“In Deep” 2024 Superlatives

My TV and film superlatives for the year — like"what to watch if you want to spend (at least) three nights in bed afterwards staring at the ceiling, thinking" — and a little announcement!

Hi everyone — especially those kind souls who have ambled in from the Wicked post, thanks to the great

Olivia Muenter

and

Alisha Ramos

. In celebration of hitting 500 subscribers, I’m doing an AMA, or an “Ask Me Anything” in the new year. Reply to this email or leave a comment with any questions you have for me and I will answer them all. I can’t wait!

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2024 will always be a year I remember because it’s the year In Deep became real. It stopped being something I’d been planning in my little notebook, or meditating on during bus rides, or pausing in the middle of a telling story to jot down ideas for. It’s crazy to think that In Deep is not even one! But it’s brought me so much joy already.

There was no other way to begin this newsletter for me than with a four-part series on Taylor Swift. The only option was starting with something that I love talking about so much, that even if you disagree or had no interest and still dared to read it, you would suddenly want to start talking about it too. I think the best discussions are born from that tiny area at the center of a Venn diagram where deep appreciation and unexplainable (and sometimes, explainable) “ick” lie. I like layered. I like fun. I also like serious. And that’s very much why this newsletter came to be.

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My immediate and visceral reaction to Wicked is something you all held space for (it is the most liked post so far — thank you for that 💚), and why I love Survivor is something many of you resonated with whether you watch the show or not (which was cool. You’re all so cool!).

On the more personal side, I revived The Saturday Letter for my Substackers. I started this letter a little over a year ago on another platform as a way to create a warm little corner of the internet (and email inbox) to update people on my life in a more meaningful, long-form way. If In Deep is sour, The Saturday Letter is sweet. And God knows we need both to keep life interesting!

But what I really want to talk about, to end this amazing first calendar year with you, is the most unexpected, oddly satisfying, and best watches of the year. We all know Challengers was really good and It Ends With Us was really bad. Inside Out 2 was obviously incredible and Nobody Wants This is definitely the best romcom to cut through the zeitgeist in a while (and as a television series? Say less). But can we please also talk about things like The Wild Robot — which I think should be nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars, even as an animated movie?

I sat down this morning with a lemon water, some gel pens, and a 2025 planner my friend got me for my birthday in October. I decided that next year, I want to do an In Deep post the first Saturday of every month, and The Saturday Letter the last Saturday of every month. So get ready to hang out some more! I’m so excited!

Without further ado, here are my weirdly, über specific TV and film superlatives for the year (for paid subscribers, as a little treat and a thank you!) in no particular order. I don’t want to get ahead of myself, but maybe this will be a tradition …