Everything I watched to completion in 2023 so far according to my Netflix history and how I feel about it in one sentence or less (or more)
Here I go again on my own, three quarters of the way into 2023
With some spoilers.
1/6: Ginny & Georgia Season 2
Season 2 delivers on the Cute and definitely continues to riff on and subvert the classic Gilmore Girls tropes, but what is with the super murdery elements of this show? I can’t contend with the literal on screen murder given the tone of the rest of the season. Someone help. Lorelei Gilmore could never?
1/7: The Mindy Project Season 1
I learned two things upon this rewatch: 1. Some of these jokes DID NOT AGE WELL so proceed with caution. 2. Mindy Kaling knows how to style any man to make him instantly thirty percent hotter. And that folks, is talent.
1/16: The Mindy Project Season 2
Genuinely surprised that I took an entire nine days to watch season one. Danny and Mindy (SPOILER, but it’s been like ten years so grow up) kiss this season so this is arguably the climax of the show. After this, the cast peddles along for another four seasons. Look, I’m not mad at it because I’m a fan of all the boyfriend material and brightly colored dresses but you’ll never beat season 2, you just won’t.
1/18: The Mindy Project Season 3
Lol, I finished season 2 in two days! That’s how you know it was a good one. Season 3 unfortunately suffers from Zach Morris/Kelly Kapowski sydnrome: now that they’re together, what will we do? In this case, there’s a whole secret dating subplot happening and as a romance author, fine, I can get on board, but it feels both premature and too convenient. I’m acting weirdly cavalier about this show but it’s probably one of my fave sitcoms of all times. I mean, I didn’t know short king Chris Messina was hot until The Mindy Project so thank you for your service, Mindy.
1/21: The Mindy Project Season 4
Three days later, lol. In my defense, I had COVID during this binge run and The Mindy Project is a comfort show and I suspect I was asleep for most of it. Anyway, Danny’s character leaves halfway through this season and it just didn’t sit right with my soul, also there are some QUESTIONABLE blind items about Mindy Kaling floating around during this time period. Hope they aren’t true!
1/22: The Mindy Project Season 5
I’m sorry, excuse me, what? How are there even enough hours in one single day for me to watch AN ENTIRE NETWORK SEASON IN ONE TWENTY FOUR HOUR PERIOD??? Anyway, by this point, they’ve phased out Danny and completely assassinated his character anyway. But the Mindy cast always had a really deep bench of players so I was still watching despite the dwindling love interests and la-di-da marriage/divorce plot lines that seemed to transpire within the blink of an eye.
1/23: The Mindy Project Season 6
Your girl did it again. Another whole season in one day. I should receive an award for dedication. Anyway, the sixth season is fine. Danny and Mindy end up together but at what cost? Mixed feelings and a mixed bag. Still one of my fave shows ever.
1/26: Bling Empire: New York
OMG! SO MUCH better than the original Bling Empire. Tina is my queen. When she cries, I cry. I want everything she wears and we should all live our lives eating snacks in bed without a man in sight.
2/15: You: Season 4
The fourth season of You had a lofty task on its hands. After so many murderous jaunts, where could Joe possibly turn at this point? I think the writers did a good job of evolving Joe into his most evil final form by having him inffiltrate circles of obscene wealth and then ultimately (SPOILER) marrying and becoming a billionaire. The real villains. The final bosses of evil.
2/17: Your Place or Mine
It’s the Reese Witherspoon/Ashton Kutcher joint exactly no one asked for. With Hollywood so rife with cheating and adultery, I was almost relieved they had no chemistry. Like I appreciated the chaste respect these characters (and perhaps the actors) displayed for one another. Still, the writing was cute and the story was kind-spirited.
3/23: Heartbreak High
A fairly nuanced, diverse, and perhaps overly raunchy high school dramedy coming out of Australia. The main conflict of the show is between two female best friends which will always pull me in as a viewer. In classic Empire Records fashion, one of those female best friends shaves off all her hair. This is a canon event, we cannot interfere.
3/31: Wellmania
Another Australian show starring Celeste Barber (a very 2015 Instagram choice). This show was a neat and tidy binge watch, Celeste’s character is a fairly new archetype: messy, female anti-hero with chaotic ambition and sparkly clothes. I watched it all in one day. Plus! We see the return of Alexander Hodge! One of my fave Insecure boyfriends.
4/8: BEEF
I love a low stakes inciting incident and I can really appreciate a When-A-Butterfly-Flaps-It’s-Wings kind of plot development that has you gripping your computer chair arm rests in frustration. But my delicate constitution just couldn’t take the self destructing heat of this show. Beef is objectively good and Ali Wong and Steven Yeun are two very complex dichotomous characters, but I can’t stand to watch people destroy their lives, even in a dark comedy woven with socio-political commentary kind of way. There’s a reason I write romcoms.
4/15: Obsession
EL OH FUCKING EL YALL. EL OH FUCKING EL. Erotic thrillers are so nineties coded which makes sense because this limited series was based on the 1991 novel Damage by Josphine Hart. I could write a fucking DISSERTATION on this show. Like, I could write exactly ten thousand pages about how if you changed approximately half a thing about the plot it would become an over-wrought SNL skit. Anyway, Richard Armitage fucks a pillow. Moving on.
4/23: Indian Matchmaking: Season 3
I keep watching this show but do we love Sima Aunty or do we regard her with skeptical-eyed caution? Every episode seems to beg this question. I’m white, so I can’t speak to this, and I’ll defer to the opinion of the group who matters, but look, I watch every ep this show drops.
4/27: John Mulaney Baby J
Luckily for me, I never hold onto the notion that celebrities are somehow good people. At the same time, I don’t love supporting this particular genre of male comedian because it feels like I’m betraying my inner most self. Despite all this and more, John Mulaney is, in my begrudging and spiteful and hateful opinion, one of, if not the best, stand up comedians of the past ten years. I know, I think I should be jailed for this opinion as well.
4/27: Firefly Lane: Season 2
I cried and I resented it. Directorially, this show leans into it’s soapy, women’s fic roots, so, I expected nothing less. Still, kind of wish I’d never seen it.
6/3: Valeria Season 3
This Spanish dramedy delivers on a few things: sex, female friendship, and graphic print satin business suits. What can I say? I love it.
6/4: The Ultimatum: Queer Love
Without question the best of all the Ultimatum seasons (and I’ve watched them all), but I think I’m traumatized from the reunion. I think we’re all traumatized from the reunion.
6/5: XO, Kitty: Season One
Leagues ahead of its predecessor in every way. I love that this KDrama structured YA dramedy subverts expectation at every turn. Honestly, can’t wait for the next season.
6/9: You Do You
A cute but ultimately forgettable Turkish romcom where the male lead is a gutless psychopath.
6/10: Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story
It’s hard not to like this Bridgerton based mini-series when India Armarteifio and Corey Mlychreest are such compelling leads.
6/10: Never Have I Ever: Season 4
The thing I love most about this series—and I love a lot about this series—is that Devi is such a fuck up but she gets (and deserves) a happy ending. Long Live the loveable female fuck up with a happy ending.
6/11: The Fabulous
This was an edgier KDrama than most and it did it’s job just fine. Also, Park Hee-jung might possibly be the most beautiful human to walk this planet???
6/17: Mae Martin: SAP
I’ve been a Mae Martin fan for years and will watch anything they produce. SAP is quirky, heartfelt, original, navel-gazey in all the right ways, elite tier stand up. Loved it.
6/23: Glamorous
Starring an effervescent Miss Benny and a Just Like That-less Kim Cattrall, Glamorous is everything we could’ve wanted for Ugly Betty in 2023. Honestly, I live for the camp and I live for the glamour. Love Live The Queen (Samantha Jones).
7/3: Celebrity
Another slighty edgy KDrama where the riches to rags lead character becomes Instagram famous by (at first) amassing 2000 followers. Lol. This was fine. This show felt like 2012.
7/8: The Perfect Find
Gabrielle Union looks absolutely stunning in this age-gap, enemies’ son, fancy new york magazine job related romcom.
7/10: Insecure, Season 2
Uh oh, here we go. My Insecure rewatch. I’m a little scared to see how fast I barrel through these. For some reason, I started with season 2.
7/15: Survival of the Thickest
Michelle Buteau plays body positive stylist Mavis Beaumont who follows her independent dreams after her hot/rich but trifling photographer boyfriend cheats on her. This show was so, so, so heartfelt, funny, and adorable.
7/22: Insecure, Season 5
Okay, I realize I watched the rest of Insecure on an incognito browser and somehow Netflix didn’t record the history but I watched the whole series in twelve days. Insecure makes me laugh, cry, cringe and covet the fashion and lives of all the women on the show. I have a soft spot for every character (EXCEPT FOR YOU LAWRENCE)
8/5: Fisk, Season 1
Wry, beige, and surprisingly sweet, I fucking adored this show! Fisk follows the journey of Helen, a recently divorced and recently unemployed attorney, who takes a job at an estates planning firm. I really thought this show would be low-key mean spirited and preoccupied with drawing out our characters every failure and pain, but no. It’s actually pretty optimistic and earnest. Wish there were more seasons available.
I started reading your list and thought "When I'm done I must recommend Fisk" ... and there it was!