Watching/Not Watching
I used to be the kind of person who never left a movie no matter how bad, who always finished a book no matter how painful. Sometimes that was a professional duty, sometimes just a matter of stubbornness, or a feeble hope that whatever was watching would get better. I have been thinking about this somewhat often with The Flight Attendant, the HBO Max thriller starring Kaley Cuoco, which has been picked up for a second season. I have gotten through three episodes of the first season so far, but keep asking myself why. Sure, there are plot twists I am mildly interested in following, but everything feels so stretched out, the scenes of Cuoco's character's excesses so repetitive, that I am weary of it. My wife and I have a two-episode rule for most series -- that if you don't have us after two, you won't get us back -- so there's some reason for me still in there for three. But it could just be that old stubbornness, And that is not the only time recently when I have g