Pandemic Watch List: 7 of My Favorite Netflix Binges
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In these unprecedented and challenging times brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, the need for self-care to protect our physical and mental health is more important than ever and we all have to figure out what that means for us. It could be allowing ourselves to relax and do nothing, taking up a new hobby, playing or listening to music, taking a walk or turning off the news and calling someone to chat about something completely non-pandemic-related.
I’ve found that one of the best ways to turn my attention away from the barrage of alarming coronavirus news has been to dive in and lose myself in the fantastical world of TV. Some of the shows I’ve watched are set in today’s real (pre-pandemic, please) world, some take me back to a time that brings warm recollections, offering me a pinch of nostalgia, and yet others create their own whimsical worlds that carry me away from this one.
One of the streaming services I subscribe to is Netflix. I’ve plowed through so many of the service’s series that I’m racking up quite a pandemic binge list! There are many high quality shows in terms of acting, production and storyline. (And, for those that have few flaws, they provide me with enough entertainment, distraction and warm-fuzzies that I’m happy to overlook any shortcomings.)
So here goes, here are seven of my favorite pandemic binges:
It’s Bruno!
Have you checked out It’s Bruno? Such a little gem, tucked neatly away under the category “dog.” Netflix describes it as “offbeat, absurd, irreverent,” and it certainly succeeds in satisfying that characterization. It takes place in Brooklyn and “It’s about a man and his dog. And the crazy things that happen,” according to creator, writer, director and co-star, and John Singleton mentee, Solvan “Slick” Naim.
The show has a 100% Tomatometer rating and plans are in motion for a second season. Lots of spicy, off-the-wall fun packed into 8 20-minute episodes!
Russian Doll
Russian Doll was another great way to escape as I watched the heroine herself try to escape a time loop she gets stuck in at a NYC party her friends throw for her. Don’t want to give too much away on this one! It certainly lives up to its “cynical, offbeat, witty” tag on Netflix and I’m looking forward to season 2. Co-produced by Amy Poehler so no wonder it's good!
Jane The Virgin
I’ve always been enamored with Central and South America and the Spanish language so I love finding shows that center around them. Jane The Virgin (from the CW television network) is a case in point, a show about a young Venezuelan-American woman from a multi-generational matriarchal family (she lives with her mom and abuela) who is accidentally impregnated by a depressed and distracted OBGYN during what was meant to be a routine checkup. It craftily parodies the telenovela, is always self-aware and is so much fun! I enjoy the privilege of hearing some Spanish in every episode and appreciate that the show weaves in some issues such as immigration status, health concerns and self-discovery. Read more praise of Jane The Virgin in the New Yorker!
Gentefied
Gentefied deals with some of those issues and more in this 10 episode comedy-drama set in Latinx L.A. neighborhood, Boyle Heights. It thoughtfully explores the personal and family conflict the characters experience from being caught between two worlds: the appreciation and love of their parent’ and grandparent’s homeland and culture and at the same time wanting to pursue the American Dream which requires them to distance themselves from their culture. They sometimes resemble and even identify with the gentrifying hipsters who move into their neighborhoods, thus the term “gentefication:” the gentrification of Latinx neighborhoods by Latinx people. Created by first-generation children of undocumented immigrants, Marvin Lemus and Linda Yvette Chávez who have gone through that very experience, and produced and co-directed by America Ferrera.
Stranger Things
Stranger Things came out in 2016 and its season 3 holds the record for third-most-watched original Netflix series. My son and I caught up with it in 2020, watching the three seasons in a pandemic binge. The main characters are 4 high school boys and a young girl who appears out of nowhere, who, together with adult stars Winona Ryder and David Harbour, set out to investigate a mystery involving sinister experiments and supernatural forces. The first season begins in 1983 and the show is set in a small town in Indiana. Having grown up in Wisconsin and lived through that time period myself, my viewing was much different from my son’s (21) who sees it as a period piece taking place in an unfamiliar setting (he grew up in Strasbourg, France). All the throw-back references in the settings, objects, fashion choices, and contemporary cultural nods provided me a little hammock of nostalgia to snuggle into. The kids (all outstanding actors by the way) wear T-shirts like the ones we wore in school. One of my favorites is the Weird Al T-shirt worn by one of the main characters (and reissued by WA following its appearance in the series and purchased by my son at one of his concerts!).
Sex Education
This British comedy-drama 2-season (so far) series weaves in so much good stuff through its lovable, touching characters and original storylines. Most of the action takes place at the teens’ secondary school where young Otis, after offering some advice to a class mate, realizes he’s not bad at “sex education,” even though he struggles with his own sexual awakening. He and exceedingly smart, tough-girl Maeve develop an underground sex therapy business but the show’s sex education goes far beyond that and all the characters, teen and adult get schooled in one way or another. Season 3 is on its way!
The Kominsky Method
Michael Douglas (Sandy Kominsky) and Alan Arkin (Norman Newlander) star in this Chuck Lorre Netflix series. Acting students are eager to take classes with acting coach Sandy Kominski and learn by The Kominsky Method, though most of them had not yet been born when he had his brief moment in the spotlight. Sandy and his grumpy agent, Norman, develop a powerful friendship, supporting each other through the ups and downs of senior life as they deal with adult-offspring issues, health concerns, death and finding love again.
There you have it. I absolutely loved all of these shows and writing about them makes me want to go watch them again! Time to turn on the tube!
See you next time!