Binge-r #217: 10 Buried Netflix Shows To Dig Up
Unhappy Campers: Amy Poehler (Susie) and John Slattery (Claude) in Wet Hot American Summer
A note from your fellow binger: Recently I was reminded of Bloodline, one of the very first shows I watched on Netflix, back in 2015 when you could count the streaming service’s original productions on two hands. There are shots and even scenes from it I still think about, but my Netflix menu hasn’t hinted at its existence for years. That got me thinking: what other early Netflix shows have been buried by the algorithm? Turns out there’s a few, which is especially relevant if you haven’t been with Netflix for that long. Some of these 10 finds are pioneers, some just merely interesting, but either way they’re worth revisiting in 2020. Hopefully you’ll find one (or more) that work for you, CM.
BLOODLINE
Ben Mendelsohn leads an exemplary cast in an intricate family drama (3 seasons)
“It captures the accumulated anguish of a fractured family and distils it into television’s most potent forms: the glance that signifies hope’s bitter dispersal, the despairing conversation that can’t bridge a divide, and the lie that both people know is being uttered.” [original review in BINGE-R #8]
CRAZYHEAD
A British Buffy that sharpens its own stake (1 season)
“Soon after Amy is told by Raquel that the hallucinations of demonic figures she’s long seen, and treated as a mental illness, are in fact real, the pair are fighting off demons and attempting an exorcism via an internet checklist. The two twentysomethings Londoners are seers, although as Raquel points out, “I prefer demon hunter, or kick-ass hell bitch.” [original review in BINGE-R #7]
DEAR WHITE PEOPLE
A tart, telling satire that follows Spike Lee’s lead (3 seasons)
“A caustic, diligent satire about racial realities in contemporary America… Set on a prestigious university campus, the focus is the minority of Black students, who struggle in distinct ways with how to respond to everyday inequality.” [original review in BINGE-R #40]
DETECTORISTS
A wry, wonderfully English comedy about two unfulfilled friends (2 seasons)
“The duo are sketched with loving detail as they squander personal chances and find themselves on distinctly English misadventures through the machinations of the Danebury Metal Detector Club.” [original review in BINGE-R #97]
GODLESS
Revisionist feminist western from the creator of The Queen’s Gambit (1 season)
“In this bloody and compelling take on the western the frontier is not just a physical location marked by red dust and lawlessness, but an unsettling state of mind and a sense that you might just outrun your past.” [original review in BINGE-R #70]
The Son Always Sets: Ben Mendelsohn (Danny) in Bloodline
LOVE
Gillian Jacobs excels in this acerbic L.A. romantic mismatch (3 seasons)
“The engagement between two Los Angeles residents both single and in their early thirties adhered to a tactic favoured by the show’s prolific co-creator, filmmaker and producer Judd Apatow: it took an unexpected path to a familiar destination.” [original review in BINGE-R #25]
PEAKY BLINDERS
British crime drama where Cillian Murphy keeps killing them softly (5 seasons)
“The setting is working class Birmingham, the time 1919: recently returned World War One veterans struggle with PTSD, the Russian Revolution is barely 18 months old, and the vast industrial might of the British Empire creates a cacophonous bellow and otherworldly tableaus of ash and fire.” [original review in BINGE-R #52]
SANTA CLARITA DIET
Yes, Drew Barrymore plays a zombie/real estate agent (3 seasons)
“Sheila is told she’s a zombie. ‘I feel the opposite – totally alive,’ she insists, and the show is similarly contrary: when you expect horror tropes Santa Clarita Diet mines domestic hope, and if you foresee a moral lesson it goes full bloodbath.” [original review in BINGE-R #15]
THE SINNER
Uneasy crime anthology where the cases dig deep (3 seasons)
“This is the most layered, sustained performance Jessica Biel has delivered and what she does is allow The Sinner to draw together a portrait of a life that has foundered for genuine reasons instead of just sketching an explanation. There are a lot of generic murder mysteries streaming these days, but this is not one of them.” [original review in BINGE-R #82]
WET HOT AMERICAN SUMMER
Cult indie film becomes a ludicrous series with a now famous cast (2 seasons)
“‘Now let’s switch to your storyline, Susie,’ notes a character, and the mechanics of storytelling are just one of many processes opened up for irreverent inspection. For the record, Susie’s storyline – she’s an aspiring Hollywood producer wearing Madonna’s “Lucky Star” wardrobe and played by Amy Poehler – is endearingly daft.” [original review in BINGE-R #68]
>> Missed last week’s BINGE-R? Click here to catch up on Stan’s droll comedy Moonbase 8 and the absurdist sketch show that is Netflix’s Aunty Donna’s Big Ol’ House of Fun.
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