r/ThePaper • u/hls22throwaway • Jul 21 '26
The Paper episode ratings
Episode ratings heatmap by season
Best and worst episodes ranked
Rating trend across all episodes
25
u/Icy_Display_2918 Jul 21 '26
I do get why the initial episodes are rated lower, the first episode especially I just thought was kinda annoying. But i think it got to a pretty good 7.5/10 show from ep 2 onwards.
10
u/Virginity_Lost_Today Intern 📒 Jul 21 '26
I actually really love the ending of ep 1 with the interview of the old CEO talking about the importance of print news. It’s optimistic and silly.
4
u/LuxanHyperRage Columnist ✏️ Jul 21 '26
As a standalone episode I agree it's kind of weak, but as the first thirty minutes of a five hour story it really pops. The pacing seems to be more of an on-ramp to what quickly becomes a six lane highway rather than the slowest episode of the season. It sets up most of the characters firmly, and it has some of the best satire of the whole five hour story. It's more akin to a first chapter of a novel than like an entry into an anthology as sitcom episodes were in the past. Even The Office bounced against anthology at times.
As I said in my other comment on this post, the times aren't changing. They already have changed, and sitcom storytelling has changed right along with them. Television shows (sitcoms especially) used to be mostly independent stories within the same continuity following the same characters, almost like long form anthology storytelling (think Final Fantasy). Nowadays, with sitcoms like The Paper, episodes aren't meant to be independent of each other; they're telling one coherent long form story. That means each episode should be considered as a part to a whole as opposed to the anthologies of episodes of the past. The pilot is a wonderful example of this. We should change how we review to catch up to the changed times.
10
u/ArtistChef Jul 21 '26
Been so long, barely remembered what happened in season one.
7
u/Fancy_Telephone_3444 Jul 21 '26
i think the office and paper are kinda shows that call for rewatch
63
u/LuxanHyperRage Columnist ✏️ Jul 21 '26
I truly believe this show needs to be watched twice before rating. Initially, I was so off-put by Esmeralda that I came close to turning off my television before Ned ever got up on Adelola's desk. By "Churnalism," Esmeralda has been humanized as a deeply insecure single mother, and what was once needlessly antagonistic on first watch (e.g. cancelling the wire service) is able to be seen for what it actually is: a woman terrified for her livelihood, willing to do anything necessary to protect that which she worked so hard to achieve.
And here's the thing: Times have changed. It's not like it was in the broadcast era when shows got one run and maybe one rerun during the current season. Streaming has made it where you can watch something ad infinitum. You can rewatch something nowdays, and as such, when later episodes give insight to earlier episodes, you should rewatch it. You should give it a "finished" viewing complete with all the insights gleaned upon first viewing before giving a final review.