Why Can't I Skip to the End?

I love stories, any kind of stories. They can be in books, movies, or on television. I love short, sappy stories portrayed in Hallmark commercials. I love to read or watch them again and again and again. I examine them. I scrutinize word choice, characterization, setting, costume, and, when possible (in the case of movies or television), direction, soundtrack, lighting, and more.

Something I love to do when reading is to skip to the end. Just as I get emotionally involved with a book, I flip to the end. I check on characters. I want to know that the characters I love make it through. I want to know the characters I think are good, really are good. I get so emotionally invested that i just can't wait. I don't read it all. I skim, checking to be sure. And then, I go back to where I was, relieved or disappointed, to discover how it all happened.

But you can't do that with a movie or a television show. I have to wait, sometimes for months, to make sure my people will continue to be my people. Writers love people like me. Every episode is a cliff hanger. Every story makes we ache for the next one.

It's the end of the fall season. My shows are ending until spring. I'm frustrated and lost, pining for the characters and the stories. In some shows I have a few more episodes, but in the end it's always the same? What will happen to Monroe and Rosalie? What about Emma? When will she discover Rumplestilskin took Hook's heart? Will Barry find the right girl for him? What will happen with Oliver and Felicity? How will Sherlock deal with life when Kitty moves on? What will happen not that Moloch seems defeated? And so much more.

For now I'll have to wait. I'll have to accept that television doesn't satisfy. I'll have to settle with my books. I've recently reread the Harry Potter series. Yes Sean; I know "Voldemort buys it in the end." I don't care. I'm reading The Maze Runner now. I'm on page 204/374. I had to jump to the end. I had to know if Thomas is bad. But I don't. Unless I read in detail, I cannot figure it out. But it doesn't matter. The book is a cliff hanger. I believe I'll have to read the next one to really know, and I am not happy. I want to know NOW!

There are others like me. There must be, for God has given us Netflix. On Netflix I can watch a whole season. Even better, I can watch season after season after season. I can watch it all, and I can skip to the end, not just the end of a book or an episode, but the end of the series.

While I wait for the spring season to start, Netflix will have to suffice- movies and television where I can watch the end. It's like eating dessert first.

And, of course, I always have my books.