Three great Netflix shows you might have missed this summer

Summer has come and gone, and with it, some great new shows and seasons. However, for a lot of us (looking at you, fellow students), summertime can be more hectic than the school year. In between working long shifts, spending time with the family, and trying to get in a weekend or two away, there isn’t a lot of time for Netflix. So if you find yourself weary and looking for a good show to watch when you’re really supposed to be studying, you won’t have to look too hard – I’m here to help. Here are three great summer shows that you can spend the fall bingeing!

#1 – GLOW 

GLOW, a show about the making of a female wrestling show, came to Netflix in early summer, and in many ways embodies what a lot of people loved about Orange is the New Black – it’s a show with a strong, diverse female cast. It’s witty, colorful and funny.

One of the best things about GLOW is that it has great costumes and music. The show captures the atmosphere of 80’s Hollywood perfectly, and when you’re watching the show you can’t help but feel as if you’ve been transported in time, to an era of crazy hair, legwarmers and synth pop.

The cast is interesting; besides featuring a diverse collection of women, all with their own stories, the show’s main actresses put on great performances. Alison Brie plays Ruth, an aspiring actress ready to wrestle her way into a part in GLOW. Brie really shines as Ruth – a dynamic character you come to both love and hate. Her exchanges with Debbie (our other main character, played by Betty Gilpin) are intense and at times heart-wrenching. Fun fact for fans of British pop, Kate Nash plays one of the gorgeous ladies of wrestling! And it’s not quite as jarring as Ed Sheeran’s famous GoT cameo.

Though the show does have its clichés, it’s worth a watch. It’s lighthearted and funny, while at the same time lifting issues important to women, such as the homogeneous, noninclusive culture of Hollywood, as well as more general issues regarding family, friendships and relationships. The narrative hooks you right from the start – don’t start watching unless you know you have time to binge!

# 2 – Ozark

Of all the new shows I saw this summer, I think Ozark is my favorite. Featuring Jason Bateman (famous from one of my favorite comedies, Arrested Development) and Laura Linney as two of the main characters, the show is centered around the Byrde family, and how they deal with the fallout of a money-laundering scheme gone awry.

Ozark is visually stunning, has an incredible cast (child actors Sophia Hublitz and Skylar Gaertner included) and a suspenseful story that will have you sitting on the edge of your seat. One could compare it to Breaking Bad, but I’d say that the biggest difference is how Ozark’s family is very likable, while still having it’s flaws. Whilst the division of a family was one of the themes of Breaking Bad, I prefer seeing the complicated, but united family in Ozark, as opposed to Walter and Skylar’s relationship in Breaking Bad.

I’m not going to say a lot about the show, because so much of the joy of it is in knowing as little about it as possible when starting off, but I strongly recommend it!

 

#3 – Rick and Morty

My third recommendation isn’t a new show, but a new season! Rick and Morty’s third season is ongoing, with new episodes on Netflix every week. Rick and Morty is a smart, funny and, at times, very deep cartoon created by Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon.

Throughout these three seasons, we’ve followed the nihilistic scientist Rick, and his nervous grandson Morty on their adventures through time and space. The show excels in comedic references, vulgarity and questioning our norms and values, but this season is particularly good.

In the third season, we see more character development than previously, and although each episode features a separate adventure, the new season has a level of continuity that wasn’t really there in previous seasons. As I’m a big fan of fleshed out stories and continuity, the third season is awesome.

If you like nerdy references, dark humor and wacky running jokes, Rick and Morty could be the show you’re looking for. Also, Justin Roiland voices both Rick AND Morty, which when you watch some scenes is pretty hilarious to think about.

So these are my three Netflix recommendations for now! Take the time to unwind, relax, and get your binge on. 

Thanks for reading!

xoxo,

Mel

 

Friends from College: if you and your friends were unlikable as heck.

I’d seen some stuff floating around about Friends from College, and it wasn’t really positive. Yet after seeing Keegan-Michael Key promote it on Stephen Colbert’s late night show, I decided to give it a go. After all, the show has some major faces. Key himself is well-known from Key and Peele, and the show also stars Colbie Smulders (who we all know as Robin) and features Billy Eichner (who plays the very special Craig on Parks and Rec). But ultimately, a good cast doesn’t save unlikeable characters. Spoiler-free account, as usual. 

The show is quick to throw us into the mix. Ethan (Keegan Michael-Key) and Sam (Annie Parisse) are friends from college, and they’ve been having sex for the past twenty years. Meanwhile, Ethan is married to their mutual friend (also from college), Lisa (Colbie Smulders). Their affair has been going smoothly for two decades, until Ethan and Lisa decide to move back to New York, where Sam and their two other friends Max (Fred Savage) and Marianne (Jae Suh Park) live. The move makes it harder for Ethan to mask his affair, and complicates everyone’s lives immensely. The story tries to feature other narratives, like Ethan writing a YA-novel, but it’s centered around Ethan and Sam’s affair.

To start off, I don’t want to say the show is bad. In fact, I’d say it’s an honest perspective of relationships. When it comes to both friends and romance, in reality there’s no moral black and white. Our friends, even from way back, aren’t necessarily the best people. Our relationships to them aren’t necessarily healthy. But watching a show about people who bring out the absolute worst in each other is not that entertaining. I sometimes found myself hate-watching.

Because it’s not your run of the mill story of cheating either – we don’t get the one-sided, “they’re meant for each other but with the wrong people” sort of tale. Sure, there’s a bit of that, but we follow Lisa too and see a woman who’s in love with her husband, and just trying to figure out what’s wrong with her marriage. She goes through a lot in the course of eight episodes, but Ethan is barely there for her. Maybe the show is trying to give us the “strong, loving woman is cheated on by jerk, gets past it and gets out stronger”-type of narrative, but since so much of the show is focused on Ethan, it just feels sad. Not only does Ethan’s cheating lead to problems, but it seems that the mere phenomenon of these people spending time together effectively destroys all post-college relationships they might have. Cause that’s what nostalgia does, right?! …Right. The show is listed as a comedy but I can’t say I found it particularly amusing. A more accurate label, in my view, would be drama with a handful of funny scenes.

The show’s acting is fine, and it’s nice to see Colbie Smulders again. I don’t think any of the actors are at fault for their unlikeable characters, and sometimes bad writing. I think Keegan-Michael Key is a good actor, but Ethan’s actions (the immoral ones as well as his “nervous tick” of making annoying voices) aren’t redeemed by the fact that they’re well-acted.

If you’re desperate for something to watch, you can plow through the show quickly – the eight episodes are only 30 minutes each. But if you have spare time and Netflix, I’d opt for another show – Friends from College leaves you feeling kind of empty and sad for everyone involved in the ordeal. Most of all, you hope that your own friends don’t turn out to be destructive assholes in 20 years.

Friends from College is available on Netflix.

I know this is a quick review, but I honestly don’t have a lot to say about the show, except that it’s probably not worth your time.

Thanks for reading!

xoxo,

Mel 

Master of None: a smart, beautiful comedy that isn’t afraid of the deep stuff.

This is my first review for my new blog, What to Watch When… Hope you enjoy, and that I can inspire you glue yourself to the screen of your choice. Spoiler-free of course! 

Master of None is a comedy/drama on Netflix created by Aziz Ansari and Alan Yang, with Aziz in the leading role as Dev Shah. There are currently two seasons with ten episodes each, with most episodes being around 30 minutes long. Here’s why you should watch it. 

I watched the first episode of Master of None a couple of months back. I couldn’t figure out to watch next, and I recognized Aziz Ansari from Parks and Recreation, one of my favorite TV-comedies. So I thought, why not give it a try?

That first episode didn’t really captivate me. I felt like it was trying to be something good, but not really hitting the mark. Dev felt a little too detached from situations – just a smidge too awkward to hit the balance between funny and cringe. So I dropped the show, and had no plans to pick it up again. That is, until I found myself in the same situation again: what would I watch next?

So I pressed play, and started episode two months after I’d seen the first, and boy was I in for a pleasant surprise. Master of None has so much going on: an honest look at serious issues, beautiful scenery, cool guest stars, good music, a truly genuine performance from Ansari and a ton of delicious food. I’ll start from the top.

The show’s portrayal of a vast number of issues is what makes me love it so. It brings up a lot of social issues: being an immigrant in America, being a minority in the entertainment business, the difference in a night out for men and women, coming out and more. Some of these issues are best tackled in the episodes that don’t feature Dev and his friends as the focus – the show dares to give us narratives that follow a number of different people, not involved in Dev’s story, yet in some way intertwined in his life. There is a short scene in the second season where we follow a deaf woman through a conversation with her friend, and later her boyfriend. The scene has absolutely no sound: no music, no audible dialogue, none of the subtle noises that make up the daily lives of many. The scene was funny, lighthearted, and incredibly strong. Watching the actors sign in American Sign Language was something very new for me, and I thoroughly enjoyed the inclusion of the deaf community in this versatile show.

Aside from the social issues, the show takes an unflinching look at relationships. Today’s dating culture is highlighted in the episode “First Date”, where Dev takes multiple women from a Tinder-esque dating platform on the same date, on separate nights. It tackles the morality on cheating, and if it is unequivocally bad or not. It takes a long, hard look at a relationship losing its spark, and it asks a question many of us will be faced with: am I happy with this? At what point should we just abandon the quest for a perfect soulmate and settle down with the comfortable partner that’s great, but are they really “the one”? The show looks at complicated relationships, where what’s right and wrong isn’t easy to define, and emotions run high. It’s a beautifully complex, and undoubtedly human portrayal of love.

The scenery in Master of None is amazing. The widescreen format in which the show is shot contributes to the artsy feel that many of the shots have. The cast is frequently seen in aesthetically pleasing bars and restaurants with amazing lighting, creating cool effects as an entire scene can be shot in red in black, or with amazing shades of blue. The outside scenery is no beautiful. The show takes an especially artsy turn by showing the entirety of the first episode of the second season in black and white – which only makes the beautiful Italian scenery that the episode is shot in more intriguing.

Dev’s apartment is absolutely beautiful, which makes the scene where his father tells him to move to a nicer building mildly infuriating, but I digress. It’s cool, light and nothing like the usual pads of comedy protagonists (I immediately think of Friends, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt… the closest one in style that I can think of would be the common area of the apartment in New Girl).

The guest stars are impressive. My personal favorites are Dev’s parents, played by none other than Anari’s real parents. John Legend, Busta Rhymes, Danielle Brooks (famous for playing Taystee in Orange is the New Black), Raven Symoné, H. Jon Benjamin (voice of Archer) and Claire Danes (known for Homeland) are just some of the famous faces that show up throughout the series.

The show’s soundtrack is captivating and diverse. In the first few episodes, we can hear tunes from the indie rock band Broken Bells, Lou Reed, Johnny Cash, The Twin Peaks theme (?!) and the 2006 song “Master of None” by dream pop band Beach House. The soundtrack gets better all through the series, with episodes featuring 2Pac, Vengaboys and Italian music from the 60s. It may sound like a chaotic mix of genres, but I assure you that the soundtrack is thoroughly enjoyable, and suits the tone of the show to a tee.

Next in line is Ansari’s performance. As I said, I wasn’t captivated right away. I think some of my wariness stemmed from my previous knowledge of him as an actor. I had only seen Ansari as Tom Haverford in Parks and Recreation, and though he’s lovable in his own way, he is kind of insufferable. However, I can confidently say that his performance as Dev is far removed from our boo Tom. Dev is indecisive, slightly awkward. He’s relatable. He has the fears and insecurities we all have, and he’s faced with dilemmas that many of us will encounter during our adult lives. I sympathize with him, and I can see myself in the character. Ansari is a master of expressing himself without words: in one episode he’s alone in a cab after dropping off a complicated love interest, and in the minute it takes the cab to drive him home, you can really feel how heavy his heart is, how many emotions are swirling inside him. All without him saying a word, or obviously expressing it. Aside from his relatable and emotional performance, he’s also very funny. It’s a comedy after all!

Last but not least, the show has garnered a bit of fame for featuring a lot of restaurants and mouth-watering food. Although delicious, I kind of question how Dev and his friends are able to eat out like every day? Even if they were loaded, it’s damn hard to coordinate their amount of frequent hangouts. But TV isn’t really known for being realistic in that sense (here’s looking at you, Friends). Besides, when we’re getting all of these great pasta gifs, who cares about realism?

All in all, I was pleasantly surprised by Master of None, and I’m now happy to say that it has placed itself among my favorite shows. When Netflix gets it right, it really does get it right. Master of None is on Netflix.

Thanks for reading!

xoxo,

Mel