The joy of procedural dramas such as Elementary, Castle and Bones lies in their gentle, soothing predictability Like many people living through the current state of the world, I’ve been searching for ways to settle my brain. Something to offer even a brief (privileged) reprieve from the horrors, the headlines, the general sense of doom. My anxiety’s high, my brain’s short-circuiting and I’ve had to find new coping mechanisms to help soothe the agitated static inside my head. It needs to be something that gives my brain a short break, engaging enough that it distracts me but doesn’t get me spiralling or thinking (yuck). Over the past few months, I’ve found something that works perfectly. I’ve fallen into the arms of procedural dramas. I am a known TV lover, so it’s not that surprising, but I have never really gotten deep into these kinds of shows. You know the ones, a crime or legal case or something occurs at the beginning of the episode and within 45 minutes it has been investigated and resolved. Continue reading...