November turned out to be a bit of a whirlwind for our family, though in the best way possible. We adopted a baby boy the day before Thanksgiving, and I’ve been getting lots of snuggles while catching up on streaming content! Each one of these shows probably deserves its own post, but I wanted to mention them all at least in brief.
Bodies
I still had yet to catch up on Ahsoka and Loki: Season 2 when I saw the trailer for Bodies on Netflix, and I just couldn’t help myself: the premise was too intriguing and I had to watch it immediately. It’s a time-traveling murder mystery set in four different historical periods: the late 1800s, World War II, present day, and the future. It checked a lot of my favorite storytelling boxes, and it gripped my attention from start to finish. Bodies felt clever, fresh, and inventive, and I loved the split storyline concept spanning decades. Granted, I didn’t think too deeply about the time travel mechanics, because the story might start to fray a bit if you look too closely. However, it makes for highly compelling storytelling, and it’s definitely one of my favorite stories of the year. Highly recommend!
All the Light We Cannot See
While I haven’t read the book this miniseries is based on, I’ve been gravitating to WWII-era stories recently and had to add this to my watch list. I have to say my overall feelings are a bit mixed. Parts of this story are great: at the heart of the tale is a young blind woman named Marie-Laure who is a member of the French Resistance and puts out regular radio broadcasts despite the rules against it. The other protagonist is a young German radio operator forced to help the Nazi war effort who finds light and hope in Marie’s broadcasts. However, there’s also a weird subplot about a cursed jewel that detracted from the story for me. If you’re a big fan of period dramas, this might still be worth a watch, but otherwise I’d recommend the series World on Fire instead.
Ahsoka
I fully intended to get through Ahsoka long before now, but here we are, already into December. I found myself procrastinating to watch both this series and Loki, and I think it’s because some of the recent Star Wars/Marvel projects have been misses for me and I was terrified of being disappointed. Overall, there’s some really good stuff in here, and I enjoyed watching it in one block vs. week by week. I loved Dark Jedi Baylan Skoll and his apprentice Shin Hati, and it was exciting to see big lightsaber battles in Star Wars again after other recent series moved away somewhat from Jedi/Force content. I love the prequels nostalgia and the reappearance of Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker; I’m so happy he feels welcome in the Star Wars fandom again. Of course, seeing Thrawn on the big screen was amazing, and I’m thrilled for more to come. Still, the series relies a little too much on Rebels nostalgia. This might be an unpopular opinion, but the storyline should have focused far more on Ahsoka herself than Rebels characters such as Hera, Sabine, etc.
Loki: Season 2
To be honest, a number of the recent Marvel projects have left me feeling “meh,” but the second season of Loki was just the boost my fandom needed. I almost don’t even think of this as a second season; it’s really more of a part 2 to the first batch of Loki episodes that premiered in 2021. Tom Hiddleston has been so great as this character, and Loki has given him a chance to really shine on his own. Is some of the time travel/multiverse stuff confusing? Sure, but I don’t really mind because it serves the trippy style and tone of the series. Taken as a unit, these two seasons make for some top shelf Marvel storytelling. I love that it tells a complete story with a definitive ending, and the stakes feel real.
