Santa Clarita Diet (Netflix)
The most important thing to know about this series is that it is really funny. The second thing is that it is kind of gross in an -excessive vomit and dead body goo- kind of way. If the latter doesn’t bother you, then dive right into this joyously amusing black comedy. Drew Barrymore plays a suburban wife and mother who one day finds herself craving human flesh. Much to her surprise, her new zombie self has acquired a zest for life that makes her feel more free, confident and even more alive than she ever has before. Timothy Olyphant (Justified) plays the loving, supportive husband now placed in the awkward position of having to procure victims for his wife, because after all she has to eat. Barrymore and Olyphant both give wonderfully wry comic performances and create a couple that it is impossible not to route for. This is a show with as much heart as humor. Oh yeah, and Nathan Fillion is hilarious in the first episode.
The OA (Netflix)
This series is a strange, mind-bending compelling drama about life and death and all the mysteries in between. Prairie Johnson (Brit Marling) was a blind, incredibly sheltered 21-year-old when she vanished. Seven years later, she reappears under puzzling circumstances with multiple scars, the ability to see and perhaps super powers. Prairie begins attracting an odd assortment of companions and sharing with them the extraordinary story of her childhood and the circumstances behind her disappearance. This New-Age, mystical tale supplies the esoteric heart of the show, but Prairie’s story may not be completely believable. The most satisfying and frustrating part of this intriguing drama is that most of the time the audience has no idea what is going on. The ending may not thrill every viewer, but the journey is intense, suspenseful and unforgettably original.
Goliath (Amazon)
A drunken, broken down shell of an attorney (played by the irascible Billy Bob Thornton) is drawn into a wrongful death case that puts him up against the mega, high-powered law firm he helped create and was ousted from years ago. Essentially a David verses Goliath story, this crime/court thriller is created by David E. Kelley (Ally McBeal, Boston Public, LA Law). The show features Kelley’s signature offbeat characters and quick-witted courtroom dialog, but with a darker, more sinister underpinning. Thornton and William Hurt both shine as their curmudgeonly characters clash on screen and it is always a pleasure to watch such talented actors at play.
Travelers (Netflix)
Eric McCormack (Will and Grace) stars in this Canadian sci-fi series that centers on a group of time travelers. Tasked with saving humanity from an apocalyptic fate. The consciousness of these future dwellers is sent back in time into the bodies of those who are about to die. Once in our present, these soldiers are faced with resuming the lives of the people they have replaced and pursuing missions that will hopefully reshape future. The characters are compelling and the story involves plenty of the twists and turns that make time travel stories so thrilling.
Fleabag (Amazon)
Fleabag is a raunchy, unconventional British comedy centered on an unapologetically foul-mouthed, sexually adventurous Londoner. Fleabag, played by Phoebe Walter-Bridge (also a writer on the series) is haunted by the death of her best friend. She is also at war with her evil stepmother and being hit on by her creepy brother-in-law, all while simultaneously trying to navigate the life of a modern day singleton. The series is outrageous, hilarious and in the end quite moving.
Glitch (Netflix)
This spooky Australian series begins when six people dig themselves out of their graves in a small country town. They are all in perfect health with no memory of their previous lives or how they died. The local town sheriff, whose deceased wife is one of the recently returned, starts an investigation into what connection if any exists between the victims and what brought them back. Similar too but not as moodily arty as the French series The Returned, Glitch has some engaging characters and great storytelling that make it immensely watchable.
Black Mirror (Netflix)
There are three seasons of this brilliant anthology series that offer up cautionary tales of contemporary technologies taken to nightmarish extremes. Reminiscent of The Twilight Zone, each episode has a different cast and setting and portrays a unique, unsettling vision of society. What if you could record and play back every fight with a spouse you ever had, could a marriage survive that? What if you could download all the memories of a dead loved one into a clone, should you? The series offers chillingly relevant satires of social media, reality TV and even our current political system. Thought-provoking and provocative, this is television at its best.
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