thelesterlee
Your favorite TV series has reached its finale. The last scene plays out. And then the end credits roll.
A mix of emotions rushes over you (possibly contentment if it was a satisfying ending, but possibly some anger if it was a disappointing ending). Then it hits you. No more episodes. The story is over. What now?
Suddenly your life feels empty. This is because you’ve just spent 50 episodes (or possibly more) investing yourself into the world of the TV series. You’ve got to know the characters intimately. Possibly more intimately than many of your friends. And now they’re all gone.
This feeling of loss is what some people have termed ‘post-series depression’ or ‘POS’. It’s similar to the feeling you might get after a breakup or after losing a loved one. Granted, it’s usually not as severe as these genuine feelings of loss (to compare it to actual depression would be an insult), however you may still feel down for the next few days after.
Some people experience the same feeling after watching a great movie, reaching the end of a novel or even completing a video game. You could even compare it to the feeling you get after coming home from a vacation or completing a goal you’ve been working towards for so long. It should feel like a happy moment, but because the journey is over, you end up feeling slightly hollow instead.
The more series you watch, the more frequently you’re likely to experience this feeling. You may even start to dread series finales knowing that the end is coming, instead of being excited by them. So what is the cure for PSD? Well, there are a few different ways in which you may possibly be able to make the end of a series less sad. Below are just a few possible recovery strategies to try.
Queue up more series to watch in advance
Don’t wait until the end of a series to search for your next TV show to binge. Make it a habit of finding series you want to watch in advance and adding them to a queue. This might help you to get excited about the next series on your list rather than feeling that you’ve got nothing left to watch.
The likes of Netflix allow you to add series to a list, however you can’t decide which order to watch them. As a result, you may prefer to simply keep a list on your phone in your notes. This could include series from all different platforms.
Not sure what to watch next? You can find a list of series to suit every interest here. Try to make each new series different to the last rather than trying to look for a similar series to the one you’re already watching (if a series is too similar, it may just end up paling in comparison).
Laughter – the best medicine?
When you’re feeling sad, a good laugh may be what is needed to make you feel better. When that series ends, consider putting on a comedy to lighten the mood and to remind you that entertainment is just entertainment. This could be a movie with a fun, optimistic character like Judy Hopps in it, or a few episodes of a non-sequential comedy series. All in all, nothing too heavy.
A comedy could be particularly effective if the series you just watched ended on a downer or was very serious in general.
Watch the finale with someone
Know someone else who has also been watching the series and is up to speed? You could plan to watch the finale together. You’ll have both shared the journey to its completion, giving you someone to share the pain with when it ends. In fact, the sense of emptiness may not feel so great afterwards because you can immediately start talking about what you’ve just watched.
If the series had an ambiguous ending or seemingly had a few loose ends, you may be able to attempt to answer some of the questions left unanswered together. This could help you to develop a greater sense of resolution. If you’ve got a few friends who are fellow nerds of the show, you could even plan a post-series party (this is something that many people did with shows like Breaking Bad and Game of Thrones).
Join the conversation online
Not got any friends or family members to discuss the series with? You may be able to overcome your PSD by joining the conversation online. Some people find that the best way to fill the emptiness is to immerse themselves into the fandom. You could check out some of the wild fan theories and memes on Reddit, read reactions and debates surrounding the series on Twitter, look at professional reviews by publications and check YouTube for some of your favorite clips from the series to see what people have commented. You can then add your own insights if you have any.
This could be a strange but effective way of keeping the series alive after it is over. After a few hours (or a few days) of dissecting the movie, you may eventually get bored of it. At the same time, you may feel a lot more content that you’ve got everything you can out of that series.
Go behind the scenes
You may have watched all the episodes, but there may still be extra content left to consume. Many popular series come with ‘behind the scenes’ episodes which delve into the film-making as well as discussions with actors. Deconstructing the fantasy world of the series could actually help you to escape it. By realising that everything you just watched is props and actors, you may be able to return more easily to reality.
Even if you can’t find behind the scenes video clips, you may be able to find written content online delving into how the show was made. Even dissecting the series’ Wikipedia page and looking into the actors on IMDB could help you to move on.
If you can help it, don’t watch the finale at the beginning of a working week
If it’s a series that you’ve been avidly watching for months or years, consider watching the series finale at the end of the working week. For instance, if you work Monday to Friday, plan to watch it on Friday evening – not on Monday evening. This could allow you to plan some fun activities for the weekend so that you have something more to look forward to after.
By doing this, returning to reality after the series has ended might not feel so bad. What you don’t want to do is exit the fantastical world of your favorite series only to settle back into the depressing routine of everyday life. Some people use the same strategy when planning a vacation – they may plan to have a day off after they get back so that they’re not immediately hurling themselves back into the daily grind. Give yourself time to mourn the series while easing yourself back to reality so that it’s not such a sharp contrast.
If everyday life feels empty and TV series are the only thing that brighten it up, then there’s probably something more serious than post-series depression going on. This is just a silly list of ways to stop yourself feeling slightly sad after a series ends. If you feel genuinely depressed, make sure to get help (binging another series is not the solution).
