My Covid-19 Watchlist!
For at least 3 months, most of us were locked in our homes, some for even longer. Even with daily zoom calls, I saw very little of the outside world until school started in August. In the meantime, I picked up a few TV shows since I had the time. Before I fully launch into my binge of cheesy Hallmark Christmas movies, I wanted to review my Lockdown binge must-sees!
NICS agents Ziva David and Tony DiNozzo
1. NCIS
Nope, not the actual Naval Criminal Investigative Service, the fictional TV show. Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs leads a group of colorful personalities in investigating crimes -- ranging from murder and espionage to terrorism -- that have evidence connected to Navy and Marine Corps personnel.
This is a tried and true show for me! I love Abby Sciuto, Tony, Mcgee, and of course the beloved Gibbs. I’ve recently introduced my little brother and found he loves it just as much as I do! I don’t know what first got me wrapped up in the investigative crime narrative. But it gets downright addicting for me, so it was perfect for lazy Sunday afternoons with the family! It’s also jumpstarted my love of true crime and podcasts, so more to come on that!
Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist on Hulu
2. Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist
I started watching the TV show Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist on NBC during this quarantine. It is the story of an introverted coder who finds herself transformed during an MRI in an earthquake. The impact of the earthquake results in songs from all the playlists on the technician’s computer entering her subconscious, as a result she hears people’s thoughts through song. The “superpower” allows her to hear coworkers, family members, and stranger’s deepest desires or concerns as ballads or elaborate dance numbers! She is able to communicate with her father who was diagnosed with a rare neurological disease, supranuclear palsy (PSP), less than a year before. Though he doesn’t speak, he can sing to her and she sees how he still feels about his family. Her friend and music enthusiast Moe, tells Zoey, “songs are all just an expression of our deepest wants and desires… Joy, pain, heartbreak, yearning, forgiveness, revenge.
The musician in me LOVES this concept, as well as the communicative value her “powers” gave her to empathize with other people. It’s not often you can watch a TV show that obviously has an unrealistic plot but still so far suspend your disbelief enough to still be captivated by the storytelling. The choreography by Mandy Moore, may have been my favorite part because of the way the movements naturally come out of everyday motions.
Aang the Avatar
3. Avatar the Last Airbender
I truly had never watched Avatar the Last Airbender before quarantine! If you don’t know, here is a brief synopsis. The world is divided into four nations -- the Water Tribe, the Earth Kingdom, the Fire Nation and the Air Nomads -- each represented by a natural element for which the nation is named. Benders have the ability to control and manipulate the element from their nation. Only the Avatar is the master of all four elements. The ruthless Fire Nation wants to conquer the world but the only bender who has enough power, the Avatar, has disappeared ... until now. Katara and Sokka discover that Aang is the long-lost Avatar. Now they must safeguard Aang on his journey to master all four elements and save the world from the Fire Nation.
First of all, I don’t know why I hadn’t watched this TV show before now! The storytelling is the best I’ve seen from a cartoon I think. The dialogue is still a mix of levity and drama, but with enough action in every scene to keep you hooked. There is also a rich depth of back story that makes this show stand head and shoulders above other cartoons.
Lily Collins in Emily in Paris on Netflix
4. Emily in Paris
Ok but, Lily Collins. I love her, love her and Ashley Park! (But did I mention it features Lily Collins??) I fell in love with this TV show and binged it in a matter of two days!!!
Chicago marketing executive Emily Cooper is hired to provide an American perspective at a marketing firm in Paris. What follows is a series of hilarious struggles as she tries to succeed in a complicated workplace, while searching for love in Paris!
Now don’t get me wrong, it’s plenty cheesy! But the plot makes up for that with plenty of unexpected twists and turns. As well as the gorgeous fashion and picturesque views of Paris!
BBC’s Call the Midwife
5. Call the Midwife
Introduced to me by my sister in law, I fell head first into the tumultuous and beautiful story of Poplar. Call the Midwife is a BBC period drama series about Nonnatus House nuns and a group of nurse midwives working in the East End of London in the Late 1950s and 60s.
The first series, set in early 1957, tackles the "Baby Boom", issues of poverty and post-war immigration. The second series (set in 1958) shows us the introduction of gas and air as a form of pain relief. The third series, which includes several changes to the set and cast, depicts cystic fibrosis, caring for the terminally ill and midwifery in a prison context. The Child Migrants Programme and the threat of nuclear warfare (including emergency response guidelines issued by local Civil Defence Corps) are depicted in the fourth series, and the effects of thalidomide as well as the introduction of the contraceptive pill are shown in the fifth series. The sixth series touches upon domestic violence, an explosion at the local docks and interracial marriage. The seventh series introduces the first major character of colour, Nurse Lucille Anderson. Dementia, racial abuse, abortion, and meningitis feature in storylines.
I love the way this series uses character growth in the main characters to parallel the struggles of expectant mothers in Poplar. The stories are stirring (I cry almost every episode, just to warn you!) The young midwives navigating life and love are surrounded by nuns including Sister Monica-Joan (Judy Parfitt), an original midwife whose slide into old age is marked by poetic yet shrewd observations and a love of sweets. She is probably my favorite character, and I can’t get one of her quotes from an episode the other day out of my head. She was helping a young midwife who had almost lost a baby, out of her “haze.” She told her that while they may disagree on the existence of God, she finds that often “The hands of God are found at the end of our own arms.” That simple quote has remained forefront in my mind. I recall it while working with the children I nanny, as well as when I’m teaching. Funny how these shows can really teach you something beyond distracting you from the anxieties of our world.