Greg Shannon, Staff

At this point when it comes to Disney+, they have established the main focus for their live-action series. Star Wars and Marvel content has seemed to be the main draw for the streaming service since its conception. With the amount of lore and fascinating characters between the two franchises, it’s no surprise why it seems like we are always getting new content for them. However, back in the summer of 2021, Disney decided to just nonchalantly drop a great show while putting out and hyping up other series, such as “Loki” and “Black Widow.” So, if you’re feeling a bit over-saturated with the abundance of space wizards, government affairs, and super humans then you should give “The Mysterious Benedict Society” a chance.

I first watched this show back in the summer of 2021 with my mom and was honestly just extremely impressed with how much this show pulled me in. The music, the quality of the shots, and some of the plots of this eight episode show had me glued to the TV. I was caught thinking, “Wow, why am I just hearing about a show this good?” Fast forward to this semester of my senior year at La Salle, I am watching this show with my roommates, and I am led back to thinking the exact same thing. I was astonished.

“The Mysterious Benedict Society” is an adaptation of a 5 part book series by Trent Lee Stewart. The show consists of mostly four main characters, each of them being smart in their own kind of way. First, there’s  George “Sticky” Washington who can memorize anything he reads. Next up, we have Kate Wetherall who is the street smart character with a bucket that solves every problem. Then there is Constance Contriare whose instincts and gut feelings make sure she’s always right. Lastly, there is the leader Reynie Muldoon who out of all of them is the smartest and is the best at coming up with a plan. The chemistry between all the kids works really well. They all bring something unique to the show and it gives the show a nice charm. Whether that be the insane amount of things in Kate’s bucket (an absurd amount by the way), or how incredible Sticky is at memorizing things, they all bring something to the show that you couldn’t get rid of, or replace.

If I had to pick a favorite character out of all of them, I would give it to Constance. Honestly, I hated her at first. I think it was more attached to the other characters, and I thought her rudeness was just annoying but eventually, it just became funny. Watching her roast and call everyone stupid became a highlight of the show for me.  While every character gets some good character development, there’s just something about the development Constance gets that made me happy.  

I think the last thing that really blew me away was the way they showed off each kid’s intelligence. It was unique every time, and they had some kind of brain teaser almost every episode. Even in the first episode, we’re greeted with a challenge to get across the room but not to step on a square tile. However, the entire room is filled with black and white square tiles. Getting to see the main cast of characters solve little things like this is just extremely cool to me and blows my mind when I see all the different ways they go about it. 

This series came out in June 2021 on Disney+, and it for the most part just flew under the radar. There weren’t any big commercials, Instagram posts, or tweets. It’s almost like Disney had no plans of even putting this out there. Maybe it was to put less pressure on a show like this surrounded by bigger shows or maybe it was because Disney just didn’t care. Regardless, I think that this show is a gem and is genuinely one of the best shows that they have on their streaming service. Hopefully, if and when there is a second season Disney realizes the quality of a show they have on their hands and decides to give it more love.