‘Tis the season to crush TV. At least that’s what I’ve been doing in my free time, as I sit inside donning my evening pajamas (clearly different from my daytime pajamas), and curling up with a hot chocolate and a pack of sour keys (this is a judgement-free zone.) Here are a few of the TV watches, in addition to The Wilds, that I’ve enjoyed this past month.
Mrs. America
Somehow, I missed this show altogether when it was released earlier this year, and couldn’t quite understand how that happened when I learned about the plot and the cast. The show dramatizes events surrounding the Equal Rights Amendment in the 1970s, and the political forces pushing for and against it. Featuring a powerhouse ensemble cast, including Cate Blanchett, Rose Byrne, Margo Martindale, Uzo Aduba, Tracey Ullman, Sarah Paulson, and Elizabeth Banks, the show tells a part of RECENT history that I had hardly learned anything about (except roughly knowing who Gloria Steinem is.) Plus, the show is created and co-written by Canadian Davhi Waller, who worked on Halt & Catch Fire and Mad Men, and is of similar – if not higher – quality. I strongly recommend it if you haven’t seen it already!
The Flight Attendant
I didn’t find The Flight Attendant to be a particularly easy watch, because its format includes a lot of flashbacks, Brady Bunch split screens, and Birdman-esque background music that takes some getting used to. But, it ended up being a catchy show that was fairly fresh in a way that reminded me of Killing Eve‘s debut a few years ago. I followed Kaley Cuoco during my teenage years of loving Charmed, so it was nice to see her in another (non-Big Bang Theory) TV show. Here, she plays hot mess who wakes up next to her one-night stand – dead with his throat cut. Chaos ensues as she tries to stitch together the events of the evening, determine her own innocence, dodge the CIA, and try not to mess up her life anymore than it already is (which proves…hard.) Plus, T.R. Knight shows up for the first time since Grey’s Anatomy!
The Expanse: Season 5
Finally, The Expanse is back in space. I struggled with Season 4, and its planet-bound action (and eye-disease riddled) plot. Now, Bobbie Draper, Chrisjen Avasarala, James Holden and the gang are back in space and kicking political Protomolecule ass. Episodes 4 and 5 have really kicked this season into high-gear, so I suggest catching up if you haven’t been following along already.
His Dark Materials: Season 2
I might be one of two people that didn’t hate the movie adaptation back in 2007, but now BBC One/HBO has tried attempt #2 – this time in TV format. The show doesn’t always hit for me, but it’s a nice, fantasy-escape watch that frequently features scenes from Oxford, airships, and more. If you liked the books, you’ll probably find this latest adaptation fairly satisfying. At least, I polished off Season 2 in short order. This time Lee Scoresby is played by Lin-Manuel Miranda, and Lyra by Logan’s Dafne Keen. It’s definitely young-adult skewing, but then again, that is who the books were for.
What have you been watching this Winter?
