![]() READ MORE: How watching TV in lockdown can be good for you – according to science ![]() ![]() When Joe and Love attend a party at the home of their neighbor Sherry (Season 3 newcomer and scene-stealer Shalita Grant), Joe mentions the time their host - an influencer in the mommy blogger space - had to post an apology video after it was discovered she'd hosted a massive party in August 2020 while everyone else was at home "clutching hand sanitizer." Joe also mentions in his trademark voice-over that there was a rumor the elite of Madre Linda had gotten their hands on a secret vaccine "manufactured for the Queen of England" and were thus "immune to COVID." While the pandemic doesn't play a major role in this overarching narrative, it is referenced a few times, the first instance coming in the season premiere. The season follows the couple as they attempt to navigate the waters of parenthood and marriage behind a white picket fence despite the fact neither has a frame of reference for a comforting or well-adjusted home. One of the strangest offenders of this is Netflix's addictive thriller "You." In Season 3, Joe (Penn Badgley) and Love (Victoria Pedretti) - who is just as dark and twisted as her new husband - live in Madre Linda, a fictional Bay Area suburb built from tech money with what appears to be an updated and darker blueprint for Wisteria Lane. While the decision to include the pandemic makes sense in some cases - medical dramas like "The Good Doctor" have reason to address a significant real-world event that affects healthcare workers - most shows do not and thus can skate by without ever addressing it. And yet shows everywhere, from "Grey's Anatomy" and "Superstore" to "This Is Us" and "Big Sky," have felt the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic (or name-dropped them) in some way or another over the last year. Incorporating real-world events into existing pop culture is not a decision that should be taken lightly.
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