The Last of Us

Being a fan of the game I was more than excited for the release of the show, sacrificing about an hour that could’ve been used to sleep every Sunday. This show meant a lot to me for many reasons, but outside of my love for the franchise in general, there was one episode that had the show make my list, episode 8. In this episode, we meet David; those who have played the game know what to expect. While I knew what to expect I was in shambles by the end of the episode. Bella Ramsey captured a scared fourteen-year-old girl perfectly, I swear I get chills just thinking about it. In this scene, Ellie brutally kills David after almost having been assaulted by him. The entire show was beautifully done and I think the casting was perfect. When the show was first announced people were unsure of Ramsey as Ellie, but as I predicted she put on one hell of a performance. Of course, I did more outside research on the show to find out that the cast and crew spent very long nights out in the cold for one singular scene. That scene was the big bloater scene, which in my opinion was executed beautifully.

BEEF

Then in around April, “BEEF” caught my attention mainly ’cause it was starring an all time favorite actor of mine, Steven Yeun. I won’t lie, at first this show was background noise. While things were getting crazy and it was entertaining to me, nothing necessarily stood out. Don’t get me wrong, the acting is amazing and it’s beautifully made but it didn’t hit me in any sort of way, until the very last few episodes. As a teenage girl in high school, it’s very rare to find people and even myself emotionally mature enough to forgive people. This whole show is about two adults raising hell because of one incident of road rage, and only once they go through a life threatening experience together are they able to accept each other and eventually themselves. The show gave me a different perspective on lots of things; I started the show not expecting to think much of it and was left with thoughts of it for a week. It definitely gave me a new perspective on life, one that I wanna have hit me sooner rather than later. Even if you aren’t looking for an epiphany, BEEF is most certainly worth a watch.

The Bear

Speaking of Beef, summer rolled around, and after seeing praise and talk for a show called “The Bear” I decided to watch it. I recognized Jeremy Allen White from Shameless but that was about it. I went in not knowing what to expect and came out with my brain chemistry altered. The Bear, to me, was perfectly made–from the writing, to the characters, to the visuals and the set design. The Bear starts off in a rundown sandwich restaurant called The Beef; everything about this show was flawless, I had watched season one a few weeks after season two dropped and from start to finish I was immersed. Season two of The Bear really hit me, especially the last episode. I know, a lot of mention about last episodes, but there’s no shame in ending something with a bang. Compared to the last episode of season one, season two was on another level. Every part of my body tensed up and I swear I was holding my breath on some parts, and once the episode was over I felt like a weight had been lifted off me. Watching The Bear, I found myself relating to Carmy, like a lot. I can’t cook to save my life but seeing Carmy and his belief that excellence comes from suffering and sacrifice felt personal for a multitude of reasons, the obsessed artist trope will always hit home, because I myself always find myself thinking that I am never doing enough, never doing good enough. No matter how many milestones I hit it feels like it’ll never be enough. Carmy talks about the Michelin Stars and how he couldn’t even enjoy it ’cause by that point he was so anxious and stressed. My passion isn’t cooking but acting, and the thing about those two is that it is a rigorous field to be in, and it’s a struggle to reach the top. Paired along with the fact that did a lot of this in spite of his brother, who was now dead. See now that’s one part I can’t exactly relate to, but it pulled on my heartstrings nonetheless.

One Piece

About two months later, the One Piece live action came out, and I know exactly what you’re thinking, “You cannot be serious.” Oh I am SO serious, ’cause listen I had my doubts too but it was so good. For those that don’t know, One Piece is an anime that originally aired in 1999! It has over a thousand episodes and it isn’t even over. I watched the first fifty episodes in my freshman year, so when the first season of the live action came out I knew what to expect. I was very pleased with the show, the casting was SO GOOD. Like not even exaggerating, so good. Iñaki Godoy portrayed Luffy perfectly and Emily Rudd portrayed Nami so beautifully. I kept up with the main cast prior to the show and seeing how grateful they were to be given the opportunity was heartwarming. While a cast is very important, that’s not the main reason as to why this show made my list. The CGI was one of my biggest fears with this show, as Luffy has an ability that allows his body to stretch, but I was pleasantly surprised! I also loved the costume designs, as well as the set designs. Bringing something that’s animated to life is always a challenge, especially a show about pirates with some crazy character designs and cuckoo abilities. Episode seven was the star in my opinion, in this episode, Emily Rudd did such an amazing job, ’cause this show was silly haha fun, until the scene where Nami realizes she has been played by Arlong. An evil fish man. Like literal fish man. Nami puts her pride aside and asks for help her from her friend Luffy. Up until now, this show was pretty lighthearted but this scene just felt so heavy, for good reason. After the fact, I really felt like Emily Rudd was a true diamond in the rough, and I was glad that this show would be her big break cause honestly she deserved it. Her and the whole cast, ’cause whew. They did those characters justice.

Attack on Titan

Last but not least, November. See this was so personal for no reason. I had been watching Attack On Titan for the past SEVEN years. Since I was nine! And they decided to drop the last episode the day after my birthday. So evil, since this show meant so much to me, because I grew up watching and talking about it. I’m a nostalgic person and someone who isn’t the biggest fan of change, so seeing something I had grown up watching made me sad, especially since the ending itself is actually so depressing. Double that with being emotional on my seventeenth birthday cause it’s my last year before I turn eighteen. My fear of growing up is a story for another day though, but it’s honestly what made it so important to me. This is a show that has a lot of amazing characters and world building. It starts off in the year 845, and for a century, humanity has lived behind three walls to protect them from the titans outside, titans that can be as tall fifteen meters and eat humans for seemingly no reason. The main characters are part of the military designed to repel, or attack, these titans. See my problem was I wasn’t entirely caught up by the time the final episode had been released so I spent a week catching up on the last twenty episodes. Whilst doing so, I had my friend on call with me so he could get my live reaction, as he had already seen it and found my crying to be humorous. Thanks a lot Alejandro. I finally got to the last episode and it was an eighty-five minute episode, the cool thing about this episode is that it had 3D elements, the voice acting was amazing, and the visuals were both horrifying and beautiful.  From the beginning of the first episode to the end, it was a bittersweet and amazing story, my favorite character ended up dead but honestly I like it better that way, makes it memorable. And with that, I finished the last episode in tears and shambles and a little bit embarrassed because my friend heard it all. I wouldn’t have finished it any other way though.

And with that, the year ended with me rewatching old shows. 2023 was truly a year full of great media, from movies to TV shows. If you take anything away from this article, let it be that you must watch The Bear. I will fight tooth and nail for that show, cause it’s too good not to. Then again, all the shows mentioned here are, but hey that’s my opinion. Watch them and you’ll be able to form your own thoughts and opinions and thank me for opening your eyes.