With students and faculty starting off the semester once again, there’s no judgement towards those using their free time to load up on television hours. While it’s tempting to sign onto your Netflix account and reminisce with reruns of Friends and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, here’s a look at some current shows that are coming back this year and some new ones worth checking out.
WARNING! MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD
Girls
“Taking the next step in a series of missteps”
Hannah, Marnie, Jessa, and Shoshanna are back to strike terror into the hearts of students approaching graduation. With Hannah headed off to grad school in Iowa, Marnie attempting to become a folksy coffee shop chanteuse, Jessa aimlessly wandering, and Shoshanna being cast into the real world, this upcoming season won’t be an easy ride. Girls has always been a bit of a rocky road for me. While it’s intriguing to see realistic characters face the fresh-out-of-college issues that many of us will encounter, there’s something so toxic about the relationships between these girls. Kudos to Lena Dunham for creating complex and flawed characters. However there is only so much venom one can take being spat back and forth between these bratty kids. Let’s hope season four brings out some new characters, as well as some much-needed comedy.
Agent Carter
“Time to go back to work”
Looking for something new this winter? Starved for another chapter from the Marvel universe, but sick of superheroes? Luckily, Marvel decided to take a chance on Hayley Atwell, who played secret agent Peggy Carter in the Captain America movies. After the events of Captain America: The First Avenger, Cap is believed to be dead and the war is over, leaving Peggy to return to work as a desk girl for the Strategic Scientific Reserve in New York. Peggy misses her ass-kicking days with Cap, and is stuck in an office dealing with her pig-headed male co-workers. Things then heat up when an old friend returns and needs her help to expose an evil corporation that’s producing deadly weapons. I’m a bit of a Marvel nerd (okay, maybe more than a bit), and thought the first Captain America was the weakest of the franchise, but with Atwell being a shining spot. Agent Carter has surprised me: it’s really fun watching Peggy kick butt around NYC in the 1940s, and Atwell’s performance is incredibly poised. However, the constant mention of how much Peggy misses her superhero ex-boyfriend gets a little tired, and the rest of the cast struggle to keep up with Atwell’s energy. But I’m going to stick around with Agent Carter, due to it being only an eight-episode series with enough action and likeable characters to keep me interested.
Broad City
“We are garbage people living on garbage island”
After a spectacular first season, Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson have returned with more vagina and toilet humour than before. For those of you that are unaware, Broad City follows two best friends, Abbi and Ilana navigating through financial troubles, gross hookups, and awful roommates in New York City. Broad City has everything you need in a comedy show with its potty humour, feminism, and hip-hop all mixed together to create a perfect half hour. Whether it’s Abbi cleaning a creepy guy’s apartment in her underwear for Lil Wayne tickets, or Ilana sleeping with her dentist and getting free dental, these girls are working hard to get their shit together, and it’s a blast watching them work through it; but, behind all the drug trips and sexcapades lies a perfect friendship between these two ladies that’s really sweet to watch. Last season ended with Abbi and Ilana curled up together in a hospital bed, eating cake and listening to the old man in the next room die, so one can only imagine what season two will bring.
