Law and Order: Special Victims Unit
If you are struggling to find something to do with your days whilst self-isolating, watching Law & Order: Special Victims Unit will definitely keep you occupied. Dick Wolf’s award-winning series is full of drama to keep you on edge and hooked to your TV.
The spin-off television series has 21 seasons, so there is a lot of content to keep you entertained whilst you’re stuck indoors. The series follows the life of New York Police Detective Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) and the other members of the Special Victims Unit in their attempt to solve crimes mainly involving sexual assault. The hard-hitting show blends the seriousness of sexually-based crimes and their shocking resemblance to real-life events with light-hearted moments, mainly seen in the bond between the SVU team as well as the exploration of the team’s life outside of their job.
An episode to look out for is ‘Born Psychopath’ (Season 14 Episode 19) that features the SVU team dealing with a 10-year-old boy presenting extreme psychopathic behaviour. Another thrilling episode is ‘Beast’s Obsession’ (Season 15 Episode 20) which sees psychopath William Lewis return and commit a string of crimes, including the capture of Olivia Benson. Benson is fighting for her life whilst the rest of the SVU team has a race against time to try and save her.
If you enjoy crime dramas like Criminal Minds and NCIS, you will be obsessed with Law & Order: SVU and will be wishing you were a part of the SVU team.
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit is available to stream now on NOW TV
– Charlotte Brennan
X-Files
The X Files is the ultimate binge-worthy show to cosy up to if you’re stuck at home for a while. Not only is it a wonderful series, it has the added bonus of distracting you with hours down the Wikipedia rabbit hole of conspiracy theories after every episode. So join Mulder and Scully on their adventures to find proof of extra-terrestrial life and other paranormal beings because quite frankly, it’s all just as plausible as real life is at the moment.
Full of 90s nostalgia and the occasional terrifying episode, early seasons of the show make for some truly legendary TV (though I would recommend skipping the revival, but that’s for a whole other article). It manages to perfectly juggle monster-of-the-week adventures with urban legends and the wider plot of discovering what secrets the government are keeping from the world. Side effects may include desperately researching how to join the FBI and weird looks from your friends as you tell them that aliens definitely exist.
– Vicky Greer
Gilmore Girls
Consisting of seven seasons, each complete with around 22 episodes, Gilmore Girls is the perfect show to watch to entertain those in self-isolation because the story seems never-ending. There is always so much happening, that it is impossible to get bored. The close relationship between Lorelai and Rory is so entirely heart-warming that it may inspire an appreciation of your own family, or they may just provide you with the right amount of comfort and laughs that you need right now. The adventures that Rory partakes in at college will allow you to live vicariously through her, whilst our own university is closed, and all the men involved in both Rory’s and Lorelai’s lives will certainly keep you entertained. It is also the perfect show to rewatch, as I have been doing, as the storyline is so filled with entertainment that each episode is still a surprise. With many, many hours of entertainment, Gilmore Girls remains an ideal show to keep yourself busy with.
– Georgie Holmes
The Umbrella Academy (Series 1)
In worrying times like these we could all use a little help from a hero or two huh? Well, how about a whole family? The Umbrella Academy is a superhero show like no other. Based upon the comics by Gerard Way (yes, My Chemical Romance frontman Gerard Way) the show follows the adoptive children of an eccentric billionaire; not throughout their time as a famous, crime-fighting group of heroes in their childhood, but as washed up, broken adults. Riddled with childhood trauma, emotional dysfunction and cursed with abnormal skills, this estranged family are forced back together by a personal murder mystery and the ticking time bomb of the apocalypse. With a soundtrack you will be playing for days, plotlines to keep you guessing and a unique, deeply layered and flawed cast of characters, there is something for everyone to enjoy. With promotion already underway for Season 2, now is the perfect time to catch up with the Hargreeves siblings, whether it be for the first time, or the fifth.
The Umbrella Academy Series 1 is available to watch on Netflix now.
– Jess Woodley-Stewart
The Witcher (Series 1)
When Netflix’s adaption of Andrzej Sapkowski’s Witcher book The Last Wish was announced with Henry Cavill as the titular Geralt, nobody expected it to be as fantastic as it was! Following three main characters as they go on their own journeys with Destiny, Geralt, Ciri and Yennifer all intermingling in their own ways.
Amazing production design and worldbuilding makes it so those completely unfamiliar with the source material can get caught up. While the timeline flickers between the past and the present, it all convenes at the end. And with a second series confirmed to be on its way, what better time to get acquainted with the franchise? Watch the series, then read the books or play the games if you’re so inclined.
(For bonus points: learn how to play “Toss A Coin To Your Witcher” on an instrument of choice. It will end up stuck in your head for a long time, so why not be productive with it?!)
– Louise Chase
