The deeply emotional stages of waiting for your favourite TV show to return.

Yesterday’s Game of Thrones finale was exciting, but it also reminded us we still have months – nay, YEARS – to wait until our favourite show is back on our screens.

Here’s how to cope with your withdrawals from the end of one season, and make it through to the next one. Kübler-Ross’ stages of grief adapted, like so many good ideas, for TV.

1. Denial. 

There’s no denying it. You just watched the season finale of your favorite show. You have to wait months until you can see any new episodes, so you try and keep the show going in your own way.

Maybe you spend a night reading every message board you can find, pondering fan theories. Maybe you kid yourself into thinking a YouTube fan cut of the most swoon-worthy Jon Snow moments will satiate your hunger. (Spoiler: it won’t.)

There are plenty of ways to live in your denial, but none of them will really make you feel better. But before you get to the point of writing fun Master of None fan-fiction in which you and Aziz Ansari travel across Italy in search of the perfect bowl of pasta (copyright pending), the next stage sets in.

 2. Anger.

First, you get mad at the network. How dare Netflix make binging so easy? They made you finish it way faster than you should have!

Then you rage at the show’s creators. Who does Mike Judge think he is, only making 10 episodes of Silicon Valley this season?! The People v. O.J. Simpson could easily have added a couple of episodes!

Eventually you take your anger out on the characters themselves. Why did Sarah Paulson’s Marcia Clark take so many missteps? Why does Jon Snow always look so mournful?! Eventually, you realise this is crazy and move onto step three.

3. Bargaining.