So you finished Game of Thrones and all of the latest seasons of your other favourite TV show (Stranger things anyone?)… Now what? If you’re like me you are trolling through Netflix looking for a fix to keep you going until the next round begins. Well scroll no more, because I have some goodies for you!
SENSE8
The Netflix original Sense8 is an interesting concept – eight very different individuals in eight very different locations discover they are suddenly mentally linked and able to communicate, use each other’s unique skillsets and experience each other’s lives. Unfortunately, with this incredible new gift comes an incredibly dangerous problem, as a mysterious threat begins to hunt them in an attempt to destroy their connection. As this threat looms, they continue to sort through their own personal problems with the help of the others and make sense of their new abilities.
This TV show is extremely compelling as you become drawn into the likable characters lives and ponder why you aren’t a Sense8 yourself.
There’s Will, your friendly neighbourhood cop trying to do the right thing in downtown Chicago; Nomi, a transgendered hacker and blogger in San Francisco trying to find her way; Lito, a closeted gay Mexican heartthrob of an actor whose secret threatens those he loves the most; Capheus, the fun-loving African bus driver who will do whatever it takes to help his family; Sun, the Korean martial artist and fighter torn between honour of her family and honour for herself; Wolfgang, the German locksmith and safe cracker with a cracker of unresolved family and anger issues; Kala, the Indian scientist conflicted with her impending marriage and her sudden attraction to Wolfgang; and Riley, the Icelandic DJ living in London trying to forget a devastating and tragic past that will leave you utterly shattered when you learn the truth.
If the characters don’t get you sucked in, then the filming of the show will. Each shot is beautifully designed and crafted, with each Sense8 setting around the world being filmed in that specific location that resulted in the cast and crew having completed 100,000 miles of flight time by the end of the series. The scenes are also extremely well cut when Sense8 characters move into each other’s lives that it makes for some of the most exciting viewing on TV. There’s only one season on Netflix so far, but with season two set to hit screens in December this year, you have enough time to get addicted!
SCREAM: THE TV SHOW
Ah, Wes Craven’s Scream – the pinnacle of horror movies starring Courtney Cox, David Arquette and Neve Campbell. MTV’s Scream: The TV series takes the movie’s fundamental core and propels it into this century as a video gone viral serves as the entrée to a small town murder spree. The fresh wounds open up old scars, as the daughter of the town morgue attendant with a deadly past becomes the target of the killer and those closest to her try to figure out who the killer is before they are next.
Scream the TV show possesses all the elements that make watching horror movies exciting and intense: it has the cut shots, the mysterious scenes, and the things that jump out at you and go “boo!” Everyone is a suspect, and everyone is on the chopping block, and it makes for compelling viewing.
However, what Scream: the TV Show does is go beyond the original typecasting of characters and begins to develop the quirks that make the TV show characters more unique and use it against you as you watch your favourite characters die. They also go beyond the movie in forms of more daring and bold adult themes that makes the second season’s fourth episode quite fun to watch!
Available on Netflix now with the second season just finished, try and decipher the clues yourself.
MISFITS
I must confess something – I didn’t hate the character of Ramsey Bolton in Game of Thrones the way you are meant to. It’s because I am completely unable to hate anything Iwan Rheon does thanks to his amazing character of Simon in the British E4 TV series Misfits. A little bit
A little bit Skins but with super powers, this TV show focuses on a small group of troubled young adults who are serving community service for things like arson, theft, drug possession and drink driving. One day during their community services, a freak lightning storm grants each character a super power – and a whole lot more trouble as they realise they weren’t the only ones affected.
Misfits is one of my favourite TV shows because it’s all the right kind of trouble. The characters drink, do drugs, swear constantly and are problems with a capital P, but at the center there is so much heart and life that it’s impossible not to love each of the characters for who they are. Everyone is funny, blunt and muddling through, but it makes entertaining viewing that you can watch it again and again.
The super powers of the show, which change often, are extremely original and truer to each character’s personality than any old Avenger’s superhero, and makes it all that much better. The guy who is a shy introvert can now turn invisible, the superficial sex kitten has the power to drive people mad with lust, the British “chav” worried about what people think about her winds up with the power to read minds. The powers simply grow from the central characters too – the local drug dealer now deals powers, the guy who serves coffee and tea can now control milk, split personalities are a reality, and someone totally creates a horde of zombie cheerleaders.
The originality of this show makes it’s a must watch, and if you hated Ramsey Bolton in Game of Thrones you’ll be so surprised to fall in love with one of the most awesome badasses on the small screen! That alone makes Misfits worth tuning in for.
BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER
Buffy the Vampire Slayer began airing in 1997 and has cemented itself in TV history as one of the best TV shows out there – so if that isn’t worth binge watching you might as well stop reading because you clearly don’t like addicting TV shows.
Centred on vampire slayer Buffy Summers (played by kick ass Sarah Michelle Gellar) Buffy, her “watcher” Giles, and her friends Xander and Willow embark on a journey to defeat evil on a regular hourly basis and still live a normal life. Their town, Sunnydale, is situated on what they refer to as a “Hellmouth” so vampires and other nasty creatures are drawn to this area, making Buffy’s life harder and harder as she struggles to maintain a balance between the two.
This balance is part of the reason that makes Buffy the Vampire Slayer so watchable. Created by Joss Whedon, the scripts are intelligent, the villains intriguing and at times comical, and the character developments are extremely real. Buffy’s journey from peppy slayer to haunted and layered adult is as dramatic as you would expect for someone who holds the fate of the world in their hands. Willow’s turn from shy nerd to badass witch is one of the best TV transformations out there, and Xander’s comic relief turns into the group’s humanity.
The other characters who come and go throughout the show are also met with intelligent development, which makes the show more than just a story about Buffy, and by the time you get to the amazingness that is season six, Buffy the Vampire Slayer will be so addicting that you’ll feel sad when it ends after its season seven and you’ll get started on episode one of the spin-off series Angel.
And while I did watch this show too, I’m definitely a Spuffy girl, so we’ll leave that for next time.
Courtney Hope | Author 