Television & Series Log 2021

New, and Up-to-date Television in 2021

-Miracle Workers: Oregon Trail (Season 3), TBS

I have of course seen and reviewed the first two seasons because I consume all things Daniel Radcliffe. Please give me more Daniel Radcliffe singing and dancing Vogue in lingerie. I will say this was my least favorite season of this show, however. A bit comedically forced.

-Sex Education (Seasons 1-3), Netflix

I watched all three seasons of this show so far and am hopeful for a future season! This is exactly the genre and content that resonates with me - it's focused on teenagers, it's darkly humorous, and it's focused on sex liberation, sex education, and sex therapy.

-Only Murders in the Building (Season 1), Hulu

All hail Selena Gomez! She was the main reason I watched this, though Steve Martin and Martin Short are also hilarious. It's short and snappy and I'm a sucker for murder mysteries. I binged this over my Christmas vacation. Also excited for as season 2.

-Arcane (Season 1), Netflix

I have absolutely no background knowledge of League of Legends, but my boyfriend has played excessively. This was a really great way to be introduced his world and lore through a means that's actually intended for global viewership. It's also just incredibly well written and beautifully drawn, I am now engaged in this world and hyped for season 2.

-You (Season 3), Netflix

 I have watched seasons 1 and 2 in past, though this is the first season I watched immediately when it came out. I genuinely love the fun, the drama, the death, the killings, the dark humor. The show is supposed to be dark but it's also just - fun. Simply entertaining and well-done drama and character development. Love me some Penn Badgley.

-Squid Game (Season 1), Netflix 

THIS WAS THE BEST TELEVISION STREAMING EXPERIENCE I HAD THIS YEAR. I have fallen in love with this fandom and it's piqued my interest in watching more Asian media. This is the Hunger Games meets Battle Royale meets Pendragon's The Quillan Games, except it's Korean and just way better than any other death games that have been written thus far. It's an exploration of capitalism, desperation, greed, power, and human nature. Beyond hyped for season 2.

-American Horror Stories (Season 1), Hulu

Below, you'll see that I've gotten really into American Horror Story this year, however, I still have several seasons to go which is why it's listed as incomplete. This, however, is a spinoff of American Horror Story that's Black Mirror-style, meaning they are one-episode stories that I am up-to-date on. Honestly they suck and have tainted my view of the American Horror Story universe and I wish I could wipe these from my brain, for the most part. There were only a few tolerable episodes.

-Rick & Morty (Season 5), Adult Swim

 I've seen all the previous seasons, and I remember season 5 episode 1 dropped when I was on vacation in Hawaii and I couldn't sleep at night because my dad was snoring too loud. I was curled up in the bathtub trying to get comfy and watched what I thought was the best episode of Rick and Morty in years. I was genuinely really satisfied with this season and am not losing my invigoration for the show in ways other fans might be dropping off. I think it remains fantastic.

-Bridgerton (Season 1), Netflix

I initially forgot this one since it was the beginning of 2021! But omg I was obsessed with the sex, the romance, and the outfits. It's a period piece but overtly sexy and I'm here for it.

Started and Incomplete Television

-Jojo's Bizarre Adventure (Season 1), Netflix

This is one of my boyfriend's favorite shows of all-time, and I have been watching it as a bonding activity between us. I'm on season 2 currently (or part 2 rather, which I guess is still season 1...) and it is wild. I feel like I'm on some kind of substance when I'm watching this. It's so colorful and... confusing... but I weirdly like it because it truly disengages me from the world.

-America's Next Top Model (Seasons 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 19 & 20), Hulu (originally CW)

Okay, this show has saved me in graduate school. I used to never really watch reality or competition tv because there's no plot, and yet now this has become my go-to stress relief show. I think by the very nature of it being reality tv makes it so that I can turn my brain off from analyzing and interpreting, and just purely enjoy. I used to watch this show when I was much younger because my mom would just have it on the television so it also activates a very strong sense of nostalgia. And I truly love fashion and modeling. On an admittedly really emotionally low day, I just randomly put one episode on Netflix. I then immediately got hooked, watched all of the Netflix episodes, and then went to Hulu and started over from season 1. I unironically love it.

-Too Hot to Handle (Season 1), Netflix

This also goes in the bucket of stress-relief shows that, outside of the context of grad school melting my brain, I wouldn't normally watch. My friend introduced it to me when we were on vacation together in Utah and I just got curious. It's interesting to see who are considered to be the "hottest" people in the world and how that compares to my own attractions, as well as wondering how well I would do in this setting knowing that I'm always horny haha. It's a helpful decompressor, but I'm not hooked the same way I am to America's Next Top Model.

-American Horror Story (Seasons 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, & 8), Netflix (originally FX)

 Aaaand this is the television show that defined so much of my 2021! I have always held an interest in American Horror Story due to Ryan Murphy's involvement, its reputation as quality horror, and the number of times it's referenced by my favorite YouTubers Dan & Phil. The thing was, I could never actually dare watch it because it'd be too gory and frightening to watch alone. I never even considered taking the leap to watch until my roommate suggested watching season 1 together, "Murder House," and it was one of the most incredible horror storytelling experiences I have ever had, but it was HORRIFYING. It gave my poor roommate nightmares and she refused to watch other seasons with me. But I got my boyfriend hooked as well and we've been making our way through the show together. I will only watch with him in the room because the gore haunts me and I often need to close my eyes and have him tell me what's happening. There are still a few seasons we haven't watched, but season 8 "Apocalypse" really turned us off from the show because it was truly awful. One day I want to watch all of them and provide my ranking for all of the different seasons and analyses for each, because they are such unique stories. So far my favorite is probably "Freak Show!" Evan Peters is hot as hell in all the seasons though.

New, and Up-to-date Podcasts:

-Scene on Radio: The Repair (Season 5), Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University

I've written my reviews on past seasons of Scene on Radio, and generally speaking, it is my favorite podcast. Every season is focused on such a overwhelmingly large topic - racism, patriarchy, democracy... there's no possible way to cover all that needs to discussed in short, 10 season episodes. But they are great introductions to new outlooks on the world. Instead of looking at Black or female oppression, how do we see Whiteness? How do we see Men? What I loved about this season was that it gave me an entirely new outlook on climate change beyond environmental science. Climate change was explored through a social justice lens of environmental racism, environmental health, power, colonization, and imperialism. Shifted my entire view of the climate crisis and makes a lot more sense.