Quarantine Couch Time

Even before we were in quarantine I was an avid movie and tv show watcher. I’ve watched numerous movies and shows over and over again for pure enjoyment and then binge watched new ones. I love it all so I figured I can share with you some that have left an impression.

Netflix

This is my go to place to watching things. It’s easy and with new content every Friday I have something to look forward to. Right now I’m watching Lucifer and re-watching Black Lightning in a nice deal that I made a while back with Nick.

I admit I resisted watching Lucifer for a long time with no real reason. I was just busy watching a whole lot of other things but it’s really good. It’s funny and witty and is something great to watch while winding down for the night. I think we’re in the middle of season 3 (the Tom Welling season!) and I’m enjoying it a lot. The acting is spot on and the plot remains interesting at every turn.

I’ve been watching Black Lightning from the time it premiered. It made sense since I was watching all the other shows in the DC universe but I’m also really enjoying it as a stand alone. I think a lot of people don’t want to watch it because he’s not exactly a popular superhero like The Flash and it doesn’t crossover into the universe a lot but I feel like it touches on a lot of things that young people can connect to. It may also be the fact that I’m black so I connect to it on a different level but that should count as a plus (especially in today’s climate). It’s important for there to be representation in the shows that are out there so hopefully the writers and creators of these shows integrate these characters into the rest of the shows a bit more. The acting is good, the action is good and the plot is relevant to today’s world. I’m not sure what more you can ask for in a superhero show or a show in general.

Along that same line is Raising Dion.

Admittedly this wasn’t in my initial list of shows, mainly because I watched it so long ago but with everything going on in the world I think it should be included. There’s a clip that’s been shared that keeps replaying in my head. This scene shows how a mother has to tell her son that the world is set up against him. There’s a time in every Black person’s life when they have that talk with their parents and its a quiet moment in the show that was well done that I think it can start a conversation with others.

This show has an amazingly thought out plot. It’s funny when it needs to be, touches on so many topics and nuances that take place in life as you grow up, and is gripping the entire way through. If you’re looking for a show to binge in a day this is the one for you.

Another show we binge watched in January was The Witcher.

I fell into a bit of luck with this one because Nick’s played the games before and was able to explain a couple things along the way but for the most part we were able to follow without him explaining things (patience is important I’m told). I loved how the show was jumping between different timelines without explicitly saying it. It made you pay attention more and kept this conversation going at the end of each episode of trying to piece together where other characters were at each time. I’m really tempted to watch this over soon just because I feel cheated out of prolonging it’s greatness from binge watching it in 2 days.

My last Netflix suggestion is Titans.

There are a some people who won’t watch this for their various reasons and then there are others who don’t like how slow it starts out in the first season. I kind of liked how slow it started because I didn’t grow up reading the comics so I spent the time researching things. Admittedly the second season was lot better for me than the first. It had a lot more action, more plot and character development and was just more exciting in general. Some of the acting is hit or miss sometimes with the younger actors but the older actors really bring a lot to the more sensitive scenes. I’m a fan of this and I think DC is doing a great job with their tv shows right now.

Prime Video

My other option for streaming shows is Prime Video. This was my main source for older shows like Brothers and Sisters or Revenge and I was catching up on NCIS LA before they took it down, Revenge is still there I think. I find that Prime has more mature options available so you can find something like Treadstone on there.

I’m a big fan of the Jason Bourne movies so I was really interested in what other facet of the story they’ll look to tell with this series. What I found wasn’t really what I expected. This show is very different from other shows. It’s quiet, slower paced and yet still full of action, and gives a bit more of a back story to the movies. It mentions Jason Bourne once or twice I think but it’s really more of an origin story for the movies. It does a great job of delving into character back stories. Even though the series was canceled after it’s first season, I still think it was good show.

My last Prime suggestion (that is currently on a time out) is The Magicians.

This show is funny, witty, thought provoking and still finds the time to mock other shows and movies. It jumps from serious to funny without trying too hard and still touches on some hard hitting topics while doing it. It can get a bit intense and I admit it does allow the bad guy to win a couple battles here and there but overall it’s an awesome show. I always go back to the acting and the plot to review a show or movie and this one aces both of those things. Right now this show is on a timeout because I really don’t like what the characters just did and I don’t want to have to watch the consequences so until I feel like it, it’s on a timeout, just like Jack Ryan which is also found on Prime Video.