Recently I've been watching..... Game of Thrones, #AloneShow, Eye Candy and others....

My occasional Netflix etc series recommendations/comments.... click the title of the show for more details about it.

Kicking off with Season 6 of Game of Thrones.  I watched this all in one day (there are worse ways of spending your birthday when you have a bad back!!!).  Interesting for me to watch, as I've read the first five books so I knew what was coming in previous seasons, whereas I didn't with this one.  I thought it dragged a bit for the first few episodes, nowhere near as good as S5 which was the best yet, but it built up gradually to some terrific later episodes, the high point being the battle for Winterfell in the penultimate one!  Fabulous, loved it.   Some tragic deaths and highly satisfying comeuppances.  Great end, a thrilling taste of what is to come.... but it's also kind of sad that, finally, just when almost everyone is where they should be (Theon back on his island, some Starks in Winterfell, etc), with some great tying off of ends, someone and some things are going to stir it all back up again.....

*****Five Stars*****
 (Would have been 4.5 or even just 4 if not for last few eps)


 

Unusual for me, a bit of paranormal, but Stranger Things is very good indeed.  It's set in the early 1980s and is made in the atmosphere of that time, too; it's very clever.  "When a young boy vanishes, a small town uncovers a mystery involving secret experiments, terrifying supernatural forces and one strange little girl."  Stars Winona Ryder and some excellent child actors.

****Four and a half stars**** 

Enjoyed the second series of Tyrant very much.  About a fictional middle eastern country and two warring brothers, one of whom is the tyrant named, and the other who has lived in America for much of his adult life, and arrives back home along with his wife and two children.  Lots of suspense and edge-of-seat action, good plot.   Not a total wow, but it's very good and I look forward to the next series.  Written by Gideon Raff, who wrote Prisoner of War, on which Homeland was based.

****Four Stars****

I watched the first series of survival reality show Alone and liked it alot ~ recently watched Series 2 (click for more details) and thought the contestants were all as interesting as Lucas and Alan in Series 1: the hilarious (Desmond and Larry, for different reasons), the smug and self-satisfied (Randy and Mike), the humble, natural wilderness inhabitants (Nicole and Jose) and the just nice (David and Tracy).  I was really glad about who won, but will say no more!  A couple of them seemed, despite all their boasts about their survival prowess, to be still living in a world of privilege in their heads, where they expected to actively feel good, not just get on with living in their new environment; as soon as they weren't enjoying themselves, they bolted (or 'tapped out').  The behind the scenes episodes, Making the Cut and The Reunion, were worth watching, too. 

*****Five Stars*****

 

Started watching Eye Candy by accident and got a little bit hooked!  Very silly teens/YA type serial killer thriller set in NY with lots of hugely irritating young people and cops who look as if they're in boy bands, but it's pretty good; if you're under 25 and like easy entertainment you'll probably love it!

***Three Stars*** 

Now, I don't know if I'm retreating into childhood, but I'm liking the TV series Scream, based on the cult slasher films.  It's actually very well acted and thought out, and I'm enjoying trying to work out who the slasher is this series :)  It's something for late night viewing when you feel like something a bit daft and easy to watch, I suppose.  Some of the teenagers are really annoying, but that's teenagers for you, after all; it's good, not tooo silly!

***Three stars*** 


My previous TV post is HERE, featuring The Living and the Dead, Versailles and more, with links to all other posts at the end.