December TV Watch: The Sex Lives of College Girls, Landscapers, Hawkeye

Looking for a TV show to watch this week? Well, look no further. Whether you want an American college comedy, British drama, or a Marvel superhero series, there’s something for everyone.

The Sex Lives of College Girls: This is one of the best shows I watched this year. HBO would drop a couple of episodes every Thursday and I looked forward to them like it was Christmas morning. Created by Mindy Kaling and Justin Noble, the show follows four young women (played by the amazing quartet of Pauline Chalamet (yes, she's Timothy's sister), Amrit Kaur, Alyah Chanelle Scott, and Renée Rapp) as they navigate their first year of college. I’ll confess, as someone who went to a women’s college and never left campus to attend a single frat party, there wasn’t a lot I could relate to in terms of this particular college experience. But setting aside all the raunchy bits that the title of the show promises, I could 100% relate to the premise of young women becoming fast friends and leaning on each other in times of trouble. This show is an embodiment of my personal motto of hos before bros and I was here for it through all ten episodes. 

Like with any Mindy Kaling show, there is oodles of plot and each one of these women is navigating some sort of intense personal crisis that is at times profound and then silly in equal measure. I don’t want to give away a single detail because the show is paced beautifully and keeps the cliffhangers coming as it doles out the twists and turns - honestly, you are SO lucky that all ten episodes are out now so you can just binge it all in one sitting rather than having to wait for each morsel like I had to. The four leads are superb and charismatic, and I would find a new reason to relate to each one of them in every episode (though we can all probably agree that I am mostly a Kimberly). The writing is whip-smart and so, so funny. One of my all-time favorite exchanges was when one of the girls is trying to think of a birthday present for a guy and suggests a journal. This suggestion is derisively shot down with the following, "A journal?! Hot guys don't write journals. They just let their thoughts fade away. That's what makes them hot." If you LOL'd while reading that, then head on over to HBO Max and start bingeing. 

Landscapers: This is a weird and moving four-part miniseries about the true story of David and Susan Edwards, a British couple that were convicted of murdering Susan’s parents and burying them in the garden. They were only caught fifteen years later in 2013 and despite their conviction, they still maintain their innocence, claiming it was manslaughter and not murder. Written by Ed Sinclair and starring the powerhouse actors Olivia Colman (Sinclair's real-life wife, a fun trivia tidbit!) and David Thewlis, this show takes an empathetic look at this mysterious couple and how they ended up in prison.

The show makes many whimsical storytelling flourishes, based on the fact that the Edwards' were big fans of classic cinema. In one episode, their romance is portrayed as a French new wave film that Truffaut would have been proud of; in another, the events of the killing play out like an old Western. Because we already know what the law and society decided about this couple, this is a story that is solely interested in what the couple themselves might have been thinking and the life experiences that could have let them to this horrible crime. With Colman’s eyes perpetually brimming, you’d be hard-pressed to not fall for the hapless Susan and understand her side of the wretched story. Ultimately, this is a character study about a truly bizarre story. It’s an interesting and compelling way to spend four hours and you will certainly have some conflicted feelings when you’re done.

Hawkeye: The most exciting thing about this show is that it is set in New York at Christmas time. So you should watch it for that reason alone. But fine, if New York and Christmas aren’t your two most favorite things in the world, I suppose you can also watch it because it’s a Marvel TV show and it’s quippy and fun with some great action sequences and the introduction of Kate Bishop (played by the great Hailee Steinfeld) to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Kate is an expert archer and mixed martial artist, so she’s the natural protégé to the weathered Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) who just wants to get home to his family. And oh, if you did not watch Black Widow, you might want to get on that, because a character shows up halfway through that you may otherwise not recognize.

The show is a lot of fun, with some great Marvel gags involving a terrible Avengers musical that is playing on Broadway and Kate lamenting Hawkeye’s very poor brand recognition (as they walk through Times Square, she thinks she spots someone cosplaying as him only to have him wryly correct her that that’s Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games). There’s action galore, twists and turns, and many villains and side characters to contend with, including Marvel's first Deaf lead character, Echo (played to perfection by Alaqua Cox, who is about to embark on her own spinoff series). This show takes one of the most boring Avengers and makes him fun again, which is a service to us all. And at a crisp six episodes, it doesn’t require a massive time commitment. It’s quick and easy, delivers just enough plot and action to keep you satisfied, and doesn’t overstay its welcome. And the season finale is an absolute showstopper. I was fairly ambivalent about this series until I got to that final episode and it was like someone went hey, what would a peak Christmassy New York episode look like? The action set pieces are wild, the jokes are thick and fast, and the post-credits scene is a joy. So check it out and give it a quick binge. As Steve Rogers would say, "I could do this all daaaaaay."