Super hot take: the new ‘8–10 episode season’ is the worst way to tell a story. It’s either an overly drawn-out 2h film, or it’s a poorly fleshed out traditional 26+ episode season. It’s neither fish nor fowl, and very very few make it work well.
@octothorpe seems to be working for the Bear? I’ve only just started s3 but the first two really worked.
@avi as much as I like The Bear, I totally think it falls into this ‘trap’. I think of all the shows, Andor comes close to being the best representation of this format, and I still wonder if it would be better as, say, two feature length films.
Also note, anthology-type shows where each ep is different don’t really count (ex: Columbo, Black Mirror), as each ep is ostensibly self-contained, with little/no arc.