by Chichi Offor

Welcome to The Closed Caption where I do all the watching so you don’t have to!

We are in the Golden Age of television where there’s so much content to see and so little time. I for one understand everyone is not capable of juggling 15 different shows at once. After all, there’s an art to watching too much television. We all have our strengths and this just happens to be one of mine. I know many of you might not see this as an accomplishment, but I take pride in the stories I’ve been exposed to and the little worlds I get to immerse myself in. This time around we have a spicy mix of fun. Think lots of sex talk, cutesy K-Drama romance, and occult happenings!

The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina Season 2

Read the following sentence carefully and place it permanently into your brain. Stop comparing Sabrina: The Teenage Witch to The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. I cannot emphasize this enough. These shows exist on completely different planes and should be judged independent of the other. With that being said, I am so very into all the witchy goodness that is this show. Season two is just as dark as season one and in some ways more so.

Sabrina is forever trying to balance her humanity with her witchiness, while also facing apocalyptic prophecies. To be honest, it’s as lit as a summer camp fire. This show is particularly great because even the good witches aren’t fully so. There’s a persistent element of darkness in every witch, which is different than the good or bad witch archetypes we’ve seen in just about everything else. Sidebar: Theo’s gender journey this season is getting a more substantial amount of screen time which is awesome and so needed in TV.

Romance is a Bonus Book

Korean pop culture is having a very strong moment. With the crazy rise of BTS and the cult-like followings of Korean beauty and television, there’s no doubt that this train is here to stay for a bit. I got in on the Korean obsession in the best way I know how— through Netflix! Romance is a Bonus Book is is the first Korean Drama I’ve watched all the way through. This show gives us love, deception, romance, and the BEST fashion I’ve seen on a show in a while. It’s a little bit of an acquired taste for people that’ve never watched anything from this area of the world, but it’s never too late to expand your horizons. The style of storytelling in this show is unbearably cute and warms your heart so much so that there are many moments when you can’t help but smile really big.

Sex Education

This show follows Otis, an awkward British high schooler that turns out to be a surprisingly good sex guru. He has his open-minded sex therapist mother to thank for that. Nothing is off-limits in his early morning therapy sessions with his fellow classmates. He deals with everything from simple relationship communication faux pas to the kinky and weird. Basically, everyone is horny and needs help getting laid. This show does a good job of showing one of the most interesting best friend dynamics in a genuine and realistic way. I honestly don’t often see a lot of cis men and gay men best friendships, so it’s quite refreshing in that sense too.

On My Block Season 2

I’ll try not to ruin it for you if you haven’t seen season one or two, but just know this show is worth the time. This is a super solid coming-of-age watch in all the right ways. Think gang culture, romance, and general high school things. On My Block ties in immense tragedy and laugh out loud humor that is often borderline absurd, in such an impactful way. You get a glimpse of what it might be like to grow up in a rough neighborhood but despite that still finding pride in where you come from.

The Perfect Date

I wanted this to be amazing because Certified Cutie Noah Centineo and The Fabulous Cami Mendes are cast members, but it fell short. It was still cute, but nothing really stood out. The story was lacking and quite unrealistic. There’s no real way an 18-year-old kid is saving upwards of $200,000 in one summer to cover an Ivy League education from a STARTUP! If you are someone that needs to watch every single romantic comedy (like myself), then go for it. For better Netflix rom-coms watch Set It Up, Alex Strangelove, To All the Boys I Loved Before, and The Kissing Booth.

Shrill

This debut first season of Aidy Bryant’s Shrill was an amazing homage to self worth. Annie is the leading lady played by Bryant who is plagued with loads of self esteem issues and a gross boyfriend. One of Annie’s biggest issues is not recognizing the wealth of champions and love around her. Amadi her work BFF is the right level of “you can do it” and “ “you are awesome bro” without it being annoying, but still shows that he clearly sees the greatness she holds within. Annie’s roommate Fran is vocal about her discontent with the garbage guys in Annie’s life, the gross diet food she eats, and how awesome she thinks her friend is. We all need a Fran. She honest and employs the kind of tough love that we all should take notes from. In many ways Shrill portrayed—not once but over and over again—that if you value yourself and your unique contributions, the world around you will start to fall in line.

the closed caption: sabrina, sex education, shrill, on my block