Written Recaps/Reviews Are Coming to Decoding TV, Starting with 'The Last of Us' Season 2

A new era for the Decoding TV newsletter is upon us.

I’m pleased to announce that we are going to be trying something new here on the Decoding TV newsletter: written recaps/reviews! We’re kicking this off tonight with Matt Goldberg, who will be covering every episode of The Last of Us Season 2. Matt is a longtime critic and a thoughtful commentator whose reviews can be found at

Decoding Everything

and his own newsletter

Commentary Track

. I’m so thrilled he’ll be bringing his insights on The Last of Us — one of the most popular and likely to be controversial shows on TV — here to Decoding TV.

Now for some FAQs:

Who are you and why am I receiving this email?

I’m David Chen, the host of a podcast called Decoding TV. At some point in the past, you signed up for this newsletter on Substack, but if you’re a free subscriber, it’s mostly been dormant as I’ve primarily used it to distribute the paid, ad-free/bonus version of the Decoding TV podcast. However, starting tonight, you’ll actually be getting written reviews/recaps of TV shows in your inbox. I hope you enjoy them!

What coverage can I expect in the near future?

Matt will be covering every episode of The Last of Us season 2 and you should expect a write-up within a day after the episode airs. In addition, I’m planning for us to cover each of the 4 episode drops of Andor season 2.

How much will these recaps/reviews cost?

For now, they are totally free for everyone. My hope is to create a space to talk about the most interesting shows on TV here.

This sounds like a great idea! How can I provide feedback that I want more free recaps/reviews in the future?

All you have to do is like and comment on the posts on Substack when you get them, or shoot me an email at decodingtv(AT)gmail(DOT)com. This is definitely an experiment and if you all enjoy the posts, that’ll be a big signal for us to keep going. If I don’t get any signals at all, we probably won’t do recaps in the future and I’ll never speak of this phase again!

Is anything changing about the podcast?

Nope, the podcast will continue in its current form (free version here). Patrick Klepek and I will also be covering The Last of Us Season 2. Plus, there will be coverage of Black Mirror, Andor, and The Rehearsal on the way this month (with some cool guests). Subscribe to get it in your podcast app and become a paid member of DecodingTV.com to support what we’re doing.

I’m an insightful writer who’s written for major online publications and I’m interested in writing recaps/reviews for Decoding TV. How can I get in touch?

I’m definitely on the lookout for folks to cover shows like The Rehearsal, Stranger Things, and Squid Game. If you’re interested, reach out at decodingtv(AT)gmail(DOT)com.

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That’s it! Enjoy the recaps and please do let me know if you have any feedback.