Just finished “series 2” of Happy Valley.
NOT a happy story, it’s one of the most realistic “police shows” in terms of every day policing,
no-exciting-car-case/action sequence but just hard day-to-day work, with lucky breaks and stupid
impulsive criminals rather than masterminds.
Excellent actresses, taut writing.
The non stereotypical little boy (neither precociously smart nor annoyingly smart-aleck) is refreshing, he’s a brat but in a realistic way, you know he’s really struggling with everything and his grandmother is trying her best but can’t explain everything to protect him, as much as he thinks he wants to know. It’s heart breaking how he wants to “forgive his father”… for trying to kill him and his grandmother, because he wants to imagine his father loves him “deep down”.
Netflix Formula 1 is fabulous. Makes the college scandal $$ pale when daddy buys you an f1 seat.
“You” on Netflix. It’s great. A psychological thriller that is very, very cleverly building up the story. I can’t believe I’d never heard of this one before.
I just watched After Life and really liked it. I hadn’t realized it was only 6 episodes until partway through the 6th when I realized it was tying everything up.
I’m a bit over halfway through The Widow on Amazon Prime and it’s very good so far.
Wow, we finished the sixth and final season of “The Americans” last night. I have to say that overall I think it is the best series we’ve ever watched. It had so many layers and interesting characters, and the acting was excellent. It was so intense, though, that I’m glad we’re done. DH in particular would have lots of dreams after watching an episode.
Shtisel was just making the FB posts of my friends from synagogue. Don’t get Netflix, but may need to for that. Am bingeing on Home Fires right now and loving it. S1 is totally hooked on Call the Midwife. So was I in Season 1, and then I’d miss a show and I didn’t want to watch them out of sequence, so I got further behind…
Also just watched Ekaterina: The Rise of Catherine the Great – in Russian, with English subtitles. Watched the entire thing in a day. Court intrigue writ large! And the clothes and jewels!!
I tried watching Shtisel based on people’s recommendations here and . . . no. It had nothing for me. I don’t think haredim are cute. It’s not news to me that they are people, too, with all the complications people have, but I am really allergic to romanticizing them.
I didn’t think that Shtisel romantized it’s characters at all. They are often shown as petty and very poor decision makers. To me it was also a portrait of a people that are terribly constrained by their beliefs and who are not always happy with those constrains but who still see this as the best option for how to live their lives. But there is a fundamental sadness to the way they live that even they acknowledge.
I also think Shtisel humanizes people that are vastly different than ourselves. They are just like us with their feelings, Hope, dreams, frustrations, etc. I also found it interesting to just peek into that type of life. Plus, Akiva is pretty easy on the eyes.
I’ve been rewatching The Sopranos. It’s interesting to recognize so many actors who have gone on to be on other shows. Also, Sopranos related. I watched the first episode of the new show The Village, and Dominic Chianese, who was Uncle Junior on the Sopranos, is on it. I know he’s done a lot of work since then but he’s 88 and still going strong!
By the way, re: Shtisel, is it subtitled? A friend mentioned a show recently and I’m wondering if it’s the same one.
@alwaysamom, Shtisel is subtitled.
I binged the second season of The OA on Netflix. I wish I had more episodes to watch. I like the show a lot, it’s right up there with Stranger Things, might like it a bit more actually. Enough of the plot moves in each season to keep me from getting frustrated with the larger plot points that continue on.
@VaBluebird , Thank you for the “You” recommendation, we never would have found it on our own. Not our usual fare, but we’re completely hooked. Took awhile to adjust to the comedy/horror theme but it flows very well now. Feels very authentic which makes it all the creepier.
Has anyone watched The Order?
I am most of the way through what’s there now. It’s a fairly typical Netflix series, in that it takes a couple of genres, mashes 'em together, and does a take on pretty much every trope that there has ever been in all of them, mixing humor and suspense frequently. With an impressively diverse cast. This one is a little on the cheesy end of things, but not in a way that makes it unenjoyable. Compared to Tidelands, it could be Bergman.
Anyway, it’s a college rom-com, involving a hunky, really smart townie (who also happens to be the unacknowledged biological child of a Master of the Universe – that’s not a spoiler; it’s revealed in the first 5 minutes) and all the snooty rich kids (and some unsnooty, unrich kids) at the Ivy-like university he attends. He desperately wants to join the super-elite secret society on campus, which turns out to revolve around the study and practice of magic, just like Harry Potter or The Magicians. (Also not much of a spoiler.) There are also werewolves around, who don’t much like the magicians. And some other supernaturals. And a love interest aptly described by another character as a “Girl Scout cookie,” except really smart and ambitious, with maybe a hint of a dark past).
There’s a high body count and some explicit gore. Interestingly, there’s essentially no explicit sex. In the world of this show, everyone acts sexy, but no one is actually having sex. The central characters, while smoldering hot and clearly written for one another, are great at flirting but age-appropriately terrible at saying (or knowing) what they want.
Anyway, fun and hard to stop watching once it gets rolling.
I’m sure past pages have recommended Killing Eve. We got the first season from the library and 2 days and 3 episodes in, wow! Great show/acting/story/locations. Glad to hear there will be another season!
@3sonsmom I really liked Killing Eve, and can’t wait for season 2 which starts April 7. Set your DVR!
We just finished Bates Motel. Wow. I really liked it after not thinking I would.
We just started The OA tonight, but H wants something lighter. The Order sounds good, so maybe I’ll take a look at that one.
I’m watching “The Last Post” now, a BBC one-season show about a British outpost in Yemen in 1965. It’s interesting. I can see why it wasn’t renewed, though.
Enjoying the OA! Was this a show prior to Netflix?