I recently decided in a decision half made by peer pressure and half made by excessive funny gifsets on Tumblr, to binge-watch all four and a half seasons of Brooklyn Nine-Nine. In the week and a half it took me to get up to date on the current episode, I experienced a wide variety of thoughts and feelings.
There is something distinctly unique to binge viewing over watching it as it comes out: no stopping point. If you watch on a week by week basis, you grow accustomed to getting just one episode to satiate your craving for that show. But with binge-watching, self-control tends to go out the window.
I'm not new to the binge experience, I have watched full seasons of shows in one weekend (thanks, Netflix!).
But this is the first show I have watched in entirety within two weeks. It took me a year to watch all of Grey's Anatomy, granted it has a significant amount of seasons! Brooklyn Nine-Nine is the only cop show I'll ever watch. Because of this unique factor, I started to experience some unique feelings and did some pretty weird things while and after I binged it.
1. Looked Up From My Laptop to See it's 2 AM
Now, I believe this has happened to everyone at least once. They get so engrossed in their show that their "one episode limit" because ten episodes. I'm not sure what's worse, feeling terrible the next day because of the lack of sleep or not really caring and doing it again that night.
2. Started to Compare Myself to Characters on the Show
When I was watching half a season a day, I started comparing all of my actions to each of the characters on the show. I would match my confidence to Rosa, my nerdiness to Amy, my ability to deadpan a joke to Captian Holt, or my brashness to Gina. I started aspiring to get to their levels of ridiculousness.
3. Started to Compare My Friends and Family to Characters on the Show
Oh, the comparisons didn't stop there. I noticed I would match my friends and families behaviors to characters on the show. I would call my roommate an Amy for leaving super early to get to class early or my friend a Jake for making ridiculous jokes.
4. Got Super Upset I Ended the Binge Right Before a Hiatus
I picked the worst time in the world to binge watch because the last episode ended on a two week hiatus. The only thing worse than getting caught up to live tv level is having to wait even longer to get your next episode.
5. Freaked Out When I Heard Someone Use a Reference From the Show
I was driving to the store with my friend Em and along the way, she made a joke and we started cheering. Under her breath, she said "NINE NINE!" (a common exclamation on the show when the team is happy). I turned to her and screamed "NINE NINE!" back to her. It was like seeing a unicorn in the wild. Even though the show is super popular, I still marvel at the fact other people watch it.
6. Found Myself Wanting A Relationship Like Jake & Amy's
Even though the two fight like brother and sister, I secretly started wanted a relationship just like Jake and Amy. The two are both incredibly different when it comes to their personalities yet they both mesh so well because of their common goals.
7. Found Myself Wanting to Be as Enthusiastic at Anything like Charles
I'm a Yelper. Not just any old Yelper, but a Yelp Elite. I am a foodie at my core but seeing Charles's obsession put me to shame. He inspires me to become more creative in my food adventures, but I probably won't partake in his severely gross food habits. Whether it's food, Haloween, love, or being a good friend, Charles is the epitome of going all in.
8. Made an Excessive Amount of "That's What She Said" and "The Name of Your Sex Tape" Jokes
Look, this actually became a problem. I felt like I was back in 9th grade again with the amount of cheesy and immature jokes I was making. I couldn't stop myself, I was becoming addicted to making Jake jokes. Luckily, on hiatus, my streak wore down.
9. Started Telling People to Watch the Show
Pretty much for the week and a half, I actively binge-watched the show, I was a walking advertisement for Brooklyn Nine-Nine. I would mention it constantly to my friends, family members, classmates, and professors. If I got to enjoy this gift to mankind, so should you!
10. Researched the Actors on the Show and Watched their Other Work
When I become obsessed, I become obsessed. I scrolled through all of the main character's IMDB pages to find their earlier work and to research their upcoming projects. I watched Chelsea Peretti's stand up specials and Andy Samberg's years on SNL, all of his Lonely Island music videos, his other movies (including the bad ones like That's My Boy), and even watched the Emmy's the year he hosted.
11. Felt Sad I Couldn't Watch Six Episodes in a Row When I Got Up to Date
Because I ended my binge on hiatus, I got really sad I couldn't just watch show after show after show anymore. It wasn't fair I had to wait like everyone else again! I only fed my pain by scrolling the Brooklyn Nine-Nine tags on Tumblr and watched compilation videos on Youtube to pass the time.
12. Started Practicing my Accent Skills to Make Up Personas like Jake
I'm in Improv, so this definitely wasn't a bad thing. Jake's ability to make up a character with a backstory, character traits, and even an accent on the spot is an actual talent. I would walk to class thinking of all the personas I could take on. I might even use a few of them one day.
13. Wondered If This is What Real Cops are Like
My grandfather was a Capitol Hill police officer. I know for a fact that cop life isn't amazing. Even though I already knew this, it got me thinking about what if the day to day life of a cop was actually fun. Do they secretly get into hijinks at the station? Judging that the show is a comedy, I am about 99% sure they do not. It's still fun to daydream though!
I don't recommend staying up till 2 am binge watching anything, but if you have to, I recommend Brooklyn Nine-Nine! You will truly not regret it!
