Why more isn’t always better: The rise of the limited series

From The Queen’s Gambit to Chernobyl, limited series or ‘mini-series’ have seen a stark rise in popularity over the post-pandemic years. In this era of constant content over-saturation, with a plethora of streaming services to subscribe to and a vast range of series to watch, audiences are leaning towards the no-commitment, short-term loves that are limited series. The dominant years of returning hits, such as Breaking Bad or Game of Thrones, are waning as broadcasters recognise an increased appetite for the mini-series.

While continual series have become somewhat infamous for starting out great and losing their spark after being re-commissioned beyond the story’s capacity, and feature films can often try and cram too much story into a two-hour watch, limited series manage to hit that perfect sweet spot. The lack of continuity further allows for more big-name actors to sign on to a project without the looming burden of five more seasons contracted in, creating a more ‘Hollywood feel’. Actor and writer Niccole Therman, highlights this as she says, “The producers are putting that effort in to make something stand on its own– they’re like, we have six episodes to say everything we want to say. In other shows, they’re not thinking of quality; they’re thinking of quantity”.

Both will take you on an unforgettable emotional journey

Moreover, Netflix and streamers alike champion these shows due to their stand-out quality among a sea of tiles on their home pages. When looking your next ‘flix fix, an A-list star such as Anya Taylor-Joy on the thumb-nail is bound to attract clicks. The high production quality further tends to make these shows magnetising during award season. Unorthodox was a 2020 series that garnered a Primetime Emmy in addition to many other awards, itself acting as incredible advertising for the streaming platform.

This format of telling a self-contained story, utilising a higher budget and renowned actors, is sure to attract book authors seeking a faithful adaptation of their source material. And naturally, in congruence with a successful book adaptation comes soaring book sales. Coming as no shock from anyone who knows me, the book-to-screen adaptation of ‘Normal People’ remains one of my favourite mini-series, alongside the stellar and ever-relevant story about the messiness of recovering from a traumatic sexual assault, ‘I May Destroy You’. Both will take you on an unforgettable emotional journey and contain some immaculate performances (and if you haven’t got one already, start your own personal obsession with limited series).

The sophomore season appears to be struggling to justify its existence

Squid Game is a show I vehemently believe did not need to be recommissioned for two more seasons. Hwang Dong-hyuk, the creator, initially had no plans to continue the show after the first season. Yet, the overwhelming success of usurping Stranger Things as Netflix’s most-watched darling naturally made him reconsider. The sophomore season appears to be struggling to justify its existence as it drops its revenge plot until the very end, indulging in the same gory thrills from the first season with diminishing returns. Perhaps I’m using too cynical a lens here, but continuing such a self-contained story with blatant anti-capitalist messaging feels self-contradictory and damages the overall purport by flogging the cash cow. This is not to argue, however, that just because a show was intended to be exclusive it should never ever return. Fleabag famously returned with a *bang* (or lack thereof) in its second series. In doing so, it successfully managed to differentiate itself enough from the first within its mission statement, “This is a love story”. Yet, Squid Game and many other shows can fail to substantially grow beyond their initial premise and know when enough truly is enough.