By Gracie Krashoc
With winter break approaching quickly, and COVID still impacting our community, some might wonder what they are going to fill their long days with. We should use this time to relax, and a great way to do that is curl up under the blankets with some hot chocolate watching a good TV show. Whether you have Hulu, Netflix, or even Disney Plus there are tons of options to choose from.
One of my personal favorites is Criminal Minds. With twelve seasons available on Netflix, this series focuses on the Behavioral Analyses Unit of the FBI and what they do day to day. Typically, each episode highlights a new serial killer, or a special situation such as a recent child abduction. If the hunting down criminals does not get you interested in watching this series over break, then the characters and their lives will certainly get you. The tender-hearted Penelope Garcia and her handsome partner in crime, Derek Morgan, have a special relationship that will definitely make you smile in this time of negativity. We cannot forget the sweet Spencer Reid, who cares for his mother with Schizophrenia, while maintaining his reputation of being a boy genius. Hotch, the team leader, is cool and collected even when things in his personal life are less than stellar. There is drama, thrill, romance, and anything else you could want wrapped up in this show, so give it a chance and you might just fall in love with it.
If serial killers are not your thing, there is still a show for you. Shameless takes a more realistic and comedic relief position towards life. Taking place in the south side of Chicago, a dysfunctional family maneuvers life without their father and their mother. Of course, not every family faces the same obstacles as the Gallaghers, but their day to day might be a little more relatable for some of us. Each member of the family has their own issues they deal with, but at the end of the day they come together to support each other. The situations that the Gallaghers get themselves into, or happen to stumble into, will either tug at your heart strings or make you laugh from the craziness that is their life. Each episode is packed full and there is never a dull moment, so if you are looking to binge a show Shameless might be ideal for you.
Good Girls takes an interesting approach towards what being a mom and wife means. The three main characters are strapped for cash and suddenly they get a brilliant idea to help make ends meet for their families. Robbing a grocery store with toy guns might not seem like it has an appeal to the average person, but these women not only successfully pull off the heist, but they stumble their way into gang territory. In order to keep the peace, the women begin running errands for their local gang member and they get pretty good at it too. They might go to bake sales to raise money for the PTA of their children’s schools during the day, but by night they are master scammers bringing in big money for their families. There is comedy, excitement, and of course some drama to keep you hooked, making you press that “watch next episode” button.
My advice this winter break is to do some digging and find a great show that you can use to unwind from reality when you need to. All of these shows can be found on Netflix, but there are so many options on other applications. Hopefully our current situation diminishes, and we can start to get back to normal soon, but something that has not changed in 2020 is the ability of television and movies to offer some relief from what is going on around us. There are tons of shows out there and you just have to find the right one for you!