We liked Srugim more than Shtisel.
- I was thinking about trying Unorthodox, but in general I am allergic to sympathetic portrayals of ultra-orthodox Jews. Too threatening to me. I watched a couple of episodes of Shtisel, but I wasn't interested in seeing more. Am I going to have that problem with Unorthodox?
- I just watched The Valhalla Murders, Nordic noir, Iceland division. It was OK, but not great -- definitely watchable, especially if (like me) you will watch almost anything about Iceland, with interesting characters, but it promises a lot more than it delivers, and apart from a few scenes it's not especially well-written. The lead actress is the person who plays the main character's estranged wife in Trapped (which is great).
- Babylon Berlin is great, as long as you can handle that -- spoiler alert! -- the Nazis are winning, and you are watching it happen.
- Has anyone else liked The Path, with Michelle Monaghan and Aaron Paul as a married couple in a religious cult? It's too intense for me to watch continuously, but it's very high quality. Jason Katims (Friday Night Lights, Parenthood) is one of the producers.
āMoney Heistā on Neflix is so good! (I believe I found it thru a bests list maybe from and article in the NYT?)
Iāve heard that criticism before - people feel uneasy about the normalization of any extreme religious group, including the ultra-orthodox.
Unorthodox is about a young woman escaping the sect, she flees from Williamsburg to Berlin. (This is no spoiler, as it happens in the first few minutes of the first episode.) So no, itās not terribly sympathetic and clearly shows how limiting (at best) ultra-orthodox life is for women, and men, both.
Oh, and I also liked Babylon Berlin (though seasons 1 and 2 were better) and I agree with your Nazi caveat 
If you like a good light upbeat family sitcom like I do, especially these days, I recommend Kimās Convenience on Netflix.
Comcast gave us Acorn TV for free for about 10 days and weāve been binging that. Liked Loch Ness, about halfway through Blood, and watched an episode of Vera. So, so many good shows on Acorn, so little time!
Any Nordic Noir recs would be appreciated. Iām not finding thingd where the descriptions interest me,
Recently watched The Truth wWlll Out. Good, not great. And itās only one season, so far.
Iām watching two at the moment: First is āLittle Fires Everywhereā on Hulu. Iām so glad I read the book first. The series does a great job with the book, even diving in a bit deeper into the characters than the book did. Kerry Washington is incredible and Reese Witherspoon really nailed it with this one.
And, alas, I am watching āThe Tiger Kingā. My son and his college friends begged me to watch it becuase I think they wanted to see my reaction. Somehow I get snapchatted every time itās on because the look on my face must just say it all. Someone said to me that they feel like theyāre losing brain cells watching it. Iām taking a more optimistic approach: I feel like a flipping genius next to most of these people. Itās so outlandish and crazy that you just have to laugh. Iām glad I only have one more epsiode left. 
@MohnGedachtnis Unorthodox is the opposite of sympathetic to the Orthodox. It portrays just how stifling and controlling that world is. And then has a lovely story about escape from that world.
Our current favorites. All feature dark comedy, are thematically deep, and have amazingly complex characters.
āThe Boysā (in which the good guys are ordinary people fighting corporatized and arrogant superheroes)
ā The End of the F *** ing Worldā (two disturbed teens become friends)
āKiddingā (the star of a childrenās show with puppets- kind of like Mr. Rogers- deals with real life loss and family relationships)
The End of the F *** ing World is great. The second season is really very good.
I watched almost the entire first season of Shtisel. I really like it, but absolutely positively dislike the father more and more every time he shows up on screen. I disliked him at first. Now, Iām upset that he hasnāt died yet. What a schmuck!
Just starting to watch Tiger King. So weird that its become such a phenomenon.
Finished season 3 of Ozark yesterday. It was so good! If Laura Linney and Julia Garner donāt get Emmys for this, thereās no justice.
I found the second season more interesting especially the intersection of a desire for religious adherence and artistic calling
^ we have started the second season, and my wife pushes us on, ignoring me yelling at the schmuck on the screen ?
German was my first language, but I stopped speaking it many many decades ago. I knew, academically, how similar Yiddish and German are, but Iām astounded that I can follow so much of the dialogue without referring to the subtitles. Bonus!!! ?
Just loving āAnne with an Eā on Netflix!
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- So . . . I watched Unorthodox over the weekend. Well, really in one night, because I couldn't turn it off and go to bed. Shira Haas, the lead actress, is amazing. I assume they will be doing more seasons -- lots of paths to follow.
One interesting tidbit from the āMaking of . . .ā doc (yes, I watched that, too): Apart from the author of the memoir from which the show departs, the one other person associated with the show who was raised in a Hasidic community and left is the actor who plays Moishe, the bad guy (more or less).
- Nordic Noir recommendations:
ā The Bridge (3 seasons) is a classic of the genre, with a mismatched M/F detective pair (he Danish, instinctive and rebellious, 50-something, messed-up family life and psyche; she Swedish, young, ASD, rule-bound), and sketchy people and oppressive male power structures in two countries to investigate.
ā Trapped (2 seasons, the first meaningfully better) is an excellent Icelandic series developed by Icelandās premier film director, with a mismatched M/F detective pair.
ā Broadchurch (3 seasons) isnāt actually Nordic, but might just as well be.
- I loved The Boys.
I am obsessed with My Brilliant Friend on HBO.
@patsmom We have the Season 3 finale of Ozark tonight. I had crazy dreams from Ep. 9 last night, plus I read online episode recaps. If Tom Pelphrey (from NJ and a Rutgers grad) doesnāt win an Emmy Iāll be mad. I looked up his IMDb page because I donāt think Iāve seen him before this. I think this has been Laura Linneyās season and Iāve liked her since Primal Fear and The Truman Show in the 90s. Always love Jason Bateman, comedy and drama. Julia brings it every episode. My favorite show this past year with Succession and Fleabag. And Killing Eve starts Sunday, they moved up the premiere!