There are plenty of valid critiques of the streaming era. Sure, it’s convenient that you can watch the Stranger Things finale at any time on any screen, but with that convenience comes shorter TV seasons, brutally long waits between those seasons, and a tidal wave of forgettable slop. And one of the biggest issues with streaming can be summed up in two words: Surf Dracula.

Meme’d into existence with a 2021 tweet, the term Surf Dracula describes the trend of streaming shows that promise a major moment up front, only to drag out the build-up for an entire season or longer. As Twitter user @topherflorence put it while inadvertently coining the phrase:

“back in the day if u did a tv show called surf dracula you'd see that fool surfing every week in new adventures but in the streaming era the entire 1st season gotta be a long ass flashback to how he got the surfboard until you finally get to see him surf for 5 min in the finale”

Some........

© Polygon