TV Shows So Far in 2026

Stranger Things (Season 1) ★★★★★

At the start of the year, I wound up rewatching season one of Stranger Things because my brother had never seen it. Oh, this show used to be so good. I have a whole blog post I'll eventually post about the downfall of this show and my opinions on it. My hot take is that this show should have been a limited series. I think this first season is just perfect. Are there parts of the following seasons that I like? Yes, but I think the first season stand well alone, and is the best of all the seasons. I even think the other seasons bring down the first season because, in my opinion, the plot of season one, when watched directly after season five, doesn't work. The world just gets more and more diluted, it's just too different to make sense. Anyway, lets focus on season one. I absolutely love season one. I love the creepiness, the monster in the dark, and the kids are so charismatic. The costuming and the set feel authentically like the 80s, not like a Halloween costume version of it (like in later seasons). This is the only season I would go back and watch again. What makes up this whole show is not knowing the monster. Whether it's the Demogorgon, or the secret government program, or the mystery kids with magic powers. All of it is mystery, and even if we end season one with a happy ending, it isn't all explained at us in a long monologue. After watching this season again, it made me reflect on the fact that every sci-fi and fantasy show in the last few years always hinges on a world ending plot point. I think a missing kids and one scary monster can bring more to a show than the world almost exploding in every season finale.

The Pitt (Season 2) ★★★★☆ 

I was completely enamoured with the first season of The Pitt, and was very excited for season two. I will say I'm not massively into medical shows but what I do love is an ensemble cast, and there was a wide array of characters, all of which I liked and couldn't wait to see more of. By the end of season one, my faves were probably Mohan (number 1 on my list for sure), and then Santos, Abbott, Dana, and Collins. The new characters they introduced in season two were also cool, I liked seeing the characters from season one being put in a mentor position with the new medical students, it was nice to see how the different relationships and dynamics had changed since the end of season one. My favourite new characters were Emma and Al-Hashimi. I got 12 episodes into season two, at which point I began to get bored of watching what seemed to be the same scene over and over. I'm frustrated in the direction this show has gone, I understand that you could call Robby the main character (even though it's an ensemble cast) but I don't understand why the writers have decided to act as if every other character was only written to serve his new found arc in the second season. Obviously, they set up his struggles in season one, but it got to a point in season two where I felt like every other scene was just people giving him the same "get your shit together" monologue and then the next scene was him shouting at whichever female colleague wronged him by seemingly getting in his way to the next scene. But even though I have grievances with how the plot lines are developing, I did enjoy the episodes that I watched, and overall the show is well done.

Tell Me Lies (Season 1) ★★⯪☆☆

This show was a short lived stint of me trying to watch a show that apparently everyone on tiktok was obsessed with at the time. It didn't last very long. I don't know what I was expecting because I can't usually latch on to shows that centre around uni/collage/school anyway. This show is painfully American and even more painfully straight. I could not bring myself to care about, never mind like any of the characters. I only got 4 episodes into it before I called it quits. It's just that the main male love interest was just genuinely evil and I couldn't get behind trying to give a fuck if Lucy decided to keep dating him or not.

Off Campus (Season 1) ★★★⯪☆

I watched this because of all of the comparisons people were making between it and Heated Rivalry. I'll say immediately, they are wildly different shows. The only thing to compare is the hockey, and much like Heated Rivalry it is somehow both deeply important to the plot and also barely in it. My understanding is that the biggest point of departure from the books is how toxic the guys are. Basically, in the show they're more progressive and in the book they are more stereotypical frat boys. And this is my main gripe with the plot of the show. If Garret (and the rest of the hockey boys) are nice and woke and not toxic, the whole make-a-deal-with-the-asshole-guy-to-eventually-get-with-the-nice-guy plot doesn't make sense. And the twist of Wait-I-have-feelings-for-the-asshole-guy isn't a twist. Why wouldn't she like him, he's been nothing but nice to her the whole time. It's even worse with Allie's plot line. They made her ex boyfriends a much bigger asshole than Dean, so the whole time she's grappling with the guilt of sleeping with Dean, all I was thinking was, "Why do you feel bad? Sean called your dreams childish, wants you to have boring sex forever, and demanded that you move to Vermont to be his house wife!" I say all of this but I did enjoy watching this show overall, and from what I've heard about the books, these changes are better than if they took the characters straight from the books.

Adults (Season 1 + 2) ★★★★⯪

I had so much fun watching both season of Adults. I'd say my favourites in order are Anton, Issa, Samir, Billie, Paul Baker. Once again, I love an ensemble cast, I love how over the top it all is and how crazy each of the characters are, both individually and all together. I especially love the moments where the plot just completely devolves from reality, like when Issa and Kyle both miraculously had identity lanyards to indicate their points of oppression, or when Anton is in the photo on a Wanted Criminal Poster.