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It's already dark before dinner. No one wants to scrape ice and snow off the car windshield to go anywhere. So, many evenings we wrap up in couch blankets and indulge. Binge-watching is a great way to experience a TV series. We find it impossible to keep up with quality programming, especially when there's so much to do during the warmer months. That's why in the winter we seek out a few new-to-us series to enjoy.
We recently watched The Last Enemy. This five-part BBC mini-series stars Sherlock's Benedict Cumberbatch as a reclusive math genius who reluctantly returns to Britain for the funeral of his estranged brother. There he discovers his brother is survived by a widow. Questions about his death leads to chilling information about a government surveillance program. While the ubiquitous government intrusion is quite believable, Cumberbatch's character is somewhat less so, perhaps because he overcomes not only his shyness but an obvious obsessive disorder in record time. Still, the series builds in intensity and the ending is perfect, while leaving room for a sequel. The series led us to some great discussions about privacy, security, and rights. Violence and understated sex. Teen and up.
Occasionally we zip through a few episodes of Archer. This animated series, now in its third season, parodies all things Bond while constantly spoofing politically correctness. It's set in an international spy agency run by Malory Archer with a small cadre of employees, most notably her son and top spy, Sterling Archer. The first few episodes are lukewarm but the writing sharpens to wonderfully absurd humor. We find ourselves snorting with laughter as we watch and end up spouting Archer quotes afterwards. Graphic violence, sex, and language. Older teen and up.
We're currently enjoying Murdoch Mysteries. This Canadian series is in its sixth season. Set in Victorian-era Toronto, it mashes steampunk and Mythbusters with mystery. Yannick Bisson plays the scientific-minded and resolutely ethical Detective Murdoch. Each crime is solved with the help of early forensic techniques or newfangled technology. The first episode is too ambitious, solving an electrocution death while fitting in the War of Currents between AC and DC plus Nikola Tesla plus a whole cast of characters. The series definitely gets better. I love the intelligent dialogue, artful costumes, and yes, Yannick Bisson's dark brown eyes. My family enjoys the improbably convenient scientific breakthroughs and the characters' speculations about potential uses for these new techniques. Although there's a crime to solve in each episode, any violence is tame and sex is discreetly referred to as "trysts," in keeping with the times. Pre-teen and up.
We haven't decided on our next series, probably Continuum but we've discussed Fringe, Carnivàle, Little Dorrit, Supernatural, Rome, Misfits, Boss, Torchwood, and Psych, although someone in my family would be happy to simply re-watch Sherlock. Whatever we decide, I know we'll be warm, together, and entertained. Yay for binge TV nights.
