Quarantine and Chill: Four series that have kept me entertained

For the past few years, i.e., since Ash arrived on the scene, I’ve watched minimal t.v outside of kid’s shows and Disney movies. In my pre-mommy life, I would look forward to the next Scandal and the ongoing crises of Grey’s Anatomy. I passively kept up with ‘How to Get Away with Murder’ for a while; however, that was my least fave of the Shondaland Thursday night trilogy. I’m now seemingly several seasons behind on Grey’s Anatomy. I tell myself that one day in the distant future, I will catch back up on all that happened with Meredith and the crew at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital.

I also remember loving Queen Sugar, and This is Us, which I don’t think I even got halfway through being caught up on those series before my attention got called away from indulging in t.v.

Anyway, the past couple of months, I’ve made up for it a little. Though my recent oblige to try Netflix was still mostly for Ash’s entertainment, I have spent a hand-full of days staying up late to binge-watch a few series. It’s a newfound form of “self-care.” (I secretly loathe that word, but that’s another way on another day).

I signed up for Hulu last week to watch The Clark Sister’s movie on Lifetime because I was not missing that premiere. I was one of many branded with their music in my formative years. To this day, listening to “I’ve Got an Angel” reels my emotions back to being a little girl in the car with my parents and siblings headed south down I-75 to the one-lane roads of Sasser, Georgia to visit my granny in her isolated country house. It was complete with a backyard water pump and absent of a “traditional” bathroom. If I hear “Victory” or “My Redeemer Liveth,” nostalgia takes me back to standing in the pulpit wearing a robe made by my mom, singing those songs with my church youth choir.

My Clark Sister’s cassettes wore out. Even now, if I listen to certain songs, my brain will still recall the exact spots where the music was muffled or distorted because the cassette’s tape was damaged. And the exact spot where a song cut off because the cassette copy I had made needed to be turned over to the other side to keep playing. So as I said, there was no way I was missing that premiere. Aunjanue Ellis was captivating and the entire cast superb. It was a beautiful movie that made me appreciate the work of gospel music all the more.

So, in addition to the Clark Sister’s Movie, which I have watched twice so far, here are a few series that have given me a theatrical escape from the stresses of this glorious new decade.

Little Fires Everywhere

While I’m on my free Hulu trial, I decided to check out Little Fires Everywhere a few nights ago because well, it’s Kerry Washington. It’s the 90’s; a white suburban family meets a black single mother and her beautiful adolescent daughter. The weaving of the story is interesting. Motherhood seems to be a thick theme. You also see prods at commonplace racial habits and common racially charged ways of life. That one line Mia says to Elena, “You didn’t make good choices; you had good choices.” Whew. I’m currently on episode 4, which puts me at a place of commitment to continuing to watch the result of everyone’s humanness dramatically unravel. I hope to get caught up this weekend.

You

I started watching “You” because of the funny memes of Joe floating around on social media. I got pulled into it because of its Lifetimeish vibes. Yes, I am a formerly devoted watcher of the Lifetime network. Or as my brother calls it “killer network.” What can I say? A next-level LMN thriller, very entertaining. It’s a story about a psychologically damaged book store clerk addicted to being dangerously infatuated with three particular women, Candance Stone, Guinevere Beck, and eventually his psychotic equal, Love Quinn. Just when you think Love will finally break the cycle, that one thing I’ve said at least seven hundred times comes to prove it’s truth. People don’t change. They are who they are.

All American

I just randomly started watching “All American” on Netflix one weekend afternoon last month, and I could not stop! I so love Taye Diggs (aka Coach Billy Baker) in this! Perfect. There was a brief moment somewhere in Season 2 where I felt like, ok, emotional drama overload here. But it didn’t stop me from pushing the “next episode” button. It is a drama series inspired by the life of retired football player, Spencer Paysinger. The story centers around Spencer, a beast of a wide receiver at South Crenshaw High, recruited to a different world, Beverly Hills High. Watch it. It is so good.

Killing Eve

I’m just picking back up on Killing Eve. Killing Eve popped on my radar back in 2018. The very brilliant Sandra Oh plays Eve, an intuitive spy, who becomes obsessed with finding a very talented, and very stylish, assassin. That would be Jodie Comer, aka Villanelle. Remember my ‘Who is your TV-style crush right now?’ post last summer?

Season three premiered last Sunday, and I was curious to see how things would pick back up from the culmination of events that ended last season. Eve can’t be dead because that would be the end of the show. But it seems like V would have made sure she was dead, right?

All I know is that less than ten minutes into season three’s premiere episode, I was already finding myself beaming a little happiness from seeing Villanelle’s wedding suit. I can’t wait to watch this Sunday and see what V wears next!

What are you watching these days? What series would you add to the list?