What to do when a Sequel sucks

 

We’ve all been there. You find a book/movie/game/TV series or whatever it may be that you adore. It takes over your thoughts with just how amazing it is and then you find out that there is a sequel. If it’s out already you rush to purchase it, if it’s coming out in the future you wait with baited breath for the moment you can get your hands on it. As soon as it’s your’s it’s devoured only to find that you’re left more than a little disappointed. Of course this may still happen if you just kinda liked the first as opposed to an undying love but the point still stands the sequel for whatever reason sucks.

First of all breathe all is not lost, while disappointed there is a chance that your expectations were too high for the poor sequel to meet and some time and considerations may change your feelings. This includes taking a time out and coming back to it weeks maybe months later and really thinking about why you may of hated it so much, try to think of it’s good qualities (if there are any) and see if any of this changes your mind. Trying to see it outside of it’s predecessor may work as well, but is a lot more difficult as there usually intricately related. After this you will either reconsider and be willing to give it another change or it will reaffirm your initial reaction that it really wasn’t worth your time.

If your not one for waiting and you really want to deal with this straight away I would suggest finding reviews from others about how they feel about it. If it was truly awful you can be pretty sure there is someone out there making their feelings known, with this they may list their reasoning and you can be satisfied that it’s not just you, the sequel did just miss the mark. Alternatively you may find that people had the opposite reaction, they adore the very thing you loathe, this could be good for finding out why they had this response and you can either tentatively reconsider or respectfully disagree. Of course if neither of these work you can be the person to let the world know exactly how you feel and see the kind of responses you receive.

Thirdly don’t give up, there may be a perfectly reasonable explanation why this particular sequel was such a flop. Perhaps the pressure of producing something better was just too much stress for the poor author/producer/game developer. You never know the nervous breakdowns they may of experienced to produce something in which they hoped would top there first work. If this is the case there is a good chance that after some r & r they will come back stronger then ever to produce something new which will knock your socks of. If it’s not the last book in a series perhaps the next will turn it all around and you will forget that you ever hated its predecessor in the first place.

Of course you do have to consider that perhaps the original was a one hit wonder, nothing that comes after it is going to feel you with the same excited and awe. If this does become the only option then it’s time to let go accept what’s done is done and try to move on with your life. Alternatively you could refuse to acknowledge any sequels ever existed and live in a bubble of self denial but really whatever works for you.

What do you do when a sequel sucks? Let me know!