What Did I Binge Watch?
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by Cecily Alexandria
Y’all know the pandemic hit us hard for no reason except you know, many reasons. The first week of lock down because I knew I was a talented trained television binge watcher; I decided I should start a series I had never seen. It was a fun time because I live posted about it as if it were happening much like most of my friends had been doing years prior when the show actually aired.
So mid-March 2020 I for the first-time binge watched Scandal. You know Shonda mf-ing Rhimes the genius’ Scandal of the previous ABC Thursday night drama empire. Yeah, that Scandal. Never saw it, refused to watch because it was such a hit and when something is a hit, I am a hater until people stop talking about it. As soon as people stop talking about it, I’m in love with the whole thing. It’s a personality strength I have.
I spent a couple of weeks, hours upon watching until my eyes were just on the verge of bleeding from the strain of watching. The obsession, coupled with the story line and character development just kept me there. Possibly the start of my resurgence of back pain from sitting and lounging for so long. I honestly didn’t want lock down to end until I finished the show. Sometimes you get more than you wished for. They just never tell you it’s usually more of the bad stuff you didn’t account for in your wish.
It was a fun experience because I would take my friends on a wild ride with me. Posting about it on my personal Facebook page. People were hooked on watching me watching Scandal. By people and friends, I mean a whole ten dedicated followers but in my world that’s like all the people that matter and all the people in the world collectively.
The first three or four seasons of Scandal I wanted to be Olivia Pope, sometimes Mellie. I wanted to find my Huck. You know the guy who is loyal to you, strictly platonic, and never tells you too much so as not to put you in that awkward spot. Awkward spot being summons to court to testify that you knew all the incriminating inner workings and would be his final nail in the coffin. Yeah, I need that guy I can call and say handle this and I never see the bill or the evidence, but somehow I ate a Filet o’ Fish with a Sprite and small fry. No, I never saw the receipt or even who brought it to me. I’m not even sure I ate it because there is no evidence of such things.
By the middle of the series I had cried, fallen in and out of love, solved and created murders and cover ups, and certainly upped my hair and wig budget significantly. All of this in my mind, because in all reality I had learned how to cut my own hair because my hair and wig budget decreased significantly with time off from an hourly paying job. Also, I didn’t do any crimes unless not wearing real pants is crime.
The fantasy was quite nice and I enjoyed the ride. Then midway through ish got weird and I became uninterested but I’m truly loyal. Loyal to those around me, anything I do, and myself (wink, wink). I stayed the course, I kept going. I bought wine. It had to be shipped because the local state stores were closed. I grew to hate every single character in the show including Olivia, Fitz, and Mellie.
Then the end started to approach. I was seeing a bent, twisted, light at the perceived end of the tunnel. Would Rowan finally die with Cyrus somehow dying next to him? Would Olivia disappear into the night and never be heard from again? No, no we would not get all the things I wanted. Honestly by the end I just wanted them all to for some reason end up in OPA one last time for some reason any reason at all. As Marcus Walker was headed to the building not yet in the door, the building blows up and everyone but Marcus survives and some how raises Quinn’s baby and he ends working on Stacey Abram’s campaign.
That’s truly how much I wanted that freakin story to end. Just blow it up so by the time my niece and nephews watch it and think it would be a great reboot they’ll realize they really can’t bring the show back. For the love of me, please don’t bring the show back.
Anyway, it was a long fun challenge I didn’t know I wanted to complete until I did. What I also didn’t know is Scandal would be the beginning of me becoming an unpaid professional binge television watcher. I’d do it for a year. I’ll do it for years to come I am almost sure.
I’d like to tell you about some probably not all of my binge-watching journeys. Stay tuned next time for HBO’s the Wire. Did you know Michael B Jordan was in that show? People still call him Wallace.
All in all, the pandemic was trash and from it you get me reminiscing about shows you probably didn’t know anyone would be watching for the first time. As the one-year anniversary is upon us at least we had television to take us away…into more anger and despair but whatever. See you soon. Stay safe and “it’s handled”.
