Hope your summer is treating you well. I’ve been enjoying chilling and getting out in the Sun before 4pm due to some recent life changes. I saw The Odyssey, and hot take: it was…just fine? I don’t think I’ll ever think about it again, but I’m glad other people had fun.
However, there have been a few new TV shows and songs/artists that I’ve really been enjoying that will no doubt become my visual and sound capsule for Summer ’26. Here are a few of my favourites that I think you might also enjoy!
TV
Sterling Point
Megan Park projects are perfection. I loved The Fallout and My Old Ass, and when I heard she got a TV series deal I went “Yes – she deserves this.” I lost track of the project after that, so I was so pleasantly surprised when Sterling Point suddenly dropped last week and I realized this was that show. Like My Old Ass, the show is set in Muskoka, which offers an amazing visual backdrop and truly makes you feel like you are summering in Ontario cottage country. The show follows 17-year old Annie (Ella Rubin), as she travels to Muskoka from New York after her estranged grandfather dies and leaves her a cottage on an island. There begins an unravelling of hidden family secrets, including discovering a half-sister she never knew about and learning more about her adoptive mother that died when was 2.
This is a rare show where I found myself truly rooting for all the characters. There are no clear “side characters” here – all of them are fully realized and have on-screen dynamics and relationships to each other. The soundtrack is an absolute banger and has some of the best collection of songs I’ve heard on a show since Skins. Plus, I found myself laughing out loud each episode, which is a hard bar when you’re watching solo, enabled largely by the “natural” dialogue Megan Park cultivates so well.
The show also has a whole lot of heart, including an emerging queer relationship that portrays one of the best friends-to-feelings progression pipelines I’ve ever seen on TV, which is acted beautifully by Bo Bragason (the future “Princess Zelda” is gay as hell in this!) and Amelie Hoeferle. It also has a (straight) love triangle that is really cute and I genuinely enjoyed watching all the relationships unfold, and cheering for their happiness. There really are no misses here.
Also, bonus points for the boy-girl fraternal twin rep (we are an underserved community) between Ella Rubin and Keen Ruffalo’s characters Annie and Connor Jacobson. Here’s hoping it gets renewed for Season 2!
The Bombing of Pan Am 103
I was a bit reluctant to watch this given the “hard watch” feelings the name gives off and knowing this was a horrific real-world event. But, I’m really, really glad I decided to give it a go. The show is a gripping investigative drama featuring beautiful Scottish settings (and accents), and some mighty fine actors like Merritt Wever, Eddie Marsan, and Peter Mullan who bring depth and sensitivity to their roles. The first few episodes are a bit emotionally challenging to watch due to their more visceral nature, but I would really encourage anyone to push through. I found it fascinating to follow the path of how investigators moved from this massive mystery of why the plane blew up to understanding exactly who was responsible. Well worth a watch!
Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed
Tatiana Maslany can do no wrong. Well, maybe She-Hulk wasn’t my favourite, but, I am so, so glad to see her back in a role that perhaps better befits her talents since her iconic work on Orphan Black. The show allows her to use her full dramatic-to-comedic acting range, as she plays a bit of a messy character (Paula) who gets caught up in a wild blackmail plot that quickly cascades into a murder mystery. Crazy sh*t happens to her, but she plugs away and follows her instincts while also navigating more “normal” troubles like a custody battle with her ex (Jake Johnson) and her job as a fact-checker. The whole show is basically elevated motherhood multitasking – this time with murders to solve as the second item on the list. My favourite part of the show might just be Dolly de Leon (of Triangle of Sadness fame), who plays a keenly perceptive and hilarious detective that realizes things that might not be as simple as they appear; they might, in fact, be as batsh*t nuts as Paula suggests. An enjoyable ride!
Music
Arlo Parks
I listened to Arlo Parks new album Ambiguous Desire on my flight from Porto to Paris this summer, and it was such a wonderful album to stare out the airplane window and daydream to for 2 hours (I listened to it twice.) I have to admit, I really wanted to like some of Arlo’s earlier works, but never got hooked. This album changed all that and I quickly booked a ticket to her upcoming show in Vancouver after listening to it, just as I was about take off from Paris to YVR. The album incorporates in her newfound love of DJing, and the ambient synth sounds meld brilliantly with her light, breathy voice. “Heaven” is by far and away my favourite track. If you want a chill vibe to head bop to – this is it.
Medium Build
I’ve loved witnessing the rise of Medium Build, since I first saw him supporting Quinn Christopherson on Tiny Desk in 2019. His concert at Biltmore Cabaret a few years ago was such a great vibe, and his music only gets better and better. “Armor” and “Hope Depot” are perhaps a bit of a departure from his previous work, as more up-tempo bops, but I am here for it. Can’t wait for his upcoming album “King of Having Fun” in September!
Hope you enjoy the tunes and the shows!
