Celebrating Some of the Most Critically-Acclaimed Series that Audiences have been Gifted with over the Past Few Years
5) Bodyguard (2018)
Synopsis: The series follows security guard and shell-shocked veteran David Budd (Richard Madden) as he assigned to the security detail of British Home Secretary Julia Montague (Keely Hawes) amidst a series of terrorist attacks throughout London. He struggles to maintain a solid co-parenting relationship with his estranged ex-wife Vicky (Sophia Rudd) and their children. After several assassination attempts on the Home Secretary's life, David Budd begins to ponder whether or not the terrorist attacks are an inside job.
Superlatives: Outstanding at creating tension, Bodyguard manages to do a great job of tackling the complex issues of veterans dealing with shell shock/PTSD, as well as government surveillance in times of great civil unrest.
4) The Punisher (2017-2019)
Synopsis: A spin-off of the timeline in Netflix's "Daredevil". The series follows former veteran and notorious vigilante Frank Castle (Jon Berenthal) as he gradually reemerges into the public eye as his famed moniker of "The Punisher", seeking revenge on those that murdered his family and had him thrown in jail. It also hovers around FBI agent Dinah Madani (Amber Rose Revah) as she seeks to track him down in pursuit of a common enemy surrounding a Middle-Eastern drug-smuggling operation.
Superlatives: An very interesting storyline (especially for Season 1), along with some incredible fight scenes, make The Punisher a must-watch. Like Bodygard, The Punisher also manages to tackle the complex issue of veterans dealing with shell-shock/PTSD.
3) Insecure (2016-2021)
Synopsis: "Millennial" college graduate Issa Dee (Issa Rae) resides in Los Angeles and is deeply dissatisfied with her life in her late 20's, especially regarding her unemployed and depressed long-term boyfriend named Lawrence Walker (Jay Ellis). She shares similar frustrations with her long-time best friend Molly Carter (Yvone Orji), as both of them feel as if they are "stuck" in their careers headed into their 30's. Things begin to heat up, however, after her college ex-boyfriend and Hip-Hop producer Daniel King (Y'lan Noel) suddenly reemerges back into her life. Issa is then forced to juggle the conundrum of whether or not she should stick with Lawrence or rekindle an old flame with Daniel.
Superlatives: A very well-written show, for the most part. Insecure mostly does an outstanding job of portraying community activism in the modern day. In particular, Insecure has about a 90% accurate portrayal of the average "Black" man in America (outside of the last few episodes), contrary to the brutal and cartoonish villain portrayals of "Black" men in films such as Birth of a Nation (1915), The Color Purple (1985), and Waiting to Exhale (1995). Also does a good job of displaying many "Black" men's flawed approaches to dealing with relationships.
Also, Insecure's comedic genius stems from a very indirect and seemingly unintentional satire on the "woke", dating and mating preferences/behaviors in contemporary society. Seeing how the "smart and sophisticated" women interact in their personal dating lives is akin to a beautiful train-wreck; a far more intelligent and sophisticated version of Jerry Springer.
2) Squid Game (2021)
Synopsis: Hundreds of Seoul citizens desperately look for a way out of their crippling financial debt. In particular, Seong Gi-Hun (Lee-Jung-jae) gambles away his last little bit of money winning a horse race; that is, until his money is stolen by Kang Sae-byeok (HoYeong Jung). As a last ditch effort to wipe out their debt, they inadvertently agree to a death game on a remote island, in which contestants must survive six children's games in order the last surviving contestant to claim a grand prize of 45.6 billion won ($38.3 million).
Superlatives: The multiple diverging story lines, as well as the subtle sleights of hand throughout the death games, make Squid Game have a well-deserved reputation of being Netflix's most popular show EVER (as of 2021).
1) Ozark (2017-2022)
Synopsis: A mild-mannered, Chicago-based financial advisor named Martin Byrde (Jason Bateman) secretly launders money for the Navarro drug cartel. Whilst doing so, he also secretly filmed his wife being caught having an affair. After his business partners are killed for skimming money from the cartel, Martin Byrde is spared after desperately promising to recoup the stolen money (and then some) by transplanting the money laundering operation elsewhere. He hurriedly takes him, wife Wendy Byrde, and their two children to go live in the Ozarks in Missouri, where he plans to set up his new money-laundering operations as an angel investor. Things become complicated, however, when his hidden stashes of cash are discovered by Ruth Langmore (Julia Garner) and her uncle Russ Langmore (Mark Menchaca), who plan to kill Martin Byrde once Ruth learns how to effectively launder money from him. The Byrde's also have to contend with a competing heroin-smuggling operation headed by local elderly couple Jacob Snell (Peter Mullan) and Darlene Snell (Lisa Emery), as well as getting monitored by the FBI, who have serious suspicions about their financial operations.
Superlatives: Not only is the plot full of well-timed, dramatic twists, but what Ozark also boasts in particular is the large amounts of deducing and cunning, sophisticated behavior from almost everyone involved in the story line (regardless of class-level), despite primarily taking place in a Midwestern "hick" town.
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