Recently I watched 50 episodes, and thus 50-plus hours of television, starting the French series “The Bureau,” aka “Le Bureau des Légendes” from the beginning and eagerly following it, like a great novel, voraciously, until the end.
This is me taking a long, appreciative bow.
It was quite the experience.
In fact, it felt like a rare accomplishment, a devotion, a commitment I gave freely when I normally cautiously guard and protect my time.
Frankly, I’m surprised I did it. (And that’s not all I did — more on that below.)
I can’t imagine giving 50 hours to a series that was just “pretty good” — I’m personally curious of when I would have stopped watching if that was the case — so it’s not a shocking revelation when I tell you that “The Bureau” was truly great.
(Although, this might be a good reveal: “The Bureau” is qualitatively stunning, so much so that I’m revamping my all-time Top 5 Dramas Ever list, which means something excellent just fell to 6th; still in the Top 10, nothing to feel slighted over, but it took me forever to even round out that rarified Top 5, so this reshuffling, for me, seems like a big deal).
More on that some other time — re-ordering the Hall of Fame is not what I’m here to write about at this moment. “The Bureau” and the transportive nature of those 50 hours — that’s the achievement that’s been pinging around in my brain.
Five seasons, 50 episodes — it’s a fuck ton of time, let’s be blunt.
Time and what to do with it is everything to me (and shouldn’t it be for everyone?). Regular readers know the whole point of this Substack is to curate what’s worth your valuable time, choices you might select to forget about the world or transport yourself somewhere else or just, at a minimum, be enthusiastically entertained by the art form. It’s built for you not to Meander Sample and guess at what might be good. I’m here to tell you, and guide you to the good drugs.
So I’m always impressed when readers here talk about going back and watching a series from beginning to end (or, in some cases, rewatching). It’s a commitment. I salute you.
In truth, I have historically egged you on to do just such a thing. I have made the Big Ask.
How many times have I said that, if you haven’t already, you should watch every episode of every season of “The Wire” or “The Sopranos,” or “Mad Men” or “Breaking Bad”?
A lot.
And I have regularly encouraged people to watch other top-tier series and personal faves that never had a long run but are, nonetheless, quite brilliant. Like these:
Watch(This)List
Four Series I Want To Rewatch From Beginning To End.
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April 24, 2025
There is always a slight bit of jealousy, at least for me, as we devour all of these new series, whether they just came out or I unearthed them on a Deep Dive on some streaming platform. We are forever moving forward into discovery, adding to our Watchlist and trying to find the time to get to all the good stuff.
But I rarely do it myself.
This gig calls for me to be constantly moving forward, either with new television series or deep diving for lost gems, plus watching as many films as I possibly can.
All of it for pleasure, of course, and to feed this Machine, but still, it’s not like I have an excess amount of hours floating about (because those are supposed to be used for fiction).
Often I’m sprinting to catch up on something I delayed, albeit briefly (in my concept of time), like the final season of “The Bear” or the second season of “Beef,” or all three seasons of “The Capture” — that kind of mass intake can be all consuming. Especially if, let’s say, you randomly decide, like I did, to watch the entirety of the “Baby Assassins” film trilogy AND the entirety of the 12-episode TV series, “Baby Assassins: Everyday!” roughly all at the same time.
I’m not saying I’m a time management expert. (I might be saying that I should be working on my own writing more often). I just find it almost impossible to willingly — for myself — carve out a chunk the size of, let’s say, “Mad Men” (92 episodes over seven seasons).
Yet, when I hear tales of you legends putting most other things on hold to watch some forgotten/past series from beginning to end, I’m always mixing jealousy into my being impressed by your feat. Like, I wish I could do that.
And then I did that.
With “The Bureau,” yes, but I also just powered through S2 of “House of the Dragon” and all seven of S3 as well — no minor undertaking — which has left me ready for this Sunday’s season finale. (And walking around alone in Portland saying, “Well met!” and “Your Grace” and other phrasings to literally no one.)
Cumulatively, what was it like to finish this immersive experience?
Like I’d read several novels. Like I let someone build a world inside my head. Like I populated my interior life with fantastical characters whose moves matter to me, because I’m invested in their stories. Like being addicted, in a good way.
Basically, it was nothing like normal television. And now I’m of the mind that everybody should try this at some point (soon). Maybe your life is more balanced and you’re reading lots of books and fitting in TV series and films when you can — in that case, you probably don’t need a pattern-breaking bit of boldness.
For others, though, maybe give this a chance; make a real commitment to something that’s five seasons long. I would hate to lose you even temporarily — I would hope you’d circle back to find out, say, what I’m thinking about this season of “A Shop For Killers,” etc.
But the altering state of such an immersion is a benefit I’m now highly endorsing.
“The Bureau” was, in many ways, the perfect choice for me (though I didn’t know it when I started). It’s an espionage thriller — my favorite genre. It’s exceptionally well-written and acted. It’s acclaimed by real spies for being granular in its depiction of that life. It has subtitles — which felt a little like reading, maybe not so strangely enough — and it’s filmed in Paris and around the world.
All in.
Other choices might be the four mentioned above — “Mad Men,” “Breaking Bad,” “The Wire,” “The Sopranos,” not necessarily in that order — plus “Game Of Thrones,” “The Americans,” or “Better Call Saul.”
I welcome — and I’m sure fellow readers will appreciate — any other recommendations for big-lift series you can think of and drop in the comments. (I can hear my wife shouting “Dark” from California, and the German sci-fi series is likely the next show I’ll binge).
And while I would also endorse, in case you’re wondering, doing something like watching all “X” amount of films from a brilliant director, it’s important to be clear that the experience I’m touting here is specifically a television happening, because you have the same characters (for the most part) evolving over multiple episodes, seasons and years.
Unless you’re thinking of “The Godfather” trilogy or “Lord Of the Rings” or “Star Wars” or “Harry Potter,” etc., it’s not the same experience (and, I would argue, even with these film examples it’s not).
An ongoing story well told is transformative in its power to capture all of your attention and interest and imagination. Other than a novel, to achieve that depth I think a great multi-season television series is the perfect match.
It took going back to an “older” series (2015-2020) I’d never seen, and there was a leap of faith needed to do it, but I’m here to tout the worth of the idea. And summer seems like an ideal time.
Consider this a light push. Let me know if you tumble down the rabbit hole.
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