watching Greys Anatomy by yourself, they might start to think you’re losing it.
3.Throughout your day-to-day life, you are thinking about how your characters are doing or what is going to happen next.
Whether you’re sitting in class, at work or even having dinner with your boyfriend, all you can think about is your show. You just can’t wait to get home and see if Bones will solve the next murder or if that patient on Greys Anatomy will live to see the next episode. This is the point where you truly realize that this latest Netflix binge is consuming your entire life.
4.When one of your favorite characters dies or leaves, you feel that loss on a deep and personal level.
You call up one of your best friends, sobbing because your favorite character has died or has left the show unexpectedly. Their initial reaction might be to hang up on you, or to get you help…because let’s face it, at this point you might need it. But it’s okay you can cry into a tub of ice cream and grieve though the next episode where you have to pick a new favorite character, and just hope that they don’t kill that one off.
5.You decide which character you want to be in real life and start to take on small characteristics.
6.You keep telling yourself that you are going to go to bed…
However, those 20 seconds go by too quickly and again you wrapped up in their virtual world…and unfortunately when you do go to sleep you dream about the show and can’t wait for the next night so that you can be a sleep deprived mess all over again.
7.You get caught talking about the show a little too often- you may even start to annoy your real friends but who cares…because you have your fictional ones to rely on.
The show becomes all you can talk about, you just want to talk to your friends about it all the time. They were fine with it at first and now they are so sick of it, they just avoid the topic altogether, so it becomes your mission to convince your friends they need the show in their lives.
8.You convince your best friend to watch the show and to become a believer, you get to relive through the highs and lows with them when they inevitably become hooked.
This becomes one of your proudest moments because now you can re-share all of your favorite moments from the show with your best friend, and they will be the ones going through the stages of binge watching… and you love it.
9.You have successfully binge watched every single episode and you no longer know what to do with your life…
You feel lost without your favorite characters, you don’t remember what it’s like to have a goodnight's sleep, and honestly you are just wandering around aimlessly questioning your life’s meaning.
