What I'm Watching This Week

It's been awhile since my last "What I'm Watching" Blog, and in the Dog Days of Summer, there usually aren't a ton of new shows coming out worth keeping up with. But between scripted Dramas to reality competition shows to quick-hit comedies -- as well as all sorts of great movies available on streaming -- there's enough out there to warrant another edition.

As always, I'll give my quick overview and thoughts on each show and movie below, as well as whether I recommend it to my readers. There's a good variety of things I've been checking in on lately -- so I definitely think there's something for every type of viewer in today's blog!

House of the Dragon - Season 3

HBO Max

The most recent season of House of the Dragon concluded last week, closing the door on chapter 3 of the series and leaving us waiting (for likely 2 more years) for the Final Season of this story. I thought the 3rd season was definitely a step up from Season 2 -- which I was very critical of. There was no shortage of action, I think they made better creative decisions in the middle parts of the season, and I liked that they started with a bang, and ended with a bang as well.

But I did find myself frustrated at times, finding more similarities with Season 2 than I would've liked. In typical HOTD fashion, with as many characters as they have in the show, there are always going to be plots that are less interesting than others. I found myself riveted by certain storylines, but outright bored by others -- and it's impossible to spend proper time with those exciting plots if you're also focusing on the boring ones. I also think there's a problem that's been stewing with this show since Season 2 that the characters are becoming less and less likeable -- the people I rooted for in Season 1 are no longer compelling to me. There are probably 3-4 characters in the whole show that I actually like, about 15 I'm indifferent toward, and 5-ish I just hate.

I'm still onboard, I still enjoy the show because I love the world of Westeros and the history and the spectacle that is the show -- but it very often leaves me wanting more. I think the fact they've stretched this into 4 seasons has caused some pacing issues, but in S3, it was really starting to pick up steam -- so I have high confidence the final season could hit the highs we're chasing.

Bean's Recommend: Yes

Lanterns

HBO Max

The Green Lantern is one of the few renowned heroes in DC/Marvel lore that hasn't had a successful on-screen history (shoutout Ryan Reynolds and the abomination of a movie that was). But when the Lanterns show was announced at HBO Max, with David Lindelof (Lost, The Leftovers) and Chris Mundy at the helm, with Kyle Chandler and Aaron Pierre starring, and with the show in the Sunday Night slot at HBO -- my expectations raised considerably.

The Pilot episode was released this past Sunday introducing Chandler's Hal Jordan -- the current Green Lantern assigned with defending Earth, and Pierre's John Stewart -- the new Green Lantern in-training. It's a much different tone than what we've seen from Superman, Supergirl, and even Peacemaker in the DCU's phase 1 -- a darker, grittier, crime mystery. The pilot was excellent to me -- the dynamic and chemistry between Chandler/Pierre is great, I like that the powers are secondary to the plot and dialogue, and they're keeping us at arms-length one episode in. Expectations are high, but excited to see where it goes.

Bean's Recommend: Yes

Furious

Hulu

Speaking of darker and grittier shows, Furious on Hulu has very quietly been one of the best shows of the year. I don't know a single other person who's watching it, but it's rising up my 2026 rankings with every episode. Reminds me of if Task from last year met Mindhunter/True Detective.

The story follows a former homicide investigator named Alice (played by Emmy Rossum of Shameless fame) who's now an FBI agent that left the NYPD after domestic issues with a former boyfriend/fellow cop (played by Jake Lacy, the GOAT of playing asshole dudes). She and a former NYPD colleague (played by Scoot McNairy) are roped into investigating a serial killer targeting wealthy men connected to the dark world of sex trafficking.

There's a lot of twists and turns and complex things going on throughout the show, and there's really good acting performances all throughout. I'm through the first 4 episodes of 6 that have been released, and I couldn't be more locked in. With every thread they untangle, the show gets more and more interesting -- and the serial killer continues to be fleshed out further and further in interesting ways. Highly recommend giving it a shot.

Bean's Recommend: YES

Tires - Season 3

Netflix

The newest season of my favorite half-hour sitcom is BACK and as good as ever. Based loosely on an old sketch Shane Gillis, Steve Gerben, and John McKeever made years ago, they've turned it into an on-going series about a small-town tire shop. This is as dumb of a show as you're gonna find on TV, but is also hilarious and has evolved into a show with an actual plot and story-arc.

Gerben and Gillis are the two stars -- Gerben the eccentric, awkward manager role to Gillis' goofy, hard-around-the-edges mechanic at the shop. They feature so many of their comedian friends throughout the show, from series-regulars Chris O'Connor, Stavros Halkias, Andrew Schultz, and Tommy Pope -- to new roles in seasons 2 & 3 for Bobby Lee, Dan Soder, H. Foley, Joe DeRosa, Veronika Slowikowska and many more. Even bringing in big-time names like Thomas Haden Church for a recurring role as Shane's Dad, plus Billy Magnussen and Jamie Lynn-Siegler for a few eps in S3.

I'm not sure yet if I'd rank Season 3 over Season 2 -- which I've probably rewatched 10 times. But maybe after 10 rewatches of S3, I'll be ready to crown it my favorite. If you're in the mood for an easy-to-watch, irreverent, hysterical show you can watch and rewatch in a couple days -- Tires is for you.

Bean's Recommend: Absolutely

Reacher - Season 4

Amazon Prime

Not going to go too long on this one, because it's kind of an "If you know, you know" type show -- but figure it's worth mentioning. Reacher is a show I've written about a couple of times because I thought Season 1 was fucking awesome. Alan Ritchson is a beast as Reacher and there's always some fun side characters with each season. It's not a very well-written show, it's cheesy and goofy at times and doesn't always make sense -- but there's also some great action scenes every season, and it's worth a watch if you like an action show.

Bean's Recommend: If you like cheesy Action

The Shards - Season 1

Hulu

This is a show Emily had heard about, and I've been passively watching with her through the first few episodes. Based on a Bret Easton Ellis novel, co-created by Ellis and Ryan Murphy (red flag #1), this show follows a group of elite prep school high schoolers in 1980's Los Angeles navigating their sexuality and identity against the backdrop their privileged wealthy lifestyles. But the real kicker they need to navigate is the mysterious serial killer terrorizing the town, targeting teens.

I'm not judgmental about TV and I can definitely see the appeal of this show -- it's sleek, bright, relatively entertaining. But it's absolutely not for me, as is the case with most Ryan Murphy shows. It's so outrageous and the dialogue is very poorly written. It has no ability or confidence to "show, not tell" in the storytelling -- meaning instead of being able to show a character doing something and thinking the audience can understand it, they have a narrator over-explain every detail of what's happening. All style, no substance -- it's a hard no from me, dawg.

Bean's Recommend: NOPE (but if you like Ryan Murphy shows, you'll like it)

Obsession

Peacock

Finally got around to seeing what's arguably the most successful theatrical released movie of all time -- Obsession. I didn't see it when it was in theaters, where it made nearly $500 million on a $750K budget, so the expectations were VERY high -- despite my fear and general disinterest in most horror movies. But much like Sinners and Weapons, if the hype is rabid enough, I will brave the storm.

I also love the fact that this movie was made by Curry Barker -- a name you may not know when you hear it, but if you're chronically online like me, you've 100% seen his YouTube/TikTok skit videos in the past couple years. He's hysterical. So it was shocking to hear that he was the director of this movie -- but it's evident in the first 30 minutes of watching that he's very talented in terms of camerawork, building suspense, needle-drops, and getting great performances from actors.

The movies about a guy (Bear) who's in love with his co-worker and good friend (Nikki), but is too nervous to tell her how he feels. Instead, he buys a mysterious "One Wish Willow," and uses his wish on making Nikki love him more than anything in the world. To his surprise, his wish is granted -- but comes with more sinister costs than expected.

Aside from putting Inde Navarette officially on the map with an Oscar-worthy performance that's catapulted her to a starring MCU role -- the rest of the cast is great as well. There's a really good balance in the film of suspense, shock and awe, comedy, legit jump scares, and memorable scenes. It's not the scariest movie in the world, and definitely was different than what I was suspecting going in -- but I thought it was very impressive and entertaining.

Bean's Recommend: Yes (for horror fans)

Surviving Barstool - Season 5

YouTube/Rumble Premium

Time for reality competition corner -- starting with the least official, but the most compelling to me personally, with Surviving Barstool. Survivor but set in the world of Barstool, aka a match made in heaven for me. The past 2 seasons have featured all of the biggest personalities in the world of Barstool, but this season, they've gone with an almost entirely new cast. And while they may be less renowned than previous casts -- there's plenty to love about this newest season.

I'm not going to go deep on spoilers because if anyone out there hasn't started watching yet -- I'd like them to be able to watch unaffected. But what I will say is that I really have enjoyed the challenges thus far, I like the twist they've done with the idols (for the most part), and I like the lack of predictability through 5 episodes. In past seasons, I've had a 75%+ hit rate at predicting who goes home with each vote -- I'm batting like .500 so far this season. So far so good -- let's hope they can keep it rolling (aka let's hope the people I'm rooting for stay in).

Big Brother - Season 28

Paramount+

I wrote about Big Brother once before -- last year while watching Big Brother 27. It was the first time I had watched a BB season, but as a fan of reality competition shows (and as a fan of my girlfriend who loves it) I gave it a shot with her.

That was an enormous mistake. Season 27 of BB was absolutely horrendous. They brought back one "Icon" (former player -- Rachel Reilly, who was insufferable), 90% of the cast were massive losers who were as uninteresting as they were delusional, and the Final 4 were my 4 least favorite people in the cast (aside from the aforementioned icon).

However, when I saw the cast for Season 28, I decided to give Big Brother another chance. They had 2 former Survivor players in the mix -- Devens (one of my favorites ever) and Dee (one of the greatest winners ever) -- as well as a former BB-player that seemed hysterical (Angela, an older white lady that's the funniest type of delusional psycho). Plus, the Barstool Advisors weather girl Ashley made the cut -- so I had more interest in watching than expected.

And this season has definitely been a big improvement -- MUCH more likeable cast, lots of more movement of alliances, no repeat Heads of Households so far, more strategic moves being made, and much better drama. There's still a lot about this show that I don't love -- the goofy ass challenges and production of it all, how people are so fake to each other acting like they're best friends, the lack of suspense and predictability (most of the time) about how eviction votes go.

But there's a lot more authenticity with this year's cast -- and I think having a good cast is the main draw. There's still a few people that I don't like and root against -- but there's more people to root for week-in-week-out. I dislike people for different reasons this season than last -- I don't hate them because they're boring or annoying or unenjoyable to watch, I hate them because they're villains and make villainous moves.

There are so many people still left that I'm at least passively rooting for -- Barrett, Melody, Taylor, Drew, even Angela. Devens is my #1, Dee closely behind -- but really, it's anybody but Haley and Kamu for me (and I'm not a big fan of Yash -- fucking tool).

Bean's Recommend: This Season - Yes (fuck no to last season)

The Challenge - Season 42

Paramount+

The Challenge is a reality competition show that was also a later revelation to me -- growing up I was team Survivor/Amazing Race. I watched Season 40 as my "initiation by fire" with Emily -- a season that brought back like 40 past Challengers -- and have since gone back and watched a bunch of older seasons. And while it may not be on the level of Survivor, it's still a very entertaining show, with bigger personalities and much more drama.

I'm enjoying the newest season thus far (only a few episodes released). They have a really good mix in the cast of Legends (Johnny Bananas, CT, Tori, Nelson), recent stars (Sydney, Will, Chris, Cedric), and exciting rookies (Keanu from Big Brother, Lete, Deb Chubb, Ana Leigh). The physical challenges/dailies are never the main draw for me -- it's the fallout from those challenges, when alliances and relationships get tested by nominations. I really like how it's kind of a blend of Survivor -- the main challenge essentially being for immunity. But the winners get more power, and instead of voting someone out of the game -- the winners vote them into elimination to fight for their life. And the eliminations fucking rule.

If there are any The Challenge Heads out there -- if Johnny Bananas is in a season, he's my #1 person I'm rooting for. Followed by CT (in those late 30's seasons when older/in-shape CT was competing, he was an absolute DAWG). So in season 42, Bananas and CT are the main two I'm pulling for (even though CT is beyond washed sadly).

I also really like Sydney -- something about the arrogant badasses that I like rooting for. Chris is also a beast, really like Justin, and I'm pulling for the rookie Keanu. For the ladies, I really disliked Tori and Michelle after how they did Bananas dirty on Season 40 -- but I don't hate them this season. I like Deb, Lete, and Anna Leigh (although she has a very sketchy moment in the most recent episode) -- the rookie gals. Adrienne also cracks me up.

Cara Maria will always be my #1 hate-watch -- I want her to lose every season she's in. I haven't watched the seasons she's won in the past, and aside from doing well in S40, I don't really know how she does well so often. She STINKS in this season. Not a fan of Nurys, the rookie Josh is kind of a douche, as is Leo. I'm pretty neutral on Will, Brad, Nelson, Cassidy, Izzy, and Reilly. I also really don't like Corey -- his shtick of being "the best to never win" is such a cope for being ass at Finals.

Of other non-season-42 challengers: I fucking hate Josh, Paulie, Olivia, Aneesa, Jonna, and Fessy (off the top of my head -- there's plenty of others). Some of my favorites that aren't in Season 42 -- Kyle (maybe my #1 favorite, hilarious Brit), Devin (another arrogant douche but I love his gameplay), Leroy, Kaycee, later-seasons Jordan, early-seasons Laurel (an absolute BEAST, but also a bitch) Kyland, and Horacio.

If you're watching either The Challenge or Big Brother 28 -- hit me up to talk about it. And if you're a Survivor fan that's never watched either -- give them a shot! I was very skeptical too, but especially The Challenge captures some of the magic.

Bean's Recommend: Yes (if you're a Survivor/Reality TV fan)