Netflix just sneakily added another button that will make your binge so much better
When you’re in the middle of a ~serious~ binge session, the last thing you need is to be reminded what happened on the episode you literally just watched. The “previously on” recaps are amazing for live TV when you get to see a show once a week and better yet — when the show come back from hiatus. Needless to say recaps are definitely not for those planning on watching ten episodes of Gilmore Girls or Grey’s Anatomy in a row.
Just after rolling out their new “skip intro” feature in March, it appears Netflix is testing a feature to skip recaps on some of your favorite shows, including How To Get Away With Murder.
That’s right, you can now skip the recaps that appear at the beginning of certain TV shows. That’s going to make streaming so much more fun, right? But it appears that this feature is only available for some of the most popular TV series streaming on Netflix right now.
To test this theory, I picked some of the most popular shows on Netflix and shows that I know tend to feature dramatic “previously ons” and looked for that heavenly “skip recap” button. I perused through fourteen shows and found that only six of them had the “skip recap” feature.
It appears that Shondaland has gotten the treatment as How To Get Away With Murder and Grey’s Anatomy have been gifted with the blessed button, as well as fellow ABC staples Lost and Once Upon a Time.
While it makes sense to start testing the feature with only the most popular shows, I was surprised that BBC series The Fall, which is aired in the U.S. as a Netflix original wasn’t afforded a “skip recap” button.
Similarly, shows like Glee and Shameless, which both generally sit in the “Trending” column of my Netflix page and both are pretty famous for their “previously ons” weren’t afforded the “skip recap” button.
While the “skip recap” button may not be changing lives like David Tennant and Olivia Colman in Broadchurch (please watch Broadchurch, it’s amazing and deserves a “skip recap button), but it’s one of those little things that makes binging a little easier.
Only time will tell if Netflix is going to roll the “skip recap” feature out on all its available TV series but until then, it’ll be a welcome surprise.