This Week: Archie Just Got Mauled by a Bear

An Honest Fangirl: These last few weeks have been very hectic for me, and I’m behind on a lot of my shows. I did manage to see Ready or Not 2, though, and it was a ton of fun. It was great to see Sarah Michelle Gellar in something again.

What’s everyone else watching/reading/playing?

Morella: Lots of World of Warcraft and Slay the Spire 2 for me lately. Been slowly reading the 1st volume of The Science of Discworld, but also been listening to the Distractible Podcast and loving it. I'm not a huge fan of most podcasts in general, but with Markiplier, a YouTuber I've enjoyed since I first found the site over 10 years ago, along with his friend Bob and Wade, it's been a fun listen and helps me cope with this crazy time we live in.

Victoria Grossack: I've been out with a cold and loaded up with some other projects so I've taken off the rest of April from any reviewing.

I'm also bingeing on Veronica Mars - at last! - because it's currently on Netflix, but may only be on the US Netflix, so I want to savor as much of it as I can before I return to Europe in two weeks. It's my first time to watch it. At first I had trouble getting into it, because I have a thing against actors in their mid-twenties pretending they're in high school and because I couldn't tell all the white dudes apart - all about the same height and build. I'm not a visually oriented person, so I always appreciate when there's a mix of races and builds and hair colors. Anyway, the show is very compelling (I can tell the guys apart now!) and it sure makes you be less envious about those with inherited wealth.

Mark Greig: On the anime front, I'm still loving the second season of Frieren, but am a little annoyed it's only ten episodes and season three won't start until Oct 2027. Also watched the first two episodes of Witch Hat Atelier and loved them both. I finally got all caught up with One Piece. Took more than a year and thousands of episodes, but I'm now officially done, and just in time for the new season to start. Rather than leave me exhausted, it has actually emboldened me to finally take a serious stab at Naruto, the show famous for its run. Not all that impressed so far (how did Sakura graduate from ninja school when she never does a single thing?), but will soldier on and hope it does get better soon and not after a hundred episodes.

On the non-anime front, had a John le Carré binge over the Easter weekend, watching the BBC adaptations of Tinker Tailor Solider Spy (even better than when I first saw it) and Smiley's People (sadly worse than when I first saw it). I remain forever mesmerized by Alec Guinness' performance as George Smiley. Amazing how much he manages to convey while doing virtually nothing. Same goes for Patrick Stewart in his wordless cameos.

I watched Maul: Shadow Lord and think it has the potential to be the best Star Wars, even better than Andor. I'm a couple of weeks behind with Daredevil: Born Again and really need to catch up because everyone is just raving about the latest episode.

An Honest Fangirl: Mark, did you ever watch the live action version of One Piece on Netflix? How does it compare? Also, congrats! That’s a huge accomplishment!

Mark Greig: Thank you. I've tried watching OPLA, but it just didn't click with me. I respect how it faithful tries to adapt the look of the series, regardless of how absurd much of it is, but still feels really awkward seeing these things transferred to live action. What I saw wasn't bad, certainly seems better than most live action adaptations, but I already have a perfectly good animated version so it really wasn't offering me anything.

Billie Doux: I saw The Housemaid on Starz last night and loved it. I'm not much for horror movies, but this one was my cup of tea.

ChrisB: Was looking for something on the lighter side, so a friend recommended Mom.

I loved Allison Janney in The West Wing and The Diplomat, but this show lets her use her formidable comedy chops. Not to mention her chemistry with Anna Faris which is off the charts. The two of them have made me laugh out loud a lot.

Mothra: The most noteworthy thing I've seen lately was the 1978 animated Lord of the Rings, which I saw for the first time at our local repertory movie theater. I'm glad to have seen it, but it was a mixed bag. The best part was the landscape artwork, which was stunning on a big screen.

Other than that, I needed a breather after season 4 of The Handmaid's Tale, and I found myself rewatching season 1 of Orphan Black. It was great to see the "sestras" again, and to remember how fantastic the first season was (I decided to stop there and quit while the show was ahead). I've also talked my cousin into seeing Game of Thrones, so we just watched the first two episodes (her first time, a rewatch for me). Going back to the beginning makes me feel incredibly nostalgic. My life and the world were completely different when GoT started, and just hearing that theme song takes me back to that era, which feels so far away.

Mikey Heinrich: I'm currently sitting in my local bar writing a review of the next episode of Billions with notes on deck for the next Evil, and honestly – I don't know why I've never thought to do this before. Suck it, people who write in coffee shops who probably have better cholesterol than me. I'm winning.

Lately I've been going back and forth between season three of Riverdale and rewatching season two of Hannibal. Man, I'd forgotten how much they got away with on that show. I wonder if Mads Mikkelsen and Anthony Hopkins have ever appeared in anything together. I should google that.

Riverdale continues to be the exact right level of pleasingly ridiculous that I need in my escapist viewing. Archie just got mauled by a bear while on the run from prison, which I very much expect did not ever happen in the comics.

Other than that, season three of Shrinking just ended and made my ugly cry at least six times over the course of I think it was 11 episodes. Two of them sad ugly cry, four happy ugly cry, which is a pretty good ratio. Harrison Ford is on record as saying that if this is the last role he ever plays he's happy to go out on this one, and he's not wrong.

Oh, and I've been totally obsessed with Mom for many years. Such a funny show.

An Honest Fangirl: And that's it for us! Over to you, readers. What have you been watching lately?