12 shows available on Netflix you should watch – part 2

And we are back with the second and last part of the list of shows you should watch on Netflix ! I hope you had time to watch or re-watch the first 6 shows I recommended last week. Now let’s get down to it with the last 6 shows that I highly recommend.

Better Call Saul

How did I discover it? I discovered Breaking Bad (the show from which Better Call Saul originated) after the hype. When I finished BB, I had already heard about Better Call Saule being shot.

What’s it about? You see Jimmy McGill’s life, future Saul Goodman, post-BB (very brief moments shot in black and white) and pre-BB. It’s mostly about his professional and personal life before he became Mr meth-maker’s lawyer.

Why is it good? It’s not necessary to have seen Breaking Bad to enjoy Better Call Saul. You will still appreciate the story and the frustating yet endearing character that is Saul/Jimmy McGill. It deals with family issues, his strained and difficult relationship with his brother, his job as a lawyer and his love life with shady background stories (scams, schemings…). It’s sometimes funny, but overall it remains somber. If you’ve watched BB, you will recognize a lot of characters.

Grace and Frankie

How did I discover it? I had read a very deep and profound article about Jane Fonda and a Ryan Gosling chair. This picture of Jane Fonda walking around with a chair on which Ryan Gosling’s face was printed on the seat was circulating online. Ryan Gosling is one of the many celebrities on my “freebie list”, that list of 5 celebrities that you are allowed to sleep with with no consequences, should you ever be so lucky to meet them (and have their approval) (see the Friends episode “The One With Frank Jr”). Anyway, all this to say that that’s how I learned about this show (but there is no Ryan in the show, just that chair).

What’s it about? It’s about the life of two women in their 70’s : Grace, the stylish Jane Fonda, and Frankie, the hippie Lily Tomlin. Said life is disrupted when their respective spouses announce they want to divorce and marry each other.

Why is it good? The show is light and funny. Goes by quickly. At first glance I am not the target audience, but I do enjoy light comedies with “big names”. And, as the seasons go by, there are more stories about the main character’s children, who are more or less my age. Another advantage of watching the show is that I am made well aware of what I am going to have to deal with with my own parents when they get older, and it’s thrilling me (not).

Fuller House

How did I discover it? Who doesn’t know Full House ? Well, let me rephrase, who is at least 35 years old and doesn’t know Full House ? This is the sequel to Full House, 20 years later. I was informed that this was happening by the cast members’ social media accounts that I follow.

What’s it about? This time around it’s DJ who has 3 boys and is a widow. There is clearly bad karma with their family! She lives in her father’s house, and has help from her sister Stephanie and her best friend Kimmy (who has one daughter and a clingy hispanic ex-husband).

Why is it good? In line with the trend of resuscitating old things that worked and became, nobody really knows why, cult, this is a very honorable show. Even better if you enjoyed Full House as a kid. I feel it’s a little bit less cheesy than when I was a child, but it stil is a bit of course. It’s the same actors, the same director, the same opening credits song (this time sung by a woman). The episodes go by quickly, and for once it’s a show that you can watch with your kids ! Unless you are Uncle Jesse or Aunt Becky (who must have made a pact with the devil because they have not aged), you will be forced to feel old thinking you were your kid’s age when you watched the show in the 80s…

Stranger Things

How did I discover it? Thanks to all the attention the show got, the social media frenzy, the awards…At first sight, this is not the type of show I watch, it’s sci-fi, about teenagers, stories from parallel universes, monsters, unexplainable situations. However, sometimes, you have to sacrifice yourself to try to understand the rest of the world!

What’s it about? It takes place in some random little town in Indiana in the early 80s. Will Byers, a frail 12 year old boy, disappears. The town sheriff, the boy’s mom and brother, his friends try, through more or less weird mediums, to find him. At the same time, fishy things are happening in this town located next to a federal lab.

Why is it good? I’m not exactly sure. It’s strange, so at least it’s a good title. I admit having watched the episodes pretty fast, but being the skeptical that I am, I had a hard time believing all this parallel universe situation. Nevertheless, I was taken by the dialogues, the funny characters, the on-trend 80s feeling. Winona Ryder, whom we all believed dead 50 different times, that I used to adore growing up, is in it. She is quite strange, and it goes well with the general feeling of the show, so good call from the casting director.

The Americans

How did I discover it? Desperate for another show to watch, I stumbled upon it. I had read good reviews, The Americans apparently belongs to this underrated show category. So we tried it.

What’s it about? It involves a couple of KGB spies, married with two kids, perfectly infiltrated in the US in the 80s (during the cold war, for the less history inclined). It deals with political issues from that period, family issues, marriage problems for the couple (who does things that I hope very few people do), friendships between adults, spies…etc.

Why is it good? In the same vein as what’s in vogue right now : the 1980’s! It’s also a different take on the USSR/USA relations as we see it from the “enemy” side. There’s action, moral dilemmas, family issues, questions about religions, sex, lies, love, friendship. The only drawback is that sometimes, especially in the latest season available on netflix (second to last season of the show), the pace is slow. The two main actors are wonderful, and are – for series-addicts like me – well-known for being Felicity (Keri Russell), and Kevin Walker from Brothers and Sisters (Matthew Rhys).

Bonus story : the actors are now in a relationship (yes, I like corny anecdotes like that), and Matthew Rhys is actually Welsh (so a Welsh plays a Russian playing an American, and his real accent is unbelievable).

Brooklyn 99

How did I discover it? Every year I go through the list of new shows, and this one popped out pretty quickly. Bingo it was on Netflix !

What’s it about? Brooklyn 99 is the name of a NY police district. You follow one of the teams made up of a captain, his secretary and 7 police officers in their police activities, their relations with each other and their respective private lives.

Why is it good? It’s a healthy twenty-ish 20-minute long episodes with at least 5 seasons! What are the people asking for? One of the rare series that made me literally laugh out loud. A real life LOL. With Andy Sandberg (ex-SNL).

Voilà. There you have it : my little overview of recommended shows is done for now! But this showbiz world is always changing. So I do believe I will be coming back soon enough with a new list of shows to binge-watch. By the way, if you have shows to recommend, feel free to mention them in the comments !