Season Fluidity: Difference between revisions

Most stories have a beginning, middle, and end. Even a [[Seinfeld|show about nothing]] has something zany and inane happen to our characters every episode, while getting some amount of resolution by the end. However, the same isn't necessarily true for a series as a whole. Some series are so [[Status Quo Is God|homogeneous]] in plot you could air a season 1 and 5 episode side by side without telling the difference. Others have such [[Myth Arc|intricate plots]], you can tell which quarter of which season you're watching just by looking at the subtle nuances of the [[Will They or Won't They?|main couple's relationship]].

 

 

Put another way, you can watch any episode of ''[[Gilligan's Island]]'' and be equally entertained, without worrying that you've missed important plot points (it's not like they'll [[Failure Is the Only Option|ever get off the island]] or [[Just Eat Gilligan|something]]). While that's also mostly true with ''[[Stargate SG-1]]'', seeing more episodes in order lets you see character development over time and several subplots rise and get resolved, letting you get more enjoyment over time. A slightly-less fluid series, like ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' or ''[[Mad Men]]'', needs to be seen with all the seasons in order if one wants to fully "get" it. Further toward the abrupt end, you can start with the beginning of any particular season of ''[[Sailor Moon]]'', but you will be left scratching your head if you start in the middle of a season.

| ||Series-long [[Myth Arc]] || ''[[Babylon 5]]'', most anime and [[Noughties Drama Series]]

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| ||Highly-distinct seasons with [[Arc Welding]] || ''[[Sailor Moon]]'', ''[[Pokémon (anime)|Pokémon]]'', ''[[Power Rangers]]'', ''[[Digimon]]'' (first two seasons)