According to my Dad, that's how serial pictures kept you coming back. He'd explain on rainy Saturday afternoons, when we were stuck indoors and watching old movies together on TV. (He loved Tarzan -- especially the stampeding elephants.) His favorite line to deliver, at the suspenseful climax of any movie or TV show, was something like, "He's in for it now. I guess this will be the last show."
Of course, it wasn't. And our hero lived to face another day of treachery and mayhem.
I imagine serials have been around as long as storytelling has existed. Even ancient peoples were curious about what would happen next.
Today, we have binge watching. Where you don't have to wait until next week to see what happens. You can stay glued to your device for hour upon pointless hour.
On some level, I understand this guilty pleasure. On the other hand, there is something delicious about having to wait to find out.
I know some people are like this with books, too. They turn to the end to read the final chapter. Admittedly, I've been guilty of this on occasion, but only with books I was having a difficult time slogging through. So if it had a bad ending, I would just bail. I know this is cheating, but, well, it's my book and I'll peek if I want to.
Today, the sun shines, the snow melts and I'm not going to be watching television this afternoon. In spite of the cold, I hope to persuade Mr. Ginley to take a walk with me.
But maybe later, I'll dip into the archives and partake of a bit of noir...even if it's something I've seen before.
Half the time, I can't remember the plot, anyhow.
Oh well. Enjoy your day. I'll be back next week with another exciting installment!
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