Tonight’s the Night – Writing About Binge-Watching the Gospel at Seedbed!

Last updated on: August 16, 2018 at 2:21 pm by Zach Hoag

Tonight’s the Night – Writing About Binge-Watching the Gospel at Seedbed! 2018-08-16T14:21:36-05:00 Zach Hoag

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Today I’m over at Seedbed writing about binge-watching the gospel story in our cultural stories – and my journey from Dexter to now:

“Tonight’s the night. And it’s going to happen again, and again. Has to happen.”

With this ominous voiceover, we are introduced to a TV character named Dexter. And the thing that is going to happen tonight – that will happen again and again – is killing.

When I began writing my first book in 2012, I had an interesting task ahead of me: to connect the story of a TV show called Dexter to the gospel of a man named Jesus. But, I was convinced that the main character, a character I had come to love in the story arc of seasons 1-6, offered one of the most poignant illustrations of the gospel that I’d ever seen in popular culture. In fact, I saw in Dexter the story of all of us as we come face to face with the reality of our own brokenness and the hope of our restoration in the person and work of Christ.

If it strikes you as odd that I’d see gospel in the story of a serial killer who kills serial killers, I understand! Perhaps a little bit of background is in order. See, I love TV. I always have. It’s not a casual relationship, either. I am an avowed binge-watcher, especially relishing the art form commonly known as the “prestige drama.” These are the shows that have taken the old network TV drama to the next level (almost always on cable or digital streaming), and their movie-quality writing, production, and casting have ushered in what some have called “the new golden age of television.”

Dexter was among a set of pivotal shows in this TV revolution, and I was captivated from the first time I heard that voiceover.

Read the rest of my article here!

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