The time has finally come. After dedicating hours, days, weeks of your life to the television show you had been dying to watch, you’ve finally finished all of the episodes. The end credits of the finale have finished rolling, and now what? What are you supposed to do with yourself now that such a big part of your life is over?
Even though this may sound dramatic, you can’t deny that you’ve been there before. You’ve become so attached to the characters that it feels like losing friends, and you’re dying to know — what are they up to right now? The Post-Show Woes are a real thing. Valley is here with some tips to help you through these undeniably tough times.
Find Someone to Vent With
One of the best ways to get over the Post-Show Woes is to let out all of the feels. But this won’t work if the person you’re letting out all of the feels to doesn’t understand where you’re coming from. Find someone who has been there. Someone who has watched all of the episodes you have, has met all of the characters you have and has suffered through the pain of the show ending just like you. And tell this person everything you are feeling and everything you are wondering. Chances are, this person had many of the same thoughts and questions. You don’t have to go through this alone!
Make YouTube Your Best Friend
If you think you’re done with the show because you’ve seen all of the episodes, chances are you’re wrong. YouTube is chock full of bonus videos for pretty much any TV show out there. Find bloopers that will have you laughing until you cry (The Office bloopers, anyone?). Look for deleted scenes that will reunite you with your beloved characters and seek out behind-the-scenes clips and interviews that will give you insight to the cast and remind you that even though the show might have felt so real to you, the characters are just actors who will go on to do more shows and movies that you can obsess over.
Begin Another Series
Sometimes the best way to get your mind off of one thing is to distract yourself with another! Rebound TV shows often turn out to be as good as or better than the series you watched previously, and you will find yourself immersed in yet another world with different characters and plotlines. Do some research about what series are popular, or which ones have gotten the best reviews. Have people compared the series you just finished to any other ones that might be similar? Or maybe you want to expand your horizons and try an entirely new genre? If there’s one thing for certain, it’s that there will never be a shortage of TV shows out there to watch and get addicted to.
Freshman Lauren Bello agrees that this is a good way to cope. “The best way to get over post-season finale heartbreak is to dive head first into another show, preferably a series with a lot of episodes to drown your sorrows in,” she says. “The more seasons the better!”
Watch it Again
Sure, you might not have the same experience watching the show as you did the first time, but if you don’t want to give up the series – who says you have to? Sometimes even watching just the first episode again after you finish a series is extremely entertaining. It shows you where the characters started and how far they’ve come. It’s fun watching the pilot and already knowing the journey that the show is about to embark upon.
Though it may feel sad and disheartening when your favorite TV show ends, it doesn’t have to stay that way. We should feel lucky that we were touched so deeply by a series and hopeful knowing that it isn’t the last time in our lives it will happen!
