I’m just starting episode one now.
Just wrapped up the first four seasons of The Handmaid’s Tale, which was both good and fucked up.
The utter repetitive cruelty and stupidity of them all is the compelling reason. Romans quips. The utter nonsense that Kendal keeps spouting straight faced. Them thinking they are clever, the same one old (mc) Donald does because nobody tells them they are not.
The moment where Roman bets a child to score a home run to be a horrible moment in that childs life (and indeed, going so far that the family get a very expensive watch to kind of buy them off for that cruelty) sums up the whole thing.
(Apparently, I had to go and look this up, that watch was worth 750K).
I don’t know why but I love Succession. Great acting, especially by Kieran Culkin & Jeremy Strong. They are all just so awful and horribly awkward. It may be a guilty pleasure but I’m not sorry to say its one of my favorite shows right now. Maybe its the Gerri/Roman hilarious (and slightly kinky) relationship that keeps me hooked. I do think if you require a single redeeming quality from any of the characters, this is not the show.
Season 1 was quite enjoyable.
Season 2 will probably be along in the next few months.
Forgive me if this has been mentioned already. There’s an interesting series from Norway on Netflix called Post Mortem. A young woman is found dead in a field, but just before the autopsy, she wakes up, good as new, but with an insatiable thirst for blood. She’s not a vampire. She’s not a zombie. But she’s gotta quaff some corpuscles every day. Coincidently, her family runs a failing funeral parlor in a town in which no one ever dies. This is actually a dark comedy, and at six episodes, it’s well worth checking out. One odd thing: the dubbing is “British English,” so everyone is speaking with British accents, and the subtitles rarely match up with what the characters are saying.
Started watching Inside Job on Netflix, which has been sufficiently entertaining to keep me watching. The basic premise is that all the conspiracy theories are true - there is an evil government agency controlling everything, there are shapeshifting lizard people, the president is a robot, there are aliens and memory-erasing guns, etc, etc. Sort of Rick and Morty meets Archer and Men in Black, but not as clever as any of those. But still fun.
Jesse Armstrong is the creator, i.e. “the thick of it”, “black mirror”, “veep”, “in the loop” “four lions” “Babylon”,
Do we see a pattern yet? It was never going to be a skip through a sunny flower-meadow with lovely people holding hands and singing kumbaya.
As it happens I’ve just watched ep1 of s1 and enjoyed it so I shall persevere and see where it goes. Rich people being cruel,scheming and getting their come-uppance in various inventive ways sounds like fun.
Plus, Brian Cox being a bastard, what’s not to love?
Finishing season 1 of Succession. It’s fine, not in the HBO pantheon, but amusing.
My big criticism is that the three kids lack the one skill needed to wield power effectively and that is shutting up.
Watching season 1 of “YOU” on Netflix. I’m enjoying the dysfunctional flaws of each character but the internal dialogue is getting a bit stale.
I watched all of season one of YOU and enjoyed it, but I dropped out in the second season. The dialogue thing is exactly why. He never stops talking.
We’re watching Sharp Objects which is almost too weird to watch. The cast is good, but it’s hard to tell what is real and what isn’t sometimes.
We finished Evil and went searching for something similar. We haven’t quite found it, but currently we’re watching Outcast. It’s about a small town man who returns home to fight demons. It’s not quite a light spirited as Evil, but it is a demonic possession show. We’ll stick it out a few more episodes.
Just finished S3 of “The Americans”. Best season yet, enjoying it quite a bit despite some very gruesome and disturbing scenes. Excellent acting.
I was kind of glad he finally killed Beck, tbh. But I quit half way through S2:E1. Just can’t watch any more of the same, now in LA, and with the dead or alive super annoying ex.
I hate this show. It’s shot so that everything is gray. Every 5 minutes one of the characters does something that makes you yell at the screen or rewind to try and find the reason. No one makes any sense, and at least 75% of the characters are unlikeable. We’re not even through the first season yet, and hubby wants to watch this. I’m reading while it’s on and making suitable “uh-huh” noises when needed.
Some recent Netflix series:
Maid (has been discussed above). Realistic and so very harsh. Was difficult to watch at times (and not just because of Andie McDowell 
) Overall enjoyed it - there were good character arcs. My SO used to work with domestic violence victims, and she could “see” more than I did. So it helped to have her to fill me in.
The Chestnut Man Good detective series tracking down a serial killer who also removes body parts (like hands and feet) from the victims. A different twist on how the killer selects the victims.
Squid Game (there’s a whole thread on this show). Intense, violent, gory, but addictive. Really hooks you to find out what is coming next, and who will survive each round. Ending was a bit disappointing, though.
The Valhalla Murders Currently watching this one. Set in Iceland, and (yet another) serial killer being hunted down. I’m finding a surprizing number of similar elements with Chestnut Man with regards to the main detective, and the partner assigned to her to work the case. There also seem to be some elements similar to Hinterland. (I am wondering if these elements are common in many european detective shows).
Just binged the entirety of The Good Place which was very satisfying and a lot deeper than I expected.We’re currently watching Dopesick which is a really interesting show about oxycontin, Purdue Pharma, and the Sackler family. Depressing as hell, but it’s always a treat to watch Michael Keaton act his ass off. We bailed on Y: The Last Man. I read the entire comic book run 10+ years ago, but this adaptation is just too bleak and tries too hard to address every gender issue under the sun.
In addition to Michael Keaton, Rosario Dawson and Kat Devers are standouts in Dopesick.
Rosario Dawson actually responded to a tweet I sent her about her performance. I was a little bit stoked because of that.
I’ve watched Firefly. That was a short-lived SF show cancelled after one season, I’m not sure if anyone has heard of it. Ow, Ow, stop hitting me. Okay, I’m a bit late to the party. Very enjoyable and can see why it has (had?) such a devoted following. Really a pity it stopped before any character based story arcs could be developed, but such is life. Would I like Cowboy Bebop, which is currently on Netflix?
I’ve just started watching an Italian series on Netflix, Guida astrologica per cuori infranti (Astrological guide for broken hearts), a rom-com after a best-selling Italian novel. It is as you’d expect a light-hearted series, easy and fun to watch but don’t expect any depth. The lead actress is very beautiful, reminds me somewhat of Tina Fey in 30 Rock. Her love interests are also very appealing.
We watched episode one, reluctantly on my part, but I’m now totally engrossed.