Over the course of this school year, I had the pleasure of falling into the eternal pit of entertainment through television. With so many shows debuting, closing or pumping out new seasons for money, it is hard to choose a favorite. However, if you happen to procrastinate on studying, I’d recommend these.
“Percy Jackson and the Olympians”
“Percy Jackson and the Olympians” is an action-adventure show based on the Percy Jackson books. In the show, Percy and his friends Annabeth and Grover go on a quest throughout the U.S. to find the stolen lightning bolt and return it to Zeus. As they travel, they meet common characters and stories in Greek mythology. At moments, this show was a little too childish and predictable. I couldn’t take the villains seriously, and I was very annoyed at the entire Sally-Percy storyline because it was low-hanging fruit. I expected better of such an amazing book series. However, there are some extremely enjoyable scenes. Overall, the show stayed accurate to the books, and I am very excited to watch more seasons. I was impressed with the casting of the show, especially the main stars Walker Scobell, Leah Jeffries and Aryan Simhadri. Hopefully, as they grow their acting will continue to improve so they can truly flesh out their characters. I expect later seasons to be more mature and action-driven like the books, so I am thrilled to see further seasons.
“Queen Charlotte”
“Queen Charlotte” is a prequel to the popular series “Bridgerton,” and it follows the early life of Queen Charlotte and her clinically-insane-but-loving husband King George. The romance wasn’t tacky, the comedic scenes were hilarious and the dark moments sent shivers down my spine. This show is truly a masterpiece through its professional direction, production and writing. “Queen Charlotte” used montages in a way perfectly reflecting the character’s mood, and it showed the same scene twice with different inflections. The way Shonda Rhimes — the show’s primary creator — manipulates the story to suit one character’s view glued me to the couch. I binge-watched the entire thing in well over six magnificent hours. This show made me look at the characters in Bridgerton in a different light, especially Brimsley. His role was show-stopping, and I loved the LGBTQIA+ representation he brought into the show. Even though this show left me with a Reynolds-shaped hole in my heart, I am ecstatic to see how the next season of “Bridgerton” connects with “Queen Charlotte.”
“Rick and Morty”
“Rick and Morty” is an adult sci-fi cartoon that tells the story of genius Rick Sanchez and his grandson, Morty, on their adventures throughout the multiverse. However, this season focuses more on Rick and Morty’s development. The first five episodes focus on Rick, but episodes seven through 10 concentrate on Morty. Rick’s episodes focus on his struggle to remain superior to other characters as they desperately fight to be seen in Rick’s shadow. Each episode slowly focuses less on Rick which juxtaposes Morty’s yearning for Rick’s attention and Evil Morty’s independence. The sixth episode acts as a transition by continuing the long-standing tradition of a clip show episode. Rick and Morty fight near the beginning, but resolve fast as they have found a common enemy through a series of seemingly improvised clips. Morty’s episodes showcase his desire to be a morally correct team player. Even though his episodes rarely include Rick, Morty longs to find companionship in other characters. This codependency has been seen countless times throughout this series, and I expect season eight to focus almost entirely on Morty gaining independence. The last episode is the first step toward this through Morty’s adventure of conquering fear without Rick, and my favorite of the season.
“Letterkenny”
“Letterkenny” is a Canadian sitcom whose final season aired in December 2023, and it tells the story of the citizens of Letterkenny through a fast and witty narration from the town’s self-proclaimed “hicks.” This show’s best aspect is its writing. Sure, it’s an acquired taste — it’s filled with very excess profanity and Canadian slang — but the dialogue is poetic and has excellent vocabulary. Each character has their own catchphrase, accent, speed of talking, slang and level of vocabulary which leads to clever interactions between characters of different social cliques. I’m sad to see this show end, but I thought the ending was heartbreaking and sweet, which is hard to accomplish for a show with a large — like a ridiculously extravagant number the English language doesn’t contain enough words to describe — amount of profanity.
