tv shows that'll make you not go on your phone
the sex lives of college girls, dexter: new blood, insecure, yellowjackets
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hello babe!
happy holidays to you and me! to start off, i will be taking a pitter patter vacation for the next two weeks. i’ll see you again on january 6.
in the meantime, if you miss me, you can read all the past editions of pitter patter here.
now on to the moon!
the moon
when i send you this, the moon will be in taurus. but it goes into gemini at 3:42 pm ET, so it’ll probably be there when you’re reading this.
this move into gemini will take us into the full moon on saturday, december 18 at 11:35 pm ET. i can’t believe we have another full moon already… i guess they do happen once a month.
i feel like us mutable girls haven’t had a BREAK in the past year… and we’re gonna feel this full moon hard too.
(for the curious, i’m a gemini rising, virgo moon and sagittarius mercury)
i’m not gonna lie, i pasted in this tweet before reading the whole thing and now i feel attacked 😭
gemini energy is all about information. geminis love to research, love to gossip, love to get to the bottom of things. if you have gemini placements (@ my gemini rising), you may have been told that you never shut up.
gemini is ruled by mercury (which represents the mind and communication) and is an air sign–this mix can lead to a lot of anxiety. when we’re in gemini energy collectively, it’s important for us to ground as much as possible. get your thoughts out of your head–journal, record voice notes, talk to yourself on a long car ride.
this full moon will be all about GETTING IT OUT! feels like great timing with the end of the year too. SAY WHAT YOU NEED TO SAY.
*cue john mayer*
my tv credentials
as i mentioned in last week’s pitter patter, i have been taking it slooooow lately. and for me, that means watching a whole lot of tv.
if you watch my instagram stories, you may have caught on to my penchant for television.
i have been a tv girl for as long as i can remember. it started off with recording episodes of pokémon that were on when i was at school. running home to watch passions when i was in middle school (and arguably too young to be watching passions).
a love of reality tv, specifically the hills and the bachelor in high school and catfish in university. even after eighteen seasons, i still watch grey’s anatomy (i am not embarrassed to say this because i feel it’s a testament to my commitment).
i like good tv and i like bad tv. i will watch a whole season in one sitting with no remorse. i don’t like laugh tracks. for the most part, i don’t like one-dimensional female characters or male-centered shows (though i did love breaking bad… exception to the rule).
i like watching things with actors i’m familiar with, but i will give a chance to a captivating new face. i have my theories about actors being able to “carry a show” and a lot of the time i think that dictates whether or not i end up on my phone as i watch (hence the title of this letter).
at this point, i think half of you will be like, alright, michaela gets me, i’ll love these recommendations. and half of you will be like, now i know which shows not to watch.
so let’s get recommending!
my recommendations
this will mainly be a stream of consciousness and i’ll include the network and where i watched for each one! there will be spoilers in terms of what the show’s about and topics addressed, but i won’t spoil major plot points with details of who’s involved.
the sex lives of college girls
HBO Max, Crave
first off, this title is a misnomer. i wish there was more sex (i did watch passions when i was twelve, after all).
there IS queer representation, which of course, i love (even though you can’t tell from the trailer).
if you watch the first episode, hang in there. for some reason it’s an hour long and IMO it shouldn’t have been. the show is written and produced by mindy kaling, and if you’ve watched the mindy project and never have i ever, you may agree that her comedy works best in 30 minute spurts.
no worries though, the rest of the season is 30 minute episodes (which is how i watched it in one day).
more things i loved: it’s so cool to see mindy kaling’s evolution as a writer and producer. i feel like most actors who get into producing and writing start off acting in their own shows (read: the mindy project and atlanta) but in my opinion, it’s ALWAYS better when they go full-on producer and don’t act in the show. the sex lives of college girls is no exception.
there are so many good one-liners that made me laugh out loud. bela is probably my favourite character and has the most mindy-esque lines. after falling in love with dr. mindy lahiri and devi vishwakumar, i love seeing the evolution of how mindy incorporates herself into characters.
there is minimal fat/plus size representation, but it is notable that two of the main characters would’ve been “too fat” to be in leading roles for a show like this (where they’re portrayed as objects of desire) five years ago. they’re still thin white women, but it made me feel a type of way that the body representation in gossip girl could not.
there’s a sexual assault storyline that feels really fucking real and was not triggering to me personally (e.g. no graphic scenes of r*pe).
only millennial women could write about something so serious in such a real way and portray it powerfully, without gratuitousness. i felt like the entire storyline added to the conversation of sexual assault, people’s reaction to it, and the reality of how being brave enough to share your story plays out. it is the opposite of assault portrayed in shows like 13 reasons why (which is, in my opinion, super gratuitous and triggering).
lastly, our fave warlock from chilling adventures of sabrina is in it. i love this man (his name is gavin leatherwood if you wanna google gifs of him running in slow mo too).
dexter: new blood
Showtime, Crave
i barely remember the end of the old dexter, but i do remember it was cringey as fuck.
if somehow you have never heard of dexter, it was on from 2006 to 2013. it was a show about a serial killer who had a full-time job as a blood spatter expert for CSI. he only killed other murderers or criminals who somehow got off. even though the last few seasons were questionable, i would still recommend watching.
this contains like… one spoiler from the OG dexter so don’t read if you don’t want that!
there are some cringey aspects to the new show, but five episodes in, i would say it feels like a pretty fresh take.
we meet up with dexter, now known as jim, in a small town where he has a simple life working at a hunting store, a girlfriend who’s a cop (and looks like deb LOL), and surprisingly, he hasn’t killed in years.
i honestly would not want to watch a version of dexter where he wasn’t killing anyone, so i feel it’s not much of a spoiler to say he starts killing again 😂
right off the bat, there’s Indigenous representation and the direct addressing of Indigenous issues. a character wears a MMIW shirt and explains its significance in one of the first few episodes.
(sidenote: as a white person, i can’t speak to how this representation feels for Indigenous people, and i wasn’t able to find any Indigenous people talking about it online)
the writing and the way suspense is built up feels very original dexter, which i love (aka the seasons up until the trinity killer. let's be honest, it got wacko after that).
my review on every show is that i wish it was sexier but like... am i deranged or was dexter a super steamy show for a bit (before the whole deb being in love with dexter storyline like... erase that from my brain)? i know not everything can be true blood, but i want it to be.
while watching new episodes i had an epiphany that dexter was the original you. dexter is less of a gaslighter than joe and his murdering seems more purposeful (lol what a judgement)–but the voiceover and hearing their inner serial killer narrative is super similar.
dexter: new blood does feel less formulaic than the original dexter. there's not a murder every episode and it’s more based in character development.
last thing–i do miss the aspect of dexter being a blood spatter expert and the more clinical CSI vibe that the original show had, but they do pay homage to it in some episodes.
because of how much i loved dexter, this was something i was gonna watch no matter what, so i can’t be very critical of it. the original dexter is based in miami and lowkey the definition of camp, so if it’s not your thing, i get it.
insecure: season five
HBO, Crave
if you haven’t watched insecure idk what you’re doing… here’s the season one trailer if you wanna get into it.
issa rae has my sense of humour to a tee so i laugh out loud every episode. it’s just such an HONEST and solidly written show about being in the weird stage of adulthood past your mid-twenties where you feel like you should be an adult but you still don’t know what you’re doing.
everything about the show is beautiful (especially this season): the set design, the actors, the lighting, the clothes, the bags, the shoes. you would expect nothing less from HBO, but it really is creatively and visually stimulating as hell.
so far in season five, i’ve loved the spotlight episode on single motherhood vs. fatherhood. it very much hit, made me cry, and was such a real portrayal in the gender disparities and expectations around having a newborn.
i feel like insecure is one of the only shows where they keep storylines throughout seasons where it’s not annoying. i don’t know how to fully explain it, but i feel like most shows have certain problems and solutions per season, but the way insecure stretches things out makes it feel like real life.
this is especially true with issa and molly’s friendship. i truly think it’s the most realistic portrayal of female friendship on tv. we barely ever get in-depth portrayals of female friendships of women in their early thirties and it very much makes me feel seen.
last thing–i honestly don’t know if i'm team nathan or team lawrence, but they both give me vagina butterflies.
(google ‘kendrick sampson interview’ to hear his voice, i want him to record sleep stories)
yellowjackets
Showtime, Crave
there are only five episodes out so far but i am EXCITED about this show.
if you haven’t watched the wilds yet and you like the sound of yellowjackets, watch it first because the whole season is out 😂
yellowjackets takes place in the 90s and follows a girls’ soccer team as their plane crashes and they have to figure out how to survive. it also has present day flashforwards with the survivors, which adds a fun guessing game element. like, are they showing everyone who’s alive in present day?
my favourites so far are christina ricci and her younger counterpart who play misty. this character is a big part of why i like the show so much. she has a very original nerd to antihero storyline with a unique darkness to it. i love that she’s morally questionable. i just get excited when women are portrayed with depth.
since only five episodes are out, i have no idea where the show is headed, but i love the suspense and that there’s a paranormal element that keeps you guessing. what is trauma from the plane crash and what’s really happening? i hope we find out.
last thing–idk how you could make a show about a girls’ soccer team without queer representation but if you were wondering, YES, there are gays.
this is so long already and i’ve given you a ton of trailers to watch, so i’m gonna skip the tiktok for this week.
i hope you have a lovely holiday season amidst the chaos of the world and find time to rest!
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if you wanna talk to me about tv or recommend things to me, leave a comment!
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xoxo talk to you again on january 6,
m