I’m trying something new. I’ve created spaces to talk about books I read but nowhere to talk about tv show episodes and not just the show in general. Rather than committing to detailed recaps of any one show, I’m going to do a general recap of stuff I watch every week. I will indicate where there are spoilers in specific shows or if the entire thing is just one big spoiler! Suggest stuff that’s good as well. Happy tv show reading!
The Gilded Age S01E01 and E02
I saw lots of influencer ads for this but wasn’t going to watch it because even though I liked Downton Abbey (written by the same writer), the historical genre is largely a miss for me. My sister- in- law texted me to watch it and since her specific recommendations are few and far between, I watched it and what a show! Great writing, amazing characters, i’m on the edge of my seat waiting for more.
How I Met Your Father - S01E02,03 and 04
The pilot was kind of a let down and I was sure I knew who the father was in episode 1, but then probably in a moment of boredom, I watched the rest of the episodes and the show picked up a bit of momentum. It’s not something i’ll actively be waiting for every week but it was good and i’m less sure about knowing who the dad is.
Janet Jackson
The one reason I’m not crazy about documentaries is that they use these depressing voice inflections and sad sounds- no matter what the subject of the documentary is. I will admit, I didn’t know a great deal about Janet before this doc and I didn’t come out of it knowing a great deal more, but I really respect how impressive of a career she’s had. She’s an amazing artiste.
Kenan S02E08 and E09
This is something that is always an easy, no attachment watch. In these episodes, Kenan saves and then loses a relationship and gets into his regular low stakes high jinks.
The Fallout
Someone on my twitter TL (yay to Nigeria finally getting twitter back) said how good this movie is. It is about what happens after a school shooting and how it affects the people that were affected by it. This sort of nothing- really- happens-but- we want- you- to- feel- how- they- felt genre really used to be my speed of movie before, but now I don’t know-do I even still like movies? It was alright, it did do a good job of capturing hard spaces in emotion and was maybe a better portrayal of being a modern teenager than many things on American tv (I spoke to no actual teenagers to confirm).
This s us s06e05 (contains spoilers)
Here I still am watching this show. In this episode, Deja is trying to move cities to live with Malik and like- huh? It kills me the drama of Randall’s family- let’s recap. Randall was abandoned by his drug addict mother, later found his drug addict father who was dying of cancer, then much later, finds out that his mother didn’t actually die but is now dead, then he takes in a child of another addict and then that child, promptly gets into a relationship with a boy that fathered a child at 13 and now has joint custody with his teen ex-girlfriend while he’s in school and now she’s trying to move cities to move in with him.
Abbott elementary s01e06
Now a cult favourite only a few episodes in, this episode dismantled the idea of a gifted program in schools. Why remove a few kids from class, and then give them even more resources to learn?
Grownish S04E11
I only recently started watching this again and Im enjoying it. Jaz trying to quit track, Zoe in the same triangle shes been in since she got to college and everyone else being everyone else. The storylines don’t really get pushed and I guess it’s not a bad thing, it’s just what it is.
The Office Season 02 and the beginning of Season 03
I’ll start by saying Parks & Recs is so much better for goodness sake. Michael is insufferable and so is Dwight and just the presence of both those characters reduces the potential of the show by a lot. The only reason I haven’t quit so far is Jim and Pam and even that isn’t looking like it’d be enough but lets see how it goes.
Blackish season 8-episodes 4 and 5
It’s fun to see these people grow up and by these people, I mean Jack and Diane. It makes sense that this is the final season because they have definitely run out of story. The grandpaarents are finding ways to keep their relationship alive, Bo and whatshisface are finding out that words have meaning, Jack is enjoying life at work and Junior and Diane have nothing to do.
Project runway s19e14 finale
I’ve watched project runway for 19 seasons, and every year, the judges set someone up for the win and this year was definitely not any different. The finale collection definitely wasn’t the winning collection. All in all, I wasn’t particularly invested in any specific person winning, so it was fine with me and I enjoyed an all female finale. I missed Elaine in the finale- she’s definitely my favorite judge because I think she brings a fresh perspective to the panel, being the youngest and black judge.
Sweet magnolias s02e01
The first season of this came out in 2020 and when I tell you, I don’t know what I was watching when I started this second season- I couldn’t remember a thing! I just had to give up after episode 1. On top of not remembering, its that kind of virgin river vibes where I watched and enjoyed the first season but as soon as another season came out, I was like wait? I’m not sure I like this show? The verdict is out on whether or not I will carry on.
Workin’ mums s06e05
Listen, at this point, these mums need to get it together man. I feel like at some point, they swapped the complexities of working mums for like the misadventures of Kate and her friends and I’m not sure about it but I’m still watching.
The Royal Treatment
I hate to say a movie was bad, but this was bad. I’m not sure how we went from having some of the most fun rewatchable movies under the romcom genre to hastily put together plots with no chemistry or fun dialogue or anything. I held on waiting and waiting but all I got was stretched out tropes and a not that fun love story.
Suspicion (S01E01 and 02)
Just as I was about to cancel my Apple TV subscription, I saw this show about a kidnapped influential American and four British suspects. I watched the first two episodes and it’s really promising. It’s paced well, characters have potential- there’s a murderous character in it and I’m not too sure about needless murders, but all in all, there’s enough here to keep me watching.