Over quarantine, many people have watched a copious amount of shows, especially on streaming services such as Netflix, Hulu, and Disney Plus. This has led to people exploring shows they haven’t seen yet, as well as being able to find the time to watch these shows. Here are some of my recommendations to break your boredom streak. 

Carmen Sandiego, maturity rating: TV-Y7

Carmen Sandiego, a young woman trained at VILE academy, learns the skills of thievery and becomes one of the school’s best students. However, she turns against VILE after she learns she will be forced to steal artifacts around the world. Sandiego escapes the academy, promising herself that she would defeat VILE for good. The show follows Sandiego as she tries to prevent VILE from getting away with stolen artifacts. 

The current show is a Netflix original animated series and has three seasons, including the most recent season that came out at the beginning of October. Once I saw that the original Carmen Sandiego series, “Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?” would be reanimated, I was definitely excited. The plot is very solid, and I think every character design is unique. The animations are also very smooth, and as the series continues, I anticipate more surprising episodes. The show also incorporates cultures around the world, giving fun facts about each country Carmen Sandiego visits. 

Hannibal, maturity rating: TV-MA 

Will Graham is a criminal profiler who is extremely talented in reenacting crime scenes within his own imagination. While cooperating with the FBI on a case, he meets Dr. Hannibal Lecter, a professional psychologist. The series follows both Graham and Lecter working on an FBI case regarding a cannibal, which then reveals a multitude of secrets in the process. 

The entire series is amazing and can be found on Netflix; however, there are copious amounts of gore and violence in each episode so I advise exercising caution before watching the series. The series has 3 seasons in total, 13 episodes per season. I personally believe that this series should have definitely been continued. Every time I watched another episode, I became filled with energy and excitement. I think that this series is amazing and is absolutely well done with the casting and plot. The acting was also extremely solid and entertaining, the symbolism and imagery within the show were important and I felt like it was all genius when it came together.

The Haunting of Hill House, maturity rating: TV-MA

The Haunting of Hill House is a Netflix original series based off of the novel by Shirley Jackson. The show begins with the Crain family, consisting of the parents and their five children, moving into a vast (but old) mansion. The Crains renovate the home and try to sell it off for a higher price. However, the family members experience weird phenomena that cannot be explained during their time at the house. These incidents continue to pile up until one fateful night, the mother of the Crains is found dead, which leads to the other family members fleeing the home. Years later, the Crain family struggles to deal with their lives and the mysteries that plagued their childhood after Nell, the youngest child, is found wandering the same house their mother died in. 

I did not find this series scary, but more unsettling. While this show is not like your stereotypical horror movie or TV series, it did contain a handful of jumpscares. I think the symbolism within the series is beautifully done. It’s important to hang onto every little detail, as it all comes together into one piece at the end of the series. 

Monster, maturity rating: TV-14

Based off of Naoki Urasawa’s manga series, “Monster,” this show is an animated adaptation and includes 74 episodes. The series can be found on YouTube and  begins with a Japanese surgeon named Kenzo Tenma. Tenma lives in West Germany and works at the Eisler Memorial Hospital. As an immigrant and young man, he cancels his plans to operate on a Turkish construction worker, and is instead used by the director of the hospital to operate on a famous opera singer. Said Turkish construction worker passes away, and one day, his grieving wife confronts Tenma in an emotional frenzy. This allows Tenma to question his morals and ethics when he meets a special boy by the name of Johan Liebert who rushes into the emergency room. Years after operating on Liebert, he comes back to haunt Tenma with his gifts. 

This entire series was a wild ride, and there are definitely unsettling concepts. Contrary to how some would dub the genre of this show as “horror,” I believed this had a very psychological approach. By incorporating philosophy, it truly blurred the definitions of life and death. Along with that, Johan Liebert is one of the best-written antagonists I have ever seen. This series is a definite watch, especially when Halloween is coming up! 

Private Practice, maturity rating: TV-14

“Private Practice” is a spin-off of “Grey’s Anatomy” with a total of six seasons. It can be found on Amazon Prime, Hulu and Netflix. The show starts with Derek Shepherd’s wife, Addison Montgomery, who follows Shepherd all the way to Seattle in order to win his heart back. However, this does not work and they ultimately come to the conclusion of a divorce. After the divorce between the two, Montgomery goes to find another place to work at. She then visits a high school friend in Los Angeles, and she soon becomes interested in working at a private practice. Her new life in Los Angeles then begins there. 

I personally liked this show due to the fact that it was a spin-off of “Grey’s Anatomy,” which gave me more content to watch (aside from the long original series). It is more laid-back compared to “Grey’s Anatomy,” and there is definitely less gore compared to its counterpart. The series is easy to follow, as there isn’t much medical jargon. The series itself is also relatable as it brings the fun out of friendship. It is definitely engaging and I totally recommend this show. However, I would recommend watching “Grey’s Anatomy” first before watching this show as it gives more context.