6 people whose taste I admire on what to stream
IMAGE VIA @ainocollin/instagram
WORDS BY JANICE NG
Shows to save you from doom scrolling.
If you’re in Melbourne and in the thick of lockdown (yet again), there’s no better time to lay your weary bag of bones down on the couch (it’s exhausting doing nothing, right?) and watch your woes away.
Even though I’m not in Melbourne, I feel for everyone there, and in solidarity I will also be staying inside on the weekend, trawling Netflix like it’s my full-time job. With 28 new original series arriving on Netflix this June, you better believe that I will absolutely be rewatching Hannibal yet again because I have amazing taste, thank you.
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But to save you wasted time, I’ve found six people with even better (frankly, the best) taste on what they think you should be streaming this weekend. There are comfort watches, shows that will emotionally destroy you and plenty of housewives to go around.
Mahalia Chang, Head of Digital Content and Growth at Vogue Australia
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I’m counting down the days to Lupin‘s season two return, so re-watching the first series is on the cards for me – and should be on everyone else’s cards, as well. And I would be remiss not to mention everybody and their dog’s current obsession, Mare of Easttown. So. Mare of Easttown. If you haven’t watched any of it, set aside an entire day and thank me later.
Matt Galea, Senior Entertainment Editor at Pedestrian
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What better way to shake the feeling of being confined than by exploring the glorious mansions of Beverly Hills, New York, Atlanta, Orange County and New Jersey via The Real Housewives? During iso, I became obsessed with the spicy reality TV franchise, not just because it’s a glorious peek into the lives of the rich and shameless, but because watching the on-screen drama was a very welcome escape from my own personal dramas.
You’ve got plenty of cities to choose from (including our very own Sydney and Melbourne), and there are both old school eps and brand new ones to enjoy. Let the table-flipping begin!
Cait Emma Burke, Digital Editor at Fashion Journal
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I’m a television junkie, but I get bored incredibly easy – it takes a lot for a show to really capture my attention. Russell T. Davies’ drama, It’s a Sin, is the latest show that was really able to keep me glued to my laptop screen. I should flag that it also emotionally destroyed me, something the best television shows have a tendency to do (I documented this in excruciating detail here). The five-episode series centres around the lives of Ritchie, Roscoe and Colin, three 18-year-olds who leave home for the first time to move to London.
The year is 1981, and unbeknownst to them (and everyone), the HIV/Aids epidemic is about to change their world irrevocably. Thanks to our firsthand experience of living through a pandemic, this series hits even harder, and it makes the appalling treatment those with Aids endured that much more painful to watch. Despite the bleak subject matter, the series is interspersed with sparkling moments of pure joy, love and connection, and the characters feel like fully fleshed-out people. You’ll be a weeping mess by the end of it, but hey, that’s living baby.
Maggie Zhou, influencer and slow fashion advocate
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If you’ve also fallen under the spell of singer-songwriter Olivia Rodrigo, then you simply must tune into High School Musical the Musical the Series. It stars herself and the subject of her love (and subsequent heartbreak) ballads, Joshua Bassett. While I had little expectation for a TV series that hangs off the storyline of a high school performing High School Musical the musical at the actual high school High School Musical was filmed at (try saying that three times), it somehow worked.
It holds enough self-awareness and gentle self-deprecation that figuratively and literally breaks the fourth wall on multiple accounts. It provides the perfect dose of nostalgia that’s familiar to OG Disney shows like Hannah Montana and Wizards of Waverley Place. It’s easy to binge and easy to love.
Sabina McKenna, curator, model and writer
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I’d recommend watching She’s Gotta Have It. Made by iconic African American filmmaker Spike Lee, the comedy-drama series follows Nola Darling, who is a struggling (but talented) artist in her late twenties living in New York City. She’s trying to find herself by pursuing her passions and exploring friendships and very interesting lovers.
The funniest moments are the continual stuff-ups and catastrophes that emerge from all of these things as well as watching her career explode among all of the chaos. It’s a really accurate depiction of life in New York City from a perspective that isn’t as widely documented as others. It also features beautiful cinematography and scenery from New York in the Spring/Summer.
Izzy Wight, Editorial Assitant at Fashion Journal
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Admittedly, I have a tendency to watch a lot of comfort TV like Friends reruns, Parks and Recreation reruns and anything with a Kardashian or a Real Housewife. I’ve got two categories of streaming: background TV (as above) and sink-your-teeth-in, edge-of-your-seat viewing. No in between. The last show I ripped through in almost one sitting – eyes glued to the screen – was The Flight Attendant on Binge.
I like anything that teeters on the edge of being scary (think psychological thriller, no gore) without keeping me up at night, mostly because I’m a big baby. It stars Kaley Cuoco as Cassandra, an alcoholic flight attendant who wakes up next to a dead man with no recollection of her evening. The way Kaley portrays the character’s vodka-fuelled downwards spiral is simply brilliant and I nervously binged the entire season. Go watch, scaredy-cats.
Looking for more suggestions? Try this.
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