Starring: Kim Young-Kwang, Jin Ki-Joo, Kim Jae-Kyung, Koo Ja-Sung
Streaming on: Netflix
To watch or not to watch: A light-hearted, funny watch
Do Min-Ik (Kim Young-Kwang) is a director of a big company. He is extremely intelligent and hard working, with a knack of reading people’s faces to know what they are really thinking – but doesn’t connect with people at a personal level. He has only one friend Ki Dae-Joo (Koo Ja-Sung) who is also a Director at the same company. He also relies a lot on his secretary Jung Gal-Hee (Jin Ki-Joo), works her to the bone, but also doesn’t trust secretaries in general and gets a new secretary every year. Due to a freak accident, he hurts his head and develops prosopagnosia, or the inability to recognise faces, and the only one he is able to recognise is his secretary, because of her unchanging appearance through the year. This leads to him mistaking her for a heiress, and she goes with it.
Even though this K-drama is not rated too high on IMDb, it is actually pretty good. It tackles class issues, impact of loss of family at a young age, dreams and aspirations of people and how they work towards it. It is also humorous. The dynamics shift between Min-Ik and Gal-hee is contrasted beautifully between two situations. As most K-dramas also have a sub-plot to add thrill to the romance and comedy, this one has one too, and it is also not too shocking, but keeping with the theme of classism and equality.
The common objection people might have with K-dramas is the sometimes and somewhat toxic behaviour passed off lightly. This series is better on that front – Gal-Hee’s deception of Min-Ik is taken seriously. Same with Min-Ik’s treatment of his secretaries. Gal-Hee felt like an equal to her boos for the first time, and she was treated with respect because she was not being herself. Most importantly, she treats herself with respect in front of Min-Ik and that changes his attitude towards her in real life too. This is subtly done, not explicitly called out, and stays away from the making the series one about self-improvement and social issues.
The side characters are also close to reality. Like Kim Jae-Young’s character Veronica Park is born into wealth and doesn’t know how the other half lives. Whereas Dae-Joo has worked his way up and knows the value of what he has. Also, the ending is pretty cool, and the protagonist is not the end-all be-all of business and personal life. The only reason it loses on one star in rating is small plot holes which are not closed, no matter how insignificant to the story line they be. Highly recommend to watch this one. And the pretty faces on screen don’t hurt either.
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Melissa McCarthy, Michael Shannon, Luke Evans, Tiffany Boone, Manny Jacinto, Regina Hall, Bobby Cannavale
Streaming on: Primevideo
To watch or not to watch: Meh. Watch it because it is available and you have time to kill
Nine people (4 individuals and 2 families) get accepted at a healing centre in Middle of Nowhere, USA. They all have suffered some form of setback or trauma in life and are looking to somehow get over it. The retreat is run by Masha (Nicole Kidman) and she is assisted by 3 other people.They keep everything under control and design the treatment program, customised for each attendee. Every attendee has some dark secret behind their traumas, which they are hididng, and apprehensive of each other in the beginning. Masha claims to have healed/cured/changed people’s lives in the 10 days they spend at the ridiculously expensive retreat. As time goes by, people make friends, share their life stories and generally open up to the others. In the parallel, we have Masha and her team conspiring about the treatment and have secrets of their own, which also forms a plot in parallel with the attendees’ stories.
First of, the name of the series is incorrect. It isn’t 9 perfect strangers all around. There is a couple and a family of three, which reduces the number of “strangers” for them. Secondly, the whole strangers meeting each other has been done with multiple times, ever since Agatha Christie wrote “And then there were none”. Here too, the part of getting to know each other and making friends, which is a large part of the series, is quite expected and hence feels dragged. Except the storyline of Frances (Melissa McCarthy) and Tony (Bobby Cannavale), which is entertaining and sweet and witty. There are instances in the first half of the series in which people question their presence at the retreat, as if it was not voluntary application?! If that is the question posed, the viewer needs either to know the origin of the question (like in Oldboy) or the answer to it (Matrix). That whole plot is left to open, never to be brought up again, discussed or revealed.
The series tries really hard to be full of intrigue or suspense and a sense of underlying plot twist, hinted all along through different memories of the people, but there is none. The deep soundtrack, tracking shots, psychedelic experiences, none of them lead anywhere, only give a sense of building upto something, which is ultimately nothing. In fact, the whole series can be reviewed by calling it “Tries Hard” – the staff tried hard to be full of intrigue while preparing the treatment plan, which is nothing more than felony crime, Nicole Kidman tries hard to be Masha who is inexplicably revered and is all that is ethereal but it fails because watching her speak can be physically painful, the guests try hard to make their lives hard, but in reality the regular medical world already has solutions to most of their troubles.
One thing the show highly favours is the appearances of people – everyone is in awe of Masha because she is this skinny silhouette clad in white, with a Russian accent as far from real as the physical distance between the countries. There is no reason for anyone to like her, or trust her, as it is revealed that she drugs the guests without their knowledge, all in the name of “healing” (really wrong messaging here, by the way, and surprising that not many people are speaking about it). Despite the potential to deliver on life-changing solutions to the very real problems some of the guests do seem to have, it just falls flat on the face, like having a Christmas gift from a favorite person, with beautiful wrapping, but the box is filled with packing peanuts. This analogy is more true, since this comes from the same set of creators and adapted from the same author who wrote Big Little Lies.
Melissa McCarthy deserves an award for her performance in this show, she is finally getting a role where she is able to show her range – no more goofy comic sidekick. She is also the only one who has a more detailed and relatable trauma from which she is a trying to recover. If you need a reason to watch the show, she is it. And nothing else.
To watch or not to watch: Good in pieces, not as a whole
The story of the series is about the lives of some of the residents of an apartment complex called Sunflower. One morning, one of the residents of the society, Mr. Kapoor (Ashwin Kaushal), is murdered by his neighbour, Mr. Ahuja (Mukul Chadda). What follows is an investigation into the murder by two police officers, Inspector DG and Sub-Inspector Tambe (Ranvir Shorey and Girish Kulkarni). Sonu Singh (Sunil Grover) is the protagonist and falls under suspicion due to his erratic nature. Along with the main story line with a protagonist, we also have an ensemble cast and an insight in the lives of a select few residents and one person each related to them.
Over-all the series is funny, sometimes thrilling and mostly lost. There are too many sub-plots, which have nothing to do with the main plot and have nothing to do in general, except probably elicit some laughs. In each of the 8 episodes, we have Dilip Iyer (Ashish Vidhyarthi) interviewing and rejecting potential residents because of one or the other social bias. There are certain points in Sonu’s character which throw an insight into his past life and make the viewers feel there’s more than meets the eye. All this has nothing to do with the main plot, even tangentially. After about more than half the series is over, you wonder if the series even has anything to do with the murder mystery. Sunflower society and slowly and suddenly takes center stage and things revolve around it.
There is a conflict between the advertisement and the real idea of the series. it comes off as more of an ensemble cast series than a thriller series. Since it is going head-to-head with an acclaimed thriller series, The Family Man, it needed to be made more in-line with the advertisement or changed the messaging. If one has watched these two series together, Sunflower will definitely lose. Though it does go head-and-head with the performances.
The webseries these days have latched on to the nostalgia effect, by getting older actor, who were quite popular in the yesteryears to come back and act in the series. While it is commendable and gets more viewers along with the promise of good performances, it can be overdone, specially when it is the focal point of the series. After finishing watching the series, the only thought that makes a viewer feel they haven’t wasted their time, that all the loose threads and the unresolved sub-plots make for a good foundation for season 2. Right on the heels of that, is the knowledge that each episode is only about 30 minutes long and has only 8 episodes (though it didn’t need even that for the amount of content it had). That might be the only reason for people to watch the second season, to get some closure. All in all, if one is not suffering from FOMO, skip it.
Starring: Sophia Lillis, Wyatt Oleff, Kathleen Rose Perkins, Sofia Bryant, Richard Ellis, Sophia Tatum, David Theune, Zachary S. Williams, Aidan Wojtak-Hissong
Genre: Sci-fi/supernatural, coming-of-age story
This series is about a 17 year old girl Sydney, who lost her father the previous year. As a result, the family life has changed drastically and not for the better. She has trouble connecting with her mother, trouble getting along with peers, trouble focusing on school and trouble in general with her temper, which flares and is acted upon. She has one best friend named Dina who is the “popular one” and is dating the school jock. She also has a neighbour called Stanley Barber who has a crush on Sydney and is as much as an oddball as is stereotyped.
The story follows Sydney managing her life, her anger and then her very sudden super powers. She becomes a target or a fascinating study for some savoury/unsavoury characters. And if that was not enough, she is also trying to figure out the matters of her sexuality. She is definitely not okay with any of this.
Netflix is so used to producing below average stuff that the one time they have something good which has all the elements to grasp the attention of the audience, they balk at the thought. They are not used to producing good original content and hence they have cancelled the show (this is the real reason, despite of what is said by the company). They are producing season 2 of Bridgerton.
Amazon, please pick this up. But then you aren’t without faults of your own.
Starring: David Tennant, Michael Sheen, Adria Arjona.
Genre: Comedy, Fantasy (slightly theological)
Aziraphale and Crowley are Angel and Demon, respectively and have been assigned to do their respective jobs on Earth since the seventh day of creation (Crowley/Crawley is the snake with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden). They have grown rather fond of the planet and grudgingly, of each other too. In the present time, the grounds of Armageddon have been laid down and in only a week Heaven and Hell will fight it out to establish their supremacy and effectively end Earth. The Angel and Demon duo must prevent it from happening at all costs. Thus begins their adventure to find out The Chosen One and manipulate their respective offices in their favour. Their natures have evolved through thousands of years on the planet and it is shown through some cleverly inserted flash-backs at the important moments in history.
This series is adapted from a Neil Gaiman book. When it comes to book adaptations, this is something near perfection. The acting and the direction leave nothing to be desired and it doesn’t feel incomplete or staccato at any point. The storyline, peppered with theology through the ages is smooth, smart, witty and dark too.
This show was cancelled as it was called out for hurting religious sentimentality. While a case can be made for that, it can be said it shows changing for a higher calling, namely humanity and to get priorities straight, regardless of what we have been taught since birth.
Religions have survived thousands of years. An itty-bitty Amazon series with some 8 hours runtime can hardly harm them suddenly. Please lift the embargo on it and get out season 2.
Starring: Nick Frost, Samson Kayo, Malcolm McDowell, Susan Wokoma, Emma D’Arcy and Simon Pegg
Genre: Horror-comedy
Gus is a broadband installer for Britain’s largest network provider, Smyle. He also moonlights as a paranormal activity investigator and has a YouTube channel, Truth Seekers. His boos, Dave, assigns an apprentice to Gus by the name of Elton Jon (LoL!) to train, and Gus isn’t too happy about it. Together Gus and Elton go around fixing and providing broadband connections. Gus luck seems to have turned around as they have real paranormal encounters at each of the places they visit. They also meet Astris, who is running from the demons haunting her and they try to figure out how to exorcise them.
No story is complete with a supervillain with an extremely nefarious agenda. In this one, the supervillain wants to attain immortality and the way to reach there is mega destructive and the consequences dire.
Nick Frost and Simon Pegg come together again on screen for yet another spectacular production which has humour, thrill and horror combined. There is also a threat to humanity, similar to the movies in the Cornetto trilogy (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz and The End of the World – all must watch). There is emotional investment for the recurring cast and also for the anthology-like ghosts they encounter. There is no moment which is dull or draggy. In the short time, it manages to show EVERYTHING. Utter shame it is cancelled and Goliath gets seasons after seasons.
Maigret is adapted from a book series by Georges Simenon, featuring the detective Jules Maigret. It has 2 season with 2 episodes each and the episodes are in anthology format, with new cases in each episode. It is a police procedural, set in Paris of 1950s. What sets this apart from the other police procedurals is primarily Rowan Atkinson. It is very refreshing to see him in a serious role, which he performs flawlessly (goes without saying). Also, the cases are quite interesting and there are little to no red-herrings. The cases are solved by old-fashioned police work. The cases are dark and gritty which keeps one guessing throughout. The performances in the individual episodes too are commendable – no shoddy work here.
Given we don’t have too many of whodunnits series these days, this would have been a good addition to the online content. It is refreshing, nostalgic and pleasing to the eye. With very little personal drama and good storyline, can’t see this failing. And yet it is not renewed for further seasons. It is saddening.
Starring: Nick Frost, Malcolm McDowell, Samson Kayo, Susan Wokoma, Emma D’Arcy, Simon Pegg
Streaming on: Primevideo
To watch or not to watch: Brilliant watch with popcorn
Gus Roberts (Nick Frost) is a broadband installer, the best installer Smyle has. Smyle is expanding and very close to 100% coverage.Gus’ boss Dave (Simon Pegg) gets an apprentice for Gus by the name of Elton (Samson Kayo) John. Yes. Now Gus is an aspiring paranormal investigator but hasn’t been very successful till the start of the series, where his life takes a turn for adventure, for example, Astrid (Emma D’Arcy) enters his life while running from ghosts. Elton’s sister Helen (Susan Wokoma) is agoraphobic and a successful YouTuber strikes an unlikely friendship with Richard (Malcolm Mcdowell). Gus and Elton, with the help of Astrid and Helen, bring redemption to the souls of the people not at rest yet. And that’s that.
This is one of the best series I have watched recently. It is a classic British comedy with subtly that is truly an art. The story is perfect with each character having a story of their own, which makes them equally important as the protagonist. Along with that there is an overarching concept of paranormal and they too have a credible story which makes the audience root for the overall success.
<p value="<amp-fit-text layout="fixed-height" min-font-size="6" max-font-size="72" height="80">This series should be a blueprint of how to make a series which has too many subplots and not feel overwhelming. It was such a pleasant surprise how things come together slowly and steadily, only in 8 episodes with each episode being under 30 minutes. A long drawn out story with over-dramatization isnt necessary to deliver the emotions. And humour. It is subtle, as already stated and but doesn't interfere with the horror. All the small points mentioned in the beginning of the series come together towards the end and makes for a wholesome watch. It ends spectacularly too. No complaints at all, other than the show being cancelled (What the hell Amazon). Here's to hoping some other network picks it up if possible. A Must Watch.This series should be a blueprint of how to make a series which has too many subplots and not feel overwhelming. It was such a pleasant surprise how things come together slowly and steadily, only in 8 episodes with each episode being under 30 minutes. A long drawn out story with over-dramatization isnt necessary to deliver the emotions. And humour. It is subtle, as already stated and but doesn’t interfere with the horror. All the small points mentioned in the beginning of the series come together towards the end and makes for a wholesome watch. It ends spectacularly too. No complaints at all, other than the show being cancelled (What the hell Amazon). Here’s to hoping some other network picks it up if possible. A Must Watch.
Starring: Johnathan Bailey, Phoebe Dynevor, Regé-Jean Page, Claudia Jessie, Luke Newton and Julia Andrews (voice over)
Streaming on: Netflix
To watch or not to watch: Recommended to watch in extenuating circumstances where one is a glutton for punishment
Bridgerton is an 8 part series which follows the Bridgerton siblings through their life-partner finding journey.
The first season is based on Daphne’s quest to finding a husband. She comes from a large family with 4 brothers and 3 sisters. She wants a love match just like her parents had, but the only man interested in her is Nigel Berbrooke (we are supposed to know it is a laughing point). In comes Simon Basset, the Duke of Hastings who has returned to England because his father is on his death bed and there are formalities to be taken care of in the inheritance of the dukedom. There is no love lost between father and son and the toxic relationship has left lasting effects on Simon’s mind – he doesn’t want to get married and have kids. Simon and Daphne literally run into each other at a ball and they decide to hatch a mutually beneficial plan – they will pretend to court each other so that Daphne is more in the notice of the men of the ton and Simon is saved from the mothers of unmarried ladies of England. As with all best laid plans, this also falls apart when Simon and Daphne are found in the garden in a compromising position and had to get married. Knowing full well Simon’s resolve to not have kids, Daphne gets married to Simon, as the other choices were limited and she was falling for him.
They embark on their married life and all is going well in the beginning till Daphne starts finding out more about Simon’s childhood and his reasons for resolving to never father any kids. This drives a wedge between the loving couple and the rest of the story follows the story of how the conflict is resolved.
Along with the main plot, there are many sub-plots which don’t seem to have much significance on the face of it. There is the family of Featheringtons who are also trying to be successful on the marriage mart but the patriarch has gambled away the dowries of the daughters. The Featheringtons have a guest Maria, who has a sketchy past (according to the times) and is looking to catch Colin Bridgerton, who in turn is deeply loved by Penelope Featherington. There is also Eloise Bridgerton who is forward thinking and challenges the societal norms with her best friend Penelope. Benedict Bridgerton is also trying to find a place in life by challenging society and getting in with the artist crowd, honing his sketching skills.
This is something which is easily missed, unless one really hates oneself. There is no steady storyline and whatever is there is highly unbelievable. The sub-plots seem out of place with no significance at all. The timeline is also all over the place. At some points the series looks hurried and at others it moves at a leisurely pace. There are quite a few explicit scenes for nothing but shock value. The conflict resolution is also flat without any real discussion, it just happens because the protagonists need to have a happily-ever-after, which isn’t very surprising as there is no character arc and whatever character build-up is there, it lacks any strength.
The series would have been well served if it had stayed true to the original books as they are much better and infinitely more entertaining. There is an element of wit among all the Bridgerton siblings and allied familied. Lady Danbury and Lady Bridgerton are mighty females on their own, and if the creators had stayed true to them, it would have resolved many women repression issues they were trying to address in the series. Just goes to show, change for the sake of change is rarely ever beneficial.
Highly recommend to miss this one. Let the sub-par output be not glorified and treated rightly. This series has been renewed for the second season, unfortunately.
Starring: Rowan Atkinson, Leo Staar, Shaun Dingwall
Streaming on: Hotstar
Seasons: 2 seasons, 2 episodes each
To watch or not to watch: a must watch for all fans of whodunnits
Anyone who is a fan of whodunnits, will need to know only a few things:
It stars Rowan Atkinson in the titular role as an serious and intense detective
The series is set in 1960s Paris
The episodes are 90 min long and anthological
The plots are interesting and will keep you guessing
It is extremely refreshing to see Mr. Bean being so serious that he forgets to eat. This will throw the viewer off more than anything else
It is an intelligent series with slight bits of red herrings when it comes to solving the case. The most interesting part of the series are the relationships of Maigret with his constables and his wife. they all have single minded determination towards serving justice and respect each other. Not something commonly portrayed these days.
Unfortunately the series got cancelled after 2 seasons, both the seasons are worth the time.
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