“Hello readers, I hope you are as excited for the end of the academic year as I am. Ready for a much-needed summer break, I need to catch up on all the TV I’ve missed and all the new media. This Trinity film student is about to get a lot more pretentious, so without further ado, here are my most anticipated TV watches for this summer. First of all, I have been waiting for the release of Beef (Lee Sung Jin, 2023) season two ever since it was announced earlier this year. When the first season came out, I finished all 10 episodes in two days and have not stopped thinking about it since. The show follows Amy and Danny as they get into a minor road rage car accident and try to get back at each other, continually in denial about how unfulfilled they are in their own real lives. It immediately turns the dial up to 100. Every time you think “surely they won’t do that”, they do, and then some. The show is a masterclass on how to make two completely abominable and unlikeable characters that people can still empathise with. I loved how Amy and Danny’s inability to let their personal issues go revealed everything wrong with the handling of their everyday lives. I also loved how perfectly Steven Yeun and Ali Wong portrayed two characters who are falling apart while simultaneously becoming more and more intertwined with and reliant on each other. After the first season ended, I found myself both satisfied and dissatisfied, left with a strangely resolved irresolution. Nothing in the characters’ lives was going well; however, they found themselves able to forgive each other and came to individual emotional understandings. I was unsure of what a second season of Beef might look like, worried it would just be a half-hearted attempt to capitalize off of its previous commercial success. But an interview with director Lee Sung Jin says that the season will focus on entirely new people with the same vague idea of mutual dissatisfaction. Additionally, big names including Oscar Isaac, Charles Melton, and Cailee Spaeny will be brought on, ensuring more excellent performances to drive forward the absurd and fight-or-flight-inducing plots that Beef has become known for. I am almost certain I will watch the entire season in one sitting again. Jury Duty (Jake Szymanski, 2023) was another show I was surprised to see announcing a second season, mostly because of its reliance on the protagonist not knowing what is going on. The plot of Jury Duty essentially surrounds one big prank on a protagonist, where they are called into jury duty, but are placed with a group of actors who create the most insane and absurd scenarios possible and see how the protagonist reacts. Season one was absolute magic, solely because of its protagonist, Ronald, whose ability to get along with anyone and everyone warmed the audience’s hearts. Since the show was incredibly popular, audiences thought it would be extremely difficult to find someone who would believe what was going on; Ronald was a one-in-a-million who could turn anything into gold. The second season, Jury Duty Company Retreat (Lee Eisenberg, 2026), was released on March 20th and met with similarly positive reviews. Audiences are saying that the show has succeeded in finding another brilliant protagonist in Anthony, who matches Ronald in his ability to be open-minded and amiable. I cannot wait to binge the new season as soon as I have the time (which will most certainly be after exams), and experience more lighthearted fun. Anyone who knows me knows I am a huge Spider-Man fan. And the show I am most looking forward to watching this summer is Spider-Noir (Harry Bradbeer, 2026). While I have recently been cautious of Marvel, or Marvel adjacent media, having Harry Bradbeer on as a director is comforting since he has directed renowned projects like Killing Eve (2018 to 2022) and Fleabag (2016 to 2019). Additionally, from the trailer, I can see that the show is styled in a very unique way, a live-action comic book paying homage to Hollywood classic noir. It is shot entirely in black and white, featuring melodramatic camera angles and a gritty detective feel. I am also excited for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, at least with this project, to move away from the idea of multiverses and into a world where there is only one superhero. I also appreciate the ageing up of Spiderman, as he is often portrayed as just a witty kid. Making him a suffering and grieving adult should be a fresh take on a story that has now been told to the point of being tiresome. All in all, this summer will be spent avoiding the sun and soaking in all the blue light I can inside. So much interesting media is coming out, and I am enthusiastically waiting to feast on it all. Thank you all for a great year. I know I have enjoyed my time at UT so much, I thought I’d have the perfect movie moment and create a full circle with my first-ever article coming in from the summer. Enough sentimentality, have a great break, everyone!
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