A NETFLIX QUEUE TO BATTLE THE WINTER BLUES

January is a dry and dull month. The holidays have come and gone and all we have left to look forward to is Valentine’s Day, and even then, many of us probably sit at home alone in dread. 

I may not have a clue to cue you in, but I have composed a queue, a list of television shows for you to watch on Netflix.   Now that your brain function has slowed down due to a severe Vitamin D deficiency and you’re being abandoned by friends who have stopped texting and inviting you out.  They are consumed by and temporarily honor their healthy New Year’s Eve resolutions. 

I hope you will be amused and take a peek at this list of semi-watchable, extremely bingeable television that will keep you intact until you start to defrost.  It’s a solid promise.

(Also check out these older shows to binge watch, if this list is not enough.)

THE REALITY SHOW YOU DIDN’T KNOW YOU NEEDED AND POSSIBLY STILL DON’T NEED BUT WATCHED ANYWAY BECAUSE YOU RAN OUT OF THINGS TO WATCH AT 2 AM. 

THE CIRCLE 

I have binge-watched the entire series, The Circle, in about the span of a week and I still cannot fully comprehend its premise but will try my best to provide you with an adequate synopsis.

The Circle focuses on a group of random contestants that are holed up in an apartment building. They have no contact with the outside world and can only speak to each other through an online avatar. The avatar is one of their choosing, and while many of the contestants decide to represent themselves as they are, a few have chosen to catfish the group and take on the identity of someone else. My favorite example of this is Seaburn, a contestant who presents himself in the identity of his real-life girlfriend Rebecca to hilarious results. 

The Circle is confusing and odd and yet I watched all ten episodes and found myself cheering enthusiastically for a contestant that I was not expecting to root for, that melted my cold, dead winter-ridden heart.

THE TELEVISION SHOW THAT WILL MAKE YOU QUESTION YOURSELF BECAUSE THAT’S EXACTLY WHAT YOU NEEDED WHEN YOU DIDN’T LEAVE THE HOUSE ALL WEEKEND AND THE ONLY PERSON THAT TEXTED YOU WAS YOUR MOTHER!

YOU

The true draw of You is really that it makes someone (me, mainly) question their sanity, their morals, and their stance as a staunch feminist. How could I possibly be rooting for such an insane male character?  I went into Season 2 thinking “They won’t trick me this time, I’m a year older, a year wiser, I won’t fall for this again.”  Yet, here I am sitting on the edge of my couch, gripping my tub of ice cream so tightly its contents melt into a puddle – much like the morbid puddle of blood forming around Joe Goldberg’s (played to perfection by Penn Badgley) latest victim. 

THE DOCU-SERIES THAT WILL MAKE YOU FEEL UNACCOMPLISHED AND LAZY AS YOU CRY-WATCH IT FROM THE COMFORT OF YOUR BED BECAUSE YOU ARE COLD AND YOUR POSTMATES HASN’T ARRIVED YET:

CHEER

heer follows the cheerleading squad at Navarro College as they compete to defend their title at a national cheerleading competition. Its six memorable episodes capture the ups and downs of the training it takes to take a national-ranking cheerleading squad to the top and keep it there. I started watching Cheer because I am one of many people who has memorized the opening musical sequence of Bring It On.  I continued watching Cheer because who doesn’t need a good cry…or two…or three while waiting for Spring to spring? Only the warm weather will make me spring from my comfy couch or bed.