I haven’t been watching much in terms of actual shows for a good while, then while listening to a podcast a host casually mentioned they had rewatched Chernobyl, how it still holds up, that there’s a reason it got as much acclaim as it did, etc. So I thought I’d give it a go and wow, loved it (still one episode left to watch).
Had me thinking, what else have I missed out on? What are some “absolute cinema” TV shows that still hold up and and are considered must watch?
My wife and I are just finishing up an immediate rewatch of Yellowjackets and it’s damn good. Think Lord of the Flies but more modern and with a highly-competitive high school girls’ soccer team instead of prep school boys (although their coach and another coach’s sons are there too), and you also get to see how the experience shapes them after the fact.
Some characters you don’t expect to like end up being great, and the acting is fantastic throughout. The pacing for seasons 2-3 isn’t quite as tight as the first season but it’s still really good, hoping the last season holds up too when it comes out.
TBH the second season didn’t do it for me, enough I don’t care to try the third. The first season was alright, but I kept getting reminded of Dexter and the poor writing for the present day characters. The 90s parts with the kids were the best parts and the current day stuff seemed like filler.
It all felt like cheap Showtime writing. After what happened to Dexter after season 4, i basically wrote off all Showtime drama shows, but broke my rule for Yellowjackets and regretted it.
I thought the writing with the adult cast was generally good minus a few bits that they just kind of don’t address (or barely) - think
Tap for spoiler
Taisa’s whole Senate thing and to a lesser extent Simone/Sammy, whatever was actually going on with Adam, what was actually going on with Lottie’s cult, etc
But it was good enough that it kept us engaged.