We are officially in the midst of a new semester and I’m back to present to you three options for your latest TV-binge. Did you miss me!? If your classes are anything like mine, your daily routine includes Zoom lecture after Zoom lecture, test, homework, cry and repeat (and of course the “occasional” TikTok break). Well, don’t you worry your little head because I’m back, like the amazing TV Godmother that I am, with the perfect shows for you.
S.W.A.T
Rating: eight/10
Where to Watch: Hulu
How Long: Four seasons and nine episodes
Status: Has not been renewed or cancelled for season five
The show “crime” centers around Sergeant Daniel Harrelson, AKA, Hondo, a former Marine and Los Angeles local that was promoted to lead his SWAT unit after an unfortunate incident goes down with the last team leader. In the show, you can often find Hondo torn between the loyalty he feels between his brothers in blue and the city where he was born and raised. Besides Hondo, the show follows the lives of the members in his unit: David “Deacon” Kay, Christina “Chris” Alonso, Dominique Luca, Victor Tan and Jim Street. I originally started the show after I found out Shemar Moore joined this cast after leaving Criminal Minds and I have no regrets. S.W.A.T does an amazing job at incorporating these technically complex action scenes along with the drama and lives of each of the characters. Within this show we get to experience Deacon be a loving husband and father, Street battle with his past, Chris embrace her identity as a bisexual Hispanic woman and Luca’s struggle with the pressure that comes with being a legacy. Each character plays an instrumental role in how the team operates and viewers get to see how they’re more than a unit, but also a family. My attention never strays when I have this show on and if you loved Shemar in Criminal Minds, you’ll love him in S.W.A.T.
9-1-1
Rating: 8.5/10
Where to Watch: Hulu
How Long: Four seasons and five episodes
Status: Has not been renewed or cancelled for season five
Initially, when starting this show, I was hesitant because the only firefighter drama I had seen was Chicago Fire and, in my head, very few shows could compete with that. However, I can now admit I was wrong. Both 9-1-1 and Chicago Fire bring completely different things to the table when it comes to firefighter drama and they only really intersect in the fact that they both make for amazing TV. 9-1-1 follows the firefighters of Station 118 and their high-pressure experiences while on the job, but they don’t just stop at firefighters. Viewers also get to watch the show from the perspective of 911 dispatchers and police officers. The inclusion of all first responders was a different take that I hadn’t seen before and was honestly really refreshing…but also heartbreaking. To quote one of the first responders, “When we are on those calls, we’re someone else’s lifeline. Our voice is the only thing they have to hang on to,” which just makes for some heartbreakingly good TV. These first responders take on some interesting situations like tsunamis and dam breaks, and each season it gets better and better, so you won’t regret watching.
SEAL Team
Rating: eight/10
Where to Watch: Hulu/Soap2day
How Long: Four seasons and seven episodes
Status: Has not been renewed or cancelled for season five
Before I found SEAL Team, most of the shows I watched consisted of teen or medical dramas with the addition of some random crime show I found while channel surfing. I didn’t even know there was a military drama genre but now you could say I’m hooked. The show centers around the professional and personal lives of the men on the Bravo team, an elite Navy SEALs unit, as they train, plan and execute dangerous missions. My favorite part of the show is how much of an insight viewers get on each mission and then how perfectly they execute it every time with crazy action scenes and obscure angles. I promise you; you will actually start to think you’re on the mission with them.
Besides all the action, another thing that drew me into the show is the writer’s portrayal of what happens after they come home from such a mission. We get to see operator Ray Perry struggle with his faith after a particularly fatal incident, team leader Jason Hayes battle with his PTSD and Clay Spenser attempting to find that balance between having a personal life and being a new operator. During their darkest moments, you really get to see the bond and brotherhood between the entire unit shine. SEAL Team doesn’t shy away from the dark sides of being a part of the military and it makes for brutally honest and heart-wrenching 43 minutes.
Also, if that wasn’t enough to get you to start watching, they have an explosive detection dog names Cerberus, and she steals the spotlight anytime she’s on the screen.
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