--- title: Best TV Shows November 2021: What Our Critic Loved description: From 'Arcane' to 'The Sex Lives of College Girls' to 'Yellowjackets' canonical: https://time.com/6121947/best-tv-shows-november-2021/ author: Judy Berman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2021-11-30T13:01:25.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-24T10:33:46.111Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: The 5 Best New TV Shows Our Critic Watched in November 2021 og:description: From 'Arcane' to 'The Sex Lives of College Girls' to 'Yellowjackets.' og:url: https://time.com/6121947/best-tv-shows-november-2021/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt118316517b9c2d10/698a20384ee2628158319a70/ARCANE_S1_00001.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: ARCANE_S1_00001 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The 5 Best New TV Shows Our Critic Watched in November 2021 twitter:description: From 'Arcane' to 'The Sex Lives of College Girls' to 'Yellowjackets.' twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt118316517b9c2d10/698a20384ee2628158319a70/ARCANE_S1_00001.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The 5 Best New TV Shows Our Critic Watched in November 2021 > Sponsored content. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account.  by [Judy Berman](https://time.com/author/judy-berman/)  ## Judy Berman TV Critic Nov 30, 2021 1:01 PM UTC  A still from 'Arcane' A still from 'Arcane'Netflix  by [Judy Berman](https://time.com/author/judy-berman/)  ## Judy Berman TV Critic Nov 30, 2021 1:01 PM UTC How did you spend your first post-vax (or, for pessimists, pre-[omicron](https://time.com/6124074/covid-19-new-variant-europe/)) Thanksgiving? Did you baste the turkey as Baby Yoda floated by in the first Macy’s parade since 2019 or coo over the precious National Dog Show contestants while tearing up stale bread for stuffing? Did your full-bellied family gorge on a heaping helping of pro football? Or did you hole up and binge Peter Jackson’s [_The Beatles: Get Back_](https://time.com/6124118/get-back-beatles-breakup/) on Disney+, like just about everyone on my Twitter timeline? While the latter doc might just be the ultimate “your mileage may vary” experience—heaven for Fab Four fanatics, overkill for everyone else—in my extremely humble opinion, the following five new shows represent the very best TV had to offer in November 2021\. For more recommendations, here are my favorites from [last month](https://time.com/6110929/best-tv-shows-october-2021/) and the [first half of the year](https://time.com/6049981/best-tv-shows-2021-so-far/). ## _Arcane_ (Netflix) I’m not particularly excited about the convergence of TV and video games—a development whose inevitability has manifested in everything from the [gamification of fandom](https://time.com/5498908/true-detective-season-three/) and Netflix’s megahit video-game adaptation [_The Witcher_](https://time.com/5752962/netflix-witcher-review/)to the same platform’s interactive experiments, like _Black Mirror:_ _Bandersnatch_, and [newly launched mobile gaming hub](https://about.netflix.com/en/news/let-the-games-begin-a-new-way-to-experience-entertainment-on-mobile). Which is to say that I approached _Arcane_, an adult animated series set in the _League of Legends_ universe, with some skepticism. Well, I was wrong. And I didn’t even have to slog through a 5,000-word Wikipedia entry on the franchise to appreciate what I was missing. Divided into three discrete “acts,” the nine-episode season chronicles rising tensions between the prosperous city of Piltover and the (literally) underground demimonde of Zaun, as magic and science begin to collide in ways both hopeful and terrifying. While the themes are heady, the characters—a ragtag crew of street kids in Zaun, a pair of young scientists in Piltover—are grounded. But what really elevates the show’s solid storytelling is its transcendent animation. Characters’ faces register every flicker of emotion. A hybrid of steampunk, cyberpunk and punk-rock aesthetics make Zaun the perfect contrast to the gilded opulence of Piltover. Flashes of brilliant neon light endow _Arcane_‘s supernatural elements with a true sense of magic. So beautiful and intricately detailed are these visuals that they’re liable to distract you from the movements of the plot. But is that such a bad thing? ## _Black and Missing_ (HBO) [Gwen Ifill](https://time.com/4570258/pbs-gwen-ifill-death-newshour/) called it _missing white woman syndrome_: the media’s tendency to fixate on the disappearances of (generally beautiful, relatively wealthy) white women at the expense of paying any attention at all to people of color who vanish under similar circumstances. The [Black and Missing Foundation](https://blackandmissinginc.com/), which is profiled in this essential four-part documentary from [Soledad O’Brien](https://time.com/4495903/soledad-obrien-mentor-advice/) and Geeta Gandbhir _(_[_Why We Hate_](https://time.com/5696541/why-we-hate-discovery-review/)_),_ endeavors to counteract such prejudice. The series’ heroes are the organization’s co-founders, sisters-in-law Derrica and Natalie Wilson, who work tirelessly with Black victims’ families, law enforcement and media contacts to make headway in cases that have suffered from a lack of institutional support. As they follow the Wilsons from flyer drops in communities to meetings with government task forces, O’Brien and Gandbhir profile the devastated yet determined families of missing people, drawing out patterns in structural injustice and tracking developments in a few of the foundation’s toughest cases. If _Black and Missing_‘s choice to emphasize victims’ humanity over the salacious details of their ordeals might frustrate true-crime addicts in search of their next binge, it also makes the project a shining example of what more compassionate and inclusive storytelling in this genre might look like. ## _The Sex Lives of College Girls_ (HBO Max) Premiering Nov. 18, this warm, observant and often gleefully raunchy show follows four very different freshman suitemates through their first months outside the nest at Vermont’s prestigious, fictional Essex College. As a creator, Kaling has historically struggled to rework, rather than just recycle, the clichés of genres that she knows inside and out (see: her rom-com series [_The Mindy Project_](https://time.com/5022963/mindy-project-kaling-season-six-last-final/) and [_Four Weddings and a Funeral_](https://time.com/5632731/four-weddings-and-a-funeral-hulu-review/)). But, taken together with her Netflix teen hit [_Never Have I Ever_](https://time.com/5827768/maitreyi-ramakrishnan-never-have-i-ever/), _College Girls_ suggests that coming-of-age stories might be her forte. **\[**[**Read** **_TIME_** **‘s full review**](https://time.com/6118591/sex-lives-college-girls-review/)**.\]** ## _Sort Of_ (HBO Max) Sabi Mehboob is floating through liminal space. A gender-fluid young adult in Toronto, Sabi (played by co-creator Bilal Baig) has a cisgender boyfriend who shrinks from them in public and a traditional Pakistani Muslim mother who’s in denial about who her child is. Sabi works as a nanny and a bartender but has yet to decide what they really want out of life. After missing an opportunity to soul-search in Berlin, this gentle, self-effacing character must find the courage to fuse the pieces of their fragmented life without leaving home. The aptly titled _Sort Of_, a Canadian import that debuted this week on HBO Max, traces this awkward yet poignant evolution. And Baig, an affable performer as well as a keen observer of human behavior, is one of the most intriguing new voices I’ve encountered on TV this year. ## _Yellowjackets_ (Showtime) Created by [_Narcos_](https://time.com/5448785/diego-luna-narcos/) alums Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson, this updated _Lord of the Flies_ swaps out the schoolboys in favor of a women’s varsity soccer team on its way to nationals. It’s 1996, alt rock rules the radio, and the girls are traveling in style because (get ready to suspend your disbelief) a rich dad has lent them his private plane. When it falls out of the sky and into the wilderness, the traumatized players wait for a rescue that never happens. They’ll ultimately spend 19 months fending for themselves out there, so you know things are bound to get weird. **\[**[**Read the full review**](https://time.com/6114326/yellowjackets-review-showtime/)**.\]** ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6121947/best-tv-shows-november-2021/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6121947/best-tv-shows-november-2021/"},"headline":"The 5 Best New TV Shows Our Critic Watched in November 2021","datePublished":"2021-11-30T13:01:25.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T10:33:46.111Z","description":"From 'Arcane' to 'The Sex Lives of College Girls' to 'Yellowjackets.'","url":"https://time.com/6121947/best-tv-shows-november-2021/","keywords":["Television","review","culturepod"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt118316517b9c2d10/698a20384ee2628158319a70/ARCANE_S1_00001.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Judy Berman","jobTitle":"TV Critic","url":"https://time.com/author/judy-berman/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt118316517b9c2d10/698a20384ee2628158319a70/ARCANE_S1_00001.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"ARCANE_S1_00001","caption":"Arcane. 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