Why Are You Watching?

As a House of Cards fan, I started Season 3 with eagerness. That eagerness quickly dissipated. I’m not going to read the reviews until I’m finished with the whole season, but I wanted to share my initial thoughts an episode and a half in.

My impression is that the show lost a compelling narrative, and the drive that most shows on TV employ.

The question you need to think about when crafting entertainment is Why are people watching this? What keeps them engaged?

One of my favorite shows, Person of Interest is admittedly fairly shallow and formulaic – but it’s good TV. Why? Because it’s very clear on keeping engagement front and center.

I watched S03E01 and the question that went through my head the entire time was “Why am I watching this?”

There was no force that compelled me to keep going, and I’m worried now. Worried that the drop off in quality from Seasons 1 & 2 will continue.

Perhaps it’s because the writers got too into the Netflix formula that they assumed a slower burn.