We haven’t had a huge amount of time to settle down to Netflix lately. A combination of the goddamn ten thirty pm setting sun (but Mammy it’s not dark, it’s not bedtime…. grrrrrr) and a random attack of hand, foot and mouth disease on our poor childer has meant it could be midnight before myself and himself get to actually sit down and sigh to ourselves.
“Do you want to watch something?” he’ll ask hopefully.
I will then check energy reserves and see if I have enough to stay up for another hour. If I don’t we break out the chocolate. If I do, we break out the chocolate. (Any excuse).
We consider ourselves very careful, committed Netflixers. We have certain criteria that must be met, before we will say… yes, this one! It’s because we have so little time and specifically, so little time together. We don’t watch things for the sake of it – we’d rather sit and chat, than sit and watch something that doesn’t capture us.
Yes, we are TV snobs.
So, here is what we’ve been watching over the past few weeks, that has met our engagement expectations.
1) Ozark
Wowsers, it’s brilliant! I’d heard a few people mention it, but for some reason I had in my head that it was quite a violent, more geared towards fellas type of production. Don’t know where I got that idea from, it was nothing like that! It had elements of lots of TV programmes that have gone before, specifically for me, Breaking Bad – as the protagonist is a very straight family man who ends up in dangerous, criminal operation and must outwit everyone to stay alive. He also has a really strong character in his wife, who reminded me of Skye. Marty, played by Jason Bateman is terrific in this, as his on-screen wife Wendy, played by Laura Linney. You have no idea what will happen next, where the story will go and what genius stroke Marty, or Wendy, will have to pull next. The only issue I had with the show was that it was deliberately shot in a really, dark and murky style, to lend atmosphere to the setting and sometimes I actually couldn’t see what was going on, on the screen. Clarity people, clarity!
2) The Staircase
You’d want to have been living in a cupboard (under the stairs??) (sorry) to have missed all the hype over this docu-series. I knew the case was another one of those did he, didn’t he type of programmes like Making a Murderer, but the difference is that this programme was shot a number of years ago so you get to see the whole conclusion of the case. We loved it. The man at the centre of the case, Michael Peterson, is endearing and peculiar, so it lends itself to the whole, could he have, element? What the show mainly exposes is the flaws in the American justice system and you can’t help but feel totally frustrated as the whole things plays out. Well worth a watch, even if the last few (and newer) episodes dragged a bit.
3) The Alienist
Being a historical fiction writer, I just love to sit down and get lost in TV shows and movies sets in the 19th century. While everyone is following the story I’m looking at all the detail come to life – fashion, transport, hairstyles, nail clippers – whatever looks authentic and old fashioned! The Alienist is based on the book of the same name by Caleb Carr and the production is fabulous, with great sets, costumes and attention detail. Himself wasn’t that into it and we did find parts a bit slow, so he has decided to let me watch the remainder on my own, while he watches the world cup. That’s grand. The couple that watches Netflix together separately, stays together separately.
4) Love
Lads, lads, lads. I watched the trailer for Love and was immediately drawn in by the characters and their unlikely story. It’s only fabulous! Heartwarming, endearing, a bit like Uplit on your TV! It’s a programme I watch on my own (you know they way you want to have something to yourself) and I zoomed through series 1, not able to tear away from the developing love story between Mickey and Gus. It’s a real modern day tale and I could relate so much to Mickey (in her alcoholism, ha, no, in her character) and their ups and downs and pressures and strain. I’ve actually stopped in the middle of series two (I was laughing so much at a scene where a boyfriend and girlfriend couple – I won’t say who – pretend to be brother and sister at a party and start shifting the heads off each other, much to the horror of onlooking guests) because I wanted to save it. It’s that good! So looking forward to sitting down and watching the rest. Five stars from LadyNicci!
So there you have it. The programmes we are watching together, apart and kind of together seperately. What are you watching on Netflix? Anything we need to try? Will it meet our standards?! I’d love to hear in the comments.
*I’m a member of the Netflix StreamTeam and receive a complimentary Netflix subscription to share our truthful views on the blog
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