5 Series That You Really Need To Binge Watch, RN:
I’ve had Netflix for a good few years now, but even before that I had an addiction to good television dramas.
I’ve decided to list just five of my top favourites, because otherwise I’ll start watching something new and in all honesty I don’t have the mental capacity to start caring about a whole new batch of characters just for all of them to start sleeping with the wrong people, or get shot up by a rogue gun-man.
These aren’t my tip-top 5 favourites, these are just the first five I thought of that I happen to be seriously impressed with.
Also, as a side note, I have finished all of these series. I’m caught up with as much of each show that has been made; I understand that, when added up, that counts as a lot of hours of my life watching television, but what else was I meant to do at University?
Also, as a side note, I have finished all of these series. I’m caught up with as much of each show that has been made; I understand that, when added up, that counts as a lot of hours of my life watching television, but what else was I meant to do at University?
Prison Break
Brothers, Lincoln Burrows and Michael Schofield, navigate the American Justice System with the help of friends, family and other prison inmates. It’s not just a TV show on a singular prison break-out, but on the long run that the brothers have from the law, their past and toward their tentative future.
I love this show mainly because of how well it’s written, more specifically how Michael Schofield is written. As a character, he is of course flawed, but every decision he makes is so calculated and smart. Falling into a slight stereotype, Michael is the brains and Lincoln the muscle but they are truly complex characters surrounded by supporting characters that you learn to care about almost as much as the brothers.
I found myself getting so overly invested in the welfare of the characters that I would feel like I was right there with them when the rotten pipe’s been replaced by a 12” steel pipe, or when Michael receives a burn worse than the pain he felt.
Brothers, Lincoln Burrows and Michael Schofield, navigate the American Justice System with the help of friends, family and other prison inmates. It’s not just a TV show on a singular prison break-out, but on the long run that the brothers have from the law, their past and toward their tentative future.
I love this show mainly because of how well it’s written, more specifically how Michael Schofield is written. As a character, he is of course flawed, but every decision he makes is so calculated and smart. Falling into a slight stereotype, Michael is the brains and Lincoln the muscle but they are truly complex characters surrounded by supporting characters that you learn to care about almost as much as the brothers.
I found myself getting so overly invested in the welfare of the characters that I would feel like I was right there with them when the rotten pipe’s been replaced by a 12” steel pipe, or when Michael receives a burn worse than the pain he felt.
Lie To Me
Lie To Me is a fantastic series, that follows Cal Lightman, the founder of The Lightman Group, as he works with the FBI, the local Police and the CIA studying micro expressions as one of the world’s foremost deception experts. The series is all about the cases The Lightman Group deals with as well as relationships in Cal’s personal life; his daughter Emily plays a prominent role in the show as do Cal’s colleagues, his business partner Dr. Gillian Foster, Rea Torres and Eli Loker.
What’s it like to work with someone who knows as soon as you’re even thinking about lying?
Worse still, what’s it like for that person to be your father?
As Cal defends his science throughout the series, viewers get insight on the American Justice System, whether it’s through Zoe Landau (Cal’s ex-wife and local prosecutor) or Ben Reynolds (Cal’s ‘man with a gun’ on loan from the FBI). It’s interesting to see the relationships between each federal/non-federal company and how they deal with overlapping jurisdictions especially when it comes to dealing with cases including the The Lightman Group.
Lie To Me is a fantastic series, that follows Cal Lightman, the founder of The Lightman Group, as he works with the FBI, the local Police and the CIA studying micro expressions as one of the world’s foremost deception experts. The series is all about the cases The Lightman Group deals with as well as relationships in Cal’s personal life; his daughter Emily plays a prominent role in the show as do Cal’s colleagues, his business partner Dr. Gillian Foster, Rea Torres and Eli Loker.
What’s it like to work with someone who knows as soon as you’re even thinking about lying?
Worse still, what’s it like for that person to be your father?
As Cal defends his science throughout the series, viewers get insight on the American Justice System, whether it’s through Zoe Landau (Cal’s ex-wife and local prosecutor) or Ben Reynolds (Cal’s ‘man with a gun’ on loan from the FBI). It’s interesting to see the relationships between each federal/non-federal company and how they deal with overlapping jurisdictions especially when it comes to dealing with cases including the The Lightman Group.
Gotham
Gotham follows Jim Gordon through his career in the police whilst Bruce Wayne is still a child. We meet a very young, steampunk Selina Kyle as well as an annoying-as-hell, snivelling Penguin, badass Fish Mooney played by none other than Jada Pinkett-Smith.
After Bruce Wayne’s parents are killed, Jim Gordon takes on the case to many other officer’s warning and with the help of Bruce and Selina (who seem to form some kind of crime-fighting duo, at least for a while) makes headway into the case.
We also meet a very British Alfred, which obviously stays true to the one true Alfred (otherwise known as Michael Caine) but aside from that similarity this series couldn’t be more different to the Batman films that we know.
As a fan of the Christopher Nolan/Christian Bale Batman films, I am a fan of Gotham; I think they share a certain darkness which is familiar, but it’s important to remember that they are two separate ideas. The Netflix series does not try to be in the same world that Christopher Nolan created, the characters are merely fragments of each other’s ‘could have been’.
Gotham follows Jim Gordon through his career in the police whilst Bruce Wayne is still a child. We meet a very young, steampunk Selina Kyle as well as an annoying-as-hell, snivelling Penguin, badass Fish Mooney played by none other than Jada Pinkett-Smith.
After Bruce Wayne’s parents are killed, Jim Gordon takes on the case to many other officer’s warning and with the help of Bruce and Selina (who seem to form some kind of crime-fighting duo, at least for a while) makes headway into the case.
We also meet a very British Alfred, which obviously stays true to the one true Alfred (otherwise known as Michael Caine) but aside from that similarity this series couldn’t be more different to the Batman films that we know.
As a fan of the Christopher Nolan/Christian Bale Batman films, I am a fan of Gotham; I think they share a certain darkness which is familiar, but it’s important to remember that they are two separate ideas. The Netflix series does not try to be in the same world that Christopher Nolan created, the characters are merely fragments of each other’s ‘could have been’.
The Mentalist
Simon Baker, oh my God.
Aside from my sheer love of Simon Baker and his fantastic accent, The Mentalist is actually a really great series. Similar to the previously mentioned Lie To Me, Simon Baker plays a Patrick Jane who reads minds/bodies to help the California Bureau of Investigation lead by Robin Tunney who plays Agent Lisbon. Whilst the team find his talent somewhat annoying and impractical, they quickly learn that Patrick Jane is an invaluable member of the team even if he does have a slightly non-PC way of going about things.
Patrick Jane isn’t just in it for the money though, he has his own past that weaves throughout the seasons and is revealed little by little and helps to explain who Patrick is and why he does what he does.
Whilst he does have a dark past and a lot of the CBI cases are somewhat dramatic, I wouldn’t count this police-procedural as dark as CSI for example, but it is definitely darker in content matter than Lie To Me.
Whilst Simon Baker is charming and charismatic, Agent Lisbon is the chalk to his cheese and there is a constant will they-wont they, which as frustrating as it is enjoyable.
If you like CSI or Lie To Me, I would definitely say you’d like The Mentalist. If you like The Mentalist, you’ll definitely like Lie To Me; whilst they’re not peas from the same pod, they are leaves from the same tree.
Simon Baker, oh my God.
Aside from my sheer love of Simon Baker and his fantastic accent, The Mentalist is actually a really great series. Similar to the previously mentioned Lie To Me, Simon Baker plays a Patrick Jane who reads minds/bodies to help the California Bureau of Investigation lead by Robin Tunney who plays Agent Lisbon. Whilst the team find his talent somewhat annoying and impractical, they quickly learn that Patrick Jane is an invaluable member of the team even if he does have a slightly non-PC way of going about things.
Patrick Jane isn’t just in it for the money though, he has his own past that weaves throughout the seasons and is revealed little by little and helps to explain who Patrick is and why he does what he does.
Whilst he does have a dark past and a lot of the CBI cases are somewhat dramatic, I wouldn’t count this police-procedural as dark as CSI for example, but it is definitely darker in content matter than Lie To Me.
Whilst Simon Baker is charming and charismatic, Agent Lisbon is the chalk to his cheese and there is a constant will they-wont they, which as frustrating as it is enjoyable.
If you like CSI or Lie To Me, I would definitely say you’d like The Mentalist. If you like The Mentalist, you’ll definitely like Lie To Me; whilst they’re not peas from the same pod, they are leaves from the same tree.
Grey’s Anatomy
If you haven’t seen any Grey’s Anatomy, or at least heard of certain storylines, then you must have been living under a rock. I know people say that all the time, but Grey’s Anatomy is Shonda Rhimes’ first kick-ass series that was the first step in her getting the entirety of Thursday night prime time TV slots. (She now has three shows, that are scheduled one after the other, every Thursday night on US TV.) Something that has aided Shonda Rhimes’ success is that she has the ability to react to reality within the lives of her television shows, she is also renowned for supporting women and writing strong female characters, as well as providing Viola Davis with the vehicle (How To Get Away With Murder) to be the first black female win an Emmy.
Grey’s Anatomy follows Meredith Grey through her surgical internship at Seattle Grace Hospital all the way through to her residency and being a board member of the Grey Sloane Memorial Hospital. The show reflects a lot of the issues that have become a real part of America’s day-to-day living; gun violence, natural disasters and more. Shonda Rhimes is known for her cut-throat season finales so the end of every season is bound to have you on the edge of your seat/bed/netflix-and-chill vehicle.
Whilst I want to scream about how good Grey’s Anatomy is, I also don’t want to spoil things for people who may not have seen it. The soundtrack, the storylines, Rhimes’ inability to care about the poor-poor viewers hearts and the fact that twelve (I think?) series later, I fully believe I could perform open heart surgery or at the very lest an appendectomy. (Something, something, invert the stump into the secum, pull up on the purse strings, and be careful not to… *sigh* break them.)
If you haven’t seen any Grey’s Anatomy, or at least heard of certain storylines, then you must have been living under a rock. I know people say that all the time, but Grey’s Anatomy is Shonda Rhimes’ first kick-ass series that was the first step in her getting the entirety of Thursday night prime time TV slots. (She now has three shows, that are scheduled one after the other, every Thursday night on US TV.) Something that has aided Shonda Rhimes’ success is that she has the ability to react to reality within the lives of her television shows, she is also renowned for supporting women and writing strong female characters, as well as providing Viola Davis with the vehicle (How To Get Away With Murder) to be the first black female win an Emmy.
Grey’s Anatomy follows Meredith Grey through her surgical internship at Seattle Grace Hospital all the way through to her residency and being a board member of the Grey Sloane Memorial Hospital. The show reflects a lot of the issues that have become a real part of America’s day-to-day living; gun violence, natural disasters and more. Shonda Rhimes is known for her cut-throat season finales so the end of every season is bound to have you on the edge of your seat/bed/netflix-and-chill vehicle.
Whilst I want to scream about how good Grey’s Anatomy is, I also don’t want to spoil things for people who may not have seen it. The soundtrack, the storylines, Rhimes’ inability to care about the poor-poor viewers hearts and the fact that twelve (I think?) series later, I fully believe I could perform open heart surgery or at the very lest an appendectomy. (Something, something, invert the stump into the secum, pull up on the purse strings, and be careful not to… *sigh* break them.)
(Disclaimer: I own nothing, all pictures were sourced from Google Images and rights belong to their respective owners)
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