For exactly ten months, I’ve been watching shows on the multimedia home server I built and discussed in an earlier series of posts. In that time, I’ve made my way through a wide range of films and series. Some were weekly appointments, some became unexpected discoveries, and others were shows I deliberately took my time with because I didn’t want them to end.
I plan to turn this into a monthly series of posts so I’ll have a place to keep track of the shows I’ve watched. Well, that and the fact that I’m over 30 with a kid, and if I don’t write these things down I genuinely cannot tell you in December what I watched in March.
Without further ado, here’s my recap of the shows I watched in 2026… from January through August.
Pluribus - Season 1
In its first season, romance novelist Carol Sturka is one of the very few people left untouched by a mysterious event that turns almost all of humanity into a peaceful collective consciousness. While the new world tries to win her over, Carol fights to preserve individual thought and uncover what really happened.
Technical details: An English language series released on Apple TV and produced by Sony Pictures Television.
Pluribus isn’t technically a show I watched in 2026, since I finished it at the end of 2025. Still, there was no way I could leave it off this list. You know a creator has earned real prestige, and your complete trust, when you hear that the first episode of his new series has just been released and you’re watching it that very night. I don’t need to explain what Vince Gilligan accomplished with Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul. They’re about as close to perfection as television gets, so my confidence was absolute.
As I said in my article about the series, this is fine dining. Everything is given the time it needs. Because of that, Pluribus has attracted the same criticism as Gilligan’s other work: its first season is slow. I honestly don’t see it that way. It’s hard to picture the finished house while watching its foundations being laid. I had the same feeling with Breaking Bad, and I believe this construction will repay every second invested in it.
It would be unfair to talk only about Gilligan. What Rhea Seehorn does as Carol also comes close to Gilliganesque perfection. Carol is an extraordinarily complex character. She can be emotionally vulnerable one moment and fiercely combative the next, defending her ethical convictions against a world that has literally lost the ability to think for itself.
An excellent series that will only get better.
Verdict: Ten hours of meticulous construction that prove haste is a character flaw.
Andor - Season 2
The second season follows Cassian Andor through the final years before Rogue One as scattered acts of resistance grow into an organized rebellion. While the Empire tightens its grip on the galaxy, Cassian and those around him must decide what they’re willing to sacrifice for freedom.
Technical details: An English language Lucasfilm production released on Disney Plus.
One day I should write an article about how Disney ruined Star Wars. Unfortunately, George Lucas’s universe is being destroyed by the Mickey Mouse machine.
Andor is the exception.
I took a long time to finish the second season for one simple reason: I didn’t want it to end. Knowing that any new Star Wars material would probably fall far short of what I was looking for, I stretched out my relationship with this series until its inevitable conclusion.
The tension of the first season is amplified here. The thriller moves at an increasingly frantic pace, and its brilliant writing makes the second season even better than the first. We already know where these characters are headed because of Rogue One, another survivor of the Disney disease. That makes the writing even more impressive. It can’t rely on a surprising ending, yet it still makes you desperate to follow the story all the way there.
Verdict: Disney accidentally discovered that Star Wars gets much better when adults write the script.
Normal People
The limited series follows Marianne and Connell from their final school years in a small Irish town through their time at Trinity College in Dublin. Their bond keeps drawing them together as class, insecurity, trauma, and their inability to communicate pull them apart.
Technical details: An English language series released by BBC Three and Hulu, produced by Element Pictures in association with Screen Ireland.
There are shows that, even now, I can’t remember being motivated to watch. Maybe I saw a reel or some other video somewhere, but whatever led me to Normal People, watching it was worthwhile. In theory, the series begins as a teenage romance, but it’s so much more than that. Of course, some viewers are invested in the romance and whether the couple will end up together, but that isn’t really the point.
Daisy Edgar Jones and Paul Mescal both give wonderful performances. This is a series about normal people, people with trauma, fear, and difficulties. The two actors are so realistic that they can make even a more rational person like me feel genuinely nervous. That’s wonderful.
Alongside Ted Lasso, it’s one of the few shows that knows how to address mental health as it should be addressed, with responsibility and normality. In that respect, Normal People is outstanding.
Verdict: Two people in urgent need of a conversation who, fortunately for us, take twelve episodes to realize it.
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms - Season 1
Set in Westeros long before Game of Thrones, the first season follows the young hedge knight Ser Duncan the Tall and his small, sharp witted squire Egg as they travel to a tournament at Ashford Meadow. What begins as a modest attempt to earn honor soon draws them into the dangers and rivalries of the Targaryen dynasty.
Technical details: An English language series released by HBO and HBO Max, produced by Fevre River Packet Co., Bastard Sword, Grok! Studio, and HBO Entertainment.
This is another series set in the world of Game of Thrones, and the first of two on this list. What can I say? It’s very good and thoroughly entertaining. Even though it belongs to the sinister world created by George R. R. Martin, the series has a welcome lightness. The chemistry between the two leads is excellent. They provide a wonderful contrast, and Egg is remarkably charismatic.
My only complaint is the length of the episodes. Instead of finishing the season with the pleasant feeling of wanting more, I was left with the bitter sense that I had simply been given less.
Verdict: Westeros has finally discovered charm. Unfortunately, its episodes have discovered austerity.
The Pitt - Season 2
The second season returns to the emergency department for another relentless shift as doctors, nurses, and trainees face overlapping medical crises and personal conflicts. With the hospital under extreme pressure, every decision carries consequences for both patients and staff.
Technical details: An English language series released on HBO Max, produced by John Wells Productions and Warner Bros. Television.
This is the medical phenomenon that will inspire thousands of people to study medicine. I’m not even exaggerating. If Andor was already frantic, The Pitt moves at a pace that could finish off anyone with high blood pressure. It’s insane. Multiple storylines, accidents, and conflicts all unfold at once.
What caught my attention was the quality of the acting across the entire cast, even among the background performers. It’s astonishing. Every person on screen carries the tension of the hospital emergency department.
As for the second season, it’s excellent. I only thought it focused a little too heavily on Robby, who is the protagonist. The season finale reflects that choice and leaves other, more interesting storylines without a satisfying conclusion.
Verdict: Tension, acting, and pacing at an absurdly high level. It only stumbles when it decides that a great ensemble needs a single center of gravity.
Fallout - Season 2
In the second season, Lucy and the Ghoul continue across the wasteland toward New Vegas in pursuit of Hank and the truth about the vaults. Their journey brings them into contact with familiar factions, creatures, and remnants of the old world, while Maximus faces a changing Brotherhood of Steel.
Technical details: An English language series released on Prime Video, produced by Amazon MGM Studios and Kilter Films in association with Bethesda Game Studios and Bethesda Softworks.
I’m a huge fan of the Fallout games. Fallout 3 would easily be among my five favorite games of all time, and I’ll be honest, a good chunk of my teenage years went into that wasteland. The best thing about this series is its setting. The creators have built an identity that conveys what it feels like to inhabit the world of the games.
Seeing New Vegas again brought back wonderful memories, as did the appearance of classic characters and threats such as Deathclaws.
The story is good, but nothing more than that. This is pure entertainment.
Verdict: Competent fan service, a phrase normally used as an insult but, strangely enough, meant here as praise.
The Boys - Season 5
The final season brings the conflict between Homelander, Butcher, and the Boys to its breaking point as political power and superhuman violence become impossible to separate. With time running out and old alliances collapsing, the struggle over who controls America moves toward its bloody conclusion.
Technical details: An English language series released on Prime Video, produced by Sony Pictures Television and Amazon MGM Studios with Kripke Enterprises, Original Film, and Point Grey Pictures.
The final season is by far the worst thing I’ve watched in years. I’ve already written an article about it, so there’s no point going over the same ground again. The writing is horrible, there are scatological jokes every three minutes, deus ex machina solutions appear constantly, and nonsensical character arcs exist only to justify the release of a spinoff. It’s a disaster and not worth any more of my time. Skip it. Genuinely.
The only thing in the final season that was genuinely worthwhile was Antony Starr’s performance. Poor man.
Verdict: A season so bad that Antony Starr deserves hazard pay.
Deadwood - Season 1 and 2
Across its first two seasons, the lawless mining settlement of Deadwood begins to turn into a town while figures such as Seth Bullock and Al Swearengen compete for influence. Personal ambitions, business interests, violence, and outside political pressure become inseparable as everyone fights for a place in the emerging community.
Technical details: An English language HBO series produced by Roscoe Productions, Red Board Productions, Paramount Network Television, and HBO.
Most of the shows I watch are either still releasing new episodes or recent enough to binge. Deadwood is different. I can call this HBO series my comfort show of 2026. I’m in no hurry to finish it. I enjoy every second and watch an episode whenever my brain asks for more western. That’s wonderful.
I watched the first and second seasons, and both maintained an exceptionally high standard. It’s the most political series on this list, and it creates the same sensation as Game of Thrones. Events unfold in parallel while a struggle for power takes shape, in this case within the mining settlement of Deadwood.
For me, it’s a symbol of HBO’s golden age. I still don’t understand why it has never become part of popular culture. Maybe it’s the western setting. Maybe it’s the cerebral writing, or the way political and personal issues develop alongside one another. I don’t know. What I do know is that it’s one of the best series I’ve ever seen and, as with Andor, I’m in no hurry to finish it.
Verdict: Game of Thrones if the Iron Throne were a plot of land and everyone were covered in mud.
Daredevil: Born Again - Season 1 and 2
Across its first two seasons, Matt Murdock tries to protect New York both in court and as Daredevil while Wilson Fisk transforms political power into a weapon against vigilantes. Their renewed conflict forces old allies and new resistance movements to choose how far they will go to stop the city from surrendering to fear.
Technical details: An English language series released on Disney Plus, produced by Marvel Television and Marvel Studios.
Next comes another series whose first two seasons I watched this year, although in this case I binged them both.
Daredevil is my favorite comic book character, mainly because of the literary quality of his stories. The series has a very good rhythm and feels a lot like the Netflix version.
Charlie Cox is an excellent Daredevil. He truly understands the character, and Vincent D’Onofrio understands Kingpin perfectly. Their performances carry the entire series. My complaint is the way this kind of show always ends. We spend episode after episode watching the world collapse and society change. It seems as though the established order will be altered forever, and then everything ends exactly as it began. No spoilers, of course, although perhaps saying that’s already a spoiler. Who knows?
Verdict: Charlie Cox and Vincent D’Onofrio perform as though nobody remembered to tell them to relax because this is only the MCU.
Ronaldinho Gaúcho
This limited documentary series traces Ronaldinho’s life and football career through archive footage and accounts from the people closest to him. It revisits his rise, his greatest achievements, and the personality that made him one of the sport’s most beloved figures.
Technical details: A Brazilian Portuguese production released on Netflix, produced by Canal Azul and Trailer Films.
I included this as a series, although it could also be called a documentary. Since it’s episodic, calling it a series makes sense. I’m a huge fan of the Wizard, and there are some interesting details about his career and a few enjoyable moments. Unfortunately, it suffers from the same problem as autobiographical books: the author controls the narrative. In this case, I’m not even talking about Ronaldinho. I mean his brother.
The result is curious but compromised by its author. Entirely skippable.
Verdict: An autobiography in which the ghostwriter appears to be the protagonist’s brother.
Off Campus - Season 1
The first season centers on college student Hannah Wells and hockey star Garrett Graham, whose practical arrangement begins when he asks for help improving his grades. What starts as an exchange of favors develops into a relationship shaped by ambition, attraction, family trauma, and the pressures of campus life.
Technical details: An English language series released on Prime Video, produced by Amazon MGM Studios, Temple Hill Entertainment, and Billings Productions.
This is another series that I’ve no idea how I ended up watching. Yes, it’s a literary phenomenon among younger readers, but we live in a world of bubbles and I genuinely knew nothing about it. Maybe I decided to watch it simply because everyone else was. I’ve no idea.
The series is genuinely entertaining. I expected a teenage romance, but it handles the subject with welcome responsibility and sensitivity. Its characters are stereotypes who don’t always behave as their stereotypes demand. There’s family trauma, the consequences of that trauma, and, of course, romance. It’s enjoyable. Nothing about it was revolutionary for me, but it’s a good series. Not everything needs to be either awful or extraordinary.
Verdict: I arrived expecting some Wattpad shit with a budget and left having to admit that there were actual human beings in it.
Margo’s Got Money Troubles - Season 1
The first season follows Margo, a young mother whose financial problems push her to build an unconventional online career. With help from her estranged father, a former professional wrestler, she tries to turn chaos into stability while navigating parenthood, work, family, and public judgment.
Technical details: An English language series released on Apple TV, produced by A24 with David E. Kelley Productions, Blossom Films, and Lewellen Pictures.
The last entry in the group of shows that I’ve no idea why I started watching is Margo’s Got Money Troubles. It genuinely surprised me. I love watching the American way of life being dismantled so that we can see an ordinary person simply trying to get through an ordinary life.
I love Elle Fanning’s charisma as Margo. She’s chaotic, strong, and irresponsible in some respects, yet she’s forced to confront enormous responsibilities. For me, she’s the best thing about the series. It’s highly entertaining and doesn’t deal with grand, complex questions beyond those that naturally belong to an ordinary person’s life. An excellent series.
Verdict: The American dream, now with less dreaming, less money, and Elle Fanning making it look fun.
Severance - Season 1
In the first season, Mark Scout leads a team of Lumon Industries employees whose work memories have been surgically separated from their personal lives. The arrival of a defiant new colleague and a mysterious figure from Mark’s past leads the team to question their identities, their work, and the company controlling both halves of their existence.
Technical details: An English language series released on Apple TV Plus, produced by Endeavor Content and Red Hour Productions.
If the post ended before this entry, Pluribus would clearly be my favorite series. But remember what I said about Vince Gilligan using nearly an entire first season to build toward the future? Ben Stiller and Aoife McArdle as directors, together with creator and writer Dan Erickson, demonstrate that sometimes a masterpiece can be built from the roof down.
What writing. What cinematography. What direction. What acting. What a story.
Wow. Everything in this series works. The actors are outstanding, and Adam Scott is phenomenal. The direction belongs to another world. The symbolism, the colors, everything is executed perfectly.
Perhaps the story’s corporate dystopia feels even more terrifying to me because I’ve experienced corporate life myself. It makes the horror inside Lumon’s offices feel all the more real.
Verdict: If a department existed to separate excellent television from perfect television, Severance would be on both sides.
House of the Dragon - Season 3
The third season sends the Dance of the Dragons into open war as Rhaenyra and the Blacks fight for the Iron Throne while the Greens struggle to hold King’s Landing together. With armies gathering and more dragonriders entering the conflict, the rivalry within House Targaryen grows larger, bloodier, and more chaotic.
Technical details: An English language HBO series produced by HBO Entertainment, 1:26 Pictures, Bastard Sword, and GRRM.
After the second season spent so much time going nowhere, we finally get a decent season. It gives its predecessor the conclusion it deserved while putting everything in place for the fourth season.
The scale of the production is enormous and the story is very good, but every storyline seemed to move either too quickly or far too slowly. The pacing that I praised in other series on this list doesn’t work here. Still, it doesn’t seriously harm the season, which has already made me eager to see the final one.
Verdict: Things have improved now that there are more dragons, more war, and more chaos. I’m still waiting to understand who Rhaenyra is and what she actually wants.
And there it is, a quick roundup of every series I watched. Overall, I’m happy to discover that I saw more good television than I remembered. I’ve also identified a few things I could improve, such as watching more series from other countries and venturing beyond the United States more often. But who knows?
Anyway, that’s all, folks. See you next month.