Netflix – Midbrow

The 5 Best Shows to Binge During Your Quarantine

Now a month into our lovely extended break courtesy of COVID-19, many people have hit a wall in terms of their TV binge sessions. Everyone is caught up on those shows they’ve been dying to see for months. Reruns of The Office and Friends are creeping their way back into people’s “Continue Watching” tabs.

But fear not, weary binge-watchers! After a few weeks of intense research, here are the top five shows to binge during your quarantine. Regardless of the kinds of shows you like, these top hits are sure to keep you glued to your couch.

#1: Westworld (HBO)

It’s really hard to find good science fiction shows. Oftentimes the genre fits the stereotype of being nerdy, or worse uses a really interesting premise to cover up cheap gimmicks and plot holes.

Westworld manages to avoid falling prey to the same traps its predecessors may have by focusing on its characters and their development. The story is in many ways a coming of age tale about people finding themselves on a hero’s journey. Only this time, there is also advanced AI that is slowly becoming self-aware.

That perfect balance of action and storyline makes the show great to binge with a friend and discuss the depth and subtleties of the ethical implications of creating consciousness. That, or maybe just enjoying the western style shooter scenes and cool graphics.

#2: The Witcher (Netflix)

The Witcher is a one-of-a-kind franchise. After starting as a book series, it became a popular video game before Netflix bought the rights to produce the show. The series is wildly successful. It became Netflix’s most popular show of 2019 (second only to Stranger Things) despite being released only a month before the end of the year.

The show manages to combine the monster-hunting action of the video games with the fantastic world-building of the novels to create a surprisingly unique fantasy hit. The multiple timelines allow for exploration into so many more characters while increasing the mystery of the show. All in all, The Witcher adds up to be a delightful weekend binge for when you just need to be whisked off into a world of monster-slaying and dramatic deaths.

#3: The Marvellous Mrs. Maisel (Prime)

Telling the story of a struggling comedian has become pretty mainstream in the past few years. It’s sort of becoming a way for comedians to fictionalize their experiences.

The Marvellous Mrs. Maisel takes a completely different route. It centers on Miriam “Midge” Maisel, a divorced Jewish housewife in the 1960s who upends social norms as she pursues a career in comedy. The show not only leaves viewers buckled over laughing, but it also makes a serious commentary about women in the comedic industry. Midge and her manager Suzie are wildly entertaining as they climb the ladder of success and deal with constant setbacks. A good binge of The Marvellous Mrs. Maisel is the perfect way to lighten the mood in this stressful time.

#4: Big Mouth (Netflix)

The concept of puberty has been taboo in the television community because of it’s close ties to sex. Netflix started a revolution though when it released a show entirely about growing up and becoming an adult.

Series creators Nick Kroll and Andrew Goldberg created the animated series loosely based on their own lives to depict what it’s like for teenagers to go through puberty. The result is a raunchy comedy that is as educational as it is funny. Characters deal with issues as light as body odor and as heavy as divorce and pregnancy scare.

The most entertaining part of the show, however, is the fictional “Hormone Monsters” assigned to each child. The interactions the characters have with their hormone monsters are hysterical (and maybe a touch inappropriate for the family), but make the process of puberty somehow entertaining. Big Mouth makes for a fantastic binge, with awesome voice actors and great writing.

#5: Ozark (Netflix)

It was devastating when Breaking Bad finally ended. The crime drama from the perspective of an average guy-turned-criminal was a hit and took crime shows in a completely new direction.

It’s no surprise then that Netflix took that model for its own show with Ozark. The show about a financial planner who is forced to launder money in the Ozark mountains is a high energy hit. Jason Bateman plays the role of Marty fantastically even after years of much lighter shows under the actor’s belt (Arrested Development, Horrible Bosses, etc).

With season 3 just released a few weeks ago, now is the perfect time to get caught up. The writing will leave you clicking “Still Watching” for hours as Bateman learns how to become a major criminal.

Stranger Danger

Netflix’s You sheds light on the dangers of stalkers in the digital age

Love isn’t a strong enough word. Sometimes, it scares me to love someone so completely and not have them love you back.
— Joe Goldberg.

Aren’t dating apps great?

Like, just imagine how hard it was for people to meet up before they had their phones. You and a bunch of your friends had to dress up, and go out to a bar or a club and then pay way too much for drinks. And that was just to get you a shot at going home with a special someone.

Nowadays thanks to your handy dandy cellular device it’s as easy to get a date as it is to order Chipotle. A simple swipe, a few flirty texts, and maybe a quick Instagram stalk later you can be in a new relationship if you really want to be.

But how safe is this anyway? Catfishing on dating apps is increasingly common with UK news site Metro reporting that 28% of women and 43% of men admitted to being catfished in 2018.

Recently Netflix shined a light on the dangers of stalkers and the internet in their hit show You. Transplanted from Lifetime after receiving major ratings boost on the streaming platform to the stalker thriller takes a unique look at what it means to be a creep in 2019.

The main protagonist Joe Goldberg is a love addict obsessed with finding a romantic connection with the women he stalks. And while Joe himself starts the series off shunning the use of social media, he frequents it to find information on his prey. The woman of Joe’s fixation in season one, Guenivere Beck, is shown to leave all her accounts to be public. Expectedly, Joe takes this to mean Beck “want[s] to be seen. Heard. Known. Of course I obliged.”

Even in the next season, Joe once again stalks his new fixation, Love Quinn, through the same means. Combing through her and her social circle’s Instagram feeds, he builds profiles on all of them which he uses to his advantage when trying to seduce his love interest.

While the storylines of You are definitely far-reaching in terms of the ability of most stalkers to also be handsome and charming casanovas, the depiction of how social media is used is frighteningly real.

Now, the occasional Insta-stalk is nothing rare. According to MSN, 76% of people surveyed admitted to having stalked an ex online. But while most of us stalk with harmless intentions, there are plenty of horror stories even worse than the deadly ends Netflix depicts.

Esquire covered this exact sort of situation — a budding romance turned to cyberstalk — in their April 2015 issue. It describes the horrifying story of a woman who got into an online relationship with a man that quickly became creepy, and when she tried to end it began receiving daily if not more frequent emails of disgusting harassment.

A Netflix show like You may tell this kind of story for our entertainment, but when we see things like this happening in the real world it becomes clear just how easily we could all face our very own Joe Goldberg.

The question then becomes how do we fight an enemy we don’t even know? Oftentimes those who are stalked don’t realize it’s happening until it’s too late, but keeping accounts private and controlling who can follow you can be a major deterrent to petty stalking.

More importantly, though, the stigma of coming forward must be overcome. Like USCNews writes, “Victims often second-guess themselves or believe they’re overreacting.” Addressing the issue and educating people on internet safety are both essential steps to protecting loved ones online.

While it may seem like You is just a fantastically gripping show to binge on a lazy weekend, the depth of the premise goes far beyond what most viewers realize. The concept of stalking has been redefined in the age of social media, and You does an amazing job of depicting how our digital lives can be weaponized in the wrong hands.