Much like most people, October/ November has been a very rough time for me health-wise. From tonsillitis to tooth extractions, flu to fibroids, my bed has seen more of me these last two months than ever before. Being under the weather sucks, but the one pro is having an unlimited amount of time to indulge and catch up with everything from the comfort of your bed. So here is everything I am watching and reading while Autumn tries to take me out.
‘A Place For Us’ – Fatima Farheen Mirza
This was gifted to me by my friend Jordan of the Seen Library back in March and I have been trying to get into it since summer but sometimes the size of a book is enough to intimidate me away from reading it, even if I like the story. However, I’ve been back reading it this week and have been thoroughly enjoying it. The story follows a Muslim American family and it’s such a beautiful story about family, love, duty and cultural expectations; I can’t wait to see where the story leads me. I’ve also put myself on a book buy ban for the rest of the year until I get through the books on my TBR list.
’Human Resources’ S1 / ‘Big Mouth’ S6 – Netflix
Now before you judge me for watching this show, I understand that the premise is incredibly questionable but it’s goddamn entertaining. I will pretty much watch anything that involves Maya Rudolph and this show gives me her while being the perfect low effort and big laugh vehicle. It’s perfect when you can’t find anything to watch and also perfect for an easy watch before going to bed. You can all judge me for it but I have never ever been happier *Cassie’s voice*
‘This is Us’ S6 – AmazoN
I finally finished the final season of ‘This is Us’ last week and it was incredibly sad, which is probably what took me so long to get through it. The season was a beautiful sendoff to the show and the characters and I commend the show for being successfully consistent, never really falling into the ‘Well that was a shit season’ slope that most long running series do.
The Black Pearsons were and always will be the best part of the show. I think Beth Pearson will go down as one of the magnum opus representations of Black mothers on television and I’m still desperately looking for my Randall Pearson (who’s slightly less dramatic but just as passionate). My greatest wish for the actors that play the Pearson daughters is that they go on to have successful and fulfilling careers, especially Lyric Ross because to act against Sterling K Brown and not be completely overshadowed is quite the task and she did it every time (I’m also very excited to see her in the ‘Ironheart’ Disney+ series).
Kate’s arc in the final three episodes of the series turned the tide on my opinion of her because I thought she was the absolute worst. I think the one major failure in the show’s writing this season was the way they tried everything to make the audience favour her in her relationship problems with Toby and the way they zoomed through her relationship with her new husband. While the breakup wasn’t handled with the care I think their relationship deserved, I understand that they had to wrap up that storyline to give Rebecca the send off she deserved. However, what they did successfully was show how Kate and Toby’s separation helped both of them find their individual versions of a dream life.
Kevin, much like Kate, I learned to give grace to by the time the series ended. I think Kevin became the man I was waiting for him to become throughout the series (most of my breaks from the show were caused by him doing something stupid). When Beth talked to Randall about seeing Kevin as the person he was now, not the man he’d known him to be, I think that was also a conversation between the writers about the audience’s perception of him. I am still very uninvested in the Kevin/Sophie romance, I get that they are supposed to be the ‘right person wrong time trope’ but instead it felt more like the man who is an absolute twat and has hurt you multiple times but gets you in the end once he’s bored of acting like a dunce.
Mandy Moore as Rebecca anchored this season. It was heartbreaking to watch her life come to an end and experience the grief of losing her through her family and her moving on. My only qualm with the sequence where William helps her through the process of her goodbyes is the fact that she ends her life holding hands with Jack. I think it does a great disservice to her relationship with Miguel that she was still with Jack at the end, especially after the Miguel episode. If anything it should have ended with one of the three alternatives; seeing Jack and then seeing Miguel last, ending with both of them or having her hold her children till the very end.
My last observation about the strengths of this season was it finally pays homage to Miguel as the Patriarch of the family and not just a placeholder for Jack in their life. Telling his origin and how his and Rebecca’s love story came to be, and also having Kevin facilitate the reconciliation between him and his children was an absolute beauty to behold.
‘Enola Holmes 2’ – Netflix
The perfect sequel to the original film; well paced and managed not to suffer from sequel syndrome. It did a great job of focusing on Enola’s journey in the context of the time period along with exploring the effect of women’s suffrage on working-class women, while still giving room to expand on her romantic relationship with Tewksbury and her familial relationship with her brother Sherlock (and to a lesser extent, her mother).
My only real qualm with this movie is there was not nearly enough of my queen Sharon Duncan-Brewster (my love for her is very well documented).Without spoiling it, I wish there was more build up for her character and she was given more to chew on. However, the ending gives me hope that she will have exactly that if they make another sequel.
‘Abbott Elementary’ S1 – Disney+
I finally got back into the latter half of S1 of Abbott and it was excellent. I hope the show continues to go from strength to strength. Every actor and guest actor has been perfect and I have no complaints regarding the show. My standout characters have to be Ava and Gregory, the way they are both written is golden everytime and the life Janelle James and Tyler James Williams breathe into them is indescribable. To me Quinta and her writers have created the perfect example of great comedy writing, managing to feel current without simply parroting twitter talking points (looking directly at you Kenya Barris).
P.S.- I need Disney to hurry up and get s2 uploaded before I have to take things into my own hands.
Small, Silver and Hardback 