5 Binge-Worthy Shows, Quarantine Edition
I don’t turn the TV on until my baby goes to bed (and he’s a major night owl like Mama). But you do you. And, yeah, summer is right around the corner — but we’re all rockin’ our mediocre-at-best quarantine bods RN.
So whatever kinda “six-pack” you’re workin’ on while watching these binge-worthy TV shows is A-okay.
Without further adieu, here’s a list of some mind-bending, laugh-out-loud, and adrenaline pumping optical adventures to help you escape all this Covid chaos.
1.) Westworld
Think: Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, 100 years later.
Shelley’s work of fiction reflects and magnifies the fears and irreversible nature of our new world as The Age of Enlightement, Science, and Reason forever changed our paradigm of thinking in the 18th and 19th centuries.
What are the consequences for playing God?
Except, in Westworld, the “monsters” are even smarter and the “gods” are even more ambitious…
Both equally dangerous, oft nefarious… one hellbent on revenge. Discerning the “monsters” from the “gods” becomes blurry at best.
Both Frankenstein and Westworld share themes of an insatiable God-like quest for knowledge, progress, and control.
Season 1 opens up in a Western style theme park (think: Cowboys and Indians). Wealthy guests visit this fully manufactured faux-old-timey-western-world hosted by human-like robots. Visitors can live out their fantasies — from seemingly innocent adventure quests to unfathomable horrors like rape and pillaging.
Anthony Hopkins plays Dr. Ford, the park’s director facing an uncertain fate as hosts evolve to have consciousness and self-awareness.
This sci-fi thriller is, hands down, the most intellectually stimulating show to bless HBO. The interwoven narratives, beautifully poignant dialogues, the SOUNDTRACK (the music alone is reason enough to give this show a chance), and the pure artistry of this entire production mirrors the ethical and existential questions surrounding our newfound parity with Artificial Intelligence.
As human beings move from the Digital Age into the Age of Automation, Westworld brilliantly articulates the complicated complexities we must contend with in our new “Smart” future.
Ok, that was heavy. Now for a light-hearted palette cleanser. And hear me out before skipping this one:
2.) Schitt’s Creek
I did NOT like this show when I started watching it. I’m not sure why I kept watching, but I’m so glad I did.
This is a Canadian sitcom and the humor is so stupidly laugh-out-loud silly. At least it is once the characters grow into their comical dynamics and YOU give them a longer chance than is typically comfortable when committing to a new show.
It’s about an ultra-wealthy, snobbish (in a hysterical way) family that gets into legal trouble and loses their estate and fortune. They’re forced to move into a “hourly-rate” type of hotel in a small town they once purchased as a joke.
I am now obsessed with the main family — The Roses, a middle-aged couple and two kids in their late 20s. The melodramatic, former actress, and mother is played by Catherine O’Hara (from Home Alone). She speaks like a Harvard literature professor from the 1800s… you know, back when there was still an art to conversation — all the while, O’Hara is effortlessly hilarious (and obviously, low-key, mega-dramatic).
I’ll leave the rest of their characters a mystery in case you haven’t watched yet. But, if you need a good laugh and want a show that doesn’t leave your brain hurting as you spiral into existential angst, I highly recommend Schitt’s Creek.
BONUS: episodes are short — 20ish minutes. So you can watch one or two with your dinner and be done. Or waste a rainy afternoon binging all fives seasons currently available on Netflix, then desperately go into withdrawal, flipping TVs and couches, looking for more…
Pleasantly spared from a full-blown panic attack when you locate a 6th season on PopTV (not speaking from experience).
3.) Ozark
Okay, back to some intense stuff.
Think: Breaking Bad, but with Jason Bateman (Marty) as a family-man and accountant having to funnel money for the Cartel vs. Ben Cranston as a family-man and chemist cooking meth, competing with the Cartel.
Marty’s wife, Wendy, is played by Laura Linney. Both of their performances are 12/10. I’m biased because I’m obsessed with Jason Bateman, but I think you’ll agree regardless of how you objectively feel about him.
This crime drama is exactly what you want out of a crime drama: addicting and sensational. You may or may not need therapy afterwards, but that’s what Schitt’s Creek is for.
I don’t want to give any spoilers away, but the storyline will leave you on the edge of your seat. And Marty’s most trusted business partner and alliance is found in a rather unexpected place (in every sense of that connotation).
The end of each Ozark episode will leave you feeling helpless to do anything besides let Netflix continue doing its thing and playing on… controlling your actions like the humans controlling the host robots in Westworld…
So veg out and accept your fate (there is no free will).
4.) OUTER BANKS
Ugh, I can’t believe I like this. I hate liking things that are this popular. Same reason I never read Harry Potter and Game of Thrones (until a roommate threatened to evict me if I didn’t read her entire HP collection my junior year of college).
And I’m definitely about 15 years too old for this show. I SHOULD be embarrassed. I know.
BUT, it legitimately has EVERYTHING a good story needs. I mean E V E R Y T H I N G. It’s pure marketing genius, really.
Young attractive actors living their best (and worst) beach lives, a believable-enough, crime-drama-esque treasure hunt, Romeo-and-Juliet star-crossed-lovers from rival families (there’s even a “Mercutio” in here too), and the age-old complicated inter-mixings and musings from the haves and the have-notes.
Think: The Boxcar Children living out their newfound adolescent adventures seaside.
I’m totally hooked. And, par for the course, my addiction is stronger than my shame. So much so, that I’m recommending it to you in hopes of validation. So just watch Outer Banks, dammit. (VALIDATE ME!)
5.) The Witcher
This fantasy drama is a true BRAINWASH recommendation.
The main character, Geralt, is more than just eye-candy.
He’s a beautifully, misunderstood, stoic outsider. Mostly unpopular wherever he goes as an infertile mutant, he hunts monsters for pay, but crosses paths with all kinds of people far worse than the beasts and “demons” he hunts.
Think: Dungeons and Dragons meets Lord of the Rings in a power-struggle with inter-webbing storylines akin to Game of Thrones (but less gore-y and porn-y).
Although I didn’t read the books or play the games, friends and fans who have told me they are pleasantly surprised by the adaptation being true(ish) the the book and its characters.
Not to mention: the infertility themes (Geralt and another important sorceress) were obviously of another niche interest to me, personally.
You probably have to like fantasy to get into this, but — even if you don’t — give it a try. It’s definitely deep dive into a world of magic, elves, and all kinds of medieval nonsense.
But it’s super entertaining and thought-provoking — because of its absurdity, not in-spite o fit.
