Narrative pacing under fragmented attention: A structural approach to suspense in serialized television

Abstract

This paper develops a structural framework for analyzing narrative pacing in serialized suspense television under conditions of fragmented reception. It conceptualizes narratives as temporal cultural objects that organize information through sequencing non-linearity, information latency, conditional surprise, and structural closure. These dimensions are derived from observable narrative traces rather than from individual-level psychological responses.

Methodologically, the paper combines relational comparison with a discrete-time hazard model of inter-episode abandonment. The objective is not to predict individual behavior or equate completion with narrative quality, but to examine how formal narrative structures are associated with persistence proxies such as early abandonment, season completion, and inter-episode delay.

Using a curated corpus of contemporary suspense, crime, and mystery series, the paper shows that pacing can be studied as a configuration of structural trade-offs. Temporal complexity may increase surprise while raising reconstruction demands; delayed resolution may sustain suspense while increasing discontinuation risk. The contribution is methodological and cultural-analytic: the paper provides a replicable framework for studying the relationship between narrative form, platform-mediated reception, and persistence without reducing cultural value to engagement metrics.