It’s been a long time since I’ve blogged about anything but I am back to share some of the TV shows that I’ve been watching recently. Since the writer’s strike had been going on and a lot of TV shows had been put on hold, I thought it was a good time to catch up on some new stuff that’s been released.
Below Deck Franchise
Okay so, I’ve actually been binge-watching Below Deck since April this year but it deserves a mention here because I am so obsessed haha.
My boyfriend and I started watching Below Deck: Sailing Yacht on a whim on Netflix and have become hooked ever since. I just never knew about all the drama that could come about from working on a superyacht and it’s so GOOD.
The funny thing about the binge-watching though is that we haven’t actually watched the original Below Deck, we just watch all the spin-offs lol. I mean it really started with the Adam/Jenna drama of Sailing Yacht and me doing a deep-dive and finding out that Adam had been on Below Deck: Med. From that, I found out about Hannah being fired due to her valium and I was like “Oh well we need to see how that happens”.
So since April, we’ve seen seasons 2-5 of Below Deck: Med, all seasons of Below Deck: Sailing Yacht and Below Deck: Down Under. We did try to watch season one of Below Deck: Med but the captain was not our fave, so we gave it a miss.
The latest season I’ve been watching has been Below Deck: Down Under and it was wild. Between the employees being fired due to sexual misconduct and Joao making a surprise reappearance in the series it’s been a journey. Sad it’s over but we still have two seasons of Med and also the adventure spin-off to watch, not to mention a new season of Med coming basically this week lol. So I’ll never have a shortage of Below Deck in my life.
Cruel Summer Season 2
I was unsure about going into season 2 of this show considering they were going to be changing up the cast and it was going to be a different storyline. The first season is so strong that I think that whatever came out next was going to be a bit of a letdown.
And I was right, season 2 did not hold the same appeal to me as season 1. I think I just really liked the storyline of season 1 more, I mean an unpopular girl steals the life of the popular girl after she disappeared? More interesting to me than a mysterious girl moving to a new town and the boy-next-door ending up dead. I mean written like that they both sound good. I think it was just how everything played out for season 2 was less satisfying. Season 1 really gave me everything with all the reveals and stuff.
I have to say I do like the format of this show though, I think it’s interesting. That being said, I don’t hate how drastically different the filters are for the show. I mean it makes sense, to tell the timelines apart but at the same time, it’s so extreme. Plus the main character’s appearance always completely changes too and I don’t love it. Give me a more subtle, 13-reasons-why-Clay-giant-gash-in-his-dead vibe than a complete emo makeover please haha.
I mean, in season 1 it made sense for Jeanette to cut her hair off after Kate came back to try to prove she wasn’t actually trying to steal her life etc. but with Megan in season 2 her look is just ugly and the slicked back hair and eyebrow ring really bothered me…
But anyway, I’m hoping there are more seasons because it would be interesting to see more things done in this format.
XO, Kitty
I was hesitant to start this, only because Kitty is so annoying in To All The Boys, I didn’t know if I could handle a whole show where she is the centre of attention. And Kitty was still being annoying in this series lol though to be fair less annoying as the episodes went on, but I suppose that’s just a reflection of her growing up.
I didn’t know what to make of the show on the first episode because I think they played too heavily on KPop for me. I’m glad it was only the first episode because I could not get into a show which is trying to have serious moments and then they blast BTS just because. That being said, I loved that they used Seventeen in the pilot because they’re one of my fave bands.
I also don’t know what audience this show is even meant to be for because they have these cute tween moments with Kitty and Dae etc and then also have some serious topics going on like Kitty’s mom possibly having another child and everything. Plus the aesthetic and the characters also lean on the younger side. I’m not saying older people can’t enjoy it too, it’s just not clear who the target demographic is actually meant to be.
Aside from that, I did end up enjoying this show and the characters grew on me. I am looking forward to more of it and seeing where it goes. Also, I know it’s not about them, but I wouldn’t hate if Lara Jean and Peter made an appearance…also love that Kitty’s Dad is too busy playing Aiden in the Sex and the City reboot to care that his daughter was caught up in a big under age drinking club night in Korea but that’s a whole other thing lol.
The Summer I Turned Pretty
First off, I appreciate any show where Taylor Swift music is featured prominently. I think it fits the series super well.
I wasn’t sure if I was going to like this or not based on the cliche that it is. I mean come on, a girl who wasn’t pretty has a glow-up and finally gets the attention of the boy she has wanted to date since forever? Not my fave trope. Also didn’t know season 2 of this came out this year so I binge-watched both seasons in one go.
I liked the first season, it was cute. But I think I could have left it at that because season two was not my fave. I mean first of all it got so dark so quickly lol I literally watched the finale of season one and then BAM season two had Belly and Conrad breaking up and Suzanne dying? Yikes. I hadn’t read the books so had no idea where we were going with this.
I personally would have liked if Belly had chosen Jeremiah all along. I hated how in season two, she just flipped and went to be with Jeremiah after the Conrad fallout. Mainly because she’d already purposely rejected Jere for his brother and now was doing the exact same thing to Conrad. Oof. Not cute.
AND ON TOP OF THAT, I heard there was a season 3 and so I looked up the synopsis of the third book AND BELLY GOES BACK TO CONRAD AGAIN. Ugh. No. I hate that even more. Like just give up on the boys at that point, there is too much switching between brothers and it’s weird. There’s a reason it didn’t work out with both of them and I think y’all are better off as friends.
So yeah, safe to say if the third season goes the same way as the book I won’t enjoy it lol. I like the idea of the show and everything in that it’s coming of age, first love and cute and all but the actual love story is not for me.
The Flatshare
This was so cute! I normally dislike when a movie/TV show is exactly the same as the book but I really enjoyed this one. I think because it’s been a while since I read the book, but the story is fun and I think the adaptation played it perfectly.
Honestly could not recommend enough if you love the book or haven’t seen it. I feel like we need more of this kind of rom-com stuff in our lives. They don’t really make movies/TV shows like this anymore. I don’t have much to say about this but that’s just because it was so fabulous.
And that brings us to the end of my current “to watch” list! I am not sure what is next for me, I know there is a new Love is Blind season but I don’t know if I am quite ready for more of that as I feel like I’ve watched a lot of LIB recently. But I do wish there were more shows like the ones I mentioned here in general. Like where are my girly light chick-flick-y type things? If you have any suggestions for shows I might like please let me know!
In the meantime, I’ll probably be rewatching something like Gossip Girl or Gilmore Girls. Heck, I’ve even been considering rewatching Vampire Diaries recently…but that’s all for now. I’m sure I’ll be back soon with something else I need to share my opinion on very soon lol.
Courtney Shek 