SCI FI : Altered Carbon
Normally I’d recommend something like Black Mirror but as we currently are living out a real life episode of the show, it’s probably best to go with something a bit farther detached from the depressing reality!
Altered Carbon features a dystopian future where people are becoming further detached from what it means to be human, as ‘sleeving’ has become the norm.
Once the use of the tech known as cortical stacks became ubiquitous, human bodies were considered no more than “sleeves” for the human consciousness. The body an individual is born with is called their “birth sleeves”. Sleeving is a process where an individual’s consciousness is transferred to another body and was developed with cortical stacks as a method of interstellar travel, by transferring the human consciousness to worlds that are trillions of miles away in seconds to a waiting sleeve, called Needlecasting.
https://altered-carbon.fandom.com/wiki/Sleeves
If you’re a fan of the films blade runner / blade runner 2049 or the games Deus Ex then you’ll love the atmosphere and setting in this one.
The second season doesn’t quite live up to a very strong first season but is still enjoyable.
Also strongly recommended but not on all regions of Netflix : The Expanse
THRILLER : Peaky Blinders
Peaky blinders is a bloody good show. It’s brought back the flat cap to modern day fashion ( at least for some people ).
What makes peaky blinders great?
Aside from the great action scenes, colourful language and great casting, peaky blinders features some great storylines with plenty of interesting twists and turns. Each episode brings plenty to the table so no filler episodes – looking at you walking dead. It says especially a lot when the ‘worst episode’ is the pilot with an 8.2 rating.
The setting is mostly in Birmingham in 1919, several months after the end of World War 1 and this is explored in the characters development in recovering from one of the most horrific wars in human history as issues of PTSD are shown, the combat ability of the peaky blinders are clearly explainable from this also.
The series starts off with the blinders at the bottom of the criminal empire and stumble on to a huge crate of weapons which begins a series of events that keeps escalating across seasons. It’s gripping to say the least and decent amounts of comedy layered in to keep it fresh.
COMEDY : Fresh Prince of Bel Air
You can’t beat the classics and the Fresh Prince of Bel Air holds up strong and hasn’t aged much. This is the show that started Will Smiths legendary acting career and created the iconic Carlton dance. It’s the kind of show that’ll get you with plenty of natural laughs throughout compared to some more modern shows where laugh tracks are put on some fairly forced situations.
If you haven’t watched this before or not watched in years, it’s well worth a full rewatch
As well as being a great comedy it often explored some deeper themes such as Wills relationship to his dad which created one of the most iconic tear jerkers ever created in a tv show.
HORROR : The Haunting of Hill House
I’m not a huge horror fan but the storytelling and setup in the haunting of hill house was executed to perfection. It’s rare a TV show can manage multiple timelines this well and throw in this many plot twists and turns and not leave the viewer in a state of bewildered confusion but they managed to do just that.
Stephen King, renown horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, and fantasy novelist has described the haunting of hill house as “A work of genius” so you know it lives up to this hype.
You’ll enjoy watching the Haunting of Hill house a second time even more to pickup on everything you’ve missed. Just try and spot all the hidden ghost easter eggs you missed the first time
FANTASY : The Witcher
The Witcher is set in a dark medieval fantasy setting with plenty of magic, witchcraft and monsters. It’s mostly based on polish mythology and the lore behind it is very strong so there should be many more seasons lined up given the positive response to the first season.
The Witcher won’t be for everyone but as far as fantasy settings go, it’s a strong contender. You’ll enjoy it more if you have played any of the games – particularly the Witcher 3 the wild hunt.
What is a Witcher?
A witcher (Polish: wiedźmin) also known as a wiccan, hexer, vedymin, or witchman (Elder Speech: vatt’ghern), is someone who has undergone extensive training, ruthless mental and physical conditioning, and mysterious rituals (which take place at “witcher schools” such as Kaer Morhen) in preparation for becoming an itinerant monsterslayer for hire. Geralt, the central character in Andrzej Sapkowski‘s Witcher series and the subsequent games inspired by them, is said in the stories to be one of the greatest witchers; he is certainly legendary, but whether famous or infamous is more open to interpretation (and/or subject to gameplay, as the case may be).
https://witcher.fandom.com/wiki/Witcher
The main character Geralt takes a fairly amoral stance compared to the extremes you can go in the game. The casting is mostly spot on and the environment and setting is very true to the games / books. Some people may find the multiple timelines hard to follow at the start but these merge better and you should have a good grasp of it by episode 4.
Alternative if you can stomach knowing the ending : Game of Thrones is worth another watch as the first 5 seasons are a masterpiece in modern television.
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