Many of us have sought comfort in entertainment during this time, watching new shows and movies or revisiting older, comforting ones. Here are my top ten fandoms binged so far during the pandemic.
10 Recently Enjoyed Fandoms
- Queer Eye- At the beginning of the pandemic, I put my binge watch of The Expanse on hold (because watching a show about a virus taking over the universe was making me uneasy for some reason) and decided instead to watch the recent seasons of five amazingly talented people making someone’s life better. Despite numerous “Why are you standing so close? There’s a pandemic going on!” instinctive reactions, this show was exactly what I needed.
- Taskmaster- “I read about a show in the paper you might like. It’s like a scavenger hunt with British people,” said my mother. So I gave it a try. Several hours later, I was hooked. By the time I’d made it to season three, I was already writing fanfiction. By the time I hit season 6, I was eagerly awaiting new episodes to be posted on YouTube each week. It was thrilling to see The CW begin to air it in the US as well, but disappointing that did not last.
- The Old Guard- I knew very little going into this movie apart from: Charlize Theron, a canon gay couple, and at least 4 different people (and one teddy bear) recommending it to me. I was pleasantly surprised by the immortality aspect. I fell hard for this fandom, rewatching the movie multiple times the same week (once with other fans in a Netflix Watch Party), searching out fanvids and fanfic, and reading the graphic novel.
- Ghostwriter– I finally got the chance to binge the first season of the new Ghostwriter series on Apple. While it is much different from the version I loved in my younger years, I still loved the literary focus and cast diversity.
- Watchmen- With a free one-week trial of HBO, I went straight for the Watchmen series. It was strange and out there, but so is the graphic novel. I think they did an excellent job of keeping the feel of it while creating this whole storyline. And I loved the little nods to the original source material just as much as the brand new twists and turns. The racial injustice themes made it extremely relevant.
- The Umbrella Academy– Having already seen season 1, I eagerly awaited the drop of season 2. Then I binged the whole season in less than twenty-four hours. Everyone knows how much I enjoy time travel stories, but time travel + this cast of characters = pure amazingness. Season 1 ended on such a big cliffhanger, I remember yelling at my screen, begging for more. I was extremely satisfied with Season 2 but somehow was fooled into thinking everything would wrap up neatly. At the Season 2 cliffhanger, I sat there stunned for a moment then proceeded to yell at the screen for more yet again. I will never learn.
- Hamilton- Though I had seen the play with the Washington, DC, cast, I was thrilled to finally get to watch it with the original Broadway cast. I watched it the first day it hit Disney+ along with everyone else. It certainly did not disappoint. I also attended a #Ham4Ham watch party on YouTube.
- Lower Decks- This is the Star Trek series I needed right now. I was hesitant, because Lower Decks was one of my favorite TNG episodes and I wasn’t sure that I really wanted more humor in my Star Trek. But I do. I definitely do.
- Love, Victor- It took me far too long to get to this one. One day, it just seemed right to watch it, and then I couldn’t stop. It was wonderful being back in Creekwood with a new set of characters. But I hadn’t anticipated the three things that made me really love it: (1) lots of Simon, (2) an appearance by Bram, and (3) James Martinez as Victor’s father!
- The Bravest Knight- Okay, I realize this is a show for children, but hear me out. I’d just been let go from my job and finding comfort in extremely short episodes about a knight, his prince, and their adorable biracial daughter was precisely what I needed. During a quaranclean purge, I read an article about the show in Entertainment Weekly, and once I saw the list of voice actors (among them: Wilson Cruz, T.R. Knight, Bobby Moynihan, Christine Baranski, RuPaul, Wanda Sykes, Jazz Jennings, and Steven Weber) I knew I needed to watch it. The show did not disappoint. In fact, I am fairly certain I broke down in tears during the last episode of season 1.
Honorary mentions go to The Fosters and Person of Interest, both of which I had already seen most of but now finally finished because they were leaving Netflix.
