My Streaming Series Hit Parade

In the world before The Virus, most of us spent far too much time talking about the films and the series we were streaming. (Life in the Boomer Lane’s couch now has two large, permanent indentations, thanks to the almost nightly viewing habits of herself and Now Husband.)

The Virus has changed all that. Now, on Facetime, in phone calls, in emails, and in texts, folks begin by updating and commiserating with each other about The Virus. Then, they get to the heart of the matter: the films and series they are currently streaming.

As a public service to Loyal readers, LBL presents the following, her all-time favorite shows that she has streamed, ones she till thinks about, long after she has finished watching them

Schitt’s Creek (She is now watching it over from the beginning, and, thanks, to her rapidly diminishing ability to remember anything, it’s totally like watching it for the first time. She’ll most likely start it a third time, after she finishes this one). This is her #1 series of all time. If there were a category higher than #1, this show would inhabit it. It makes her laugh like nothing else does, and it touches her heart like nothing else does. Mostly, she sits and marvels at the over-the-top brilliance of the writing, and the slowly evolving humanity of the clueless, entitled members of the Rose family. This one is for the ages. 

Friday Night Lights Years later, LBL still thinks about those kids in that small, Texas town and wonders what they are up to. This show has more heart than anything she has ever seen.  Ever. 

This is Us LBL is blown away by the dialogue, the acting, the heart. There are scenes that will stay with her for the rest of her life, long after she has lost the ability to remember how to tie shoes or button a shirt. This show isn’t about a family. It’s about every single one of us, in one way or another. It’s about the choices we make and the lives we create, both because of those choices and in spite of them.

The Wire   Where should LBL begin? If anyone had told her that a show about the drug trade in a large city could be so compelling, she wouldn’t have believed it. But, oh lord, it was. It made every single character, good or bad, victim or perpetrator, real and compelling, as though they were all somehow personally connected to her. She felt like someone was allowing her to see parts of life she wasn’t supposed to see, then daring her not to care deeply.

The Killing, Season 1:  The set up: Two detectives in A perpetually rain-soaked Seattle, trying to find a missing teenage girl. It’s way beyond a detective story. It’s a look at people, I mean a real look, beyond the trappings and the expectations of who you think these people are or should be. It’s a revelation. 

Seven Seconds:  It’s stunning how impacted LBL was by this. She was emotionally destroyed by the telling of a mother trying to get justice for her son, against the backdrop of a society created to dismiss both her and him. It brought up every injustice LBL had ever read about or seen. But it also never had her lose hope in human resilience. When all else is lost, this is what we have.

Handmaids Tale Dystopian. Chilling.  Infuriating. Terrifying. Absolutely, completely terrifying. LBL has never been so rattled in her life as watching this. Even worse to be watching this with the current administration as background. There were many times she felt as though there were a fire in the room, and the door was locked. It’s a brilliant show.  Terrifyingly brilliant. She should add that the season hasn’t ended. Against all odds, she continues to hold out hope.

Game of Thrones There has already been way too much written about this show. There’s a reason for that. LBL will simply say: WATCH IT. 

House of Cards, every season except the last This series grabbed LBL and wouldn’t let go.  It felt like a behind-the-scenes look at everything a government can do to avoid serving the people who put it in place (she won’t say the predictable here). Kevin Spacey is a brilliant actor, and when he spoke to the audience, LBL was rooted to her seat. It’s like being abducted by aliens (”I hate being here but I am incapable of protesting. Have your way with me”). LBL still mourns how Spacey turned out to be an SOB in real life, as well as in the series.

Breaking Bad LBL had to start this show three times before she could get through the first 15 minutes. She kept plugging away because close friends who raved about it made her feel somehow inferior that they knew something she didn’t. After she got through the first 15, she was a fan for life. Is it the best show ever in the history of the world? Might be.  It did make her top 10. 

There are lots of other shows LBL dearly loves (24, Homeland, Killing Eve, and on and on) but the ones on the list above are in a different category. They did more than entertain her. They told her a little bit more about herself.

She is sure a Loyal Reader will mention a show that should have been on this list. She welcomes your own suggestions.


Sent from my iPad