Category: TV

Do you like strange stories with kind of a horror bent to them?  Black Mirror might be just what you are looking for.  Technically it is a series, but every episode is different and has different actors, though there are Easter Eggs and references to other episodes if you are looking for them.  If this is sounding like The Twilight Zone or The Outer Limits, you would not be far off.

The biggest difference between Black Mirror and those other shows is that Black Mirror’s episodes all deal with technology gone wrong, or pushed to its limits.  Usually social media, but cell phones, surveillance, and other tech are all represented as well.  You will question how much you like all your devices by the end of each episode.

For the most part these episodes mostly just make you think about the state of technology in our lives, but some can be hard to watch.  The very first episode is famously graphic.  It is about a Prime Minister who has to do something unthinkable to save the life of a royal princess.  While it never actually shows anything, it is a rough watch.  It was kind of like the producers were saying, “If you can get through this, the rest will be a cake walk.”

Not all of Black Mirror’s episodes are great, but most do make you reconsider posting that picture of your bagel, and we are at a time when considering how much we let technology in to our lives is a hot topic for a lot of us, so if you need some ammo for why you think social media is bad, or you just miss The Twilight Zone, give Black Mirror a try.

Americans have always had a strange attitude towards the British Monarchy.  On one hand we believe them to be irrelevant.  The Monarchy has no real power anymore.  They are a distraction from the real politics going on in the House of Commons.  On the other hand they are rich and glamorous and have a mysterious sway over their people.  Netflix’s The Crown gives an interesting look in to life and family of the current Monarch, Queen Elizabeth II.

The first season was about the trials and tribulations of becoming The Queen after her father’s sudden death.  Meanwhile, season two of The Crown is about marital and family strife.  Is The Duke cheating?  Are the kids doing well?  Won’t that sister for once just fall in line?!  And can’t at least one Prime Minister do his job!

The Crown gives a fascinating look in to all of this.  Of course I have my phone out the whole time fact checking everything, and Netflix does a commendable job about telling a story close to the truth.  The stories have been altered for the sake of better story telling, but the show does seem to get the feel of what was going on at the time correct.  Even if the facts and events are a little skewed.  Rounded off for convenience.

It is clear no expense was spared for The Crown.  It is loving shot and brilliantly acted.  The sets and cars make everything look like very much like the late 50’s and early 60’s.  It is easy to see how The Crown is Netflix’s most expensive show to produce.  Most movies don’t look this good.

If the reign of Queen Elizabeth II is at all interesting to you, The Crown is well worth watching.  Sure you will have to do a little extra research to get all the details right, but the show will transport you to Buckingham’s front door, and let you feel like you are taking in all the scandal and intrigue first hand.  Which is exactly what we wanted from The Crown.

Do you like The Office or maybe Parks and Recreation?  What if I told you the same guy that wrote and produced those shows, Michael Schur, made another show about ‘heaven’, The Good Place.  While it is theologically unsound, it is very funny, and since it has been out for a year you can blitz through the first season right now on Netflix.

The Good Place is about Eleanor Shellstrop (Kristen Bell) who ends up in the titular Good Place by accident.  She of course doesn’t want to admit she is in the wrong place then be sent to eternal damnation, so she has to do her best to fit in, but her innate selfishness keeps getting her in trouble.

The Good Place is unlike any major religion’s idea of paradise.  Pretty much if you are good, like really good, you end up in a little neighborhood with a soulmate, and you can do whatever you want.  Things are fine for most of Eleanor’s neighbors, but she keeps doing things that screw her neighborhood up.  Making it hard to keep up her lie.

Like all comedies, they are only as good as their cast, and The Good Place has a great one.  Bell is hilarious, and Ted Danson as ‘The Architect’ of the neighborhood is still at the top of his game, but rest of the cast is great too.  They have good chemistry, and the laughs don’t stop coming.

While I doubt The Good Place will be used in seminary classes any time soon, it is a funny show, and another hit for Michael Schur.  You can watch the first season on Netflix, and the second season is airing now, so you can catch up on Hulu.com if you have it.  In these dark days without The Office or Parks and Rec it is nice to have The Good Place to visit.