Hi,
Welcome back to Continue Watching! Our small hiatus was slightly longer than anticipated, because our head is empty of any and all thoughts right now. The few things we can maybe remember are related to our jobs, and that is the most we can manage. This is not to say that we aren’t watching TV, we’re just not stopping to think about what we’re watching. Because if we do, we’ll have to worry about why our brains constantly feel like jelly.
In keeping with the heads empty theme, we are not writing essays for this issue, but bringing you a snapshot of what our minds look like these days. We’re both watching more shows than we can handle, and while we’re analysing none of them, we want to talk to you about ALL of them. So, we’re giving you a short review of literally everything we’re watching right now to tell you whether to watch them or ditch them!
We’ve also finished Inventing Anna, which was disappointing in ways we couldn’t have imagined. If anyone could have made a fun show about a scam artist, it was Shonda Rhimes, but this one was a drag. Also, we want to be given less financial jargon to deal with while watching TV (cc: Gehraiyaan). The worst part about the show? It briefly made Kashika want to double down on her journalism career, which is good for neither her peace nor pocket.
As you can see, things are dark in this corner and we can only handle low-stakes shows (and IRL events) right now. Today is also the Euphoria finale, which we are thankful for, because we cannot spend another Monday morning worrying about imaginary teens. They are going through it, but so are we! We wanted to come back to this space regardless of our questionable state of mind because you continue to be the bright spark in our lives. We wish you strength to get through another week!
Continue Watching (and reading!),
Kashika and Shahana
Everything Kashika Is Watching Right Now (Yes, At The Same Time)
The Fame Game
Madhuri Dixit plays superstar Anamika Anand who goes missing one day. There’s an overbearing momager, a shady husband, a shadier ex, and the shadiest kids—all of whom are currently suspects. There are blink-and-you-miss-them glimpses of Madhuri dancing, which is reason enough to watch anything, but it’s an overall engaging watch. It also makes me very sad for all actors, their lives seem like hell.
Watch It or Ditch It: Watch it
Where: Netflix
Love Is Blind 2
Listen. The first season of Love Is Blind was the gold standard of reality TV. I think this season will top that. It’s clear the makers tried to get a more diverse cast this time, but their real victory lies in managing to get people who have the deadest eyes in the world. Just mute your TV and watch one scene and you’ll know what I’m talking about. They have clearly made deals with the devil to find love on this show.
Watch It or Ditch It: Watch it
Where: Netflix
Euphoria
I wanted to opt out of season two when it began because I wasn’t sure I could take the intense sadness and fucked up-ness of these teens. But I was getting highkey FOMO every Monday so I went back to it. This season has definitely been more entertaining but I am now old enough to want to slap then hug all these stupid children and tell them to GET A GRIP.
Watch It or Ditch It: Watch it
Where: Disney+ Hotstar
How I Met Your Father
Only my love for Hilary Duff (and her rings) is making me watch this lukewarm spinoff of How I Met Your Father. On paper, it’s the perfect low stakes sitcom but it has absolutely no heart or charm. The friendships are forced, the Ted-Robin version of this show is going nowhere and has no chemistry, and the writing is bland.
Watch It or Ditch It: Ditch it
Where: Disney+ Hotstar
Abbott Elementary
Everyone on the internet is in love with this show for a reason. Even though star and creator Quinta Brunson’s character Janine has very obvious Leslie Knope vibes, the characters are funny and fully-formed, the kids are delightful, and the heart of the show — that if you’re passionate about your job, you make the best of whatever resources you’ve been given — hits me exactly where it hurts.
Watch It or Ditch It: Watch it
Where: Disney+ Hotstar
This Is Us
I’m glad this is the last season because it’s gotten boring and Milo Ventimiglia has very little to do now. It’s been a slow, meandering season and if I hadn’t stuck with this show for six years, I’d have ditched it already. Plus, Randall’s daughters make me want to scream into a pillow. WHO QUITS SCHOOL TO FOLLOW THEIR TEEN DAD BOYFRIEND TO HARVARD? Ooof.
Watch It or Ditch It: Watch it
Where: Disney+ Hotstar
Somebody Somewhere
What an unexpected blessing this little show has been. Only my friend Apoorva and I seem to be the ones watching it and we’re destroyed every week by its emotional beats and quiet moments of joy. I cannot explain in words what is special about this show, but it makes me feel like I’m not alone in my struggles of adjusting to a dysfunctional world as a dysfunctional adult.
Watch It or Ditch It: Watch it
Where: Disney+ Hotstar
Gilmore Girls (rewatch)
I turned 32 at the beginning of this month. Lorelai was 32, and Rory was 16, when Gilmore Girls started. I was 16 when I first discovered this show. I don’t know why, but this makes me feel some type of way. I started rewatching it on my birthday, and all its problems aside, it’s still my favourite, even if I cannot believe that Lorelai and I are now the same age.
Watch It or Ditch It: Watch it
Where: Netflix
Stranger Things (rewatch)
My brother is watching this for the first time, so I’m rewatching it with him. I have forgotten every single plot point except for the very basic premise of the show. I was as shocked as he was at every step. Also, the kids are literal babies in this season. I’m really betraying my age in all these show descriptions, aren’t I?
Watch It or Ditch It: Watch it
Where: Netflix
Everything Shahana Is Watching Right Now (Yes, At The Same Time)
Ragdoll
Six people have been murdered, dismembered, and then sewn into one grotesque body suspended from the ceiling of an apartment. DS Nathan Rose, DI Emily Baxter, and the unit’s new recruit Lake Edmunds are assigned to the case, but the Ragdoll killer, as they’re calling the murderer, sends them a list of his next victims—with Rose’s name on it too. A good ol’ detective thriller with a really interesting plot that just falls flat. The pacing is slow and Ragdoll wants us to focus on the partnership, similar to Broadchurch—but it has none of the heart. The dialogue just feels clunky and unnatural, and the entire show just falls flat.
Watch It or Ditch It: Ditch it.
Where: Get creative
The Afterparty
A high school reunion. An afterparty. A murder. Every episode is told from the perspective of a different character, and everyone tells it as if they’re the Main Character™, but they’re main characters in different genres! So every episode feels like a different show, and it’s smart, funny, and overall, a lot of fun. A murder mystery that’s also somehow a musical,
Watch It or Ditch It: Watch it.
Where: Apple TV+
The Woman in the House Across the Street
This was supposed to be a parody of the genre of shows and films spawned by Gone Girl. I was excited because the last time Netflix made a parody of a popular genre, they kicked it out of the park—I’m talking about American Vandal, watch that, for sure. This show doesn’t know if it wants to be a show about a woman with a dark, traumatic past who drinks to get over said trauma but then meets a handsome but mysterious stranger she wants to have sex with but her trauma gets in the way and also there’s a murder somewhere along the way—yeah this sounds ridiculous because the genre somehow does manage to incorporate all of that into it, but back to this show. It doesn’t know whether to make fun of it or be it. I don’t like it.
Watch It or Ditch It: Ditch it.
Where: Netflix
Archive 81
An archivist hired to restore a collection of tapes finds himself reconstructing the work of a filmmaker and her investigation into a dangerous cult. I copied the plot off of IMDB because I didn’t know how to describe it. There’s also a building full of people who belong to some sort of weird cult that wants to raise a demon. I didn’t like this show at all, because it starts out as a mystery, but then transitions into a horror sci-fi show, but doesn’t do either of them well.
Watch It or Ditch It: Ditch it.
Where: Netflix
Forecasting Love and Weather
Set in the Korea Meteorological Administration, this K-drama follows the work and love life of the people who work here—primarily Jin Ha Kyung, played by Park Min-young and Lee Shi Woo, played by Song Kang. Park Min-young is always great in a romcom and Song Kang is easy on the eyes—and the four episodes I‘ve seen seem really cute.
Watch It or Ditch It: Watch it.
Where: Netflix
Dollface, Season 2
Kat Dennings plays Jules, who is dumped by her longtime boyfriend, and then realises that she’s lost touch with all her female friends. She then proceeds to “literally and metaphorically re-enter the world of women, and rekindle the female friendships she left behind.” Season 1 was charming and quirky, but season 2 feels like it was written by an alien with no concept of female friendships.
Watch It or Ditch It: Watch/Ditch it. I’m kind of meh about it.
Where: Get creative
Starstruck, Season 2
You know the fanfiction trope where the “regular” character and the superstar fall in love, and they’re both very whipped for each other and they surmount the insurmountable troubles and live happily ever after? This is the adult version of that, with what comes after the happily-ever-after, with adult issues and normal, real-life problems. There’s big, romantic gestures, but what I LOVE about Rose Matafeo’s writing (she also plays the lead, Jessie) is that they’re so casual, relatable, and simple that you watch them and think, “Yeah, that could definitely be me!” My other favourite thing about Starstruck—Jessie's friendship with her roommate and best friend Kate is just so adorable, it makes me miss my best friends who are, sadly, in other cities. The casual way in which Kate calls Jessie out on her shit and then so lovingly puts a slice of toast in her mouth so she won’t go hungry made me physically miss my friends (please move to Delhi so I can lovingly shove toast in your mouth, you know who you are). In short, Starstruck is an absolutely adorable romcom with ordinary people that’ll leave you with the fuzziest feeling ever. Perfect for a good day and a bad day.
Watch It or Ditch It: Watch it.
Where: Get creative
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Season 4
Set sometime in the 1960s, Miriam Maisel, the perfect housewife and mother, gets left by her husband, gets drunk, and heads to a comedy club. She performs a monologue, realises she’s good at it and pursues it as a career. The snappy dialogue, family drama, and beautifully-developed characters makes it an engrossing watch, but Rachel Brosnahan fills Miriam with so much charm that it’s hard to stop watching. However, the previous season really grated on me because of the superficial social commentary and Miriam’s blindness to her privilege put a spotlight on how superficial the show is getting.
Watch It or Ditch It: Watch it.
Where: Amazon Prime Video
Thirty-Nine
I thought it would be a show about three 39-year-old friends living their life and going through things. It is far, far, heavier than that. At the end of the second episode, Son Ye-Jin’s character discovers something heartbreaking that is essentially the main plot of the show and starts crying so realistically, I started crying too. And I don’t cry a lot! If you want a K-drama that’s a little on the heavier side and will make you cry, but also make you miss your best friends and just love them more than you do, this is for you.
Watch It or Ditch It: Watch it.
Where: Netflix
How I Met Your Father
This is pretty straightforward, no one needs a plot. You know what the show is. Biggest difference, the jokes aren’t sexist because there’s no Barney-type person. I think it’s a timepass watch, and it’s been renewed for a second season, so I guess lots of people are watching it?
Watch It or Ditch It: Watch/Ditch it. Up to you.
Where: Disney+ Hotstar
Euphoria, Season 2
I don’t know why I’m still watching Euphoria. These kids are so messed up. How can everything be happening to them? At their age, me and my friends were making Harry Potter clubs and I lied to them about a new character named Icicle who’d be in the new book and also that she was somehow connected to a big secret—the secret was that Lily Potter is Voldemort’s daughter. I allegedly read it on the Internet which was new at the time so thankfully no one could verify it. These Euphoria kids need to stop having all this sex and drugs and focus on their homework.
Watch It or Ditch It: Friends, I don’t know why I’m watching it.
Where: Disney+ Hotstar
Snowdrop
Set during South Korea’s June 1987 Democracy Movement, Snowdrop follows a female university student who finds a blood-covered graduate student in her dorm room and hides him from the police. Obviously, a romantic relationship develops between them, but the guy is hiding a secret. THIS SHOW IS SO BORING. I watch a lot of shows a lot of people say are boring, and I’m SO BORED by this show. I did do a deep dive into South Korea’s democracy movement and learnt a lot, so at least it wasn’t a complete waste.
Watch It or Ditch It: Ditch it.
Where: Disney+ Hotstar
RECOMMENDATIONS
We get so many requests for TV show recs from friends, so we’ll get to them here in every issue.
I watched a few shows on Apple TV+ (The Afterparty, The Morning Show, Severance) that were plain and simple fun, instead of being a prestige show. I miss shows like this, that aim to just entertain, as opposed to these dark, broody shows that all look like they were written to be on the awards show circuit. Please help!
Pose. You need to watch Pose. Before Ryan Murphy lost his touch, he gave us Pose, a show that feels like you’re a fashion show, a character drama, and a soap opera, and a plot-driven show about the queer and gender-nonconforming community in ‘80s New York all at the same time.
Bolstered by exceptional performances by Mj Rodriguez, Indya Moore, Dominique Jackson, and Billy Porter, Pose is filled with a cast that is not only diverse, but also filled to the brim with talent. One of the hallmarks of a good Ryan Murphy show is how well he writes his characters, and Pose is no exception. Characters start out one way and evolve through the show in very believable ways, and they’re handled so well that you end up pressing play on each episode simply because you find yourself caring about them. This is a show that loves the characters and to tell their stories—both the good and bad guys. Another thing Pose really loves? To take you through every bit of the underground ball culture of the time. Pose welcomes you into the world, asking you to both experience it and learn from it—the way it frees you to be whoever you want to be that day and to truly feel alive in yourself when you celebrate who you are.
We hope you enjoyed reading this issue as much as we loved writing it. Please write to us if you have any feedback. We look forward to your emails, comments, tweets, and DMs with requests, criticism, recommendations, and anything else that you want to tell us. You can also follow us on Instagram here. And if you haven’t already, do subscribe!