Oh, how the mighty have fallen.

There was a time when Warner Bros. was a juggernaut in the entertainment industry. This is a media “big fish” that swallowed up other media companies like HBO, DC, TNT, Cartoon Network and, most recently, Discovery. Now, it’s been announced that the swallower is going to get swallowed by another “big fish”: Netflix.

It’s been reported that Warner Bros. is now in exclusive talks with Netflix to buy the entertainment wing of the company. Now, nothing has been finalized yet but it does seem like a done deal as Warner Bros. isn’t going to be talking to other hopeful buyers like Paramount any more. There’s also the little nitty-gritty about how Netflix is only buying Warner Bros. media assets and none of its cable assets. This means the “Discovery portion” of the company, which includes cable programming from HGTV and Food Network, won’t be coming into the fold of Netflix. There are also hurdles to jump over, such as anti-trust laws in the United States.

Of course, there are a lot of people against this buyout. I am honestly one of them. But I do like to play devil’s advocate from time to time. You know, just to see if there’s actually a bright side to this potential gloom and doom. So, while most would comment on how bad this is going to be, I’m going to try my best to find the possible silver lining in all of this. Pray for me.

First off, if the purchase is actually finalized and contracts are signed, nothing is really going to change in the short term. Like I said, the deal isn’t finalized yet. So it would be premature to cancel your HBO Max subscription because everything is going to be shifting over to Netflix tomorrow.

But what if it did? What if Netflix made all of HBO Max’s content available on their side right now? Wouldn’t that be kind of nice? I mean, you wouldn’t have to subscribe to two different streaming services just because you want to watch Succession and Stranger Things? We may have all but gotten rid of cable TV but, in its place, we have too many subscription services! Now, if Netflix consolidates everything from Warner Bros, that would be one less subscription service to keep track of!

Netflix does have kind of a reputation of releasing bad stuff. And, strictly speaking, there can be some good that can come from that. Mostly because maybe Netflix can finally release the shelved Batgirl movie. Yeah, remember this? Because of the big Warner Bros and Discovery merger just a few years ago, David Zaslav, the new CEO of Warner Bros Discovery, opted to not release Batgirl on HBO Max for a tax write off. Yes, he chose to not release a movie that was already completed because they wanted a tax break. Boo this man!

Well, Netflix is a company that is noted for greenlighting anything. While that’s mostly stated for humor’s sake, every joke has a grain of truth in it. So, why wouldn’t Netflix opt to finally release the shelved Batgirl? Heck, it would be an opportunity as this did garner headlines back then. So stating they would make this available on either Netflix or HBO Max would mean huge numbers for them. I mean, it could be the worst movie ever made… but shouldn’t we decide that?

Speaking of a general lack of quality on Netflix’s side, this has actually been a boon for people like me who live in the Philippines. That’s because they’ve been generally lax when it comes to using VPN services. I’m assuming you’ve seen the ads about how you can use a VPN service to “trick” streaming services into thinking you’re in a particular location. By using a VPN, you can check out stuff that’s available in one region but not viewable in your area. Oh, sure the primary use is for “security” but, for most people, VPNs are used for getting past region blocking. Netflix seems generally cool about it as far as I can tell.

You know who’s not cool about using a VPN to get around region blocking? Apparently, Warner Bros! While I’m able to routinely use a VPN to get around Netflix’s region blocking content, the same can’t be said for HBO Max. There are going to be times when a VPN location I was able to access HBO Max and the application will manage to detect my subterfuge attempt. It doesn’t happen a lot but it happens enough for me to notice.

This is pretty bad as HBO Max in the Philippines doesn’t have a lot of the same content as HBO Max in the United States. And, honestly, I wouldn’t even think of using a VPN to get around this if I didn’t feel incredibly short changed. The weird thing is a good chunk of the stuff Discovery produced content. So, it’s not a movie or a television show that may have international distribution rights issues. No, it’s going to be stuff like Food Network‘s Holiday Baking Championship. Oh, they have the older seasons. But the current one? Nope! They don’t have it even though the current season is being broadcast on cable TV here in the Philippines! There really shouldn’t be anything stopping them from showing it in my local HBO Max subscription then. While the region blocking issue will still persist even if the sale pushes through, maybe the strict use of VPN services won’t be.

Now, while I’ve been trying to shine a spotlight on what good can come out of this buyout, I still don’t think this is going to be good in the long run. I honestly don’t think Netflix will shutter HBO Max. They’ll keep it as a separate streaming service. After all, why ask consumers to pay for one streaming service when they can pay for two streaming services? Releasing Batgirl would be nice but, in the grand scheme of things, the idea that Netflix, one of the biggest media companies out there, would envelop another huge media company like Warner Bros, is going to be terrible in the long run. And, heck, maybe Netflix will start using HBO Max’s VPN detection on their app!

I guess what Harvey Dent said in The Dark Knight is spot on.

Netflix used to be the underdog. Now, they’ve become the one who takes out the underdog. Boo!

Do you see any bright sides to Netflix buying out Warner Bros. media? Let me know in the comments section below!