Well, hello there. I have some new things to recommend. I’ve been watching a lot of TV in the past month or so. Some of it being fairly questionable. In all fairness, my brain was processing a lot. Before I posted Part 1, my beloved Gran passed away and since then, my Gramps did too (they went 30 days apart – there was a lot to that story and emotional exhaustion doesn’t begin to cover it). It was a difficult first half of the year. Sometimes my brain wanted to just be a blob. So I was re-watching Parks and Recreation on Binge (no regrets – even if some of the cast members and guest stars did not age well, behaviour wise, off screen their characters were brilliantly written and the comedy was comforting).
I then became obsessed with a cheesy dance movie from 2020 that stars Sabrina Carpenter. It’s called Work It and it’s on Netflix. My brain was broken and I watched it twice. I found Ms Carpenter very endearing and at one point exclaimed that I thought her acting was brilliant because she’s obviously good at dancing but she had to act like she didn’t know how to dance for half of the movie. Look, it was a weird time in my life, OK? I’m not saying watch it, but I’m not saying don’t watch it either…
I then went on a weird dance movie rampage and re-watched Step Up and its sequel Step Up 2 The Streets on Paramount Plus (yes the name of the sequel makes me laugh). I did manage to control myself and not click on Save the Last Dance (iconic no?) so never accuse me of lacking restraint!
OK, so onto my actual recommendations…
I feel like the theme of today’s recommendations are WTF was I thinking at this time of my life but somehow these just felt right LOL.
The Pitt (2025 – HBO Max)
This one is fiction and not a documentary. I know! Weird of me.
I had seen this show listed on Binge originally and thought, nah. I’ll pass. I have watched so many hospital dramas. I’ve probably had my fill. But then I saw a TikTok where some account had compiled clips of the show that had demonstrated the progressive views of the characters and the humanity they showed. I was intrigued.
Basically, each episode represents an actual hour in this fictional Pittsburgh hospital emergency department. Just an hour. Let me tell you, I could not work there. Bloody hell. What they fit into an hour was bonkers!
The season represented a long, difficult and busy day at the hospital. 15 hours of it. You see the things the medical staff had to juggle. The traumatic things they saw (and carried with them from past events). The way they had to push their personal lives aside as best they could. My only complaint was that when the season ended, I felt like I needed the next season immediately because I had only watched one day’s worth! I needed to know what happened the next day!
At times I wondered if I was crazy. Life had been all about ambulances, injuries, hospitals and grief so far this year. Yet here I was watching 15 hours worth of a hospital drama. By choice. I can’t explain it.
My Mom Jayne (2025 – HBO Max)
I’d been excited about this documentary. I love me some Olivia Benson aka Mariska Hargitay. I’ve watched every episode of Law and Order: SVU that’s available to me and I had always known that she was the daughter of sexy bombshell icon Jayne Mansfield. This documentary explores who the real Jayne was before she passed away in a tragic car accident when Mariska was 3 years old (with Mariska later found wedged under a seat of that wrecked car after her older brother raised the alarm by asking where she was).
Mariska interviewed her siblings and went through the memorabilia her mother had left behind in storage. She talked about how she found out her father (the man who raised her) was not actually her biological father. She talked about how Jayne had used the sexy bombshell, Marilyn Monroe-esque image to her advantage until she no longer wanted to be known only as that. She described imperfect people, flawed decisions, trauma and loss, but lots of love in her family. She talked about her journey to reconcile all of these things. You got the sense that through all of the making of this film, Mariska was able to feel a bit closer to her late mother. To understand her adult to adult.
I watched this the day after my Gramps died. Elements of this documentary resonated with me. Honestly, I don’t know how I got through it or felt drawn to it that day. Most sane people wouldn’t have been able to pick that as their watch of the day! Maybe I just felt like Mariska would heal something. It’s the Olivia Benson effect haha.
I did cry. But it felt like a healthy cry. I think I needed it.
Trainwreck: Poop Cruise (2025 – Netflix)
OK so this is a massive gear change but bear with me haha.
I know people who are dear to me who love cruises and have even worked on cruise ships before (and I believe them when they’ve had great experiences – no judgement!), but I have always struggled to embrace the idea for myself! Of course, watching this documentary really plays into my worst fears! I can never quite get over the idea of being stuck in a big floating human Petri dish.
This doco is about the infamous Poop Cruise of 2013. There was a big fire that cut power (even to the back up generators) on the entire ship and all hell broke loose. People were told to poop in little hazmat bags. The toilets were overflowing and couldn’t be flushed. People were peeing in the showers. Nobody could sleep in their cabins because it was so hot. It was days of no real help for the poor passengers. They had to stay in poor conditions and I cannot even imagine the hell that it was. Usually poop stories are funny, but in reality it truly would have been traumatic. Knowing you are stuck with so many other strangers in a situation where people would have been tired, emotional, at risk of illness and feeling helpless (and unable to communicate with loved ones at home for days) would be scary.
I found it fascinating that they actually interviewed the guests of the Poop Cruise on an actual cruise ship to add to the vibe of the documentary. I was thinking, WTF I would never step foot on a cruise ship again haha. I guess some of them loved cruising so much it didn’t stop them and maybe others had to be convinced that this one was safely moored in the one place. Eep.
A highlight was when the ship’s chef described the awful toileting conditions as “poop lasagne”. Layers of poop, toilet paper, poop, toilet paper stacked up in all of the ship loos.
Yikes.
Despite the craziness, it did bring some families closer together, weirdly enough. Gotta love some poop related trauma bonding.
I’ve now since watched a lot of the Trainwreck series of documentaries on Netflix so this won’t be the end of my reviews of them!
Things I won’t be recommending…
(But you can make up your own mind – these are just my opinions)
Building the Band – Netflix: Some kind of weird combo of Love is Blind and The Voice. Hosted by a Backstreet Boy. I couldn’t get into it. I am sure it gets better as the bands start to form but it wasn’t for me. And I love a good singing competition.
Amy Bradley is Missing – Netflix: I didn’t even try to watch it. Nothing upsets my brain more than an unsolved (alleged) crime. Also, it’s about a woman who went missing off a cruise ship. So you know how I’d feel about that. A friend tipped me off that it was indeed horrific and bothering her that it was still a mystery and no justice has been found after watching. This cemented for me why I had chosen not to see it. Sometimes I think a reason I watch true crime documentaries is to remind myself that while terrible things happen in the world, there can eventually be justice. When something goes unsolved or a bad person gets away with something on a technicality, I just cannot feel OK after seeing it.
Of course, never say never, but for now that’s where I stand!
What have you been watching lately? Tell me in an Insta DM or comment below!