Unfortunately, screenagers, it’s still cold and most of the U.S. still has snow on the ground. These lists may be harder to write during the summer months, but right now I’m still stuck inside and I have to say I was spoiled for choice this month. One of the best shows in the past decade returned with a new season, and lots of new stuff dropped on streaming around late February. I’ve included the stuff that I enjoyed the most below, but know that it was hard to narrow down.
Max: The White Lotus (2021 – present)
We are so back, baby! The White Lotus premiered in 2021 with an absolute banger of a pilot, and I’ve been counting down the days to Sunday ever since. If you’re unfamiliar, The White Lotus is an anthology series that follows insufferable but fascinating rich families as they stay in the titular White Lotus resort. While the characters and story-telling are interesting enough on their own, each season features a Hitchcockian bomb-under-the-table mystery that’s introduced in the first episode. This gives the whole season a very uneasy feeling, knowing that something horrible is coming as these people just try to live their lives on vacation. This season features a particularly stacked cast of Jason Isaacs, Walter Goggins, Carrie Coon and others.
What I love about The White Lotus is that it could easily be a surface-level commentary on how rich people are terrible, but it’s not. It digs much deeper and points a lot of blame at the systems of control that entrap and bait people into becoming monsters, and the aftereffects it has on those around them. While the third season is still airing, I love what I’ve seen so far and I do not doubt that we’re in for a great time.
FOR FANS OF: Succession; Beef
Paramount+: Yellowjackets (2021 – present)
Sometimes, you just want to watch some messed up shit and Yellowjackets is a perfect little show for your mid-week watching pleasure. Loosely inspired by the events of the 1972 Andes plane crash, Yellowjackets follows a girls high-school soccer team whose plane crashes in the wilderness, and the drastic and often violent things they have to do to survive. The show cuts between the past and the present, where the girls are now parents with children of their own and still coping with the trauma of their time in the wilderness.
I should note that while this show isn’t a gore fest, the more squeamish should probably skip this one. The first ten minutes of the pilot will give you a great idea of what the show is going to be, and it’s not for the faint of heart. Season one of this show is a masterpiece and while it takes a noticeable dip in quality in season two, it remains fun and very watchable throughout. With season three currently airing, it’s a great time to get caught up.
FOR FANS OF: Cruel Summer; Lost
Netflix: Arcane (2021-24)
Adult animation is a criminally underrated genre, and Arcane is probably one of the greatest of all time. Set in the world of the video game League of Legends, Arcane follows the political and power struggle between two cities: Piltover, an idealistic city populated by the rich and high-born, and Zaun, an underground city populated by criminals and the impoverished. In the latter, two sisters Vi and Powder fight for agency as their relationship inevitably shifts due to the world they are born into, and their soon conflicting ideals.
Let me be clear that I don’t give a damn about League of Legends. You don’t need to get this show. The animation is stunning, and the fight scenes in particular are works of art. More than that, the story is just excellently executed. It’s a compelling character-driven action show, set in a world with interesting lore that doesn’t require a ton of exposition. The show finished with a tight two-season arc, but the creators have indicated spin-offs are planned for the future. If you’re one of the five people who hasn’t heard of this show, or if you’ve been put off by the connection to League, I highly recommend checking it out. You may just find your new favorite show.
FOR FANS OF: The Dragon Prince; Castlevania: Nocturne
Hulu: Paradise (2025 – present)
Paradise follows Xavier Collins (Sterling K. Brown), a secret service agent to President Cal Bradford (James Marsden), a businessman turned politician just trying to do his best for the people. When the president is murdered in the dead of night with no camera footage of what happened, Xavier starts to find clues, mysterious pieces of intel that just don’t add up. As his colleagues charge ahead with their own investigation, Xavier makes it his personal mission to find out what happened.
I almost didn’t include this show, partially because the twist at the end of episode one kind of threw me. Avoiding direct spoilers, you should know this show takes a turn into more of a sci-fi dystopia and the change is so sudden that I wasn’t sure how I felt about it. That being said, the strength of this show is in its characters. Like his other incredibly popular show Only Murders in the Building, creator Dan Fogleman shows that his strength is in creating compelling, complex, and flawed characters. Even though some of the events and world-building might be a little goofy, you ultimately end up buying in because you believe in the people who live in this world.
The first season just completed, and it’s a quick little seven episode binge. While not perfect, I was locked in by the second episode and I think it’s worth watching.
FOR FANS OF: This is Us; Scandal
Hulu: Next Level Chef (2022 – present)
Full disclosure I am an unapologetic Gordon Ramsey fan, so I will watch any slop he puts on TV. Next Level Chef, however, is actually pretty good. The premise is that chefs (home cooks, pros, and social media cooks) all compete in these kitchens that are platformed on top of each other. The cooks in the top kitchen get the full pick of the best ingredients, while the chefs in the kitchen below get the second pick, and the chefs in the final kitchen are stuck with the scraps. This means more times than not, the bottom kitchen cooks are stuck getting really creative with ingredients like canned food or potato chips.
I think the main draw of this show is the creativity. More often than not, the cooks in the bottom kitchen end up absolutely slaughtering the top kitchen folks, simply because they had to think on their feet and come up with something interesting. It’s a lot of fun to watch and even with the reality show goofiness of it all, it does a great job sucking you in. Three seasons are finished and available on Hulu, with a fourth season currently airing. It’s a great weekend binge when your brain is too tired to watch anything else.
FOR FANS OF: Masterchef; Top Chef
Have you seen any of these shows, or are you watching something different? Let me know in the comments!