Pacing

One of the biggest struggles for any piece of media is finding the proper pacing with which to tell the story.  To fast and no one has time to comprehend the story or the emotions you’re trying to evoke. To slow and people get bored and tune out.

You know you’ve found your mark when people want to keep turning the page/watching the next scene without feeling exhausted. The books I remember the most are the ones I can’t put down. The best movies are the ones where you don’t realize you’ve reached the end and really need to pee until the credits roll.

I’ve recently watched two things that have very different takes on pacing. First, Star Trek Discovery (which I’ll review in more detail later) is in the school of “move fast, ask questions later” style. You never have a chance to get bored because things are always happening. And it’s to the show’s detriment. Nothing has time to breathe.

Lots of shows/movies/books follow this approach. They are there to give you a ride and they’re going to keep you going at full speed. You can have a good story without achieving perfection with pacing. Like anything, it’s only one part of the complete picture. Unfortunately, most of these don’t hold up later. You enjoyed the ride but it was so quick in order to keep you from looking at the fuzziness of piece as a whole.

On the other end of the spectrum is Game of Thrones (spoilers below). The show and Martin’s books are anything but fast-paced.  They take their sweet time getting where they need to go. Sometimes, this can lead to feelings of when is something going to happen? It took seven seasons to get all the characters on the same continent.

But…but…this slower pace is really one of the show’s charms and greatest strengths. The first two episodes of season 8, “Winterfell” and “Knight of the Seven Kingdoms”, were a masterpiece of pacing taking full advantage of the shows seven seasons of build up. Not a whole lot happened plot-wise, especially in “Knight”. It was mostly people just sitting around in a room.

However, despite that objective slowness, these two episodes were the culmination of seven seasons of build up. In fact, whatever happens next will probably be a disappointment. Characters are going to die. Plot will happen. But in a lot of ways, it feels like the show has already climaxed. And all while doing next to nothing in terms of action and events.

They showrunners took their time, devoting a third of the final season to giving each character a satisfying moment. Not a conclusion. But a moment of growth and relative peace. And they did it for almost all one million characters.

The previous season felt like the opposite of this. It was very quick and hectic. A lot happened and it happened very quickly. That was the stumble near the end. But it was all in service of these two episodes. The pieces were put in place.

Now, as this article is being posted, the third episode has gone live. Maybe it’s even better. Maybe it was disappointing.  I don’t know. I usually don’t watch until Tuesday to avoid HBO being slow.