Top 20 TV cliffhangers of all time

Greetings, reader!

My girlfriend Martta suggested this topic a while back. It was originally supposed to be a top 10, but it became a top 15 and then a top 20, because there are so damn many great cliffhangers that I wanted to talk about. I've always loved a good cliffhanger, no matter how much modern elitist video-essay internet 'critics' call it a lazy narrative trick. It's always exciting when your favorite show's episode ends on such a note that you can't stop thinking about how it's all going to play out in the next one. Various listings I've of TV's greatest cliffhangers tend to focus exclusively on season-ending moments, but I figured I won't discriminate, as there are so many great ones from the middle of a season (I especially have a fondness for second-last episodes ending on a juicy open-ended situation). Anyways, these are my very favorite cliffhanger endings of all time!

Also, a major spoiler alert is in order!

20. Crime and Punishment (Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Season 4 Episode 22)

Only two shows with comedy as their primary genre made it onto today's list, as dramas tend to produce more meaningful and, y'know, dramatic cliffhangers. But at their best, comedy cliffhangers can be quite the treat as well, and hardly anyone does them better than Brooklyn Nine-Nine.

Almost every season has ended with an exciting situation left to be resolved in the first episodes of the following season: Jake (Andy Samberg) going undercover with a criminal gang at the end of season 1, Jake and Holt (Andre Braugher) going into witness protection in Florida due to a mob boss being after them at the end of season 3, et cetera. But my personal favorite has to be the ending of the fourth season, where Jake and Rosa (Stephanie Beatriz) are framed for a crime and sentenced to prison.

19. Call to Arms (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Season 5 Episode 26)

The Star Trek franchise has turned season-ending cliffhangers into an art form, which is why you'll see four different Star Trek shows on today's list. My favorite Trek series Deep Space Nine may have the franchise's finest characters, most immaculate atmosphere and biggest amount of masterpiece episodes, but cliffhangers is something it didn't do quite as well or as frequently as some of the franchise's other shows.

That being said, there are a few very memorable ones, chief among them the jaw-dropping ending of the fifth season - the peaceful Federation is dragged into war for the first time in the franchise's history, and the space station that has been home to the main characters for five seasons is invaded by the Dominion. As the characters evacuate and the situation feels hopeless, we see that Captain Sisko (Avery Brooks) left his most emotionally valuable possession, his baseball, in his former office on the station, optimistically symbolizing that he fully intends to return.

18. His Last Vow (Sherlock, Season 3 Episode 3)

The third season's plotlines are all wrapped up, the bad guys are defeated, everything is fine, the closing credits are about to begin - and this gets disrupted. At first, we hear the audio. Then we see the video, which in this version of the Sherlock Holmes mythos, is being broadcast on every screen in Britain. It's Moriarty (Andrew Scott), one of the greatest literary villains of all time adapted into one of the greatest TV villains of all time, asking "Did you miss me?" over and over again.

Only, the thing is - Moriarty was killed off in the previous season!

Therefore, this ending left audiences asking so many questions; did he fake his death? Or is this a copycat criminal using footage of him? Or a genius beyond-the-grave plan to take out his revenge? Or was the Moriarty we saw just a pawn being told to act a part by the real Moriarty who has been operating from the shadows all the time? These were the theories that me and the rest of the internet were forced to obsess with for two long years.

17. Shockwave, Part I (Star Trek: Enterprise, Season 1 Episode 26)

Now this is a proper Star Trek cliffhanger (I love it when they do the thing where the season finale is Part One of a two-parter and the next season's premiere is the Part Two, as that always promises a cliffhanger ending bound to be juicy as hell). The temporal cold war heats up (heh, see what I did there), and before Captain Archer (Scott Bakula) can properly intervene, a chain of events causes him to be transported through time - nearly a thousand years into the future. And then he's stuck there. That's one hell of a pickle to get out of.

16. Course Listing Unavailable (Community, Season 3 Episode 18)

My favorite individual cliffhanger from a comedy series comes, unsurpsisingly, from my favorite individual comedy series. In this episode belonging to the insane chain of events at the end of Community's third season, things escalate when the main characters incite a riot at Greendale Community College, which is further escalated by Ben Chang (Ken Jeong) - but, in a long-planned power move, Chang covers his tracks and essentially takes charge of the school (Dean Pelton (Jim Rash) is kidnapped and replaced with a doppelgäner, it's a whole thing), and the 'Greendale Seven' are expelled from the school.

Heavy stuff for a sitcom - the expulsion of the main characters would naturally end up being temporary, but that doesn't make the moment any less dramatic, and I remember how invested I was as a first-time viewer to see how the story would pick up from here.

15. Sanctuary (Grey's Anatomy, Season 6 Episode 23)

The two last episodes of the sixth season of Shonda Rhimes' hospital drama Grey's Anatomy are essentially a two-parter that is largely seen as the show's best episode. A shooter enters the hospital, and the atmosphere or borderline panic is created in a manner that will have any viewer's heart racing as the situation continues to escalate. Things come to head at the end of Sanctuary, the second-last episode of the season, when the shooter reaches chief of surgery Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey), the man he blames for his wife's death.

Derek tries to talk him down, but after careful consideration, the man takes a shot at him, and the episode ends on the note of one of the show's main characters being shot in his own hospital. I had to take a moment to collect my thoughts and breathe deep as the episode ended, before clicking 'Next Episode' with an anxious determination.

14. One Step Too Many (The Newsroom, Season 2 Episode 6)

This cliffhanger is an unconventional one, as the timeline-jumping nature of The Newsroom's second season leaves a lot to be interpreted in the manner of this episode's ending. Basically, we've been following flash-forwards of the main news team getting into legal trouble over something throughout the season, while the present-day storyline has followed them uncovering a major military conspiracy and getting ready to report it.

Throughout this episode, the fourth-last of the season, they've been gathering all the final pieces of evidence they need, while getting ready to blow the whistle and report the story they've been preparing for the whole season. And, just as this is about to happen, we jump to the flashforward, as Charlie (Sam Waterston) delivers the unforgettable words:

"These were war crimes. It was a Sunday special report, 9:00 P.M. Eastern. Nielsen tracking showed it was gonna be a monster audience, three and a half, four million - it ended up closer to six. By 10:05, I knew we had a problem - none of it was true".

These ambiguous, narrative-flipping words leave the viewer with a pressing sense of uncertainty, raising multiple questions and wanting to see the next episode ASAP.

13. Faith (Suits, Season 5 Episode 10)

This was the cliffhanger we always knew to be coming, as the very premise of the series seemed to be leading up to this inevitable moment and its fallout - yet, when it came, it still managed to feel dramatic and shocking. After four and a half seasons of high-stakes 'fake it 'til you make it', of close calls and cover-ups, Mike Ross (Patrick J. Adams) is finally caught - despite practicing as a lawyer, he didn't have lawyer's papers, and his boss Harvey (Gabriel Macht) knew about this, as we in the audience had known since the first episode.

When the moment finally happens, it leaves the audience begging for answers: what's going to happen next? Will Mike get fired? Is he going to prison? What is the fallout for the firm and for Harvey? How will this affect literally every storyline and character in the show? And will the upcoming trial be the show's best storyline (spoiler alert: it was)?

12. There's Something Else Going On (Homeland, Season 4 Episode 9)

I remember watching this episode, knowing beforehand that it was the show's highest rated episode on IMDB, with an impressive 9.7 rating. With a majority of the episode focusing on a super-delicate and mega-tense prisoner transfer, I figured that this is why the rating is so high. When all the dust of the transfer had settled, I felt that the episode was among the show's best, but not quite worthy of a 9.7...

Then, Carrie (Claire Danes) starts to speculate. In the words of the episode's title, she's becoming anxiously convinced that there is, indeed, something else going on.

In the heart-racing seconds between that moment and the episode's end credits, we see the car in front of them (on its way back to the U.S. embassy in Islamabad) getting blown up, with everyone's fate unclear, after which we see terrorist operatives using the secret entrance into the embassy (subtly established in a previous episode). And that's how the bold-ass episode ends, with the embassy seconds away from being ground zero for a terrorist takeover. So the 9.7 was pretty f**king accurate after all.

11. Basics, Part I (Star Trek: Voyager, Season 2 Episode 26)

Oh yes, another vintage Star Trek cliffhanger! Voyager indulged heavily in the season finale / season premiere two-parter trope, and while two-parters like Scorpion and Equinox are overall better stories, Basics (the end of season 2 and the start of season 1) has the best cliffhanger.

A cliffhanger of this nature feels much more dramatic in the context of Voyager as it would on any other Star Trek show. After two seasons of following the U.S.S. Voyager as it slowly makes its way home after being sent through a wormhole to the far side of the galaxy, a major roadblock is hit when the villainous Kazon take over the ship - and leave the crew stranded on a desolate planet, while rolling ahead aboard the Voyager!

10. Are You...? (Dexter, Season 7 Episode 1)

Ending the second-last episode of a season on a cliffhanger is typical, as is ending the season finale on one - but ending the season premiere on a cliffhanger is different gravy. One of the best examples of this trope can be found from the earth-shattering opening episode of Dexter's seventh season. After the titular character has successfully kept his serial killing a secret from the other major characters for six straight seasons, the dynamic of everything in the show is shaken to its core when Dexter comes home to his sister, who has followed a hunch and looked into his stuff, asking him: "Are you...a serial killer?". Roll credits. Shivers.

9. Granite State (Breaking Bad, Season 5 Episode 15)

What really hits different is when the second-last episode of the entire series ends on a cliffhanger. Especially in a more plot-oriented show, that gives such an "it's all coming down to this great conclusion, and we still have no idea how it's gonna shake out, Jesus Christ" feeling.

The second-best example that I can think about is Breaking Bad, where the show's penultimate episode ends in a spine-shivering manner: Walter White (Bryan Cranston) feels that he has come to the end of the road and calls the authorities to turn himself in - until, while waiting for them to arrive at a pub, he sees something on the TV that reminds him of unfinished business in Albuquerque. A sensationally dramatic arrangement of the show's main theme starts to play, as we see the police arriving, only to find a glass of scotch by an empty stool. Major goosebumps.

8. Day 8: 2:00 p.m.-3:00 p.m. (24, Season 8 Episode 23)

And then for the only pre-series-finale cliffhanger I dare to call even better than the Breaking Bad one. After eight long seasons of 24, the final season had upped the ante with the extremely high-stakes storyline of world leaders about to sign a false-pretext peace treaty that would only make matters worse, as the U.S. government turns its back on those seeking evidence for the truth, leading to Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) going rogue in order to get proof in the hours leading up to the signing of the treaty.

With the situation looking more and more dire, Jack turns to desparate action, figuring in a 'kill one to save many' logic that the assassination of Russian President Suvarov (Nick Jameson) might put an end to the conspiracy. Using his CTU-trained chops, Jack gears up for the assassination, while Chloe O'Brian (Mary Lynn Rajskub) tries to reach him and talk him out of it, reckoning that the fallout of such an assassination would only make things worse and that there must be another way. The second-last-ever 24 episode ends with our main character, looking out the window, about to have the President of Russia at gunpoint, and any invested viewer gasping for breath.

7. Turn Left (Doctor Who, Season 4 Episode 11)

Here we have a perfect example of building the atmosphere of a cliffhanger - the music, the lighting and the editing details have just as much to do with the power and panic of this cliffhanger as the actual plot events. In the last Doctor Who episode before season 4's two-part finale, the threat of the episode seems to be over, as Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) recounts her experiences to the Doctor (David Tennant) - and the calm and reflective mood shatters like a glass when he Doctor realizes one detail and its grave implications.

As Donna utters the words 'bad wolf', the Doctor is quicker than the audience to realize the massive scale of the shit that's about to go down, as he runs back to the TARDIS in full panic mode (further elevated by Murray Gold's thrilling score). With the TARDIS alarms blaring red and a confused Donna asking what's going on, the Doctor turns around and utters the unforgettable "It's the end of the universe" just as the credits start to roll. That's how you set up a f**king season finale.

6. A (The Walking Dead, Season 4 Episode 16)

This very unconventional season finale from The Walking Dead feels like the whole thing is a 45-minute set-up for the perfect cliffhanger. This works, as does the eventual payoff in the season 5 premiere. After the whole episode has simmered with suspenseful build-up, the final scene sees a bunch of our main characters reuniting under just the worst circumstances - locked in a cargo container by a survivor group who has turned to a cult-like ideology and cannibalism. Hope seems lost, until Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln), the second-most badass character in TV history, starts to talk.

"They're gonna feel pretty stupid when they find out"

"Find out what?"

And then, the line so good that AMC gave the show a special permission to drop the F-bomb:

"They're fucking with the wrong people"

5. Twenty Five (The West Wing, Season 4 Episode 23)

There's some heavy symbolism to the last The West Wing episode to be written by Aaron Sorkin. It must've been difficult for Sorkin to let his show go, realizing that he had to leave and forcing himself to trust the series in the hands of the other writers, who he basically trusted but also knew to have differing visions. There are many ways to deal with such an emotional dilemma, and one of them is writing a season finale where President Bartlet (Martin Sheen) is forced to temporarily step down as President, handing the power over to Republican Glenallen Walken (John Goodman), in the face of a crisis.

Not only does it mirror Sorkin's exit powerfully, it is also a damn great cliffhanger for this fictional universe, leaving the stakes astronomically high for the upcoming fifth season. The dramatic music that plays as Walken enters the Oval Office, not to mention everyone's complete trust in Leo (John Spencer) holding down the fort through this turbulent period, sent major shivers down my spine when watching.

4. Through the Looking Glass (Lost, Season 3 Episode 23)

Through the Looking Glass is a home run for Lost - the season 3 finale nails the show's most emotional death scene, the show's most triumphant payoff, and an ending scene that is both the greatest plot twist and the greatest cliffhanger that the show ever did. All that in one episode. Christ.

Throughout the episode, flashbacks of Jack's (Matthew Fox) past have been interspersed into the story, and they have confused the viewer, as they're from a very different-seeming period in his life than we've seen in previous flashbacks. These questions are answered, in a manner that raises several more questions, when in the final scene, he meets Kate (Evangeline Lilly). For just a moment, the viewer might interpret this as "What the hell? They knew each other before the island? That doesn't make any sense!" - and then it hits.

*Creepy plot twist sound effects from the Lost score start to play*

These haven't been flashbacks.

*The unsettling sound effects escalate*

These have been flash-forwards.

*Full-on panic mode*

Meaning that they will eventually get off the island, and into a situation where Jack wants to go back for some reason, and this is the way in which it is revealed.

*Possibly an impulse to faint*

Lost was something else, man.

3. Beyond Life and Death (Twin Peaks, Season 2 Episode 22)

This may rank third overall, but in terms of longevity, the Twin Peaks cliffhanger is the GOAT. While the ending of season 2, produced and released after news of the show's cancellation, was largely seen as a series finale at the time, David Lynch always intended to continue the story. For decades, people saw season 2's utterly shocking ending as an ambiguous ending that will always remain ambiguous, all the while Lynch was playing the long game and killing time with projects like Mulholland Drive and Inland Empire.

Then, little by little, hints started to drop that there may be more. A few years and a genius marketing campaign later, the world finally got the masterful Twin Peaks: The Return, which really gave new gravitas to the moment in the season 2 finale where the Man from Another Place (Michael J. Anderson) says "I'll see you again in 25 years".

But, yeah, the ending of season 2 was amazing as a 'last scene of the series' and even better as a cliffhanger of the 'wait 25 years for this to pay off' variety. Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan), quite possibly my favorite fictional character of all time, heroically goes into the Black Lodge to save Annie (Heather Graham), and one psychedelic fever dream later, seems to come out unscathed. Until you start to notice that something is wrong. I recall my own reaction being along the lines of "Wait, why is he acting like that, is everything - oh fuck, oh jeez, oh Jesus f**king Christ, he's BOB isn't he, he's possessed, Jesus f**k, why would they hurt us like this, God dammit, ah shit". I can only imagine what it was like for those who saw this in 1991, and had to wait the full two and a half decades for it to get resolved.

2. Shadow Box (Person of Interest, Season 2 Episode 10)

This one is interesting - it has nowhere near the high-stakes gravitas and epicness of the cliffhangers from Twin Peaks, Lost, The West Wing et cetera that is surpassed. Event-wise, it's a pretty typical cliffhanger for the midseason finale of a crime show. I rank it this highly, however, because of how perfectly it is built - a good cliffhanger is about much more than just what happens plot-wise, and the final minutes of this episode nail the cliffhanger atmosphere better than any other.

The soundtrack choice, first of all, is Gimme Shelter by the Rolling Stones, and there simply is no better music choice for an intriguing 'some shit is about to go down' atmosphere. It starts to play as the episode's central bank heist starts to be over, as we realize that protagonist John Reese (Jim Caviezel) is still stuck in the basement, with possibly no way out.

The directing choices further complement the atmosphere, as the cops start to arrive and the other major characters show their worry over Reese in just the right pace while Gimme Shelter continues to rock, up to the moment that Reese is arrested and the credits start to roll. While this is a solid cliffhanger story-wise, leaving some very interesting implications for the next episodes to follow up on, the reason why it's one of my all-time favorites is simply how thoroughly it nails the 'something exciting is about to happen, oh shit!' atmosphere required for a great cliffhanger.

1. The Best of Both Worlds, Part I (Star Trek: The Next Generation, Season 3 Episode 26)

This may be a cliché choice, as I haven't heard anything else argued to be the greatest TV cliffhanger of all time than this one - but it's a common favorite for a reason. Not to mention its historical value, as having the viewers hooked and speculating on the fallout for a year apparently played a big role in the transitioning of drama TV shows from episodic storytelling to more long-term stories. This cliffhanger is so good that it changed the very nature of television for the better.

The explosive events of this entire season finale (Part I to a two-parter that would be concluded in the next season's premiere, naturally) already have the viewer in an edge-of-their-seat mode when the final minutes arrive. The Federation's face-off with the Borg collective has finally arrived, with the U.S.S. Enterprise as the Federation's first line of defence, as Captain Picard (Sir Patrick Stewart) goes on a risky away mission aboard the Borg Cube. In the final scene, First Officer Will Riker (Jonathan Frakes), now acting Captain, finds out that the mission failed and Picard was assimilated by the Borg, just as a battle is brewing. He must now decide whether or not to fire on the enemy ship (unknowns!) that has his commanding officer and friend on board, absolutely unclear on if he could survive such an attack (more unknowns!) or if he could even be brough back from assimilation (even more unknowns!).

In the scene that culminates his character arch up until that point, Riker assumes the burden of being captain and utters the line "Mr. Worf - fire", as the third season comes to and end, and viewers are left with about a million questions concerning what happens next. It does not get better than this.

Thank you for reading! Tune in next week for my ranking of the episodes in the hit show of the past spring, Shogun.

Ranking the Episodes of Shogun

Greetings, reader!

I may be a bit late to the party, as the series came out this spring, but better late then never. Shogun, the critically acclaimed Japanese-American historical drama that many have hailed as the best TV series of the year so far, provided the world with 10 episodes of elite television. Now it sounds like a second season might be on the way. If you haven't checked the show out yet, it's on Disney Plus and it's great! Episodes of a show like this are particularly hard to rank, as the level is so consistent, but I like a good challenge - so here is my ranking of the 10 episodes in Shogun's first season.

Oh, and a spoiler alert is in order, as I discuss major plot points from all episodes.

10. Servants of Two Masters (Episode 2)

Many seem to rate the show's sohpmore episode highly, citing how it's the one where the pace really picks up and the action begins. I do agree, but at the same time, in shows like this I appreciate the intrigue and strategic conversations and politics et cetera even more than the action that it leads up to. Therefore Servants of Two Masters, which doesn't have as much of my favorite elements as most episodes and relies on its action-heavy ending, finds itself at the bottom of the pack despite having many good moments. No bad episodes in this series, that's for sure.

9. A Stick of Time (Episode 7)

The show's (or at least the first season's) endgame really start to build with this episode, were we meet Toranaga's (Hiroyki Sanada) half-brother Saeki (Eita Okuno). It's all fun and games until Saeki reveals his betrayal, leading to Toranaga's surrender, which seems a bit easily-given-up until the viewer starts to pick up subtle signs that he may be playing the long game (this sense would escalate in the next episode). While the events of A Stick of Time are dramatic enough to stick with you, it doesn't quite reach the high levels of intrigue found in the even better Shogun episodes, so I had to rank it near the bottom.

8. Broken to the Fist (Episode 5)

While the large-scale politics of the show's plot are constantly in play in the background, this episode focuses mostly on the more individual-level human drama of its characters. Triangle dramas may be a cliché, but they are rarely as well-written, well-acted and culturally loaded as the one between John Blackthorne (Cosmo Jarvis), Toda Mariko (Anna Sawai) and Buntaro (Shinnosuke Abe), so it's an exceptionally good one. In this episode, and particularly the sake-drinking scene, the tension between the characters is downright frightening, made great by the dialogue and perfected by the acting performances. It's one of the more intimate episodes in the series, and it works.

7. Anjin (Episode 1)

The first episode is, especially for someone who hasn't read the book this is based on and doesn't have tons of knowledge of this period in Japanese history (such as myself), a bit much. Characters and storylines are introduced at a rapid pace, and viewers (at least those of us who aren't operating at a 4D-chess level) might have to do some recapping and googling afterwards to make sure we know what's up. Once you get past that, however, it's a damn good pilot.

The historical, cultural and political intrigue central to the show's premise is just off the charts here. The domestic situation of 1600's Japan is fascinating enough on its own, with all the power vacuums and plotting between regents - and when you add the Portuguese and their secretive trade relation to Japan, not to mention the English ship that arrives to stir things up, with the religious rift between Protestant England and Catholic Portugal mixing the pot, we start to reach Game of Thrones levels of intrigue.

6. The Eightfold Fence (Episode 4)

Shogun's fourth episode is a well-balanced mix of all the show's biggest strengths: we get the humane element in the deepening bond between Blackthorne and Mariko, tactics and philosophy in the deep conversation scene that the episode gets its title from (and reflecting on how the idea of the Eightfold Fence relates to multiple ongoing storylines), and exciting action with the surprising final scene. It's a tight hour, with many-sided (dare I say 'eightfold') storytelling.

5. Tomorrow Is Tomorrow (Episode 3)

I'm a sucker for warmth and wholesome moments, even in a series where those are very much not the point. Amidst the dark themes and morally gray actions of the series, of which there are many in this episode, we get an absolutely beautiful ending scene that momentarily lightens things up. Even with all of the later events that dampen one's opinions of the characters, nothing can quite take away the touching nature of the moment where Toranaga names Blackthorne hatamoto, as the latter teaches the former how to dive into the water. The scenery, lighting and cinematography of the scene really nail down its emotional value, reminding one of the humanity at the core of the show's schemes and brutality.

4. A Dream of a Dream (Episode 10)

From the very first scene, flashing forward into the elder days of John Blackthorne sometimes in the future, I knew that the finale was going to be a good one. I've since read reviews that have demonstrated that a lot of people didn't like the finale, feeling the abscence of the Battle of Sekigahara to be anticlimactic. Again, I haven't read the book so I can't judge this decision adaptation-wise, but purely as an invested viewer of the series in itself, I found this to be the perfect artistic choice. While Shogun did intense battle sequences well, they never were the main focus, and like I mentioned, I found the strategizing and the backroom conversations much more thrilling than the actual fighting.

Therefore, having the season's climax be Toranaga merely explaining his 5000 I.Q. plan in full and mind-blowing detail to Yabushige (Tadanobu Asano), before the latter commits seppuku, was thoroughly more fitting than having a big battle sequence as the climax. The full reveal of Toranaga's plan is cynical and upsetting to a viewer craving for likable characters, but inescapably perfect for the modern TV viewer's urge for antiheroes and shades of gray.

3. The Abyss of Life (Episode 8)

The seventh episode had left viewers (or at least this viewer) a bit confused - is Toranaga really giving up that easily, or is there something else going on behind the scenes, or would that just be wishful thinking? The eighth episode follows up with gradually more and more evidence that something else is, indeed, going on. One's opinion about Toranaga, who up until that point had been one of the more heroic characters, becomes a complicated thing in The Abyss of Life, as we see how brutally far he's willing to go in order for his plan to work.

The episode features sacrifices and loss that will leave the viewer with mixed feelings, and with great anticipation on how everything will go down in the next episode. Once again, the Game of Thrones comparison has to be made, as the whole 'I don't even know who I'm rooting for anymore but I still can't wait to see how it all shakes out' feels very Blackwater.

2. Ladies of the Willow World (Episode 6)

I loved this episode, and was confused to see that it had the show's lowest IMDB rating (an 8.1, sticking out the crowd after many consecutive episodes in the 8.8 - 9.0 range). I wondered why this was, with the idea coming to me that the episode's focus on a few strong female characters might be a bit much for sexist assholes, but I quickly dismissed the thought; surely a show this clever would have viewers smart enough to not be misogynistic, and surely the rampant sexism in our society isn't so extreme that merely having a show's episode focus slightly more on the female characters would warrant negative reviews?

Yep, I once again underestimated the internet. Women, I am so deeply sorry for the bullshit you have to endure in this shit-show society.

Yeah, quite a few 'history enthusiasts' of the incel variety got all up in arms about the fact that the men don't wield all the power in this series. When viewing the series through the lens of not being a massive dick, Ladies of the Willow Wood is definitely one of Shogun's finest hours - Anna Sawai and Fumi Nikaidô's performances as Mariko and Lady Ochiba are powerful, the flashback to their past illuminates with the viewer with game-changing context, and the present-day developments are compelling as well. I had considered Mariko to be the show's most interesting character already before this episode, as the show did so much with the translator's role in a language-blocked cultural rift and the power Mariko wields with carefully selected word choices, but this episode cemented her placement as the show's best character even further.

1. Crimson Sky (Episode 9)

The penultimate episode seems to be everyone's favorite, and with good reason. So much of the fascinating plotting and scheming we've been following comes to an explosive climax here, while still leaving enough fallout and unanswered questions for the finale. Yabushige's plan to play both sides reaches a point of no return, Blackthorne finds his courage being tested, violence breaks out in the Osaka castle, Ishido (Takehiro Hira) and Ochiba have some great villain moments, you name it. Mariko has like three different moments in this episode that could be described as her most iconic and character-defining, ultimately culminating in her sacrifice.

The whole Crimson Sky operation, that had been discussed throughout the series, turned out to look very different from what one expected, and the full context with all its implications would only be explained in the next episode. But this was an episode more thrilling and pulse-racing than any other in Shogun, while also having great slow-burning character moments saving it from being too action-heavy for the show's nature.

Thank you for reading! Tune in next week for my updated list on the best films directed by women.

My Top 10 Predictions for EURO2024

Greetings, reader!

Well, the 2024 European Football Championship starts TOMORROW, and I for one am very hyped. Remember, this is a movie/TV blog, and a month-long football competition broadcast on television to millions of viewers across the world can be seen as an exceptionally cool reality TV series, so this is not off-topic! Anyhow, here are my top 10 predictions for the tournament.

10. Portugal will crash and burn

Sure, they have big names in the squad and lots of potential - but my intuition says that this isn't Portugal's year. The Portugal squad that won EURO2016 is starting to be a historic relic, and while there has been no shortage of new young players to fill their boots, I think that the full clean-slate rebuild can and will happen only once the Ronaldo era is done and dusted.

In the 2022 World Cup, Portugal played better without Ronaldo on the pitch than with him, but since he's still active and in the squad and Ronaldo, I'm guessing that manager Roberto Martinez will rely on him too much and that will prevent them from truly playing as a team. I think they'll play poorly, but likely still barely make it out of the group stage if only because of the other teams being Turkey, Georgia and Czech Republic. But they'll be eliminated in the round of 16, or at the very least, the quarter-finals.

9. Somehow, Austria will make it out of the group stage

This is a hot take, as the other teams in Group D are Poland, France and the Netherlands. On paper, it seems that Austria is doomed, I tell you, doomed! But my intuition says that at least one of the bigger teams in the group will underperform, and Austria will nab one of the third-place finishes that are enough for qualification into the knockout stage.

Their underdog status in the group could work as a motivator, and let's not forget that they have some serious names in their ranks: Konrad Laimer has had a decent season with Bayern Munich, Marcel Sabitzer played a crucial role in Borussia Dortmund's road to the Champions League final, and this might just be the last dance for veteran captain David Alaba, who tragically won't be able to play due to injury but is being brought on as a non-playing captain as his role in the team's dynamic is so important.

8. An early exit for Croatia

When Croatia shockingly became the runners-up in the 2018 World Cup, it was a cinderella story. When they got to third place in the 2022 World Cup, it sparked a discussion on whether this was two flukes in a row, or a case of Croatia entering the tier of football's great countries, alongside the likes of Brazil, Argentina and Spain et cetera. While a strong case can be made for the latter, I have a hunch that the country doesn't quite have what it takes to repeatedly perform at that level, so this will be an off-year for them.

Even getting out of the group stages isn't guaranteed, as Spain and Italy are there as well. I'm guessing that Croatia will finish 2nd or 3rd in the group, and assuming they do well enough to make it to the knockout stage, they'll be eliminated in the round of 16. Nothing against the team (or especially Luka Modric, one of my all-time favorite players), my intuition just says that this won't be their year.

7. Belgium, despite being literally cursed, will do alright

Belgium's much-hyped 'golden age' came and went, with the underwhelming end result of one third-place World Cup finish and a litany of dropping-out-earlier-than-expected performances. That generation is largely gone, with its stars either retired (Vincent Kompany, Eden Hazard etc.) or past their prime (Thibaut Courtois, Romelu Lukaku etc.). Sure, the country has young talents like any other, but even their youth prospects aren't as exciting as those from Spain or England et cetera, so on paper, the team should be in a rut and much shouldn't be expected from them.

Maybe that precisely is why they'll do so well this year.

Without the pressures of "having to perform well now because the clock is ticking on the golden generation", they can just play to win like any other team, and the lack of overthinking will be an advantage. Also, let's not forget that the greatest Belgian player of our time, Kevin De Bruyne, is still going strong, and having the best playmaker in the world on your team is an immediate advantage. I think they'll play better as a team than they have in several competitions, and make it at least all the way to the semifinals.

6. A flop for defending champions Italy

As is often the case for the defending champions, this won't be Italy's year. Their victorious EURO2020 campaign rested on the backs of legendary centre-backs Chiellini and Bonucci, gloriously together for one last dance, but they are no longer with us (retired, not dead). Without them, the current Italy squad is certainly good but not quite enough to make it especially far in such a competetive tournament. I reckon they'll most likely get out of the group, but just as I predicted for Portugal and Croatia, not much further than that.

5. Host country Germany gets far (but nor far enough)

As disjointed as Germany's squad has been for the last few major tournaments, the potential is there, especially this year - old-timers Thomas Müller and Manuel Neuer are still going strong, stars like Joshua Kimmich and Antonio Rüdiger are in their prime, and newcomers like Florian Wirtz and Jamal Musiala have been tearing up the Bundesliga. Their defense, midfield and forward departments all look very strong, so assuming they play better as a team as they did in the previous World Cup, I think the host country will make it to the semi-finals or maybe even the final.

4. This is boring, but Mbappé will be the top scorer

I mean, love him or hate him, Kylian Mbappé is just really f**king good at playing football and scoring goals, especially in big games for his national team. It would feel like a stupid risk to predict anyone else to be the top scorer - sure, I could easily see the honor going to Gakpo or Wirtz or Bellingham, but all of them seem like inferior guesses and unnecessarily hot takes when compared to the force that is Mbappé.

I have no idea how France will do, as their chaotic squad always has the potential but sometimes misses the mark - but whether they make it far or get eliminated in the quarter-finals, I reckon that the turtle man will score enough goals to secure the status of top scorer.

3. This year's big underdog story is - wait for it - SCOTLAND

FREEDOM!!!

A European Championship tournament needs a good underdog story, like Iceland in 2016 or Denmark in 2021 - and this year, my money is on Scotland. They'll fight their way out of Group A despite challenges from inevitable group winners Germany, the never-easy opponent Switzerland and Dominik Szoboszlai's Hungary. Then they'll gain an epic victory in the round of 16, preferably eliminating some big-name team like Italy in the process.

With Southampton regulars Stuart Armstrong and Che Adams who just fought their team back into the Premier League, Aston Villa's captain John McGinn ruling the midfield with his intense style of playing, and the national team's captain Andrew Robertson of Liverpool stardom passionately giving his everything, I think this team will fight like hell and prove the haters wrong. They'll make it at least to the quarter-finals - I'm not ruling out the semis either!

2. Here's my Team Of The Tournament prediction

After crossreferencing the teams I think will make it far with the players whose performance I have the most faith in, here's my prediction to what the official Team of the Tournament will look like after it's all said and done:

GK - Manuel Neuer (Germany)

LB - Andrew Robertson (Scotland)

CB - Jonathan Tah (Germany)

CB - John Stones (England)

RB - Jeremie Frimpong (Netherlands)

CDM - Declan Rice (England)

AM - Kevin De Bruyne (Belgium)

AM - Jude Bellingham (England)

LW - Kylian Mbappé (France)

ST - Harry Kane (England)

RW - Bukayo Saka (England)

1. It is, in fact, coming home

As might be guessed from the various hints above, I am once again going all-out with the claim that this, and bear with me here, is the year that football comes home. A major trophy for England has been in the cards for a long time - the squad has been home to some of the world's best players in the last years, and Gareth Southgate has guided them to quarter-finals, semi-finals and the final in the last three major tournaments (I reckon that losing the 2018 World Cup bronze match as well as losing the EURO2020 final on penalties left the players with just the right amount of bitterness, that can hopefully be channelled into fighting like never before in this year's tournament).

I mean, with figures like John Stones in defense (as well as goalkeeper Jordan Pickford, who always delivers in the England shirt), wizards like Declan Rice and Jude Bellingham dominating the midfield, and the technical expertise of Bukayo Saka combining with the clinical strikes of Harry Kane in attack - who is stopping this team? No one, that's my bold prediction. It's coming home, and Declan Rice is the player of the tournament (you heard it here first)!

Thank you for reading! Tune in next week as I celebrate my birthday with an incredibly self-indulgent post - my band Säätövara recently played its 50th gig, and I've ranked all of them.

Säätövara Hits 50 Gigs: Here's my ranking of all of them

Hei vaan, reader!

Yep, this week's post will be an unapologetically* self-indulgent one, and one delightfully free of my blog's alleged movie/TV themes. You see, my band Säätövara recently passed the 50-gig milestone, so I ranked all 50 of them! The shows were ranked based on a large combination of factors: importance to band history, memorability and subjective meaning, how well it went musically, how nice the venue was, audience energy and reception, et cetera. Let's go!

*Just kidding, I apologize for it several times throughout the post.

50. Kompassi II (August 2019)

No Säätövara gig is 100% bad, but this one takes the cake as the lamest. We concluded our 'tour' of acoustic street gigs in the summer of 2019 with this show on rainy day, with my choice of percussion being a mere snare drum with a terrible sound. Boring.

49. Ylistönmäki (October 2019)

The organization behind most of Jyväskylä's student restaurants gave many bands the chance to perform an acoustic set in one their locations in 2019, and we got the slot from the campus where physics and chemistry students reside. We felt amusingly out of place when arriving into a facility of high sciences with our instruments and long hair, and the gig itself was probably the tamest we've ever done, for it to fit the genre of 'lunch background music'.

48. Aren Aukio (August 2019)

Also a part of our acoustic 'tour' in the summer of '19, this was a pretty generic street music gig with the same old songs in the set. The highlight has to be a passer-by throwing a banana into the guitar case we had in front for money-collecting purposes (tempting fate, I ate the banana while we played our food-related Keuruun La Mel).

47. Kiljava III (July 2022)

Each year, the summer camp organization I've had as my go-to summer job for several years has a 'youth week', with slightly older campers than the other weeks, and a budget for entertainment and performances. Naturally, Säätövara played there three years in a row, and our third and last Kiljava gig was okay enough, although it started to feel like we had outgrown the place (we were also WAY too loud - sorry, kids!).

46. Kirkkopuisto (July 2019)

The grand acoustic tour of 2019 kicked off with this sweet little gig at Jyväskylä's 'church park'. Being the first acoustic street gig, it didn't feel quite as tired as some of the consequent ones - it also served as the live debut for our cult favorite Sheivaan, as well as the already-forgotten gem Liitelyä.

45. Radio Suomipop (December 2023)

During my time in the band, Säätövara has had two gigs that I didn't attend for various reasons. Those are naturally hard to rank, but despite not having experienced them firsthand, I didn't want to put them last. This radio gig came at a last-minute notice and I already had other plans, so our good friend Jukka filled in for me on percussion. It was weird as hell to listen to Säätövara on the radio instead of being there playing the songs, but the guys did an admittedly great job and I felt proud.

44. Poppari (February 2023)

This is the other gig where I wasn't present, as I had just come to Jyväskylä from a work stretch where I might have contracted norovirus (it was later revealed that I had not, in fact, contracted norovirus. But better to be safe than sorry!). Once again, I was proud as hell to follow my bandmates practicing a trio version of our set with just one day's warning, and based on the video clips I saw, they did a fantastic job.

43. Kiljava II (July 2021)

Our second Kiljava gig wasn't quite as new and memorable as our first, but still more energetic and less "oh, this again" than our third. It's naturally a fun and cool thing to gig with your band at your workplace, even when the gig isn't quite our best work in terms of sound and musicianship.

42. Matara (December (2019)

Youth Against Drugs organized this event, and playing for a good cause makes up for the fact that music-wise the gig wasn't among our most memorable or successful ones. Fun fact: this gig marks the last-ever time we played our OG classic Hei Vaan live, and it was the first of our original songs to leave the live rotation in lieu of new and better songs, meaning that no other song has been played last a longer time ago than that one. Truly the end of an era.

41. Veturitallit V (May 2022)

We've played the Veturitallit venue, home to the Jyväskylä Rock Academy that helped us get started, a total of five times. The fifth was undoubtedly the least special - it felt a bit like having outgrown one's training wheels, as we were playing the same old songs from the first album to the same old people in the crowd. Still, it's always a nice sense of coming home to be there, and the gear and sounds of Veturitallit are of a reliable quality!

40. Kiljava I (July 2020)

Our first Kiljava gig was definitely the most fun, despite (or maybe because of) our dragged-out six-song encore due to a bunch of campers who missed most of our initial set due to a scheduling conflict involving a sauna. It was a delight to just keep playing, with the teenage audience being enthusiastically on board.

39. M-Rec Streaming (May 2020)

Our first gig after the start of the Covid lockdown was this fun little streaming gig, from Jyväskylä-based M-Rec Studios. Our post-gig interview lives in infamy due to its cringeworthy awkwardness, but the gig itself was pretty neat - playing for cameras instead of a live audience was new and strange, but it definitely made the gig memorable in its unique nature.

38. Ville's Birthday (October 2019)

This one was hard to rank; music-wise, it's in our lowest tier, as it was an acoustic set we didn't really rehearse for and the venue was the living room in my parents' house. But, on an emotional level, this was one of the more heartwarming misadventures our band has gotten up to: for the birthday gathering of my big brother (and our arguably biggest fan) Ville, me and the boys made a well-coordinated surprise appearance to play a bunch of our songs. Good fun, if not a masterpiece of live music.

37. Kompassi I (July 2019)

Definitely the best out of the bunch in terms of the acoustic street gigs we did in the summer of '19, this one just hit all the spots - the songs went well, there was a good-sized crowd, and for once in my life, I had a moderate amount of fun playing the cajon (an instrument I spend most of my time passionately hating).

36. Kompassi III (May 2022)

Having previously played this area in Jyväskylä's city center in the context of acoustic street gigs, it felt like quite the glow-up to perform there with the full force of a stage put up for an annual cycling event, instruments blasting and all. On the minus side, the massive downpour of rain and news of a fire at a local factory possibly releasing dangerous fumes into the air affected the audience size. On the plus side, we got to play the song Jussilta Kahvia to THE Jussi it was written about, and now that we all got home safe, I always get a good chuckle when remembering that we omitted the song Notre Dame from our setlist as we reckoned it would be in poor taste due to the factory incident.

35. Kuopion Katusoittofestarit (May 2024)

Just last month, we travelled to the city of Kuopio to participate in an annual street music festival. It was a nice acoustic gig, with us first playing an official set on a small stage and then continuing to jam a bunch of our songs in an off-stage location. It wasn't as epic as most of our non-acoustic gigs, but we won the event's audience-voting-based band contest, so I guess we rocked pretty hard!

34. Veturitallit III (November 2020)

Our third gig in the good ol' Veturitallit served as the single release concert for Maitovara, our second-ever song to be released and our last official project as members of Jyväskylä Rock Academy. The mood was slightly dampened by the ever-changing Covid situation, which had us second-guessing whether or not we have to cancel the whole show up until the last minute. We eventually got to play the show, and while the audience was sparse and appropriately masked up, we still had a good time. The gig was also the live debut of the song Ihmisenä Ihmiselle from our new album, as well as the first and only time we've played Säätyvara (composed by yours truly; not my best work).

33. Seinäjoki (September 2023)

Quite a classic out-of-town gig, with the big challenge being playing non-acoustically as a trio, as bass maestro Riku was busy elsewhere. This made for quite a punk-ish set consisting of our most simple songs, but we rose to the challenge and had a good time with it. I remember this trip fondly because my girlfriend Martta joined us on the roadtrip, and it's always a blast when the person I'm always trying to impress with my drum shenanigans is in the audience.

32. Musica III (December 2022)

Ah, the official Christmas party of our university's music education and musicology students&staff, where Säätövara has played a total of three times. While the set list for this gig is always short due to the abundance of performers, our show has managed to be a firecracker of energy every time. We didn't exactly reinvent the wheel doing the essentially same gig for the third time, but we did have a great time and ended up live-debuting the new album's Rakastellaan Reeniksellä (you should really listen to our new album, by the way).

31. Multia (January 2022)

This one was a blast. We were hired by an acquaintance to play at a 'back to the days of our youth' party she and her friends threw, and I'd like to think we provided the youthful energy that was expected from us. C'Mon Baby Yeah by Tehosekoitin has got to be the most obscure cover song we've ever done.

30. Musica II (December 2021)

Our second time in the Musica Christmas party was just as energetic, albeit a tad less new and revolutionary, than the first. Always a good time with that crowd!

29. Mäkitorppa (April 2021)

You wouldn't expect an acoustic streaming gig, done as a part of a student event, to be ranked this highly. But as far as our acoustic sets go, this one was undoubtedly the most game-changing one we've done - not only did we perform a clever grunge-coded arrangement of our song Maitovara, this gig was also (as weird as it is to remember this bizarre fact) the LIVE DEBUT of Muut Vanhenee, which would go on to be the final track on our debut album and one of our most complimented songs.

28. Vastavirta (August 2020)

Due to a less-than-enthusiastic audience and multiple technical difficulties, my three partners-in-crime didn't enjoy this gig very much, and will likely roll their eyes at me ranking it so highly (if they bother to read this post, that is). I, however, got to borrow the drum kit of the band who played before us, with an amount of different well-tuned toms and a multitude of cymbals I had never encountered before. However badly the gig went from the POV of the other band members, I was too busy playing those drums with the enthusiasm of a little kid who found a new toy to notice. Never have I gotten to do such elaborate and sweet fills as I did in that show (the final chorus of Notre Dame was absolute mayhem).

27. Vesanto Pride (July 2019)

If the main metrics for this list were sound, gear quality and other technical aspects, our rainy gig at the Pride festival of the town of Vesanto would be ranked near the very bottom. But, a gig is always much more than that - a gig is a story, and what a story this one was. From the road trip there and back to the hilarious re-branding of "we have no idea what we're doing at this point" as "hey, this is pretty punk", this was vintage 2019 Säätövara at its purest.

26. Huuto Rock (June 2019)

When you grow up in Jyväskylä and join a band, playing the fabled venue of Poppari is the first big achievement you want unlocked. We got to do so quite early in our gigging career, and it was pretty awesome - not a particularly epic or unique gig, but certainly not a bad one either, and just the fact that it was Poppari (for the first time) makes it special.

25. Ilokivi Venue II (September 2023)

A chain of events led to this being a Säätövara concert where our longtime collaborator/producer Jaakko filled in for Riku on bass, yet Riku was present to see the gig (having never seen a Säätövara show from the audience's perspective, I'm jealous) and to take some truly kick-ass pictures. Music-wise, this was a really good gig, and between my lead vocals on Veikon Sienipiisi and my bass-playing stint whilst we switched instruments for Säätövara, I don't think I've ever played so many instruments during one Säätövara show.

24. Bar 34 (March 2024)

As far as out-of-town gigs go, this one was everything you want - the venue was nice, the other band was great, the audience was awesome. I anticipated some stiffness from the crowd as we were the out-of-town warm-up act for the local band, but the audience reacted to us with much more enthusiasm than I would've thought - and this reflected onto us, allowing us to tap into our full energy and really have a riot with it all.

23. Myllyfest I (August 2021)

Myllyfest is one of the coolest concepts I've ever stumbled upon - a couple who usually spend the summer going to rock festivals were bummed that there weren't any festivals due to Covid, and instead of doing nothing about it, they threw their own festival in their back yard, hiring random bands they found online and inviting their friends. We had a great time, and made some beloved contacts (the couple actually travelled all the way from Orivesi to see our album release gig in '22, which is something that warms my heart to this day).

22. Valon Kaupunki (September 2019)

I dunno, this one was just really memorable. Between our use of the X-Files theme as an intro track (my idea, naturally), opening with the forgotten gem Kotikulmien Julkisuus, and performing on a truck-built stage with atmospheric lighting as the gig was a part of Jyväskylä's annual 'City of light' event, the vibes were quite simply immaculate.

21. Ilokivi Venue I (March 2023)

I remember this one best for the major drama involving a snare stand (the story is too long to tell here, but ask me and I'll gladly tell you in person). The gig itself was quite nice, with our rendition of our ballad Robert Johnson being especially memorable as audience members were lying down on the floor to take it all in.

20. In Front of the Parliament House (October 2023)

In many ways, this was one of our worst shows - the horrible weather made the audience participation many times smaller than expected, and musically / sound-technically the gig was quite cruddy. But, my activist values being what they are, I can't help but feel that performing as part of a protest against Finland's current right-wing government, in front of the parliament house in true punk spirit, is one of the conceptually coolest and most important gigs we've done. Fight the power!

19. The Sauna Float (May 2020)

On the minus side, the only way to fit the drums onto the 'stage' were to put them so close to the edge that my drum stool was about a centimeter from the edge with no fence between me and the drop down to the water, so I spent the gig being extra careful due to a fear for my life. On the plus side, "Hey, are you guys Säätövara, uh, this is going to sound weird but our son is graduating and he likes rock music so we're looking to hire bands to play, we have a lakeside house and figured you could play from the roof of our sauna float?" is undoubtedly the single greatest phone call I've received in my life. The objective awesomeness of this gig overrides whatever issues I had with personal safety.

18. OKL Rocks (January 2024)

For a long time, the night club Freetime was one of the few prominent Jyväskylä gig venues we hadn't gotten to play yet. When we finally got the chance as part of this student event, we took it all in, making for one of our most musically solid and best-sounding gigs. The energy (both on the stage and in the crowd) was big, and we even got to live-debut the new album's song Naapurin Tyttö in a great manner!

17. Veturitallit IV (December 2021)

When trying to remember which Veturitallit gig was which, this one sticks out in my mind as 'the one where the band had suddenly evolved'. While every gig brings something new with it, the Säätövara seen across our first three Veturitallit gigs was in many ways the same band, young kids full of energy and talent but still finding their style and voice a bit. There was something special about this particular gig, as I remember my parents complimenting how our stage presence looked more sure and well-versed than ever before, and this complied with my personal experience of the show. If a band plays together for long enough, they develop a new level of live chemistry, and I think this was the gig when that really hit us.

16. Yläkaupungin Yö (May 2024)

After years and years of applying for Jyväskylä's iconic culture festival and missing out due to pandemics / rejections / not sending out the form on time / second waves of pandemics et cetera, we finally got the Yläkaupungin Yö gig - and our lead singer Olli was, naturally, in Denmark for a prestigious choir contest (their choir, by the way, is the one that's featured on the new album's song Säärivaha, and they won the contest in Denmark!)

Anyways, our dear and trustworthy friend Jukka filled in for Olli, leaving the bass as the only instrument he hasn't played in a Säätövara concert. The gig went well, with a few of our 'old classics' balancing out the hype of the new album's songs in the setlist.

15. Musica I (December 2019)

Our first-ever spot in the Musica Christmas party ranks way higher than a five-song number in a Christmas party has any right to. Somehow, our set just went very hard, and the crowd was the most enthusiastic we had ever had at that point, filling us with high levels of energy. This show was also the first (and last) live appearance of Säätövaran Joulu, a pop-punk Christmas anthem written by yours truly.

14. Yläkaupungin Ale Pub I (November 2023)

The release gig for Voisinpa Jäädä, the second single released to promote the Kaikki On Nyt Hyvin album, took place in the karaoke bar that has become a regular hang-out spot (and official business partner) for our student organization. Playing on such 'home turf' felt appropriate, and the venue was so agreeable that we booked the same location for our album's release concert later on. The bar even had a drink called Voisinpa Jäillä for that night!

13. Megarock (February 2020)

We've played the Megarock event, consisting of various alumni bands of the Jyväskylä Rock Academy, twice. The event takes place in Lutakko, the most prestigious and sought-after venue in Jyväskylä, so getting to play there for the first time is a dream come true for any Jyväskylä-raised rock musician. From the intro track (John Williams' Throne Room from the Star Wars soundtrack) blasting the sound systems as we walked onto the stage, all the way to the final guitar solo mayhem of Hei Taas, this gig was a memorable one.

12. Kotalampirock (May 2019)

Not to be too on-the-nose on the symbolism of a band still getting started with their career before entering the big boys' league, but our second-ever gig took place at a literal children's playground. Still, it's an extremely noteworthy gig in our lore, as it was the first-ever gig played by the full Hoffman-Montonen-Viitanen-Heikkinen lineup. Also, it had its share of legendary moments, like Aaro going down a playground slide while playing a guitar solo, and my bass drum pedal breaking during the intro of Hei Vaan, forcing me to improvise without the arguably most important part of my drum kit for the rest of the song.

11. Megarock (February 2024)

Our second time playing the Megarock event might be ranked even higher if it wasn't for the fact that we played last, after five consecutive metal bands, which means that about 1/3 of the crowd left after S.P.I.T. ended their set, 1/3 of the crowd were confused and unenthusiastic about our vibe, and just 1/3 of the crowd seemed to get into the spirit of things and have a good time. Why is this gig still ranked so highly, then?

Three words: Jaakko F**king Kiesiläinen.

Our longtime friend, producer and musical partner joined us on stage as a live keyboard player for this concert, and it was a huge payoff to finally get to play some of our songs (especially those that have piano/synth parts played by Jaakko on the record version) live with that musical addition. Finally getting to play Jämsän Uimahallin Lattiaa Pesty Eri Tavalla, Jotta Liukkaus Vähenisi with the song's objectively best part, Jaakko's insane synth solo, just felt so right, not to mention getting the piano harmonies on Voisinpa Jäädä, cool surf organs on Säärivaha, hilarious drilling sounds on Naapurit Poraa Kovaa and the so-far only live performance of the keyboard-heavy Ollin Sienibiisi.

10. Campus Invasion (September 2023)

Once again, my activist spirit soars from getting to do gigs like these. In the fall of 2023, multiple campuses in Finland were temporarily invaded by students to protest the outrageous and short-sighted cuts to housing benefits proposed by Petteri Orpo's government (basically, the combination of existing government rulings and these new proposals makes for a lovely paradox of "students can't afford to pay rent so they have to take jobs" -> "having a part-time job means that your remaining student benefits are cut off so you rely only on your wages which also isn't enough to pay rent" -> "students are forced to have FULL-TIME JOBS to pay rent while studying higher education WHICH ALREADY IS A FULL-TIME F**KING JOB YOU GODDAMN IDIOTS"). Sorry, got a little side-tracked there.

Anyways, we were proud to participate in the campus invasion, and more than happy to provide our music for the evening entertainment of one of the nights. Aaro found a way to tie pretty much all of our songs into political themes with his comments between songs, which was an impressive feat - sure, some songs like Onnen Päivä are pretty political to begin with, but others required some respectable mental gymnastics ("Ihmisenä Ihmiselle is a love song, and love and empathy belong in politics, even if our current leaders don't think so", et cetera).

9. Myllyfest II (August 2022)

Ah, the vibes were even better the second time the lovely Orivesi people organized their makeshift festival. This time they went all-out, with a truck stage and more bands and a bigger crowd. The atmosphere was immaculate, and I have a personal fondness for this show as it was the one where I drank four cups of coffee right before/during the show, as they gave coffee for all of us but no one else felt like it so they all went "give that to our drummer, he likes coffee".

I was worried that my hyper-caffeinated overdrive would screw up my playing, but according to our guitarist Aaro, I actually kept the tempo even better than usual. Took me a solid while to fall asleep that night, though!

8. Kramsu (May 2024)

This one was such a throwback - gigs of this quality were a common occurrence for us in 2019, but by the 'standard' we had reached by 2024, this was an exceptionally, well, *punk* gig. Between the ridiculous heat of this hot day, the relatively small but super-excited crowd, the night's other acts (Jesus Delorean Väisänen, Hites and Taipei Faks) all being amazing and the general art/punk vibe of Alakulttuuritalo Kramsu, this sweaty and over-energetic night was an absolute blast.

I always have fun on stage with Säätövara, but the amounts of fun have hardly ever risen to such an euphoric high - during our performance of Korkealla Corolla near the end of the set, I could almost feel my body exiting my soul in a moment of pure bliss that only the best drug of them all, live music, can offer.

7. Veturitallit II (November 2019)

This was the gig promoting the release of our first-ever single, Ammattipopisto (courtesy of the Jyväskylä Rock Academy). It's an incredible feeling to have a song you play on appear in Spotify, and the feeling of celebration culminated with the release gig.

I'm looking back at the set list, and it was a perfect moment of transition from our very early era into our Kammotuksen Kanootti era. Gone were staples like Kuoppa, Hei Vaan and Heivaan from the set, as they had to make space for material that was totally fresh and exciting back then - Säätövara, Notre Dame and Telkkarista all got their live debuts in this show.

In addition, the climactic performance of Ammattipopisto itself was a semi-spectacle, and best of all, I had saved a few of our early era's fan favorites for the encore while designing the set list, which made for what is still my favorite encore we've ever done: Keuruun La Mel (with yours truly sitting in the audience and eating vöner for the first half of the song), with a straight transition into the intro of Kuplamuovi.

6. David Hoffman 60v (April 2022)

So, my Dad turned 60, and didn't want to have a party - until he realized that he could turn his party into a rock n' roll concert. He booked Jyväskylä's legendary jazz bar Poppari for the night, in addition to booking some serious performers - Säätövara and Squealers, my two bands.

We got to play two sets, meaning that almost all of our songs that existed at that point in time made it onto the set lists. It was all a blast - opening with my piano composition Moment 3 (as per the birthday boy's request) which transitioned smoothly into Ammattipopisto, live-debuting Robert Johnson, getting to play gems like Kotikulmien Julkisuus and Liitelyä after a long break, and ending with the Telkkarista / Hei Taas / Muut Vanhenee trilogy from our first album, during which I saw my grandmother letting loose on the dance floor, which really is the most wonderful and precious thing to witness.

5. Yläkaupungin Ale Pub II (June 2024)

This was it - our landmark 50th gig, as well as the release gig for our second album Kaikki On Nyt Hyvin. The elements of danger were certainly present, as I had stayed up fo 26 straight hours at the time of the gig, due to my summer job as a summer camp's night guard. But, with the adrenaline of playing rock music live to an enthusiastic crowd (not to mention a helping hand from my dear friend caffeine), we got the job done.

The set list was a play-through of the album, with a nice Veikon Sienipiisi encore as a fun little epilogue. The crowd was filled with familiar faces from our lives, and playing for them was a joy (also, our opening act Äiti is 100% my #1 favorite out of all the bands we've gotten to perform with, and I'm dying to do more co-gigs with them).

4. Latorock (August 2019)

Some might wonder why such an obscure gig would rank so highly, but this one is a major subjective favorite for me. We had to fight all sorts of bureaucratic obstacles to make this gig happen, once the concept had been realized, and it was a big payoff to actually get there and give the audience this experience.

For many years, Jyväskylä's legendary theater organization Kulissi performed their plays in an old-school barn theater that is sadly no longer with us. In the summer of 2019, they put on a production of the obscure musical Urinetown, with Säätövara members Aaro and Olli in the cast. Hence the idea to team up with a few bands and do a rock concert in the barn, in the midst of the Urinetown set, for a night like no other. We spent the whole long-ass day putting it all together, and after Terromania and Unknown Decoy were done with their sets, Säätövara concluded the night with what was just a really fun set - our singer/guitarists bursting onstage in their Urinetown costumes, the overall theatrical feel of the gig, the set list being our so-far existing songs in the order they were conceived (a real walk down memory lane), you name it.

3. Risarock (May 2019)

I've read enough rock star biopics to know that every rock band needs to have that gig as an essential part of the "early days" chapter in their story. For us, that gig took place in a random cabin in the middle of nowhere, where we performed as part of the joint 30th birthday party of Aaro's cousin and Aaro's cousin's friend (or something like that). The 'stage' was a small corner next to the stairs, from which we had to remove a bunch of firewood in order to make room for the instruments.

Throughout the concert, everything possible from a technical standpoint went wrong, from a fuse burning and temporarily taking out all the electricity just before we were supposed to start to guitar strings getting broken mid-song. But, that didn't matter - the audience, drunk with the magic of live music (and quite a bit of alcohol) seemed to love every minute, wildly dancing and screaming to each of the songs. We all remember this one with major fondness.

2. Veturitallit I (March 2019)

My first gig with Säätövara came after over a year of practicing and practicing, while trying and failing to get gigs. When we finally scored our debut gig, Riku got leave from the army to come and play the concert, until during the week of the concert, he found out he can't come after all. This major drama was resolved by Kuisma, who back then was Aaro's fellow freshman in the university who the rest of us hadn't heard of, but who would go on to become a major figure in the band's story and a dear friend. He learned the songs with just a few days' warning, and so the first of many gigs came to be.

From the Kuplamuovi opening, through the sweet Keuruun La Mel featuring a live phone call with Riku, all the way to the chaotic Hei Taas ending and the Mato (Apulanta cover) encore, this gig will forever be etched in my mind. I was playing live with my band, with a set list of our songs (including my first Säätövara composition Maitovara), for the first time, and it felt magical. That feeling never quite went away as I still experience degrees of that during any given one of our shows, but there's still something inescapably special about the very first one.

1. Ylä-Ruth (March 2022)

While our second album is better than the first in my (and hopefully everyone's) opinion, the first album had an even more memorable release gig (not to take anything away from the second). This was just the warmest, most immaculately vibed show we've ever gotten to do - the milestone of releasing your first album is huge, and the gig was worthy of the occasion.

Friends and acquaintances from all stages of life for all four of us were there, and playing to a crowd so familiar and supportive is just the best feeling. It was moving to see how many familiar people had shown up to celebrate the album's release with us, and playing through the Säätövara Ja Kammotuksen Kanootti track list (plus a Maitovara encore!) for this enthusiastic crowd was just the best feeling. The way they were singing along the lyrics, not just the choruses but verses and all to many of our songs, was just mind-blowing, and quite a thing to breathe in.

That's my ranking of our first 50 gigs - here's to a 50 more!

Thank you for reading! Tune in next week for my list of the greatest TV cliffhangers of all time.

Top 15 TV Episodes to Celebrate Pride Month with

Greetings, reader!

Well, it's Pride Month, and I hope you're all having a good one! I've already done posts on the best LGBTQ+ themed movies in a previous year's June, as well as one on the best LGBTQ+ cult films (ah, the post where I publicly came out, to all 10-20 of my readers). So, this year, I'm giving out recommendations on episodes to watch from various TV shows, with themes centering around pride for those of us who are gay, lesbian, bi, pan, trans, nonbinary, queer, intersex, genderfluid, asexual, or anything else under the vast and beautiful rainbow umbrella.

Here are my honorable mentions: Dibley Live (The Vicar of Dibley, Season 2 Episode 2), Episode 7 (Sex Education, Season 3 Episode 7), Fuck Anyone Who's Not a Sea Blob (Euphoria, special between seasons 1&2), Gay Witch Hunt (The Office, Season 3 Episode 1), Homer's Phobia (The Simpsons, Season 8 Episode 15).

15. Willie Pete (The Newsroom, Season 2 Episode 3)

This episode of Aaron Sorkin's The Newsroom doesn't revolve around the LGBTQ+ community like some of theses episodes, but it earned a spot on the list for its shivers-down-your-spine cold open. We follow the main character, fictional reporter Will McAvoy (Jeff Daniels), reacting to what is somehow an actual news story from 2012: for the Republican Presidential Debate, a gay U.S. soldier had submitted a video question about his human rights, to which the right-wing audience reacted by booing, and not one of the candidates stood up for the soldier being booed (I think about this every time a Republican has the audacity to talk about "respecting our troops").

McAvoy's reaction to this outrageous homophobia is filled with the fury of a true ally, making one long for reporters like this in real life (as opposed to the news media that still often presents "Gay rights, yes or no?" as a controversial and many-sided question).

14. Queer Studies & Advanced Waxing (Community, Season 6 Episode 4)

After five seasons of a delightful sense of ambiguity in Dean Pelton's (Jim Rash) sexual orientation, my all-time favorite sitcom did an episode where he comes out - but not under the most ideal circumstances. Along with the gradual progress of gay rights and tolerance in our society, there have been many who have missed the point with their bad takes, among them the various corporations who love to signal their allyship with the calculated appointment of one 'token gay'. And this phenomenon is brilliantly satirized in this episode, where Dean Pelton is asked to join the school board for the exact reason of how good an openly gay Dean would look, specifically as the board is coming back from a PR scandal.

Jim Rash's performance in this episode is awesome - he's as funny as always, but also very real and endearing with the conflict he's facing. Bonus points for the soundtrack's rendition of Dolly Parton's Jolene with the words "Gay Dean", as well as the delivery of the line "I'm not openly anything, and gay doesn't BEGIN to cover it" being an excellent testament to the beautiful fluidity of sexual orientation.

13. The Midterms (The West Wing, Season 2 Episode 3)

The West Wing has many episodes centering on gay rights, ranging from 'aged well' to 'it was a different time'. However, the episode I chose is like the Newsroom episode seen above: LGBTQ+ matters aren't the main focus otherwise, but there's an individual scene that resonated deeply with me.

In it, President Jed Bartlet (Martin Sheen) confronts a conservative radio host who belongs to the "gay people don't deserve rights because the Bible says so" camp. Y'know, religiously extremist bigots. In one of the best-written takedowns of homophobic attitudes I've ever seen, Bartlet (a devout Catholic himself) absolutely obliterates her logic with other examples of taking the Bible word for word: what would be a reasonable price when selling his daughter into slavery, the manner in which his Chief of Staff should be executed for working on the Sabbath, being obligated to burn his mother for wearing garments made of two different threads et cetera. To any queer readers with family members or other acquaintances who use scripture as an excuse to be bigots, this scene will give you solid ammunition to fight back with.

12. Forget Me Not (Star Trek: Discovery, Season 3 Episode 4)

I looked for a nice balance for today's list: the most memorable and powerful LGBTQ+ stories in cinema and television often are the ones about victimhood and survival in a homophobic world, and while those stories are important to tell and many of today's picks belong to that category, I didn't want my list to be only that, as there are so many beautiful and uplifting stories to tell as well. As long as homophobia prevails in our society, we will need stories that show people how much bigotry and abuse hurts, but when dreaming that one day the world could be better and equal rights would be achieved, one imagines a world where the LGBTQ+ themed films and TV shows being made are love stories from a spectrum as wide as all the straight love stories we've seen.

And that brings us to Star Trek. The fictional Star Trek universe is a sort of utopia, where humanity has overcome its greed and hatred and inequality, and this has been portrayed throughout the show's history by having the main characters include all sorts of different racial and ethnic backgrounds, but without negative stereotypes or racial tensions being in the plot. If they would've been smart, they would've had characters belonging to sexual minorities and gender minorities already in the earlier shows, to show that this better future would treat everyone as equals, but due to the homophobic norms of the time, the writers either didn't come up with the idea or were too scared to include something so "controversial".

Luckily, the franchise has kept on going, and Star Trek: Discovery added this crucial element to the franchise's worldbuilding. In the third season, we meet nonbinary character Adira (Blu del Barrio) as well as trans character Gray (Ian Alexander), and in a testament to the show's message of the better future, they don't have to explain themselves to anyone and aren't met by any hostility but rather immediately accepted for who they are without question. What I wouldn't give to see humanity taking the Star Trek path in real life!

11. Uncle Naseem (Ramy, Season 2 Episode 9)

In one of the many genius moves by writer Ramy Youssef in his series, the recurring character Uncle Naseem (Laith Nakli), who had been loudly homophobic throughout his appearances in the series, is revealed to be gay himself in the first episode to really focus on him and his backstory. It's a perfect character study on inner struggles, internalized homophobia, how bigoted worldviews are formed and why systems like toxic masculinity really need to be dismantled so that the world could become a better place.

For anyone who has ever wondered why the term 'homophobia' is called just that, a phobia as opposed to an -ism, this episode sheds light on why it's called that: for many of the loudest homophobes, it comes from an inner place of perhaps not being straight themselves. For the fictional Uncle Naseem, as well as countless real-life counterparts, the trauma of not being able to safely be himself in his own youth due to his society's homophobic norms has turned into bitterness when seeing how the openly gay people of today have it slightly better. Some may feel sympathy for Naseem while others will feel that his own trauma doesn't justify how he treats others, but in any case, this episode sheds light on a fascinating psychological issue that's important for people to understand so that we can make things better.

10. Long, Long Time (The Last of Us, Season 1 Episode 3)

Here we have what is simply one of the most beautiful and touching queer love stories told on television. The third episode of HBO's acclaimed video game adaptation The Last of Us zeroes in on the backstory of a supporting character and his lover, and the end result is moving and ultimately heartwrenching. Nick Offerman and Murray Bartlett provide amazing performances as Bill and Frank, with the episode's set design and cinematography creating the perfect backdrop for the unfolding of their romance. You will smile, and you will cry.

9. Suddenly, Last Summer (Modern Family, Season 5 Episode 1)

For a long time, 'gay TV' was very much its own genre, partially because homophobia was so widespread that queer characters and storylines in mainstream television would've resulted in controversy and boycotts by angry man-children (y'know, the thing that happens these days when a TV show dares to include trans or nonbinary characters - ah, the painfully slow pace of social progress).

Anyways, Modern Family was one of the first totally mainstream shows to have a gay couple among its main characters, which was quite a milestone. The discourse of Mitch (Jesse Tyler Ferguson) and Cam's (Eric Stonestreet) relationship is complex and interesting - some argue that a couple that was toxic so often wasn't the best representation, while others have argued that it's a sign of progress that a TV series doesn't have to signal its allyship by painting queer characters as perfect angels, but rather as humans who have their flaws just like the straight characters.

Anyhow, I think we can all agree that at their best, Mitch and Cam are awesome. While there are many episodes I could've chosen to represent their love story, I went with the season 5 premiere, where they get engaged. Not only is the proposal scene silly and touching, the episode is also a celebration of the long-overdue legalization of gay marriage.

8. Asexual Healing (Big Mouth, Season 6 Episode 8)

Ah, the glow-up of Netflix's raunchy coming-of-age comedy Big Mouth has been a joy to follow - each season has been a bit more wholesome and educational than the last, so that amidst all of the crude and chaotic humor, the series also functions as a learning platform for more privileged viewers, and full of validation and affirmation for those already familiar with the bullshit that sexual minorities and gender minorities have to go through in today's society.

Over the years, Big Mouth has tackled tons of issues and phenomena regarding sexuality in general, and the many different facets of the LGBTQ+ umbrella. This season 6 episode is notable for highlighting a few different elements often overlooked in mainstream media: one storyline deals with asexuality, and another with children's gender roles and gender neutrality.

Following Elijah (Brian Tyree Henry) on his journey to self-discovery as asexual is moving, as it really shows how powerful and important it can be for a young person to realize there's nothing wrong with them and that there's a term and a community for people just like them. Similarly, Jessi's (Jessi Klein) storyline sheds much-needed light on the conversation regarding gender roles imposed on children, and makes a case worth considering for the idea of raising babies gender-neutrally.

7. Mac Finds His Pride (It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Season 13 Episode 10)

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia is the weirdest f**king show: after thirteen seasons filled to the brim with unapologetically cynical dark humor with pretty much no heart, they pulled a rabbit out of the hat and produced a season finale that was, against all odds, heartfelt and touching.

The character Mac (Rob McElhenney) being obviously gay but in the closet had been the butt of many jokes throughout the series, but in this episode, it's taken seriously for the first time as he wants to come out to his intense and disapproving father. I never expected an episode of It's Always Sunny to make me cry, but the ending moments of Mac Finds His Pride were such an unexpected emotional gut punch, with an honest humanity at its core, that it really got to me.

6. La Locker Room Aux Folles (Ted Lasso, Season 3 Episode 9)

Oh man, this one was needed. I'm a big fan of football/soccer, and especially the Premier League, but it's a painful truth to deal with that the world of professional sports has produced some massive shortcomings in LGBTQ+ allyship, with the culture changing with an excruciatingly slow pace as the homophobia and toxic masculinity of the loudest and most obnoxious football fans often seems to dictate the discourse.

Enter Ted Lasso, the thoroughly wholesome football series that has injected a strong message of inclusion into the veins of the football world and attidues within it. In this episode, AFC Richmond's player Colin (Billy Harris) comes out as gay to his teammates. He was extremely nervous of their reaction beforehand, as were any viewers who know anything about what it's like to be a queer kid in the midst of 'tough guys' and jocks.

However, instead of showing how unfortunately a real-life men's team might still react in today's world, the episode shows how any human beings should react, as they're all loud and clear with their acceptance and authentically happy that their mate can now publicly be himself. Colin's whole season 3 storyline is a beautiful tear-jerker, but its most powerful moments come in this heartwarming episode.

5. Masked Ball (Twin Peaks, Season 2 Episode 11)

There's a lot of talk these days about movies and TV shows that haven't aged well, and that's a good thing - these are important conversations to have, as even if you view something as a product of its time and want to enjoy it, it's important to acknowledge how poorly aged media reflects the systemic injustices in our society, and how they have affected the attitudes of the people making the product, whether it's intentional or not. Still, as it's easy to get bummed out when realizing how many of your favorite things are problematic in one way or another, it's nice to occasionally point out media that has aged particularly well - the body-positive attitudes in The School of Rock (2003), the anti-racist messages throughout the Star Trek franchise et cetera. And this brings us to the trans character Denise (David Duchovny) in Twin Peaks.

Sure, if the show was done today, Denise wouldn't be played by a cis man. But other than that, the character is by and large a positive representation of a community who were only represented as offensive punchlines in the mainstream movies and TV of the early 90's, and thus her character is widely seen as miles ahead of its time.

When Denise made her debut in the 1990 episode Masked Ball, she was met with an overwhelming positive reaction from the trans community - one expects the worst when a mega-popular series from that era introduces a trans character, but despite expectations, she's not a joke or a parody, but rather an empowering badass whose gender is no joke. Dale Cooper's (Kyle MacLachlan) reaction, having previously seen her years ago when she went under a different name, is something a lot of people should learn a lot from: Denise explains she goes by this name now, and Cooper is immediately enthusiastic and on board, not questioning this or acting like she owes any further explanations. Hell yes.

4. Game Night (Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Season 5 Episode 10)

In Brooklyn Nine-Nine's 100th episode, Rosa (Stephanie Beatriz) comes out as bisexual. This episode is a quintessential Pride classic for many reasons, one of them being the significance of her being the second member of the main cast of characters to come out as something other than straight. Hollywood often treats various minorities with a token approach, and having two of the seven main characters belong to a sexual minority really revealed the underlying homophobia in many viewers - Captain Holt (the late great Andre Braugher) being gay had been token enough for casual homophobes to swallow, but a woman in the main cast turning out to be bi caused a whole lot of "This is too much, why do there have to be two?" from the loudest idiots on the internet. Usually, the loudest idiots on the internet getting angry over their culture wars is a sign that someone has done something right, and that was the case with Brooklyn Nine-Nine expanding its rainbow representation with this episode.

Also, remember how I said earlier in this post that gripping stories about the effects of homophobia are important to tell and to show to people, but that heartwarming stories of the love and acceptance and pride in the LGBTQ+ community are also important to tell because it would be depressing if one's recommended Pride month viewing was just Boys Don't Cry over and over again? Well, this episode manages to do both - the reaction of Rosa's parents is heartbreaking, and will likely resonate with viewers who have been unfortunate enough to hear such bullshit from their families, while hopefully making parents and future parents think long and hard of how they'd react in such a situation. But, as a beautiful contrast, the Nine-Nine squad reacts with just the validation and acceptance that Rosa had needed from her family, making the episode's final note uplifting despite the drama. 

Also, the episode contains the quote that I decided to use in the post in which I officially came out myself:

"Every time someone steps out and says who they are, the world becomes a better, more interesting place"

-Raymond Holt

3. Begin the Begin (Grey's Anatomy, Season 2 Episode 13)

Grey's Anatomy has an abundance of episodes fit for Pride month viewing, from its respectable and wholesome trans representation all the way to Callie (Sara Ramirez) and Arizona (Jessica Capshaw) being the viewer's (at least this viewer's) emotional support lesbian couple for multiple consecutive seasons. However, the episode I went with was season 2's underrated Begin the Begin, where the simple and has-been-told-many-times tale of how to react to someone being who they are (and, on the other hand, how not to react) is told in such a powerful manner that the end result had be in tears.

In this episode of Shonda Rhimes' hospital drama, George O'Malley (T.R. Knight) treats a teenage patient who turns out to be intersex, something they or their parents had never realized. The parents react in a heartbreaking manner, truly showcasing how harmful the gender norms imposed by our society can be, causing trauma to their child by denying to acknowledge who they are and instead trying to force them to fit into a mold.

But George, in a moment that sealed him as one of my favorite characters and someone who has a place in my heart even through his unlikable moments in later seasons, listens to Bex's truth, helping them find themselves and even cutting their hair at their request. In a world where more and more people belonging to gender minorities are finally able to say who they are and live a life true to them, it's important that we're all George O'Malley in that situation, not Bex's parents.

2. San Junipero (Black Mirror, Season 3 Episode 4)

I hope that one day our society will be so done with homophobia that the most acclaimed LGBTQ+ movies and TV shows won't always be about the same old "Look at all this bullshit this person had to go through just because of who they are, it's truly heartbreaking", but rather a similar range of all sorts of love stories that have always existed for heterosexual cis people. A glimpse into this utopic future can be found, ironically, from a TV show that is generally as far from the term 'utopia' as one can be - Black Mirror.

From what is probably the most grim TV series I've ever watched, comes this colorful and creative lesbian love story that is, against all odds, ultimately uplifting. There are definitely some heavy moments, as well as mind-boggling sci-fi to make it feel like proper Black Mirror, but the romance at the heart of the story is just so damn beautiful and touching. It's Black Mirror's most humane episode, and one of the most unforgettable queer love stories I've witnessed in television or film.

1. Quinces (One Day at a Time, Season 1 Episode 13)

Really, watching the whole series (the 2017-2020 one loosely based on the similarly titled 1970's series) is recommended Pride month viewing - the story of the main family's daughter Elena (Isabella Gomez) finding her sexuality, coming out to her family and being a kick-ass activist for LGBTQ+ rights is a well-written coming-of-age arch that many queer youths are bound to relate to.

It was difficult to pick just one episode to recommend on these themes - I considered the season 1 episode Pride & Prejudice for how it showcases an elderly family member with many outdated opinions coming to terms with her granddaughter's sexuality and becoming an ally, as well as the season 2 episode To Zir, With Love for how it educates viewers on gender pronouns. However, the episode that moved me the most with its LGBTQ+ themes has got to be the season 1 finale.

It's an emotional roller coaster, with different members of Elena's family reacting differently to who she is, including a gripping depiction of judgemental and intolerant attitudes as well as some mega-touching depictions of unconditional love and support. The former serves as a reminder to all parents that people who can't love their children because of their sexual orientation are scum-of-the-earth assholes who never should've become parents to begin with, while the latter is many things - a roadmap for straight family members of LGBTQ+ people on how to be allies, and an often-needed reminder for queer viewers that there is nothing wrong with them, that they deserve love, and a family that can't do that is no family at all. Despite its heavy moments, Quinces will ultimately leave you with a big smile on your face, after you've wiped away the inevitable tears.

Thank you for reading! Tune in next week for my top 10 predictions about the upcoming EURO2024 football tournament.