What should you watch in September?

A Checkpoint Church Watch/Play Guide for September 2023

Aug 30, 2023

There are 53 Sundays in 2023. That means—give and take a few for vacations and special episodes—Checkpoint Church will be releasing nearly 50 Nerdy Sermons this year.

That’s a lot of media to consume.

The good news is that I’m an avid media consumer, so I’m pretty used to a massive backlog of movies, television shows, and video games to work my way through.

That may or may not be true for you.

So… I will be tuning the dials to your email inboxes once a month for a quick Faith Frequency sonar blast.

The goal: to help guide your media consumption for the next month to best follow along with the likely Nerdy Sermon schedule this year.

While I can’t will the Holy Spirit to a weekly schedule, I can at least try to guess where our flow will go in the next month. I hope you find this to be a helpful, if not enjoyable, guide to what lies ahead in September.

Pokemon: Paldean Winds

Starting to air on September 6th via YouTube, we really know little else about this production starring everyone’s favorite cast of Pocket Monsters.

No doubt set in the new region of Paldea, but without any of our familiar cast in sight, this series looks to follow the footsteps of students from the local university that Scarlet/Violet players will recall from the mainline games.

It may seem strange to consider taking a miniseries created for YouTube seriously, but the Sword/Shield miniseries Pokemon Twilight Wings was one of my favorite media made that year. It was also some of the best-animated content Pokemon had produced to date, learning from the more realistic and grittier tone of my personal favorite Digimon.

I can’t promise this will have the narrative weight of Twilight Wings. However, it’s a shoo-in for a Nerdy Sermon if it does.

Castlevania: Nocturne

If you have somehow managed not to watch the Netflix adaptation of Castlevania, you must put it on the list of what to watch next. The series, which lasted for four seasons, is arguably one of the best video game adaptations of all time and was a consistent delight for fans of anime and of the games.

With the announcement of a new series from one of the original showrunners (with a new writer), fans were eager to see what might be adapted. The excitement only escalated when it was revealed that the next series would be Castlevania Nocturne and would take place in 18th-century France. This would line up with the fan-favorite, whip-wielding Richter Belmont.

While the specific cast and plot haven’t been revealed, the backdrop of the French Revolution provides plenty of Nerdy Sermon fodder. If the series is half as good as its predecessor, it will present plenty more for gamers to latch onto.

Fortunately, this series doesn’t even start airing until the final few days of September, so it is likely this Nerdy Sermon won’t hit the airwaves until October.

The Continental

It’s hard to deny the charm of the John Wick universe. From the stunning cast to the intricate world-building of a seedy criminal underground, fans want to see more of the world beyond Mr. Wick himself.

The Continental should be the answer fans are looking for.

Airing on September 22nd on Peacock, this series will follow some things outside the circle of John Wick’s rampage(s) but still within the fascinating network of criminal ‘safegrounds’ known as The Continental Hotel.

It’s important to note that we did release a Nerdy Sermon on The Continental herself, so it’s unlikely we’ll focus on that again so soon. But there is still a chance the story here will be so captivating that we can explore it further. Time will tell for this one.

Starfield

Starfield might just be the most polarizing pick on this list. The first new IP from the video game behemoth Bethesda, Starfield hits the gaming scene (and GamePass, somehow) on September 6th. It will also likely be all that I’m doing for the month of September, just like how Baldur’s Gate was my whole August.

I can’t speak to the story of Starfield yet, as I’m trying to do the best I can to stay spoiler-free, but if the prior writing of Fallout 3 and 4 are any sign of merit, I will undoubtedly have an ample amount of options for a Nerdy Sermon topic.

Fallout in space? I sure hope so.

Mortal Kombat 1

Plenty of fans of Mortal Kombat enjoy playing the games for the challenge of the mechanics or to appreciate the gory artistry of the team behind the iconic franchise.

Not this guy. I play Mortal Kombat, yes, for the story.

I love the Mortal Kombat lore. Every twist, turn, and backstabbing trauma - I eat it up. Whenever it was unexpectedly announced that the universe would be wiped and reset by the now-Fire-God and Ruler of Earth Realm, Liu Kang, I was surprised and elated. This means we get a fresh take on everything - something to the comic book resets that superheroes are well known for.

With our latest trailer, it appears the beginning of our journey will be Raiden the Rookie learning the ropes.

I mean, a literal Thunder God descending to the level of power and strength as ordinary humans? It practically writes itself. We’ll find out on September 14th.

Cyberpunk 2077 Phantom Liberty DLC

Few games have captured my curiosity like Cyberpunk 2077 did back in the day. Maybe it’s because I spent ten days holed up in a room after a scare back in the height of the pandemic when this game was released, but Cyberpunk is one of my favorite AAA games ever released.

Throw in Idris Elba, and… what more could a guy need?

I could likely write a series of Nerdy Sermons on the themes presented by the masterwork of narrative ties and character building. I’m confident that the team behind the DLC will bring that same energy into the craft.

I’m a bit rusty on the story and mechanics at this point, but I’m also reasonably excited for the slice-of-life updates to the series with the DLC release on September 26th.

I can only hope we get some new content involving the love interests from the base game. I can’t help but want more time spent with Panam.

Wild Card: Lies of P

I’m unsure about this one, but I can’t lie and deny my curiosity. I’m not sure there has ever been a title so poor for a video game.

Lies of P is a Pinocchio Souls-like that will bring the player into a hellish battlefield of horror monsters attempting to prevent Pinocchio, who is more mechanical than a puppet, from finding Geppeto.

I honestly have trouble believing that this is even happening. I’m not sure how deep the narrative will go and how the developers will draw out the existing story into the fantasy. However, it’s a lesson we could always afford to learn from, and perhaps this will be a dark and gritty take on avoiding dishonesty.

I just hope they don’t adapt the donkey island scene from Pinocchio. The original was already nightmare fuel. It doesn’t need the Souls-like aesthetic.

Those are just a few of the highlight pieces of media that I have my eyes on for the next month. Of course, there are plenty of anime from the previous season, too, but we plan on having an anime mega-post once a quarter rather than try to tie them in each month to this series.

What did you think? Any of these catch your attention? Were they already on your list, or did they get added after learning I’d likely analyze them with a spiritual lens?