The days are getting darker and with the holidays coming up, I’m so excited to have a little more time at home. I have been so busy with work that I barely had a chance to enjoy this time of year. I’m looking forward to an evening when I can watch multiple episodes of a show without checking the time.
So I wanted to share four shows I genuinely loved. Some made me laugh, some sent me down a rabbit hole, and one might finally take the place of Gilmore Girls as my comfort show.
I think I found my new comfort show. Because I’ve overdone it with Gilmore Girls. I’m at the point where all I see are Rory and Lorelai's flaws, and I’m not enjoying it anymore. The more I watch, the more I find myself siding with Emily. Maybe I’m growing up, who knows, but I need a break from them.
If I had to describe what watching North of North feels like, I’d say it’s like hearing an Olivia Dean song for the first time. I don’t know why, but that’s the comparison I keep coming back to. The clothes are fabulous, I love the music, and the Arctic landscape is gorgeous. But the people are my favorite part. One thing I always loved about Gilmore Girls was that Stars Hollow felt like a real town because it had so many characters and places that made it feel tangible. Like Taylor and Doose’s market, Miss Patty with her ballet studio and Luke’s diner. The show built all these third spaces for the town, which gives a sense of community. North of North gave me that feeling again, and honestly, I think it does it even better. And the best part is the arctic background, where the earth touches the sky.
The show follows Siaja, a young Inuk mother who leaves her marriage and has to start over. And since she lives in a small Arctic town, everybody knows her business. At first, her world is mostly her husband and daughter. As she starts to build a life of her own, that circle gets bigger and much more colorful. That’s the part I loved watching. By the second season, you get to see her come into her own, even when she’s still making a mess of things. Trust me she makes a mess of things, but it’s so much fun to watch. It has so many great characters that make the show heartwarming. The only character I don’t like is Siaja’s mom, but she is a product of her environment, and I understand that.
It’s a genuinely funny show and it makes room for difficult subjects including: the lasting effects of residential schools, housing shortages, and the separation of children from their families. I found myself pausing and looking things up while watching the show, because there was so much I’d never learned in school. Shows like this one give us knowledge and perspective.
I LOVE this show. It’s full of heart and such a pleasure to watch.
Its about Michael, who is still grieving with the loss of his partner, Clea, after she vanished seven years ago. We don’t really know what happened to her but that’s what he is trying to figure out. So he seeks the aid of homunculi, which are little magical beings that can grant him answers. I know it sounds a little odd but its a really sweet story.
I want to tell you more, but half the pleasure is seeing where the story takes you. I don’t want to go into every detail because it will give so much away. If you’re in the mood for something hopeful, a little strange, and full of whimsy, this is the one I’d put on.
This is another show that teaches you so much along the way. Its an AMC original, but you can find all the seasons on Netflix. It is one of my favorites. There is so much I could tell you about this show.
It has 4 seasons so far. So if you need a show to binge, this is the one for you. It’s deep, it really is. Yes, it can make you uncomfortable because they bring up issues the Native American communities had to face either by the church or the U.S. government. And by uncomfortable, I mean sad and it made me feel ignorant. Because there is so much I didn’t know. So much that doesn’t end up in our history books and it makes me sad. But I like the way they bring up those issues, sometimes they are subtle about it and others they are head on.
It’s follows three Navajo Tribal Police officers in the 1970s Southwest as they navigate complex crimes, while holding on to their cultural heritage. There are so many new concepts and traditions I wasn’t familiar with, so every season I am learning something new. Make sure you have your phone fully charged so you can search some terms.
Season three is the one that stayed with me. It’s dark, deeply haunting, and to me, the most honest season of the series. My husband and I had very different reactions to it, which I get. I thought it was self-reflecting and he thought it was depressing. This is the show I’d save for an evening when I want a story that’s still on my mind the next morning.
A grumpy surgeon develops a fear of blood and takes over a practice in a small coastal town in New England. It’s the American remake of Doc Martin, and I know people have strong opinions about it, but I like it. I love the cast, the way the town looks in that soft coastal light, and the goofy things everybody is up to. And we already have a second season. I’m so over waiting two or three years for the next season to drop (with other shows).
Also, the show has a blueberry festival, which immediately made me think we need a blackberry festival here in Texas. They grow so well in our area. I’d go just to see what everybody baked. But maybe we don’t do those kinds of event because it would be during summer and it would be too hot. Martin does have to grow on you, but his aunt and the rest of the characters are a big part of why I keep watching.
It also made me understand my own doctor a little better, which I was not expecting from this show. I’m on a long-term biologic treatment, and sometimes I put off a shot because I just don’t feel like doing it. Then I get a lecture. Watching Martin deal with his patients made me think, Oh, this is probably what it’s like to have me as a patient sometimes. I’m going to try to do better next year.
If you give one of these shows a chance over the holidays, tell me which one you picked. And if you have a show that made you feel like you knew everybody in town by the end of it, please tell me which one.
- Lily Hawthorne
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We love Small Prophets too! Can't wait for season 2 next year. Really enjoying the darkness that is Nocturne too - Stephen Graham is phenomenal again!