TV Archives - Queen's Journal

‘Sex Education’ is back and raunchier than ever

Written on October 22, 2021. Posted in Lifestyle.

Kinks, aliens, hookups, cheating—the new season of Sex Education has it all. The plot of the show’s third season primarily revolves around new head teacher Hope. She essentially acts as the Disney villain of the show, attempting to reinvent Moordale Secondary School as a pillar of academic excellence...

Kim's Convenience actress comes to Kingston

Written on March 3, 2020. Posted in Arts.

Emerging from the ranks of CBC’s hit comedy Kim’s Convenience, Canadian Screen Award-nominated actor and screenwriter Andrea Bang has found her footing in the world of independent film and TV. Bang is coming to Kingston on March 14as part of Kingston Canadian Film Festival’s Behind the Scenes event...

Winter Tekenos-Levy is proud of Canadian television

Written on February 28, 2020. Posted in Arts.

Canadian TV is thriving, according to prominent Canadian television writer and story editor Winter Tekenos-Levy. In recent years, she’s written for the Emmy-nominated Schitt’s Creek, the critically-acclaimed Kim’s Convenience, and long-running show This Hour Has 22 Minutes. In 2018, she was nominated...

Saying goodbye to The Good Place

Written on February 7, 2020. Posted in Lifestyle, Pop Culture.

This week, NBC comedy The Good Place moved on to a better place—wink wink, nudge nudge—but only after imparting us with one final philosophical message. It taught us that sometimes, not having all the answers is part of the solution. It’s hard to talk about the bittersweet finale episode without getting...

Season 2 of Sex Education is as unique as ever

Written on January 24, 2020. Posted in Lifestyle, Pop Culture.

My sister and her friend came over for dinner just as my housemates and I were finishing the last 15 minutes of the newly-released second season of Netflix’s Sex Education. Watching this season’s climax take place during an erotic space opera version of Romeo and Juliet on a stage literally shaped...

You’s second season is somehow scarier than the first

Written on January 14, 2020. Posted in Lifestyle, Pop Culture.

Netflix released the second season of You at the end of December, proving to viewers just how much an attractive white man can get away with in our society. The series follows Joe (Penn Badgley), a seemingly ordinary bookstore manager with a tendency to obsessively stalk women, murdering anyone who...

Four TV shows to hunker down with this winter

Written on January 10, 2020. Posted in Lifestyle, Pop Culture.

Winter is here: the seemingly endless season that wraps every Canadian in a cold blanket of darkness. If you’re someone who’d rather never leave the house than brave the cold, you’re probably planning on spending these coming winter months curled up in bed with Netflix open on your laptop. If so,...

Atypical season three is formulaic but fun

Written on November 22, 2019. Posted in Lifestyle, Pop Culture.

Atypical is an underappreciated gem from Netflix’s roster of original content. The show quietly dropped its third season on Nov. 1, and if you’ve seen the first two seasons, you’ll know exactly what you’re in for—but that’s not a bad thing. Like other coming-of-age dramas, this show follows a teenager’s...

His Dark Materials shines by sticking to its source

Written on November 15, 2019. Posted in Lifestyle, Pop Culture.

This fall, Philip Pullman’s award-winning book trilogy made its way onto the small screen with its airships, polar bears, and a corrupt version of the Catholic Church in all their glory. On Nov. 7, the HBO and BBC production of His Dark Materials premiered, bringing audiences around the world a new...

The perfect simplicity of Living with Yourself

Written on November 8, 2019. Posted in Lifestyle, Pop Culture.

We see a new side to Paul Rudd in the new Netflix series Living with Yourself. Sure, the opening scene shows Rudd wearing nothing but a diaper, but that’s not what I’m getting at. Living with Yourself proves a fun and fresh watch while revealing truths about the human condition and our constant...

Hidden Gems: British Panel Shows are the best thing you’ve never heard of

Written on October 18, 2019. Posted in Columns.

If you turned on the television, or “tube,” in Britain, you’d find TV programs similar to those we have on this side of the pond. The Brits have many genres you’d recognize: sitcoms, dramas, sci-fi epics, and trashy reality shows. They also have delightfully odd crosses between a talk show and a game...

The one where we reminisce about Friends

Written on October 4, 2019. Posted in Lifestyle, Pop Culture.

Whether you’ve watched every episode of Friends multiple times or just know when to clap during the theme song, there’s no question as to the show’s ongoing cultural importance. Thanks to Netflix streaming all ten seasons, the comedy has become a cross-generational hit that’s touched the lives of...

Why 13 Reasons Why should have ended after its first season

Written on September 9, 2019. Posted in Lifestyle, Pop Culture.

The Netflix original series 13 Reasons Why is one of the most controversial, boundary-pushing television shows on the platform—and perhaps in modern television. But despite its strong first season and talented cast, the series has since proven it should never have continued past its initial 13 episodes. Since...

Relating my trauma to Big Little Lies' honest portrayal

Written on July 8, 2019. Posted in Lifestyle, Pop Culture.

The widely popular HBO series Big Little Lies follows a narrative structure that’s striking, unsettling and unexpected. It offers a refreshing sense of realism amidst shows that often romanticize complex human issues. Having been through a movie-like tragedy myself, I’ve often been disappointed by...

Why Game of Thrones’ final season was anticlimactic

Written on June 3, 2019. Posted in Lifestyle, Pop Culture.

The following review contains spoilers for Game of Thrones season 8. While all eight seasons of Games of Thrones were packed with intrigue, tragedy and soaring triumph—not to mention a fair share of HBO naughtiness—the cultural phenomenon has finally come to an end. Although the saga’s heroes and...

What was the best show of the 2018-19 school year?

Written on April 4, 2019. Posted in Lifestyle, Pop Culture.

The Lifestyle section is full of passionate television lovers who’ve shared their thoughts on various shows across 26 articles this year. To make one final plea before the summer kicks in, The Journal has gathered three TV-loving writers to make their cases for the year’s best show. Survivor When...

Previewing the best of Spring TV

Written on March 29, 2019. Posted in Lifestyle, Pop Culture.

Spring has sprung, and with it comes a host of new and old shows to grace our screens. As exams approach, we can all take comfort in knowing there’ll be new stories to binge while pretending to study in Stauffer. From Veep to The Twilight Zone, here are the shows you should have on your radar in the...

Film students predict how 'Game of Thrones' will end

Written on March 29, 2019. Posted in Lifestyle, Pop Culture.

On April 14, Game of Thrones’ eighth and final season will premiere on HBO, and the world will start saying goodbye to the biggest cultural juggernaut of this past decade. The Journal asked students in Queen’s Film and Media program for predictions on how GoT will end to see if campus’ resident filmmakers...

What went wrong with 'Riverdale'?

Written on March 29, 2019. Posted in Lifestyle, Pop Culture.

I have trouble pinpointing the exact moment I realized Netflix’s teen hit, Riverdale, was no good. It might’ve been the episode Archie got attacked by a bear, or when Betty publicly strip-teased to join a gang. Or maybe my disenchanted attitude formed all the way back in season one, during Jughead’s...

Lamenting One Day at a Time’s cancellation

Written on March 22, 2019. Posted in Lifestyle, Pop Culture.

This past week saw 2019’s most devastating TV casualty to date: Netflix’s One Day at a Time. Despite its three seasons receiving critical acclaim and garnering a cult following, Netflix announced on Thursday they wouldn’t be renewing the show for a fourth season due to low viewership. One Day at a...

Netflix’s 'Tidying Up with Marie Kondo' makes organization spiritual

Written on February 14, 2019. Posted in Lifestyle, Pop Culture.

“My mission is to spark joy in the world through cleaning.” These are among the first words guru, author, and internet sensation Marie Kondo says on her new Netflix series, Tidying Up, released Jan. 1, 2019. Kondo has taken the organizational and minimalist décor world by storm since the release...

'Big Mouth'’s Valentine’s Day special thrives in messiness

Written on February 12, 2019. Posted in Lifestyle, Pop Culture.

The first two seasons of Big Mouth operated on the understanding that puberty is the most shameful period of our lives, which means we can and should laugh about it. The Netflix show’s Valentine’s Day special looks into what happens when its child-aged characters try to bundle up their...

Pilot season: TV’s cutthroat hit factory

Written on February 8, 2019. Posted in Lifestyle, Pop Culture.

This May, five networks—NBC, ABC, CBS, FOX and The CW—will shut down New York City and tout new shows premiering for the 2019-20 TV season at the Television Upfronts. While these announcements are heavily publicized and popular TV trailers rake up millions of views, hordes of shows that almost made...

Netflix’s 'You' promotes a dangerously appealing protagonist

Written on February 1, 2019. Posted in Lifestyle, Pop Culture.

Netflix’s latest thriller-drama, You, is smart, bizarrely compelling, and wildly popular. But the show’s excellence doesn’t excuse how it romanticizes stalking women, whether intended or not. You excels in subverting traditional rom-com expectations while exposing the pitfalls of dating in the...

The Good Place’s Jameela Jamil is the body-positive celebrity we need

Written on January 25, 2019. Posted in Lifestyle, Pop Culture.

Jameela Jamil is about to be your new favourite badass. Joining the ranks of empowering female celebrities like Serena Williams, Chrissy Teigen, and Lorde, Jamil is the unfiltered, unedited, and unapologetic media presence the world needs right now. She’s the rare celebrity who challenges social expectations...

Netflix’s Sex Education earns its title

Written on January 25, 2019. Posted in Lifestyle, Pop Culture.

Sex scenes in movies and TV have long mystified and fascinated audiences. Sometimes, it’s hard to believe intimate scenes are professional transactions between actors and, typically, not that sexy to make. It gets even more complicated when actors date their onscreen lovers in real life—like The Notebook’s...

Four TV shows you should watch this winter

Written on January 11, 2019. Posted in Lifestyle, Pop Culture.

If you’re like me, you probably took one look at the winter snow and thought, “Wow, I’m not going outside again until spring.” Luckily, there are plenty of new TV shows coming out over the next few months to keep us company as we lay in our beds wrapped in three layers of blankets. Here are some...

Golden Globes falls short with underwhelming award results

Written on January 11, 2019. Posted in Lifestyle, Pop Culture.

When Bohemian Rhapsody won the award for Best Motion Picture—Drama at this past Sunday’s Golden Globe Awards, the palpable shock coming from the show’s star-studded crowd summed up how the entire evening had gone. Award after award, crowd-pleasing nominees like A Star Is Born, BLACKkKLANSMAN, and...

Point/Counterpoint: Do subtitles help the viewing experience?

Written on October 12, 2018. Posted in Lifestyle, Pop Culture.

Yes If you’ve ever watched a movie or TV show with me where I’ve been in control of the device settings, there’s a 100 per cent chance it’s been accompanied by subtitles. There’s also a 50 per cent chance you’ve groaned the second a small caption written in an...

Big Mouth’s second season continues reign as TV’s funniest cringe-comedy

Written on October 12, 2018. Posted in Lifestyle, Pop Culture.

When Netflix’s animated comedy series Big Mouth came out with its first season last summer, audiences were surprised by its star-studded cast, bizarre-but-amazing premise, and cringe-worthy puberty jokes. Its second season, which was released on Oct. 5, doubled down on its wacky sense of humour while...

Tag: TV

The Journal, Queen's University - Since 1873

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