Binge Watching

I watch a lot of shows on Netflix and Amazon Prime in the evenings.  I seldom watch anything in "real" time (beyond Dancing With the Stars and America's Got Talent) preferring to binge watch show after show of a series until I reach the last season.  This evening TV time is also my knitting time - and a quiet space when I control the TV remote and the choices.

Thought I would share some of the titles I have watched and my impressions.

24

Counterterrorism agent Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) fights the bad guys of the world one day at a time.  With each episode unfolding in real time, "24" covers a single day in the life of Bauer each season.   (9 seasons with 24 episodes per season)

You know, I am really not into counterterrorism topics, but this show is ACTION, ACTION, ACTION.  Non-stop action and you simply cannot pull your eyes away from the screen.  I completely enjoyed the series.  Sorry it was over.  Rating:  A++++

Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan

Former US Marine, Jack Ryan, now is a up and coming CIA Analyst.  He is thrust into his first dangerous field assignment.  One season only available at this point but I understand another season is in the works.

It was ok.  I enjoyed some of Tom Clancy's books and the Jack Ryan character.  But will I seek out another season ... maybe.  Rating:  C

Designated Survivor

As a lower-level cabinet member, Tom Kirkman (Kiefer Sutherland) is catapulted into the Oval Office as President by a devastating attack on the night of the State of the Union address.  Two seasons available.

I think the first season was pretty good - and the second season was ok.  I am a fan of Kiefer Sutherland.    This show was cancelled.  There is no third season.   Rating: C+

Suits - currently watching

Big time Manhattan corporate lawyer Harvey Specter and his team are launched into the play for power.  Eight seasons - 16 episodes each season.

I will admit I had no real interest in a legal themed show.  I started watching so I could find out who this Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex, is/was.  The show is very good, interesting, funny at times and the characters have grown on me a bunch.  The one thing I know after watching this show is that I could NEVER be a lawyer.   The show is still in production.   Rating: A+

Absentia

After being declared dead in absentia, an FBI agent must reclaim her family, identity and innocence when she finds herself the prime suspect in a string of murders - 1 season, 10 episodes

The draw for this show was actress Stana Katic who plays the missing FBI agent.  She was the star of another TV series called Castle that I enjoyed.  This show was a little brutal at times to watch but good enough to watch all the 10 episodes. I think a second season is planned for 2019.  I probably won't seek it out when it is released.  Rating: C

3 Wives 1 Husband 

Documentary series offers a rare access to a fundamentalist community of 15 Mormon families that live in the desert of Utah.  They are polygamists - the practice of marriage to multiple people at once.    This series examines the personal politics of courtship, how to behave correctly in front of sister wives, complicated sleeping arrangements, and also acts as a catalyst to a wider selection of relationships, love, family and faith in the contemporary United States.   4 episodes

I admit I watched these 4 episodes mostly because I was curious.  I am drawn to reading books and watching shows of different life styles.  On the surface, the documentary answers many questions about the lives of this segment of our society.  Just like any other small and different group (Amish, Hasidic Jews, etc.) there is curiosity, mis-information and, at times, fear.  Watching this show I felt some questions were never addressed:  how do they support such large families.  The family in the documentary had anywhere from 12-19 children, 3 wives and 1 husband.  At a minimum, the funds to feed and clothe that many people were not explained.  It could also be argued that so many dependents of one man could not be an easy life - stressful even.  I could not see myself accepting any of that, but I wasn't raised as a fundamentalist Mormon as these people were.  And even with their upbringing, they had some problems with this life style.  It was a very interesting show.
Rating: B

So what shows have you been watching?