It’s a new year and so much has changed. Okay, perhaps not a lot has changed really, including the fact that I’m here every weekend to offer up three fantastic shows that deserve your attention on Netflix.
Would you like to watch a political thriller? How about a comedy? Or maybe you prefer crime? Whatever your flavor, I’ve got you covered.
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Homeland
I’ll say this from the off: Homeland is one of the best TV shows ever made. That might seem like a bold claim, but come back to me after you’ve binged all eight seasons and tell me I’m wrong. It aired throughout the 2010s on Showtime and is now available on Netflix, meaning it’s easier than ever to discover why this gripping espionage thriller won so many awards.
Homeland stars Claire Danes as Carrie Mathison, a talented CIA agent with bipolar. When a prisoner of war named Nicholas Brody (Damian Lewis) returns to the United States as a hero, Carrie suspects that he’s now in league with the opposition. However, she has a bad reputation due to a field assignment that went wrong, and no one believes her. This is the primary threat, but Carrie deals with more as the show progresses.
The show has fantastic performances, with characters that feel real and develop interestingly over the seasons, and many exciting stories. It may falter a tad halfway, but it picks back up, and it’s thrilling television when considered as a whole. If you want more from Danes, check out The Beast in Me.
Homeland
- Release Date
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2011 – 2020-00-00
- Network
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Showtime
- Showrunner
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Alex Gansa
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Call My Agent!
If you want to start the new year with laughter, then look no further than Call My Agent!, a French series. Once I started watching it, I couldn’t stop; it’s a hidden gem on Netflix. The setting is a talent agency, where four agents take control of the company after the death of its founder. The show follows the chaos as they look after their clients, navigate business complexities, and deal with their own personal lives.
The show features many French actors who appear as exaggerated versions of themselves, which is hilarious even if you aren’t familiar with their work. But it’s more than just a bunch of cameos. The characters at the agency are wonderful and unique, each their own source of amusement and drama, performed masterfully by the talented cast. The show is also very clever, charming, and joyous.
Call My Agent! finished after four seasons, but it proved so popular that it continues to be adapted for different countries, like India, Germany, and Italy. You could seek them out if you finish the French original and crave more.
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Mindhunter
Mindhunter is an enthralling psychological crime show from David Fincher that is based on the book Mindhunter: Inside the FBI’s Elite Serial Crime Unit by John E. Douglas and Mark Olshaker. As the title of that book suggests, the show is about the workings of the FBI’s crime unit. More specifically, it follows two agents, Holden Ford (Jonathan Groff) and Bill Tench (Holt McCallany) as they interview incarcerated serial killers.
Set in the 1970s, the purpose of these interviews is to understand the criminals’ brains and develop new profiling techniques. While this isn’t your usual action-packed thriller, it’s nonetheless an incredibly engaging show with top-notch writing and cinematography. Anna Torv also appears as Wendy Carr, a psychology professor, who is equally as excellent as Groff and McCallany.
Sadly, Mindhunter is a show that Netflix canceled too soon. I’m pleased we got two seasons at least, but it easily could have gone on for more. Unfortunately, Netflix felt the budget was too high for the audience the show was getting. Considering it was axed in 2019, it’s unlikely to be resurrected now.
Mindhunter
- Release Date
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2017 – 2019
- Showrunner
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Joe Penhall
- Directors
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David Fincher
This just scratches the surface of what’s available to watch. There are many new shows arriving on Netflix this month, so be sure to enable notifications for those that interest you. That way, you can dive straight in!
- Subscription with ads
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Yes, $8/month
- Simultaneous streams
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Two or four
Stream all of these brilliant shows, along with plenty more licensed and original programming, with a monthly Netflix subscription.
