Now that season 2 of “The Bear” has premiered, I imagine fans breezing through it, leaping from one episode to the next with excitement. It’s an excellent season that gets better and better as it zeroes in on different characters along the way. Hulu has chosen to release all 10 of the episodes together, practically pushing viewers into bingeing it.
I’m a little surprised Hulu has taken this approach to the show. Perhaps the Netflix-styled binge release was a smart thing to do for last summer’s first season, when we didn’t know what the show was about. But now that it’s a hit, I wish Hulu had chosen a weekly release schedule, a choice that most of the streamers are making these days. Bingeing was celebrated for a while, until its shortcomings became clear.
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For one thing, it’s now difficult to talk about the show, since many viewers are on different episodes. There are guest stars and revelations along the way, but it’s hard to talk about them openly — and talking about TV, as we saw most especially with “Succession,” is part of the fun of TV. For another thing, some of the stronger moments of the season, including a long flashback portrait of the Berzatto family, will likely get lost in the rush of consumption. Episodes tend to blur together when watched en masse. Sometimes, I think, the local train is a little more satisfying than the express.
Matthew Gilbert can be reached at matthew.gilbert@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @MatthewGilbert.