Tuesday 11 December 2018

Top Ten Tuesday: TV shows I've been binging

Top Ten Tuesday is a feature hosted by the fabulous Jana at The Artsy Reader Girl. You can join in with future topics here!

This week is a freebie week, and given that when I'm not reading I spend far too much time watching tv shows, I thought it was an excellent time to talk about some of the shows that I'm loving at the moment.
Buckle up guys, if you've not discovered these shows yet, prepare to lose all your free time.

Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23
I put off watching this show for far too long, 1) because the title just didn't appeal and 2) the poster didn't exactly sell me. But then I was told (repeatedly) to watch it, and I thought I may as well give the pilot a shot. Confession: I snort laughed my way through the entire twenty minutes before going straight on to the second episode.
It just gets better the further in you get. If you need something funny and light, do yourself a favour and give this one a shot.

Marvel's: Jessica Jones (season 1)
Krysten Ritter showcases how versatile and talented she is with this sarcastic, dry, badass and brilliant superhero in Marvel's pantheon of TV heroes. The start of this season should come with a trigger warning, because some scenes are incredibly hard to watch. However it does ease slightly the further in you get, and becomes a really gripping and brilliant show to watch. Ritter is brilliant, and David Tennant's turn as villain 'Kilgrave' is an insanely glorious thing to watch. It's addictive and I loved it.



Homecoming
Intense, weird, and incredibly discomforting, this tv show is perfect binge material. Some may find the lack of discernible plot movement in the first few episodes to be a put off, but if you give this one a chance it definitely rewards. It's a slow burn, the kind of show that enjoys making you feel super paranoid without really knowing why or what's going on. It is so, so good, and really rewarding by the end.

The Good Place
I'll admit, until the latest episode "Janet(s)" (which is frankly one of the most glorious episodes of TV ever...) Season 3 hadn't thrilled me in the same way as the first two seasons. The show starts out as some quirky oddball comedy that feels pretty surface level and shallow. What follows over the next two seasons is a gloriously brilliant, complex and layered, snarkily funny weirdo of a show. And I mean that in the best possible way. There is nothing else on TV like this, and it is frequently laugh out loud funny. Every time you think you've hit peak insanity, The Good Place finds a whole new way to pivot, keeping the show fresh and brilliant.


Riverdale
This show keeps getting better. The idea of taking the Archie characters and making everything a lot darker is great. The cast is great. A lot of the plots are great (some not so much but we can forgive that). But the thing that really sells this show to me is the cinematography. Riverdale captures (in a way that no other show that I've been watching manages to) the slightly pulpy, stylized concept of comics. Some of the framing is down right breath taking, and they've really embraced it head on. Plus the flashback episode in Season 3 is pure tv GOLD. I will always love this show - from the neon pink and blue lighting, to the over enhanced colours of things like the school colours and Archie Andrews' hair, I adore the look and feel of this show and I dare you not to fall in love with it too. Go on, I'll wait.

Final Space
How dare this show. I started watching it expecting a quirky, funny, animated series. What I got was a quirky, funny, animated series, that FREQUENTLY SUCKER PUNCHES YOU IN THE FEELS.
But I love it.
It's a lot darker and has a lot more to it than I expected going in. It also has David Tennant as the baddie (I want video proof of him doing this voice please) and one of the sassiest, snarkiest scripts around. This one won't be for everyone, I've heard from a few people who struggled to engage because the protagonist is a bit of an ass sometimes - but I personally adored it and can't wait for the second series.

Queer Eye: More than a makeover
Oh this show. This show is everything we need right now. It's honest to goodness kindness and humanity and five wonderful people helping others become the best version of themselves. I can't fully express how much I love this show. I need more of it, two seasons is so not enough. It is chicken soup for the soul.

Nailed It!
Do you like baking shows? What about baking fails? Then this is the show for you! Watch people attempt to create truly insanely difficult cakes in not enough time, whilst learning some surprisingly helpful baking tips, and finding the entire thing hilarious rather than painfully cringeworthy. Honestly the best part of the show is the host Nicole, whom I adore, and I want to be when I grow up.
Light, half hour entertainment to give you a giggle after a long day. Plus, THE HOLIDAY SEASON IS NOW UP AND OH MY GOSH IT IS BRILLIANT.


The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina

Weird, bizarre, not at all like the 90s sitcom, this new version of Sabrina takes a bit of getting used to. But once let go of any pre-conceived ideas of what the show should be, it's a brilliant binge watch. It also helps to take some of it as the pure comedy gold I think it was intended as, rather than it all being super dark and serious. Either way, it's a great show to curl up under a blanket and binge your way through. Fair warning those who have arachnophobia, there's a scene in episode 1 (and another in episode 5) you're not going to want to watch. Just shut your eyes for a couple of minutes, the rest of the show is worth that brief horror.

A Discovery of Witches

I have mixed feelings about this one. On the one hand I loved the first book in this trilogy, and binge read it before the tv series hit our screens. On the other, I really didn't get along with the second book which put a dampener on my excitement. Conversely I really struggled with the first few episodes of the series, finding them contrived, and a slog to get through. But then suddenly the magic of binge watching, or the show getting better, or possibly my high fever whilst watching (who can say? It's a mystery!) meant that I loved the second half of the series. I stormed through it in one evening and found myself craving more and really excited for the second season. Bizarre, but enjoyable.

There you have ten of my currently binged shows, have you got any that you've been watching recently?

4 comments:

  1. We basically binged the same shows! Love this list!

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    1. Great taste! Glad you enjoyed these too!

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  2. I should tell my husband about Nailed It! He always loves watching cooking shows.

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    1. Nailed It is definitely not your average cooking show... I adore it, it always makes me smile!

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