The past two weeks it seemed like so many shows wrapped up their summer run – and/or I finally watch all of the episodes of the season that got released all at once. I wish I could do a post on each show, but that would then last until the Fall series are finished. So I’ll just try to do an all-encompassing round up. I’ll also try to stay as spoiler-free as possible, but I won’t guarantee it. You have been warned.

Stranger Things: 80s nostalgia is huge in television (and movies) the past few years, and many credit Stranger Things with fueling the recent surge. Some people think the show got “too big for its britches” as it went along, or became too afraid to kill off main characters… but that is kind of what I love about it. Those two aspects are so… 80s. Obviously, the last season hinted that Hopper would live, and spoiler alert (unless you have watched almost any of the trailers) – he did. Others have complained that Hopper’s story line is a distraction, a sign of lazy writing, or whatever. But again – that is what makes this show such a tribute to the 80s. Shows in the 80s went to weird lengths to NOT kill off beloved characters. Plus, the narrative for the show really, really needed the responsible adults away from the danger in order to work. Anyways, you have probably heard the resurgence of Kate Bush and Metallica due to this season, and its true that two songs become characters of their own at various points. Also, why is no body talking about the fact that they created a high school metalhead Dungeons & Dragons loving character and made him look and act a lot like a young wavy-haired version of Bruce Dickenson of Iron Maiden… and then named him “Eddie”? For those that aren’t aware, “Eddie” is also the name of Iron Maiden’s mascot that is on all of their covers and t-shirts. Anyways, it wasn’t a perfect season, but I loved it.

Obi-Wan Kenobi: There really isn’t a whole lot of 80s nostalgia per se in the Obi-Wan Kenobi series or mini event or whatever it is called. But just by existing it taps into so much nostalgia – most Star Wars fans have been clamoring for a Kenobi-centric movie set in this time period of a galaxy far, far away for quite a while. And yes, they did pull a big bait-and-switch by only featuring a young Luke Skywalker in the trailers and not who the series actually focuses on – but I love that character and the person they picked to play said character (trying not to spoil it in case you haven’t seen it yet). Again, not perfect – but I loved it. The final rematch was epic, the cameos made sense, the redemption arc was fitting, and the way they tied it together to solve some problems with the original movie were a good effort. The original trilogy made Kenobi out to be a bit a of a jerk – lying about some things “from a certain point of view.” The prequel series gave us a really cool uncle-vibe for Kenobi… while making the original trilogy Kenobi even more of jerk. The Kenobi series kind of smooths over a lot of that – giving him a reason he said some of the things he said in the original trilogy, while also showing the struggles he had with knowing whether or not to tell people the full story… because the wrong people knowing the full story puts people’s lives in danger in this series. If they can get a second season and drive these points a little deeper – they may just totally redeem some of Kenobi’s questionable choices in the original series. Maybe.

The Umbrella Academy: The Umbrella Academy is so weird – and I love it. You can always count on some 80s tune to make an appearance in any given season, and this season is no exception. But as with past seasons, they shook things up and did thing differently. Its hard to say much without getting into spoilers, but even the type of apocalypse they face this time is different. And yes, they set-up a very different world at the end of last season – but its even more different than you could imagine. While they handled the Viktor story-line well, it feels like they botched Alison’s story in a few subtle ways. There is a realism to the way she reacted to her personal tragedies (one of the themes throughout this season is how various characters are dealing with the numerous tragedies they have all lived through) – it felt like they took too many shortcuts to get where they took her. But they also threw in a new romance for someone else that developed really fast and somehow didn’t feel forced or shortcut-ed. Go figure. But it was a small gripe in an otherwise entertaining season – and to be honest, pretty much every character snapped at some point in some way, so maybe I am reading too much into it. I have talked with several people that love this show – their brand of quirky weirdness seems to connect with a lot of people out there. Including me. Bring on Season 4!

Start Trek: Strange New Worlds: This series was a pleasant surprise all around: from the surprising way the idea worked in Discovery Season 2, to the surprising speed that they green-lit a series after positive feedback on that season, to the surprisingly entertaining and enjoyable first season they put together. Oh, and how surprisingly well they are integrating this with the original series. A couple of times I realized they were playing out scenes or ideas from the original series, and I swear they were even using music from those original episodes. Some people may like or dislike some of the casting choices for established characters like Spock or Uhura or Nurse Chapel or etc, etc – but they work as a part of this series. Even though the Star Wars series eventually worked out most of the kinks in CGI Luke Skywalker, I think Star Trek went the smart route of casting new people in those roles. Or just having certain characters talk off screen (be on the look out for a Scotty cameo – you might miss it if you only pay attention to the on screen character).

Ms. Marvel: This series is probably the least nostalgia-based series on the list – but it has been such a fun series to watch. I didn’t know a whole lot about the character coming into the series, so the fact that they changed her origin story wasn’t a deal breaker for me. Kamala’s powers are still a bit ill-defined now because of that – and the writers have almost gotten close to the “making up new powers to defeat bigger villains” problem that the CW super hero shows too often rely on – but they have always pulled back so far. And well – that awesome X-Men hint in there? Maybe they didn’t change her powers after all? They are trying new things with super hero stories and it is working out well so far. The way they pulled it together at the end and avoided super hero story cliches about how friends and family react to finding out about super powers was so great. Loved the first season. And that mid-credits scene after the last episode? Near perfection.

The Boys: I know some people have actually stopped watching this series because they went so extreme this season. I have powered through it even though I have seen too many things that I can’t unsee now. If you want to miss some of the wildness of the season, you can probably skip to the last episode and pretty much still follow what has happened. This was supposed to be their “scorched earth” season – and it really was. And the acting and writing were great – they just could have just left a lot more to the imagination for some people. But would it really be The Boys if they did?

The Flash / Superman & Lois: I have been a big fan of The Flash in the past, but it has gone downhill over the past few seasons. This season was… confusing. It was hard to follow all the new rules for all the forces they came up with, and then Flash somehow magically knew he could have new powers to save the day. I think. It was very confusing. They have probably gone on for too many seasons, forcing the writers to come up with wilder and wilder ideas to not just use another speedster villain. But it was still hard to follow. And all of the set-up for “Green Diggle Lantern” turned out to be a big nothing. Sorry for the direct spoiler, but what a waste of time that thread was. Superman & Lois does have a bit more room to tell some more stories, and they had a mostly good season. Superman also magically discovered new powers that he used to save the day and re-write reality with very little practice – so that was weird. And they also dove into one of my biggest pet peeves in Superhero shows: tell your friend that you are a superhero and they get… mad at you for not telling them earlier? No. Usually the more realistic response would be “Oh ^%$# Oh ^%$# Oh ^%$# you are Superman!?!?! Thank you for telling me!” Maybe the anger will come at realizing how much danger you are now in for knowing. But this whole thing of people getting mad for half a season or more at not being told “the truth” earlier? So annoying. At least they only had it last a few episodes in Superman & Lois.