We watch a lot of TV and movies! And we listen to a lot of music, podcasts, audiobooks…so yeah, we’re fangirling over a lot of things! Each week we come together to highlight all the feels they give us throughout the week. On these Fangirlish Feels of the Week, there are five categories and many thoughts! Ready?
Here we go!
What You’re Fangirling Over This Week
Amanda W.: Basically, it’s a good week to be a Jonathan Bailey fan! I know I’m not the only one here still obsessing over the Bridgerton season three sneak peek clip featuring Kanthony. They’re so cute and happy, and I just can’t! This is all I ever wanted. Don’t ask me how many times I’ve watched it, because I’ve lost count.
My Twitter feed is basically full of that clip or the new Wicked movie photos/feature from Vanity Fair, which I am also fangirling over. The shot of Ariana Grande‘s Glinda and Cynthia Erivo‘s Elphaba in their Shiz University dorm room? Perfection. I need it framed in my room. And we finally have a good first look at Jonathan Bailey’s Fiyero! Like Glinda, I am swooning.
Brittany: I spent last week in New York, getting to see Merrily We Roll Along again. I will always be in awe of how much talent Jonathan Groff has both as an actor and as a singer, which is one thing.
I love the nuances of his performance and how he brings out Frank’s emotional turmoil, sometimes without saying a word. But that entire cast blows my mind. Daniel Radcliffe is so positively brilliant as Charley Kringas, and to see Lindsay Mendez on stage after years of watching her on All Rise is a kick.
Yet everyone in this show is fantastic, from Krystal Joy Brown and Katie Rose Clarke down to all the members of the ensemble. I could do a whole article just on the ensemble and how they play all these different characters so well. This show is really just perfection.
Amanda P.: Anyone who knows me knows that Wicked holds a very, very special place in my heart. So, like my name twin here, the first-look photoshoot from Vanity Fair has me “feeling things I’ve never felt.”
I know the style of the photoshoot got some criticism on social, but personally, it reminded me (in a good way) of the Annie Leibovitz fairytale photo series from several years ago. And hurrah for practical set-building instead of pure CGI!
Ashley W.: I’m still thinking (and laughing to myself) about Enver Gjokaj’s character, Joseph, saying “Niece is a little girl or a city in France” in this week’s Resident Alien episode, 3×06: “Bye Bye Birdie.” The scene that line is from was really well done and felt like such a great use of practical comedy.
Getting to watch him do comedy truly brings me so much joy, and I’m never going to shut up about how talented and versatile of an actor he is. Also, the headshot of Joseph that’s pinned up on the bulletin board at the Patience police station is perfection, and I would like a copy of it. Please and thank you.
Rachel: Whenever we get Bridgerton content, that will always be my answer here. Though my fave couple is Polin, the new season 3 clip made me happy because Kanthony was so beautiful and so in love! THE KISS ON THE DANCE FLOOR!!! IS MY EMOTIONAL EQUILIBRIUM A JOKE TO YOU ANTHONY BRIDGERTON?!?!?
I know some Polin fans were upset that the clip wasn’t Polin but it was so romantic that it made me more hopeful about Polin’s love story being like that. The brief shot we got of Pen was sad, and I have had more than enough of that, but since this was likely from the first episode of the new season, I can try to wait to see more. Come on, May 16th!
Ashley T.: Holy smokes, X-Men ‘97 did not come to play! It has the classic feel of the original series and the storytelling that makes X-Men stories timeless. I’m looking forward to what’s in store for the rest of the season.
WTF Moment of the Week
Brittany: I had high hopes for both Chicago P.D. and Law & Order this week, and they almost got there. Then both shows went for their usual downer endings. I love Tony Goldwyn and Hugh Dancy, but particularly Law & Order, it felt like the writers just needing to throw some more dramatic effect in there. It’s okay to let your heroes get a win!
Amanda P.: I am…let’s say, baffled by the last couple weeks of reviews on Broadway. I’m struggling to understand how the flawed-but-lovely The Notebook got some absolutely brutal reviews last week, while the portrait-of-flashy-mediocrity Water for Elephants got some shockingly positive ones this week.
Other than the obvious answer (a general disdain for romance-driven narratives), I just don’t get it — and judging by the texts I’ve been having with some of my Broadway-going friends, neither do a lot of folks.
Rachel: Buckingham Palace (and Prince William himself) allowing Kate to be thrown under the bus with that photo thing instead of announcing her cancer diagnosis earlier is the literal definition of “WHAT THE F—”.
Ashley T.: People who are complaining about X-Men ‘97 being “woke,” are the epitome of “Tell me you know nothing about X-Men without saying you know nothing about X-Men.” Please either educate yourself or go find a more positive way to spend your time.
What We’re Listening to This Week
Amanda W.: Despite not having tickets to either of Olivia Rodrigo’s Chicago tour stops — the Ticketmaster odds have never been in my favor — I began my week listening to GUTS and am ending my week listening to the deluxe version, GUTS (spilled).
Brittany: I’ve had “Old Friends” from Merrily We Roll Along in my head all week. I’m sure you can understand why.
Ashley W.: After watching the first two episodes of X-Men ‘97 and the entire original X-Men: The Animated Series, I’ve been listening to the X-Men theme song a lot lately. And it is wonderful. I randomly will start humming the music in the middle of the workday, and I love it. Also, if you skip the X-Men intro — and, in turn, the theme song — then I probably don’t trust you.
Ashley T.: I’m still in a Tank Girl kind of mood after recording an episode about Lori Petty for The Video Store Podcast, so I’ve had the Tank Girl soundtrack on repeat. It’s a wonderful sampler of mid-90s alt-rock. Give it a listen!
What We Rewatched This Week
Amanda W.: I always planned on rewatching Bridgerton season two in preparation for season three but didn’t think I’d get to it until April or May since we’re still a few months away from the new season. But then Netflix gave us the Kanthony clip we’re all obsessing over, so I just had to rewatch their season.
Amanda P.: There’s a Twitter thread currently going around that highlights the absolute genius of the gone-too-soon Adam Schlesinger, and now I’m down a YouTube rabbit hole of all his greatest hits. As a musical theatre songwriter myself, I dream of having even half that kind of cleverness and wordplay in my work.
Ashley W.: When I realized I had gone more than a month without watching Captain America: The First Avenger, I was honestly shocked but also kind of proud of myself for going that long without watching it. But, of course, like the Cap fangirl that I am, I promptly decided to rewatch the MCU’s first Captain America movie.
Rachel: I rewatched the original Road House because the remake with Jake Gyllenhaal was coming out this week. It is very male but also sometimes fun, and I do miss Patrick Swayze. “I want you to be nice…until it’s time to not be nice.” Immortal words, tbh.
Ashley T.: Yeah…it’s Tank Girl. I’ve watched it 2 or 3 times this week. It’s starting to become a comfort movie for me. If you want to see how weird and wonderful it is, it’s streaming for free right now on Tubi or Freevee.
Badass Character of the Week
Amanda W.: I’m going to have to go with Janine from Abbott Elementary for making her library program with the district happen and for including and advocating for community colleges in the process in the latest episode, “Panel.” As a former library worker and current community college employee, I really appreciated that!
Brittany: Not characters this week, but two real people who are definitely badasses. Shoutout to Bar Rescue mixologists Phil Wills and Rob Floyd, who carried the latest episode on their own. Ever since I started watching the show, all I’ve wanted is to see some of the mixologists in the same room together, and it finally happened.
Phil is a pillar of Bar Rescue and made an excellent host: charismatic, no-nonsense, eloquent. And then to see him teamed with Rob Floyd, who is one of my favorite human beings and one of the two people who sparked my interest in mixology, was awesome. These are the two guys I’d want behind my bar and they killed it.
Amanda P.: In honor of the season finale this week, let’s go with my new favorite TV duo of Max and Ellis from Wild Cards. They’re not badass in a grim, fierce way, but in that delightful, slightly daffy, just-go-for-the-ride way of the very best consultant procedural dramedies. A double-crossing heist plot surrounding a $30 million Faberge egg? Count me in — and count me in for as many seasons as this show will give us.
Ashley T.: Lori Petty. She made space for girls who are weird, quirky, edgy, and don’t quite fit. She doesn’t get the credit she deserves for that, and as I’ve watched more of her work this week, I am more and more convinced of how undersung she is.