I finished three big projects recently, and my brain is, well, fried. So, since I can't go on a nature vacation just now (and, anyway,  my idea of a nature vacation includes a nice lodge with a spa) I am turning to television to let my brain rest. Sorry, Joseph Pieper. I accepted the gracious invitation--enticement--of NBC to binge watch Aquarius, staring David Duchovny. This may be a modified binge watch--I go through two or three of the thirteen eipsodes a night. But it is strangely enjoyable.

The question is, why?  Is binge watching really like binge eating; is hitting "play" on episode after episode really like putting potato chip after potato chip in your mouth, without being really hungry? Is it gluttony of a sort? Or is it something else? 

I started binge watching (although they didn't call it that) about six years ago when I was still in South Bend. I fell down the stairs, broke my ankle and needed surgery, and lots of rehab. So I spent about four weeks on the couch with my foot above my heart. It's hard to work in that position. It's hard to read too; and the painkillers made it hard for me to focus. So, I turned on the tv--and found a USA marathon of NCIS--and got hooked despite myself.  So hooked that after a couple of weeks I went out and bought all seven seasons on dvd (remember them?) to avoid the pesky commercials. 

I was escaping into a world that wasn't bounded by my couch and my own physical limitations, and the pervasiveness of that world--episode after episode--helped me  forget about what I couldn't do anything about anyway.  Now, watching Aquarius isn't the same thing--my ankle is mended, thank God.  But it is a good way to push the narrow focused attention which is necessary (at least for me) to finish a big reading and writing project out of my brain.  And make room for something new.  

Does anyone else binge watch? What and why?