We all know that feeling, that feeling we get after we finish a show we were absolutely obsessed with. It’s like suffering through a breakup you saw coming but never really acknowledged. There is a grieving period where you can’t even imagine starting a new show. Soon enough, though, you find yourself back on Netflix, scrolling through and looking for new potential matches.

Eventually, you find one that is appealing, and you decide to give it a try. Even when you start to like this show, you still can’t be sure. It takes time to fill the void that has been left by the show you left behind. When starting this new show, it is easy to become skeptical. It is difficult to trust the new characters to make you feel the same way that the characters in your old show made you feel.

As time goes on, we start to see the show for what it is, and we are finally able to make a decision about whether the show is a bad rebound or one that could make us happy again.

We suffer through the beginnings of some bad shows, but then finally we find that one that we can’t seem to stop watching. Once again we become obsessed and our life begins to be put on hold so that we can live vicariously through the lives of the characters on the new show.

This is a vicious cycle, but it is one that keeps us going. As unhealthy as it is to get wrapped up in something that will inevitably end, our relationship with our current television show gives us an escape from the stressful lives that we live. College students like myself know exactly how necessary that sort of escape is.

When I finally make it through my stack of homework for the night, I turn to my shows to give me peace of mind. When one show ends, my peace of mind is temporarily disrupted. What I have found is that no matter how difficult it can be to lose the show that you have relied on so deeply, there will always be another one out there that you will find. Don’t let the severing of your relationship with your favorite show get to you; there is always something else out there, you just have to find it.