There’s a moment when you’re watching a series when you become hooked. It’s a moment when you know you’re going to binge that show like crazy. Maybe you don’t realize exactly when it hits, but Netflix does. And it has the research to back it up.
Netflix has released its study of viewer behavior, and it has found the key episodes for each series it studied. These episodes were the ones that kept 70% of viewers watching through a first season’s end. It’s interesting to note Netflix did the study globally, but found viewers everywhere had the same reactions.
For example, episode two of Stranger Things (“The Weirdo on Maple Street”), where Mike and his friends meet Eleven is the “hook.” If you watch the series through that episode, you’re more than likely to become addicted. Episode four of Making a Murderer, where Brendan Dassey was interrogated, is the tipping point. Watch the series through that, and you’re probably going to watch the rest of the way. Representing broadcast shows, episode three of Prison Break is all it takes to hook you in.
“We’ve always believed there is a universality to great stories. The Internet allows us to share these stories with a global audience and what we see from the data is how similar our members watch and respond,” said Cindy Holland, Vice President of Original Content at Netflix. “The hooked findings give us confidence that there is an appetite for original and unique content all over the world, which is why we’re excited to deliver variety in stories to our members, whether they’re political dramas from France or musical dramas from the Bronx.”
Here are the episodes that hooked the viewers:
