I have affiliate relationships with Bookshop.org and Malaprop's Bookstore in beautiful Asheville, NC. I will earn a small commission at no additional cost to you if you purchase merchandise through links on my site. Read more on my affiliate page.
Welcome to (re)Viewing Last Month: September 2025, my monthly recap of the movies and television series my husband and I have been watching! We were relocating from Colorado to Georgia for a couple of weeks in September, which means we didn’t spend much time in front of the TV. We did get to take our time and see some fun sights along the way though, so that’s a tradeoff I was happy to make! Anyway, this is what we finished. Works appear in the the order in which we finished them.
Title: Monk, Season 2
Seen before? No
Based on a Book or Story? No, but there is a series of novels based on the show.
Have I Read the Books? No
Reason for Watching: I love the series Psych and I’ve seen several articles comparing the two shows favorably
Source: Checked out the DVD from my then-local library
I laughed through this season just as much as the first. There were some brilliantly implausible mysteries that eventually left us saying, “Okay, I can kind of see how that would happen.” Mr. Monk, a private detective who sees a therapist for his obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and anxiety, finds himself in some hilarious locations: the circus, a spring break town in Mexico, a marriage therapy retreat (he’s a widower), and prison, to name the most egregious. He struggles through them all with the help of his assistant and oodles of wet wipes. I really loved meeting a long-estranged Monk family member. It goes without saying that Tony Shalhoub is amazing in this role.
I have wondered if this show is offensive to people who struggle with OCD in real life. I don’t feel like the disorder is ever treated lightly and when other people make fun of Monk, they’re generally made out to be insensitive jerks. I just went digging for an answer and found that people who have OCD have differing feelings about the portrayal, but it seems that most people aren’t actually offended and are even happy to have some on-screen representation. Here’s a Reddit thread for a sample discussion.
Title: The Gilded Age, Season 3
Seen before? No
Based on a Book or Story? No
Reason for Watching: It was created and largely written by Julian Fellowes, who also wrote Downton Abbey, which we loved
Source: Streamed on HBO Max
Dare I say it? I just possibly might, maybe, perhaps love The Gilded Age even more than Downton Abbey. It’s close. The costumes and sets are practically characters themselves, they’re so rich and lavish. And, of course, being set in the US, this show delves just a bit into our ever-present racism. The amount of money and hubris on display is astounding but feels based in reality. There were some plot points that we hoped were going to be rags-to-riches stories, fortunes lost and made again, and moments that left our jaws hanging. It’s everything a soapy drama should be.
The cast is absolutely fantastic. Carrie Coon and Morgan Spector portray a ruthless power couple and I’m never quite sure how much I like them, especially in this season. Christine Baranski delivers her acerbic one-liners with a panache that would make Dame Maggie Smith (Lady Violet from Downton Abbey) proud. The rest of the cast more than hold their own. If you love Downton Abbey, you should definitely give this one a try.
Title: The Thursday Murder Club
Seen before? No
Based on a Book or Story? Yes, a book and series of the same name, written by Richard Osman
Have I Read the Book? Yes
Reason for Watching: I read the book and enjoyed it. Also, who could resist that cast? Not me!
Source: Streamed on Netflix
When I scrolled through the ratings for this movie on Letterboxd, they were fairly low. But I enjoyed it. I usually think that movies with too many A-list actors are not good (I don’t know why–maybe the script takes a backseat to each actor’s screen time?) but I felt this avoided that trap. It seemed pretty faithful to the book until things started wrapping up and then I got a little confused. Was I remembering things incorrectly? I just listened to the book in June so I didn’t think so. The movie script just changed a lot of the final details and left out a lot of subplots. I don’t want to watch an 8-hour movie so I understand that it had to be streamlined, but it was a bit jarring. It lost some of the heart and the nuances of aging in the process. Still, I loved this cast all around, not just the four main characters, and had fun watching.
If you liked this but haven’t watched the Netflix series, A Man on the Inside, starring Ted Danson, you should correct that oversight. There are a lot of similarities and the show has the emotional complexity that I felt was a little lost in this movie adaptation.
That’s it for us. What did you watch last month? Anything you would recommend? What do you think of our choices?
3 Comments
Hmm, I may have to give The Gilded Age another try. We only watched the first episode, which is never a good way to base a decision to keep watching, as we’ve learned with other shows.
I’ve never watched Monk, but Nan (Letters of a Hill Farm) used to talk about it all the time. Since her passing last month, maybe I’ll start watching the show in her honor.
I enjoyed watching The Thursday Murder Club, though the ending did leave me a bit confused. I’ve heard the director understands the confusion, but promising it won’t change the story in future adaptations. I love the casting, and feel like they did a great job bringing the characters to life.
Pam @ Read! Bake! Create!
I’ve only just begun watching Monk and I enjoy it. I really liked the Thursday Murder Club Movie, I’ve got Psych on my to-watch list, and I just heard from someone else how good Guilded Age is so now I really want to watch it!