Binge-r #139: 10 Shows From 2018 Worth Reconsidering
Watching the Detectives: Carey Mulligan (Kip) and Nathaniel Martello-White (Nathan) in Collateral
THE ALIENIST
19th century crime mystery (Netflix)
“An addictive drama whose immaculate period detail doesn’t just set the tone but also seeps into the detective thriller’s plot to create a world that harbours grave crimes without concern... The camera follows these characters down darkened hallways, but also into their own fears.” [full review in BINGE-R #85]
THE BISEXUAL
Bittersweet lesbian comedy (Stan)
“With its orgasm anxiety and sudden bursts of cultural truth-telling, The Bisexual is a series that finds the humour in serious situations and quietly wrenches dramatic reconsideration out of antics.” [full review in BINGE-R #115]
BODYGUARD
Psychosexual thriller (Netflix)
“It’s hugely outlandish in parts, but skilfully executed so that the post-mortem comes after the six episodes have concluded. The best gambit is old-fashioned in design but updated for a new dynamic – the attraction between a powerful woman and the subordinate male who is nonetheless essential to her safety.” [full review in BINGE-R #112]
COLLATERAL
Philosophical crime drama (Netflix)
“[Carey Mulligan] never overplays her central role, and it’s only at the conclusion that you realise just what Kip has fought for. In Collateral every interrogation is a dialogue about belief and every dialogue about belief is an interrogation. You should savour every minute of this richly involving drama.” [full review in BINGE-R #79]
CONDOR
Paranoid espionage thriller (Stan)
“Staying alive, and trying to persuade Kathy of his innocence, are the immediate drivers [for Joe], but the contemporary setting allows for a nuanced take on the information age, government service, and the clash of cultures.” [full review in BINGE-R #98]
Home Truths: Steven Mackintosh (Alan) and Toni Collette (Joy) in Wanderlust
ESCAPE AT DANNEMORA
Detailed prison break drama (Stan)
“A real life drama as much about the weight of incarceration as the lure of breaking free, Escape at Dannemora begins not with the escaped prisoners – Richard Matt (Benicio del Toro) and David Sweat (Paul Dano) – who worked their way out of a maximum security jail, but the woman they left behind, jail employee Joyce ‘Tilly’ Mitchell (Patricia Arquette).” [full review in BINGE-R #114]
GREAT NEWS
Gag-laden workplace comedy (Netflix)
“I’m crediting 5.6 jokes per minute to this crackerjack American comedy – the punchlines jostle one another, not with one-upmanship, but a desire to double down on a delirious riff. It’s no surprise that the team of Tina Fey and Robert Carlock helped usher this series to air, as it bears trace elements of their hits 30 Rock and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.” [full review in BINGE-R #103]
THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE
Supernatural family trauma (Netflix)
“You have time to soak in an ambitiously expanded story that treats the waking nightmares of long ago as family trauma you can never really leave behind… The contemplative pacing always lets you know when the shocking looms because the point is not to surprise, but to enforce the inevitability of what the Crain family has and will go through.” [full review in BINGE-R #110]
WANDERLUST
40something sexual angst (Netflix)
“The union of Joy and Alan Richards (Toni Collette and Steven Mackintosh) is so agreeable it’s sedentary: their sex life has fizzled out… When both stray, with some enthusiasm, they confess their mutual infidelity and conclude that an open marriage might be the answer.” [full review in BINGE-R #111]
WILD WILD COUNTRY
Staggering true crime documentary (Netflix)
“The more those involved tried to defend what they genuinely believed in, the crazier and combative their responses were. You watch it with jaw-dropping disbelief but also genuine fascination, because no-one here is ever as two-dimensional as their adversaries believe them to be.” [full review in BINGE-R #80]
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