i didn’t leave the house today and my lack of contact with the sun is making me feel like i’m jet lagged or otherwise off kilter.
on to recommendation time…
hi molly! firstly, i’d like to thank you for the sharp veer you took in your question, from the sopranos and mad men to gossip girl and friday night lights. i’m not the most equipped to dole out advice on the former pair of shows because of my pathetic attention span, but the soapy latter two i can definitely handle.
if you haven’t ever taken a trip to the oc that is my first recommendation. as far as the teen soap genre goes, it was definitely my first love, and whether or not its because of a soft spot, i still think it’s the very best of the genre. with all the death, divorce, and its numerous love triangles, it will certainly hold your attention. also, i believe that pre-Big Bang Theory geek chic can be a balm for our weary times.
the oc also has really wonderful holiday episodes — in the first season, our central love triangle hits its dramatic peak on the chrismukkah episode — so it feels like fateful timing for you.
relatedly: this very good andrew zingg essay about finding comfort in watching the oc from the believer
if you’re looking for something a more adult/cable, try billions or six feet under.
sophie, sophie, sophie! the issue here is that there are too many good songs. the first draft of my answer included 8 songs, but i diligently cut it down to the requested singular Good Song.
i landed on “in your head” by daddy issues. i think a lot of the best songs happen to be break up songs (like, let’s say, lucy dacus’s “night shift”) and this is one of them. what daddy issues does best is this kind of playful fretfulness, their instrumentation sounding like a thrashing against their own worried nature, and it’s really fun to hear these elements team up with anger in “in your head.”
the song begins, “fuck you forever, i said leaving,” and goes onto imagine the ex’s sick satisfaction in imagining the singer still pining after them. in the end, the singer assurances her ex that they’re absolutely not in her head. it’s petty and wonderful. i think daddy issues’ entire debut album deep dream is worth a listen.
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