Netflix – what’s good to watch

Netflix_logo-424x282I possibly watch more now on Netflix than on broadcast TV. They seem to keep the flow of decent shows coming, and in particular, some of the Netflix own productions are great.

A friend recently commented that when I tell them about shows I am watching, they sound good, but then they forget which show it was. So I am going to compile a list of what I have enjoyed. I’ll probably be adding to this, as I encounter new shows.

Note that the shows here are available from Netflix UK; I have tried to weed out the shows I enjoyed from the States using VPN, as that is now frowned on by NetFlix.

Older Shows

A recap on some old shows I have enjoyed.

Sons of Anarchy – a show about an American motorbike gang, well worth watching.
Hemlock Grove – a surprisingly wonderful horror series.
Breaking Bad – of course
Better Call Saul – prequel to Breaking Bad, focusing on the Saul Goodman character.

If you have never seen this before…

These shows have been on broadcast TV, but I get many blank looks from folk when I mention them.

Peaky Blinders – I missed this on British TV, but caught it here. Wonderful crime series, based in 19th century Birmingham.
The Good Wife – wonderful law drama, starring Julianna Margulies. In particular, I like this show for its often topical cases, particularly hi-tech and internet based stories, with thinly disguised episodes about Bitcoin, Anonymous and Reddit, the global company ChumHum standing in for Google, and an ongoing (in later season) arc about surveillance by multiple government agencies.
Suits – another law drama, but along completely different lines, where the main character blags his way into a legal job, and continues to represent himself as a qualified attorney.
White Collar – a conman and forger is captured by the FBI and persuaded to work with them to catch bigger bad guys.

Marvel

Some excellent shows based on Marvel comic characters.

Daredevil – much better than the naff film with Ben Affleck. Characterisation is strong in this, and the non-heroic side of things is as important and entertaining as the costume adventures.
Jessica Jones – a former superhero decides to dump the cape, and becomes a Private Investigator. Then out of her past comes an old foe. David Tennant plays a blinder!

Soon to come – Luke Cage, Iron Fist, The Punisher and The Defenders.

Current Favourites

Orange is the New Black – brilliant prison drama, now on its fourth season.
House of Cards – adaptation of British political drama, but has become its own thing.
American Odyssey – military thriller series, starring Anna Friel as a US Army Sergeant who survives the execution of her team, while on a secret mission.
Stranger Things – SF/Horror series, set in the 1980s. Somehow manages to be a tribute to Steven Spieberg, Stephen King and John Carpenter, all at the same time.
Spotless – about a crime scene cleaner whose brother turns up and quickly turns his organised life into chaos. Also interesting in that it is a joint Franco-British production, where the drama is based in London, but the two main characters are French.
Narcos – fictionalised biography of Columbian drug lord Pablo Escobar

Light Relief

Laid – Australian comedy series, where a woman finds that anyone she has ever slept with has started dying, in different unrelated ways.
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. Comedy about a girl who follows her love to an obscure Californian town. Very funny, and full of music – at least one original song in every episode.

One Comment

  1. chris
    August 5, 2016
    Reply

    Oh-oh-oh…. and Bloodline. A story of a black sheep’s return, and the mahem and destruction that results.

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