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Happy Halloweekend! (Thursday is early Friday, don’t fight us on this.) We hope you’re getting ready for some festive activities, or at least planning to eat candy. If you’re spending the day inside, may we suggest watching something from our lists of favorite spooky/scary shows and movies? And stay tuned for a new podcast episode dropping tomorrow in which we reveal our favorite Halloween episodes of TV.
In today’s edition:
Over the Garden Wall
The Peripheral
The X-Files
— Jess Spoll and Jenni Cullen
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True to our title, in this segment we each give our take on the same show. Will we see eye to eye?
Over the Garden Wall (2014)
Keywords: animated miniseries, fantasy, comedy
Watch if you like: Gravity Falls, Spirited Away, the idea of an excellently vibesy show
Length: 12-min runtime (120 min total), miniseries / 10 episodes
Watch on: Hulu, HBO Max
Over the Garden Wall begins when two brothers, Wirt and Gregory, realize they are lost in the woods and must find their way home. On their journey, they travel through strange and mystical lands, meeting oddball characters and facing some formidable trials. This incredibly original miniseries first aired on Cartoon Network in 2014, but don’t let that mislead you — it’s a far cry from a typical cartoon, and it’s not really for children.
I often find it difficult to say what exactly about this series I love so much. I suppose it’s something about the way it makes me feel? Cozy, excited, just the tiniest bit melancholy. The moment the first notes of the theme ring out, I am instantly transported to a chilly autumn evening as dusk begins to fall. I know it sounds silly — Over the Garden Wall is an at-times goofy, cartoonish show, to be clear — but it’s also a perfect miniseries that knows exactly what it is, and executes that uniqueness beautifully. The episodes start out mostly playful and warm with just a tinge of spookiness, but as the nights grow colder throughout the series, so does the tone. I don’t want to spoil anything, so I’ll just say that the arc of the ten, short (!) episodes is so satisfying and it’s become a fall tradition of mine to binge watch the whole thing once October rolls around.
Jenni’s Rating: A
I’m always a little scared to recommend Over the Garden Wall to others for fear that they will not like it as much as I do. And, to be clear, that’s a very high bar. In my opinion, this is one of the best television series ever crafted. The art is stunning, the script is both laugh-out-loud funny and emotionally moving, the plot is fast-paced and suspenseful, and the voice acting is superb (shout-out to Elijah Wood, Melanie Lynskey, and Christopher Lloyd). It’s really impossible for me to describe the type of show that it is because it’s unlike anything I’ve seen before. But trust me when I say that you should watch it. Just don’t tell me if you don’t like it.
Jess’s Rating: A+
Our thoughts on brand new streaming content, and where you can watch.
The Peripheral
Keywords: sci-fi, drama, mystery
Watch if you like: Westworld, Outer Range, Ready Player One
Jess’s Rating: A-
The Peripheral just premiered last week on Prime Video, and there are only 2 episodes out so far. It’s rare that I get super excited about a new show this early, but this could shape up to be one of my favorite shows of the year.
The series centers around a young woman, Flynne (Chloë Grace-Moretz), who lives in rural North Carolina in 2030 with her ailing mother and ex-military brother. Flynne is an exceptionally good video game player, and is given the opportunity by a shadowy tech company to try out their new VR gaming headset in exchange for some much-needed cash. Soon, she discovers that the world inside the headset might be closer to reality — and more dangerous — than she’d thought.
Sci-fi mystery is one of my favorite genres (see: Lost, The Resort, Severance, Outer Range, Fringe, Orphan Black) and I can’t wait to see where this show is going. So far, it has set up a compelling mystery with likeable characters and really cool tech. Executive produced by Lisa Joy and Jonathan Nolan, creators of Westworld, you could easily draw a comparison to the duo’s prestige hit. But while Westworld took its time before giving the audience any real answers, The Peripheral does so almost right away. I’m quite aware that it could go downhill rapidly — these mystery shows walk a fine line between being intriguing and letting us down — but for now I am hooked.
— Jess
Length: 60-min runtime, 2 episodes available with new ones each Friday
Watch on: Prime Video
Where we highlight shows that have ended or been canceled, and are well-worth digging back up.
The X-Files (1993-2002)
Keywords: Sci-fi, Mystery, Thriller
Watch if you like: Fringe, Bones, Castle
Jenni’s Rating: A-
A true classic, and perfect viewing to ease you into this Halloweekend. If you tell me you haven’t heard of The X-Files, I don’t know that I believe you. If you haven’t seen the show, time to get on it! 218 episodes is a little daunting, but I’d urge you to at least check out the first 3 seasons — those are my faves, anyway.
The series, which first aired in 1993, follows FBI special agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) as they investigate unsolved, unexplained cases involving paranormal phenomena — aka “X-Files”. At first, medical doctor and skeptic Scully is assigned to these cases to analyze Mulder’s “woo woo” discoveries and report back on his theories to the higher-ups. Soon, however, she begins to trust the government less and her partner more.
I will admit, episodes of this show gave me nightmares when I was younger, and I still sometimes watch scenes with a pillow in front of my face. Then again, as Jess and I have determined time and again, I’m a rather big wuss. I’m loving rewatching it this spooky season and the chemistry between Mulder and Scully as partners is what Wattpad dreams are made of.
— Jenni
Length: 45-min runtime, 11 seasons / 218 episodes
Watch on: Hulu
Your shows, returned:
Big Mouth, Season 6: Premieres October 28 on Netflix
The White Lotus, Season 2: Premieres October 30 on HBO Max
The Capture, Season 2: Premieres November 3 on Peacock
Upcoming new releases:
The Bastard Son & The Devil Himself: Premieres October 28 on Netflix
The Devil’s Hour: Premieres October 28 on Prime Video
Inside Man: Premieres October 31 on Netflix
Below Deck Adventure: Premieres November 1 on Bravo
Blockbuster: Premieres November 3 on Netflix