That time a coworker told me to skip the first 3 episodes of a show and it changed everything

I was struggling to get into The Americans and kept dropping it after episode 2. My coworker Jen said "just start at episode 4, the pilot is slow and episode 3 is filler." I was skeptical but tried it and suddenly I was hooked immediately. Now I always check episode guides before starting a new series. Has anyone else jumped ahead in a show based on advice like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

bettywood13d ago

Oh man, I skip the first three episodes of everything these days. Guess I missed out on my own backstory.

avery_lopez13d ago

I remember when The Office first aired and everyone said to skip the first season entirely, so I get where you're coming from, @bettywood. But there's something to be said for the rough early episodes that set the stage for everything that follows. Sometimes those clunky beginnings are part of the charm, even if they feel like watching someone else's home movies.

evan_burns9513d ago

Oh man, the Americans is the perfect example of this, my friend told me to skip the first 2 episodes and start at the pilot's actual hook which is like 20 minutes in. I always check Reddit threads for show recaps now, it's saved me from dropping so many good series. Just google "when does [show] get good" and you'll find a thread with a timestamp or episode number.