Hi,
Welcome back to Continue Watching! It’s been a minute since we spoke to each other. Is it starting to get cold where you are? Have you started rewatching fall favourites like Gilmore Girls? Have you been keeping up with the insane TV schedule where it seems like a new must-watch show is dropping every single day? We’re supposed to be making our way through Peak TV in this newsletter so we’re very excited but also very exhausted.
That explains why we completely missed watching the new season of The Morning Show! Season 1 had its issues but we definitely wanted to watch more, especially with Alicia Florrick, sorry, Julianna Margulies, joining the cast. We’ve seen a lot of disappointed chatter about the season, though, so maybe this was the universe’s way of saving us the trouble? We did, however, watch all of Only Murders In The Building, a charming show that had a subpar finale. We hated it and our friends hated it but every TV critic seemed to love it! We don’t know what’s more upsetting. Did you watch it? Did you think it wrapped up well? There’s only one correct answer to that last question!
We also (of course) watched Squid Game and got obsessed with it immediately. We’re both learning Korean so it was super frustrating for us to know that the subtitles weren’t doing the show justice. Kashika watched it with her brother, who hates subtitles, so she had to watch the English dubbed version, both horrifying and disappointing Shahana at the same time.
What else did we watch? OH, FUCKING YOU (this is a strange sentence, we acknowledge that). Man, that show. WTF was this season? We couldn’t even form coherent thoughts after the finale, something you will see very clearly in Kashika’s part of the newsletter where she writes her hysterical thoughts about the show.
Shahana, rightfully, didn’t care to spend any more mental energy on You than she had while watching it, so she’s writing on We Are Lady Parts, a show about a five Muslim women in a punk band. Yep, you read that right.
Now, because peak TV doesn’t rest for anyone, here’s what we’re watching right now.
CURRENTLY WATCHING
Kashika
BTS In The Soop (season 1): This is a vacation-reality show starring the seven loves of my life from the K-POP band BTS. They go to some remote-ass place in Korea for a week where they just…cook, eat, play with blocks(!), play ping pong, have heart-to-hearts, and vibe. If it sounds like nothing happens, that’s because nothing happens. I like constant movement and action in my TV shows, so this was definitely a little slow for me, but, mostly watching seven besties chill together for an entire week with no responsibilities made me miss my friends with the kind of fierceness that scares me. A lot of BTS fans describe the show as soothing, but I found it the opposite of that because it made me realise that (a) I can’t have any of these men, and (b) I can’t even meet my friends right now. This is the season from last year and I hadn’t watched it, so when season two came out earlier this month, I decided to go back to finish the first one quickly. Seasons 1 and 2 are streaming on WeVerse, but can be found on Dailymotion.
Bigg Boss 15: I know, I know, but having Bigg Boss on TV every night at 10.30 for four months centers me in a way few things can. This season is surprisingly fun from the beginning and I already have a favourite (Karan Kundra), but I did not expect to dislike Shamita Shetty! Impressive how annoying she can be. There are a lot of ex-Splitsvilla and Love School peeps here who are always the real MVPs of any season. I have been having some bonkers days but they always end with Bigg Boss on TV. What a blessing. Streaming on VOOT and airing on Colors.
—
Shahana
American Crime Story: Impeachment: Season 1, which was based on the OJ Simpson trial was great, and Season 2, based on Gianni Versace’s shooting, was boring. Impeachment, which follows the Clinton–Lewinsky scandal, is middling. The narrative around the scandal has changed plenty, but the show isn’t saying anything new. Monica Lewinsky is an executive producer on the show and it’s been two whole decades since this happened, so I assumed there would be a more nuanced conversation on gender and power. It’s not bad, but I can’t help but wish it said and did more. Streaming on Disney+ Hotstar.
One of Us Is Lying: Based on a novel by Karen M. McManus, this is a teen show that falls in the genre of murders-and-mysteries-that-follow-young-and-attractive-teens that are fun to watch if you like that sort of thing. Five students go into detention, and one of the kids dies from a sudden allergic reaction. The remaining four all had motive to kill him, and once it’s ruled that the death was not an accident but a homicide, an investigation is opened. It’s following the typical road shows from this genre usually take. I’m sure I’ll be surprised at the end when I find out who did it, but I’m not going to be staring at the screen with bated breath trying to catch every clue. Not streaming anywhere.
I realise the above two are middling watches, so here’s a few more things I’m also watching: Season 2 of The Baby-Sitters Club (meant to warm my heart, does warm my heart), The Lost Symbol (featuring a young Robert Langdon, because young is supposedly sexy, as if Tom Hanks was anything but), season 3 of Nancy Drew (some of the mysteries are supernatural and George has a literal ghost living inside her), Hwarang (Kashika and the Internet warned me it’s not good, but it’s a period K-drama so obviously I’m going to watch it), and Succession (YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAS).
We’re happy that we’re landing in your inbox on a Saturday, because God knows we all need a break. We hope you have a chill weekend and a happy Diwali!
Continue Watching (and reading!),
Kashika and Shahana
Have Muslim Women Ever Looked Like This on TV?
By Shahana
“Speak, for your lips are yet free;
Speak, for your tongue is still your own;
Your lissom body yours alone;
Speak, your life is still your own.”
–Speak, Faiz Ahmed Faiz
In an episode of We Are Lady Parts, Nida Manzoor’s comedy series about a Muslim women’s punk band, lead singer and bassist Saira (Sarah Kameela Impey) performs Speak, a poem by Pakistani poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz. It’s a quiet moment; Saira performs the poem at an open mic night to motivate and help lead guitarist Amina (Anjana Vasan) get over her stage fright. And yet, it feels loud and decidedly deliberate. In a world where Muslim women are defined by a narrative of struggle and silencing, whether that be our story or not, here was a show that did the exact opposite.
Watching a Muslim woman on screen usually means watching a series of stereotypes play out. Muslim woman are either trapped by their faith or the men in their lives, and are usually “saved” or “freed” when they remove the niqab or they’re able to leave the men behind. We Are Lady Parts does none of that. In another episode, all the members of the band pack themselves into a small car and I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles) by The Proclaimers’, a song difficult to not sing along to, starts playing. As the women get closer to the chorus, their joy builds; watching them be unabashedly themselves, in a way that Muslim women often are in life but rarely on screen, is the very essence of We Are Lady Parts.
Our meeting with the women of We Are Lady Parts begins with Amina. A straight-laced graduate student focused on finding herself a husband, Amina somehow manages to walk herself to a room with an electric guitar shoved in her hands and suddenly the lead guitarist of punk band named Lady Parts (the name is a cheeky homage to Pussy Riot, I assume). Amina’s introduction to the band is also our introduction to them: vocalist and guitarist Saira, drummer Ayesha (Juliette Motamed), bassist and vocalist Bisma (Faith Omole), and band manager Momtaz (Lucie Shorthouse). Saira, brash and loud, works at a halal butcher shop by day and wrestles with thoughts of whether committing to her boyfriend means sacrificing her ideals by night. Bisma, when she’s not raising her daughter and shutting her husband up when he says something stupid, draws a comic about a “group of women who all become homicidal maniacs when they’re on their period.” Ayesha, surly and grumpy, drives an Uber and blasts loud metal music to drown out rude customers. Momtaz, who wears a niqab allegedly because she’s in hiding, is a Type A manager who uses marketing skills learned while selling lingerie to hype up the band. Are any of these women “typical” Muslim women who need “saving” and “find” it through their love of music? Absolutely not. Does We Are Lady Parts give itself an out by not addressing their faith at all? Once again, absolutely not. Every character on the show is multifaceted: Amina is obsessed with getting married and hangs out with more conservative friend Noor (Aiysha Hart) who counsels on her “keeping it halal,” but deals with being rejected by her crush with a ripping guitar solo as she sings about Bashir With a Good Beard (frankly, a bop) and Ayesha, cold and no-nonsense, all but melts when a pretty influencer bats her eyelashes at her. Manzoor simply lets them be, making no special effort to comment on the varying degrees of their faith, but weaving it in so naturally that namaaz interrupting a band practice feels perfectly normal. Manzoor reminds us in every scene that fulfillment looks different for everyone, and each of these women find it in their own ways, separately and together. Their varying ethnicities and levels of religious observance are never commented on; the women come together because of their love of music and they accept each other for who they are because all women are different, and so are all Muslim women.
For the women of Lady Parts, being Muslim isn’t incidental; it forms their identity and their cultural references, evident in the songs they sing—Voldemort Under My Headscarf and Ain’t No One Gonna Honour Kill My Sister But Me—but it doesn’t alienate them from anyone who isn’t Muslim, just like it doesn’t alienate us from watching characters go to church or to a temple. We’re also very aware that these women don’t live in some sort of magical utopia so removed from reality that no one makes assumptions about them, just because Manzoor doesn’t. Ayesha gets asked by white boys how she’s allowed out of the house, Amina juggles her punk rocker self and “good Muslim girl” persona because she’s afraid her other friends will judge her, and they all get written about as being “Bad Girls of Islam” even though they’re not. Misogyny and Islamophobia exist in their world, but what makes We Are Lady Parts different is that their stories aren’t defined by it. Amina and Saira are almost poles apart—the former has an extremely supportive family and plenty of friends, and volunteers for her local mosque’s fundraising event. The latter is lonely, mourning the loss of a sibling, and has none of the support that Amina does. And yet, it is obvious that both women belong to the same community. Saira still greets her elders with a salaam and turns to prayer when she struggles. I don’t clearly identify with any one character on this show, and I’m not even a practicing Muslim, but even I say “Khuda Hafiz” to my mother when I hang up and greet relatives with “Salaam aleikum.” When writing about Muslim women, popular culture tends to make us all look like a monolith, but Manzoor gives these women interests, hobbies, and problems that have nothing to do with their faith while giving them the freedom to follow and express their religion they way they want to.
If there is conflict on the show, it comes from the women trying to reconcile the different parts of who they are and understanding that there is space to be everything. Amina’s desperation to find a husband is made evident in the first scene, but so is the fact that her parents couldn’t care less. There are few things more refreshing than watching Muslim parents who aren’t as religiously upright as their daughter but support her being however she is. Amina’s parents have some of the best lines on the show, (“Who’s marrying a Jihadi?”) whether they’re outing their daughter’s non-halal love of music to prospective suitors or flirting with her date, but they’re also such typical parents that you can’t help but think of and miss your own. It is, however, Amina’s pastel hijab-wearing friend Noor, whose judgement she’s so afraid of. Noor is closer to the traditional idea of Muslim women that we’re most likely to see, but once again, Noor’s faith isn’t the point of contention between her and Amina—it’s Noor’s judgement at the things Amina loves. While the women’s stories might revolve around making decisions over which parts of themselves they want to be true to, their faith is never one they have to question or compromise on. Faith is deeply personal, no matter what one believes in, and by not making her characters question it, Manzoor achieves something truly revolutionary.
In an interview to Digital Spy, Manzoor said, “I felt that Muslim women—brown and black women—have often been shown in quite a serious light, or just something quite solemn, especially with Muslim women and how they're portrayed as oppressed and victims. My experience, and my friends', is that of joy and fun and silliness. I just really wanted to bring that into it.” In We Are Lady Parts, Manzoor allows for a nuanced discussion of faith, feminism, and identity—and Muslim women deserve to be seen this way, in all our complexities.
Shows mentioned:
We Are Lady Parts - PLEASE get creative and find it ⭐⭐⭐⭐
70 Manic Thoughts I Had While Watching The Bonkers Season 3 Of ‘You’
By Kashika
I have read all 3 You books. The first one was great, the second one was boring, and the third one was intolerable. I have now also watched all 3 seasons of You. The first one was good, the second one was boring, and the third one (which completely deviates from the book), is equal parts boring and batshit insane. This show has already been renewed for season 4, but after reading my manic thoughts about season 3, you’ll know why I should probably stay away from it.
PS: These thoughts were written real-time.
Wow I have forgotten every detail about season 2.
OMG Cassidy Diamond from Search Party is here as Sherry the influencer!!!!!!!!!
JOE OMG NO
Halfway into episode one and I am SO BORED
This Natalie woman is like if Beck was 20 years older and married to a rich dude.
Boring boring BORING
Joe and Natalie kiss, whatever.
LOVE NO OMG
Shook by how quickly Natalie was killed.
Question: is Love a bigger psycho than Joe?
I am a big fan of Victoria Pedretti, who plays Love on edge so well that you feel like if you touch her she will combust.
I’m sorry this therapist really reminds me of someone but WHO?
Blah blah blah marriage whatever I don’t careeeeeeeeee go murder someone else.
Is this child flirting with Love?
Are we supposed to care about the librarian?
Who the fuck is Ellie?
THE TEETH JOE FUCK
Measles? So random.
Gil is anti-vax. Very on the nose, okay.
LOVE NO OMG
Is Gil dead?
Is this supposed to be…are they saying that...WHAT ARE THEY SAYING?
GIL NO OMG
EXCUUUUUUUUUUUUUUSE ME
They’re framing Gil for Natalie’s murder.
NO
HAIN???????????
The librarian is suddenly into Joe.
Honestly, a smart capable woman falling for a legit psychopath is the most relatable this show has ever been.
WHO DOES THIS THERAPIST REMIND ME OF?
LOVE NO OMG
That boy is a TEENAGER don’t sleep with him.
PREGNANCY TEST?
Probably best to have more babies than the number of people you’ve killed.
Lolllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll the teen is trying to woo Love with the boombox thing.
WOW OKAY FUCK
Oh I have that exact same ring light!
But why do they need a ring light in the sun?
Is the librarian also shady?
No, she’s just a mess.
Whoa whoa whoa
JOE OMG
WTF IS HAPPENING EVERYONE IS CHEATING ON EVERYONE ELSE
LOLLLLLLLLLLL this shit is bananas B-A-N-A-N-A-S
Shit’s getting boring again
IS SHERRY HITTING ON LOVE?
Love killed her first husband?????????
Also I did not remember that Love was married before.
I’m sorry what’s happening are we supposed to care about Joe and Love’s marriage?
They’ll have a foursome with Sherry and Cary?????????
No one’s died in a while I am bored.
WHAT IS HAPPENING THERE’S REALLY A FOURSOME
WHAT THE FUCK
OMG THEY HEARD ABOUT THE MURDER
Sherry and Cary are now in the cage
Calling it that they will make it out alive Cassidy is a QUEEN
Joe murdered librarian’s ex but his murders are now boring compared to Love’s.
Is Theo going to save Sherry and Cary or is he also gonna die?
Love wants to have another baby 2 seconds after killing Theo.
Love knows that Joe cheated on her.
LOllllllllllllllll she poisoned him
TEEN IS NOT DEAD
Oh librarian’s gonna die
Oh her kid saves her.
“Two-faced vanilla pieces of shit”
Exile, THE BEST SONG FROM FOLKLORE, is playing.
IS JOE GONNA CUT OFF HIS TOES?
He burnt his house to the ground with Love in it.
Oh he’s in Paris now and is looking for the librarian.
Honestly this would have been the perfect series finale but ugh.
Shows mentioned:
You - Netflix⭐⭐⭐
RECOMMENDATIONS
We get so many requests for TV show recs from friends, so we’ll get to them here in every issue.
Asking for a friend who wants a good period show and I know one of you is obsessed with them. My friend wants something that’s set “The Tudors-ish or around that time or older” and has lots of drama and maybe romance.
Medici follows the Medici family (if the name sounds familiar, it might be because of Catherine de Medici, one of the most famous queens of France), who started out as wool merchants and moved on to banking, growing influential enough to become the bankers of the Pope. The first season sees the head of the family Giovanni de' Medici (Dustin Hoffman) and his son and successor Cosimo de' Medici (Richard Madden) bribe and manipulate their way into the Church as well as their vision for bringing about the Renaissance in Florence. Seasons 2 and 3 follow the life of Cosimo’s grandson Lorenzo de' Medici, known as the Magnificent, who Niccolo Machievalleli based his work The Prince on, and under whose patronage artists like Botticelli, da Vinci, and Michelangelo thrived. As is par for the course, romance and political intrigue abound, wars are fought, the good guys die, and bad things happen to both good and bad people. Medici boasts of a great cast: Sean Bean, Bradley James, Sarah Parish, Daniel Sharman, Annabel Scholey all feature in major roles; visually, it’s a great show with some scenes looking like they’re straight out of a Renaissance painting. A good watch for the weekend, if you’re looking for something to binge on in one go.
Streaming on Netflix.
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