I found out about binge watching somewhere in the middle of my discovering the plethora of made-for-TV movies.  I had only, naive me, known of the word bingeing when it came to food.  Checking the Oxford and Cambridge dictionaries I learned that bingeing is defined as a short period devoted  to indulging in an activity to excess, especially drinking, alcohol or eating.  Cambridge adds spending money to the list.  Nowhere is watching movies made for TV on the list.
I make some objection to the “short period”definition except to conclude it is a short period to be experienced many times.  My 150 hours of falling into the unending episodes of seasons 1, 2 and 3 of HBO, Hulu, Amazon, Netflix and Showtime is no short period of my life.  Six days of 24 hour to date watching, spent in mindless couch potatoism.  So far it has been the Netflix shows “House of Cards,” “Reign,” “Grand Hotel,” “Kurt Seyit and Sura,”T”he Crown,” “Anne with an E,” “Grace and Frankie,” “Ozark;” Hulu’s “The Handmaid’s Tale,” HBO’s “Big Little Lies,” Showtime’s- “Homeland” and Amazon’s “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.”
I still remember a time when watching a movie meant an investment of maybe a little over two hours and you had your need for a story well told, acted, and resolved met.  There was even time for a lovely meal before or after with friends at which you discussed the fine points of the film.
Now I find myself in a war with the series.  I try to hold out for, sometimes, 72 episodes.  I want to conform to the many intricacies in the plot, but sometimes I just can’t take it anymore.  I ask myself do I really care about Sura’s broken heart, or the laundering of money in “Ozark” and who else was murdered in “Grand Hotel.”  In the cases where I give up, I advance to the last episode and find I have no idea what is going on.  Who these new characters are, or what has transpired in the 50 lost hours has changed so much that my strategy often does not work.  For the rest of my life, I will wonder what happened to the family in the Ozarks, if Sura ever found true love, if Kevin Spacey’s character in “House of Cards” got what he deserved. So many unanswered questions.
However, the upside is I can abort. “Big Little Lies” had so much meanness that I watched two episodes and that was it. I was done. “The Handmaid’s Tale” was too haunting, thank you Margaret Atwood (The book was easier to handle). I knew what was going to happen to Mary, Queen of Scots in “Reign,” so that had me watching most of the series.
I am learning to handle the TV series binge watching by narrowing my investment and have found some series to my liking at the same time realizing what I find fits my personal taste. Like so many things that are a Rorschach into who we are. My choice to look forward to episodes of “The Crown,” “Grace and Frankie,” “Anne with an E” and “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” tells me I enjoy historical fiction and more lighthearted fare.
All is not lost in the hours I kick back and allow someone else to tell me a story.  I am grateful for the world of choice that is offered by these competing venues.  So many screen writers have new opportunities away from the draw of Hollywood and that is a good thing.  I only hope that the blockbusters that have driven us to get off the sofa and go to the movie theater remain a part of our shared time. Watching a great flick and going out to dinner after with friends to discuss the intricacies of plot, theme and presentation is so satisfying.

Ellen Blaufarb is a marriage family therapist.

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