‘I’m a season 1 sorta guy’
Matt Birchler in a (paywalled) post on Birchtree:
I’m of course publishing this the day after the Severance season 2 finale, but I’ve had this draft open for a few weeks as the entire second season (and Silo season 2 a few months earlier) has gotten this “I’m a season one guy” idea rolling around in my head. I think it’s cool to see more of the world and have new characters come into the mix, but I also think that Severance season 1 captured lightning in a bottle; it was a perfect, contained concept, masterfully executed.
I loved the Severance S2 finale — it’s an edge-of-the-seat, heart pounding, yell at the TV sort of episode — but felt the same way as Matt throughout the season.
My wife and I actually had this same discussion after the finale, how many Apple TV+ shows are this way. Ted Lasso, Trying, and Mythic Quest all immediately come to mind. Fantastic shows, each one, and I’ve enjoyed all subsequent seasons, but their first seasons all wrapped with satisfying endings despite there being cliffhangers.
Shrinking and For All Mankind buck the trend with returning seasons just as good as the first, and Silo I actually liked season 2 more, but overall I might be a season 1 sorta guy too.