Hello everyone! Welcome back to BirthMay 2022! Today’s post is all about tv shows I’ve recently watched! Specifically I’ll be chatting about The 100‘s first season, Selling Sunset‘s fifth season, and two seasons of Get Organized with The Home Edit.

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In case you’re new, every May I blog every day and call it BirthMay! Why? Because it’s my birth month and I’m super extra.

I figured I should talk about more shows I watch rather than the flashy new ones that I’m talking about way after the fact anyway! Oh, I think since these are either so old or so well-covered already that I won’t avoid any spoilers. So here’s the shows I’ve been watching recently.

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TV Shows I’ve Watched Recently: The 100 Season 1

Okay, I’ll be honest, I started this show eons ago and stopped watching it on episode 3. It must have been pre-pandemic for sure when I started it. So since I’d already started it but just barely, I decided to just hit play. Since it was the start of the show, it didn’t really matter to be honest, but I did have to learn some of the rules again and do a bit of who’s who for awhile.

I will say that I find the plot pretty fun actually. Oh, the basic idea is that there is a human colony on a spaceship orbiting Earth after a nuclear war made it unlivable. Their goal is ensure humanity survives by living on the ship until Earth has been restored. But when the ship starts to malfunction and it’s clear the ship will soon become unlivable instead they send 100 kids to Earth. Why kids? Well, because the ship is very strict about crime and criminals due to the limited resources. Anyone who breaks the laws of the ship is sentenced to death, or “floated” (as in, sent to float out in space). But killing kids is too harsh even for a spaceship community so instead they are held in prison until they are 18 to get floated. Since the kids are considered expendable, considering they won’t live past their 18th birthday anyway, they are sent involuntarily to Earth, outfitted with tracking bracelets, to see if Earth can support human life again.

Due to issues upon reentry, the ship is damaged to the point that the kids can’t communicate with the ship and it turns into a ver Lord of the Flies sort of situation where the kids are struggling to set up their own community, figure out how to survive, and identify their own leadership styles too. Soon they discover they are not alone, and have to find a way to ensure their own safety, while still figuring out how they want to live. Some of the group wants to focus on bringing the rest of the humans down from space while others wants to live in freedom and leave the ship to figure out their own future.

The main character is Clarke. Her parents were highly ranked on the ship and her mom is still a highly respected physician and council member. After her father discovered the ship was running out of oxygen he was floated and she was sentenced to prison. A little bit before her 18th birthday she ended up on the ship and going to Earth. She quickly becomes a respected leader among the 100 for her steadfast morals, level-headedness, and for being a strong, ethical person. Clarke is mostly a pacifist, leading her to often clash with Bellamy, another leader in their community. Throughout the entire first season, Clarke gets a crash (not intentionally a pun) course on leadership, medicine, and survival. While it was a little infuriating at times, it was admirable to see Clarke stick to her morals and have such a strong influence on how their community is shaped.

Some of the things I felt were weird though. For example, it was weird how little anyone thought of Octavia and how she simultaneously had a ton of independence but also a ton of rules specifically for her. Since she was Bellamy’s little sister everyone just seemed to automatically dismiss her. Bellamy is a controlling older brother, leading Octavia to rebel against him and sneak off constantly, even getting to know a Grounder and letting him go once he’s captured. But also she gets an extraordinary amount of freedom overall in other ways. For the most part, everyone seems to have a specific job in their tiny community. Some people patrol, others are in charge of reinforcing their barriers around their area, and so on. But Octavia doesn’t seem to have any particular role other than rebelling against Bellamy. Kind of weird how Clarke is called “Princess” despite holding multiple roles in their community as opposed to Octavia. Even so, I love Octavia’s character and how she’s so compassionate, independent, and does what needs to be done to care for the 100.

Also, it’s kind of crazy to think how alone those kids must have felt. Clarke pretty much went through every stage of grief thinking her mother was dead or soon would be multiple times throughout the season. The kids all had no contact with the space station for most of the first season, finally got in contact after Raven arrived, then lost contact again after learning the ship was about to fail shortly. Perhaps the most clear example was Finn and how quickly his and Clarke’s relationship progressed, despite the fact that he had a girlfriend on the space station. When Raven arrived, Finn admitted he thought he’d never see her again, and it wasn’t an uncommon thought among the 100 to think they’d seen their friends and family for the last time. They were so focused on survival and their new life, that they didn’t have much time or inclination to think back on what they’d lost. It’s a really intriguing mindset to consider and I wish that had been explored a bit more.

Overall, I think the season felt rushed. I suppose it’s because TV shows are never quite sure how long they’ll run, and the first season needs to be fast paced to keep viewer’s attention, but I was honestly disappointed at how quickly they got back in contact with the ship. I wanted to see the kids be more independent for longer! Then, Raven, the young mechanic and girlfriend of the guy Clarke was sort of seeing, arrives in her makeshift ship from the space station. And by the end of the first season the rest of the station has either landed on Earth or perished trying. I am looking forward to the next season and seeing what happens when the adults and kids are reunited, especially Clarke and her mom, but also to see what happens with Clarke and the other surviving kids now that they have been captured in a quarantine zone. But I really did enjoy the start of their journey and seeing them build a community a ton. I’ll be sure to revisit after the second season and update you on my thoughts on that!

TV Shows I’ve Watched Recently: Selling Sunset Season 5

Wow, what a crazy season! I have to say, it’s not as much fun as it originally was as it’s just so preplanned and feels more scripted than ever, but at this point I’m super invested.

I have to say, the fact that Christine is no longer with the show is honestly something that I am looking forward to in the next season, even though I did enjoy Christine early on. It’s just so boring and annoying how obsessed the other women were with her and Christine was getting so crazy toxic! Like she started as a typical office mean girl and went to straight up diabolical and it was clear she needed to step away as the O group was getting too toxic for her. For example, Christine was so delusional when she claimed she didn’t know why the other women want nothing to do with her. But also, the other women really didn’t need to bring up Christine so often, such as when they focused the entire conversation on her at Heather’s bridal shower. To be honest, I felt like the bridal shower thing was entirely staged though, considering there really wasn’t a reason to talk about Christine who was not invited! Also Christine was so adamant that she didn’t order a crazy floral arrangement and had meant to send a much more reasonably sized one, which makes me think someone on the production team mixed up the order for the drama. Oh, and her trying to bribe one of Emma’s clients? Insanity! I agreed with Mary and Jason that Christine went wayyyyy too far with that.

I do think it’s a little unfair how the Davina portion of the story went for Christine. Even Davina admitted she wanted the women to like her now that she’s back despite her atrocious behavior before. I do think Davina was too influenced by Christine before so it is easier for her to be more chill without Christine around so much, but still. Also, I’d like to point out that she still hasn’t sold her $75 million listing.

Overall the show was pretty fun. It was cool to see Heather’s wedding unfold, to see Chrishell so happy and thriving, and see Mary get a promotion. I think Mary’s promotion did feel a bit fake for a few reasons though. For one, the twins were going off to set up the new OC office, so it made sense they needed someone to step up, but it was crazy how little support they gave her. Mary couldn’t really make staffing decisions, just recommendations, which seemed to defeat the purpose of having her be a manager. Also, Mary was given little to no guidance on how to be a manager from what the editing showed. Now, I’m sure the more serious coaching and important conversations happened off screen, but it felt like the twins said “okay Mary, you’re promoted, good luck with the drama!” and ditched her! Now, it might be because I studied leadership when I did my MBA work, but it’s pretty common for good employees to be promoted and not given the resources and coaching to become good managers afterwards. I do hope Mary gets more guidance going forward, and I think she did considering that she handled the hard conversation with Christine very well, but I hope we get to see it in the next season.

As for Chrishell, this was a crazy season for her too! Starting with the obvious, her relationship with Jason was so surprising when the news broke at the end of last season. Now, I know lots of rumors were going around that it was faked for the show. Personally, I don’t think it was, especially after the reunion where it seemed that most of the office was really rooting for the couple. I think that knowing they had broken up before the season started was a relief for me. It just seemed like such a bad idea for Chrishell to date her boss! While they did seem to be in a good relationship and it was sad that Chrishell was so heartbroken at the end of it, it was just awkward to watch to be honest. I will say, it was very annoying to hear Christine saying Chrishell only got a big listing from Brett because of her relationship with Jason for sure. That was totally uncalled for! But also uncalled for was Chrishell asking Christine if Chelsea was actually a real estate agent and being so negative before even meeting Chelsea. Again, the toxicity those two bring out in each other and the rest of the group is too much!

I will say, I did enjoy seeing Chelsea join the group. While it seems silly to bring more people in when there aren’t “enough desks” at the office and nothing is being done to fix it, it’s nice to get to know new people. Especially since Davina had previously left so it would have made sense to add in someone new and now Christine has left. Also, Maya was planning to take more time away after her new baby and Amanza was pursuing other projects too. As for Chelsea herself though, it was pretty cool to get to know her, see how confident she is, and how she was so up front and direct while still remaining respectful of everyone. I will say that she handled everyone’s hesitation very well, although it did feel scripted sometimes when she confronted the rest of the office after her open house with Christine at the next open house (I think it was Chrishell’s?).

I did want to bring up how sad it was to learn about Maya’s baby. Before the start of the season, Maya shared her baby had been stillborn, and it was heartbreaking at the time. Maya is perhaps the one woman on the show that is brutal but not dramatic. She says what needs to be said and yet everyone still loves her because she says it with the best of intentions. She also has been open in the past of her struggles as she attempted to grow her family and her struggles with having a bicoastal marriage. Seeing Maya pregnant and so excited throughout the season was also rough, knowing what would eventually happen. I did look up what she’s up to now and sadly it looks like she’s living in Miami full time now. It’s only sad because I’m going to miss her! She has since started her own brokerage which is AMAZING though!

Okay, this is getting long so quick thoughts on the rest of the cast! Amanza’s project was SO COOL! I felt so bad for Vanessa struggling with her long distance relationship but I hope she stays on the show. I think she’s engaged now though, which is also amazing! Emma’s romance was so cute although her vegan “empanadas” seemed silly (although I would try them if the opportunity presented itself). Oh, and I think the outfits on this show is getting too inappropriate as a quick note.

Overall, I can’t wait for season 6, and I do hope it’s still dramatic but just less toxic. Also, I can’t wait for whenever Selling the OC is finally aired, the next season for Selling Tampa, and I hope Maya gets a spin off too!

TV Shows I’ve Watched Recently: Get Organized with The Home Edit Seasons 1 & 2

I finally watched Get Organized with The Home Edit! I’ve had this show on my Netflix list forever, but a friend finally convinced me to try it. She said her friends had said the show inspired them to organize while she didn’t get that same feeling, so I waited to watch it once spring truly arrived in Northern Illinois, thinking it would help motivate my spring cleaning.

The show splits each episode into the Home Edit working on a celebrity home and also working with regular people too. It made for such a cool concept to see the crazy cool spaces of celebrities but also seeing a more realistic and relatable edit too.

Getting right into it, I loved the show although I personally didn’t get motivated to organize. Let me explain! I LOVE the show, and I think it’s great for a ton of people! I can totally see how it would be motivating. However, my focus is on decluttering, and, for me, the “edit” part of the show was incredibly minimized because of the focus on organizing. However, this makes sense too because there are plenty of shows on minimalism and this show is about organizing!

I really enjoyed the gals too! The hosts and founders of The Home Edit, Joanna and Clea, are SO funny and high energy. They are an absolute delight to watch.

Now, I accidentally started on season two, as I just hit play, so I missed the cute intro and cool first episodes until after season two. By the time I watched the intro, I already knew who they were but I wish I had watched it first! Whoops! I really loved how the edits came out too. My favorites were those focused on hobbies, volunteer work, or business needs as opposed to things like closets or pantries or play rooms, but no matter what challenge they faced, it was so cool to see the end result!

In general, I loved their method to first edit, sort everything into categories, then work on the organizing last. I will say, it’s so dramatic how they always panic half an hour before their clients come home and rush to finish, but isn’t that how it always goes? At work deadlines are often the key motivator to get something done, at home those DIY renovations often get done right before the family barbecue is scheduled, and so on. So it makes sense and makes it a totally relatable show!

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So those are the three shows I’ve been watching lately! Let me know your thoughts on them in the comments!

Thanks for reading!

Pamela

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