HBO’s The Leftovers returns for its third and final season on April 16th, and, ahead of episodes being sent out for review, co-reator and showrunner Damon Lindelof took the opportunity to share his views on the now commonplace TV viewing practice of bingeing.
According to Deadline, Lindelof was spurred on to pen a letter to critics about bingeing television just as HBO sent out seven of the eight episodes for The Leftovers‘ final season.
In his letter Lindelof largely comes out against bingeing content, writing that “bingeing is bad” and comparing it to eating an entire can of Pringles in one sitting.
“I am old school. And not just because I agree with Joss Whedon about everything. Never before in the history of the English language has ‘binge’ been associated with something healthy or productive. Just because there is an entire can of Pringles in front of you does not mean you should eat them all in one sitting. Every time I have done this, I feel sad and guilty, and then mad at The Pringles Corporation.”
Even though he is against bingeing, Lindelof is also transparent and self-aware of his own hypocrisy, stating that he would never try to tell a critic how to consume a show and that he is uneasy about sending out so many episodes of the series at once.
“The point is, I’ve never sent out this many episodes in advance and I feel scared and I am trying to mitigate that fear by controlling things, but the way I’m controlling them is by trying to convince you that I’m okay with not controlling them. I also ate an entire can of Pringles last night while watching the entire first season of Fleabag until three in the morning, so y’know, hypocrite.”
Lindelof’s letter also cleverly touches on the annoyingly difficult to navigate world of “spoilers”, making sure to poke some fun at Mad Men and showrunner Matt Weiner’s history with spoilers.
“One last thing. Please do not reveal the year this season takes place nor the architectural design of STERLING, COOPER, PRYCE, GARVEY & JAMISON.”