Stuck between hating the 20-minute cold opens on Netflix shows and thinking they're actually genius for building tension, which side are you on?

I overheard two buddies arguing at a bar last night about how one of them skipped the first 15 minutes of 'Mindhunter' and still followed the plot fine while the other said if you skip the slow build you miss the whole point of the character development, so what do you think, are these long drawn-out openings killing the binge vibe or are they what makes a show stick with you?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_dylan25d ago

I'm on team slow build all the way. Ripping open a show the way you'd tear into a bag of chips just ruins the whole thing for me. Those cold opens are there for a reason, they're soaking you in the mood and the atmosphere before anything big even happens. Skip the first 15 minutes of Mindhunter and you miss all those quiet little looks between Holden and Tench that tell you who they really are. It's like people forgot how to just sit with a story and let it breathe. You want instant gratification, go watch TikTok, leave the good stuff for the rest of us.

alicew6824d ago

Does it bother anyone else when you finally get into a slow burn show and then your streaming app does that thing where it auto-plays the next episode before you've even processed what just happened? The other night I was watching something, I think it was The Americans, and I literally had to pause it mid-cold open just to go make tea because my brain needed a minute. But honestly, the slow build works best when you're not fighting the urge to scroll your phone, which is why I always watch with my hands full of snacks. Anyway, your Mindhunter point is solid, those sideways glances are basically the whole show.