The first episode of The Seduction, a prequel series to Dangerous Liaisons, is streaming on HBO Max as of today (November 14). Episodes are airing on a weekly basis until December 19, meaning we've got the watercooler effect HBO made famous with The White Lotus and The Gilded Age.
For some, weekly episode drops are a welcome relief from the chore that is a full-series binge watch. It's spoiled before you even start thanks to social media leaks, you've got to invest a lot of time in getting it watched, and it's all over in the blink of an eye.
Personally, I'd take a weekly drop any day of the week. There's arguments for both, but I love having in-depth conversations with fans about a weekly episode rather than desperately trying to play catch-up. HBO is the master of this, and they haven't put a foot wrong yet.
But for The Seduction star Anamaria Vartolomei, who plays Isabelle de Merteuil, there's a downside to HBO's weekly streaming module that could be detrimental to the entire show.
The Seduction star wants you to stick around for the 'great evolution' over its six episodes
"There's a lot of fun scenes that are both challenging and exciting," she tells me. "I've never done a series before, so my fear is that when you drop an episode a week, maybe some people won't go further and will stop at that point of the show."
"I really encourage people to go through to end, because each character has such a great evolution over the series. The more the story grows, the darker they get. I hope that people have that curiosity to just see what the final characters look like."
It's possibly a career-first for a star to tell me that they're worried people won't see the project they're in, but I understand Vartolomei's concern. The downside of a weekly drop is risking viewership numbers, as it has the potential to steadily decline if interest wanes, which in turn could affect a show's renewal status.
I won't hint whether it's possible for The Seduction to get a second series (yet), but that shouldn't matter. We know streamers measure viewership by how something performs in the first 30 days, and that's likely to vary hugely between a full-season drop and weekly releases.
All I can say is that The Seduction is more than worth your time. It's sexy, scandalous and calculated at every turn... just don't watch it around your parents.
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