Streaming Not Screaming: What to Watch in Lockdown

It’s an unprecedented global pandemic and suddenly everyone’s a critic. Everyone, and I mean truly everyone has been giving unsolicited advice. Not just on how the earth is healing and humans are the virus (fuck off Extinction Rebellion), dangerous drugs that will kill you, not save you (fuck off Donald Trump), or nonsense symptom checkers that have no basis in fact (fuck all the way off thickos on Facebook). People everywhere are desperate to tell you what you should be watching while you’re stuck at home. I mean, let’s be real, no one has ever read Stylist magazine for culture. And you don’t see me advising on nail polish trends for the season (but it’s black, it’s always black) so stay in your lane Stylist! The person you need in a time of crisis is a socially awkward anxious organiser who has been running this precise scenario in her head for years, and has concluded the only logical thing to do is get really comfy and claim control of the TV remote.

Now, finally, you have the time! Binge away! But don’t binge the news; that’s something you need to limit for your own sanity and peace of mind. And by all means if you have the great American novel in you (or any nationality will do), and you have the motivation, go for it! But don’t feel pressured to be productive. Everything is wild and your whole year has gone tits-up in just a few days. You need time to process what’s happened, and find the mental resilience to get through through the day. Dump those haters who make you feel guilty for being a bit unproductive. Do what makes you feel good. But please, for the love of God, keep any and all coronavirus poetry to yourself.

Read On…

‘Chernobyl’ – Sky Atlantic

Last month I saw the strangest advert for this particularly harrowing drama. In all my years of watching TV I’ve never seen a show directly compare itself in popularity to other drama classics. HBO and Sky the UK broadcasters of Chernobyl are delighted that the ratings for this 6 episode mini-series on IMDb are higher than The Sopranos, Breaking Bad and The Wire. Remember, this is a public website, so this isn’t critical reviews; this is what the audience at large are saying. The internet is taking over, and broadcasters are happy to make much of such an amazing response. Right now it’s sitting in the number one spot on the Top 250 TV shows list. But how can a realistic unflinching drama about a devastating episode in world history be so watchable? Guest blogger Jontosaurus investigates…

HBO needed a solid victory, and quickly. Season 8 of Game of Thrones– by far its flagship series for almost a decade- was almost universally panned, with critics, fans and cast members alike all having very little positive to say about the unsatisfactory ending. But luckily, Chernobyl delivers on almost every level; whilst this isn’t a review as such, it is certainly going to be an article full of praise for one of the most gripping dramas in recent memory. And furthermore…it’s the truth. Whilst there are moments of dramatic license and a few factual changes, this is by and large a dramatised account of exactly how things went down at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. 

Chernobyl has it easy in one regard, as there doesn’t need to be an awful lot of fabrication. Facts don’t need to be ignored, and fantastical elements to the story don’t need to be introduced; the explosion of Reactor number four is such a dramatic event in and of itself that it is perfect for creating the bigger picture. On the one hand, this creates a thrilling and harrowing viewing experience, made all the more effective considering that the audience is watching with the benefit of hindsight. We all know what happened at Chernobyl, as the effects are still being felt today. As recently as January, wildlife as far away as Sweden were being discovered in highly irradiated states. It’s been over thirty years since the disaster, but there are enough people alive to remember it. And that’s why the show works so well.

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A view from The Bridge

Spoiler alert: Contains plot details for Series 4 of The Bridge
Writers Hans Rosenfeldt and Camilla Ahlgren promised great things with the final series of this international Scandi hit and viewers arrived back on the iconic Øresund Bridge with high hopes for our heroes Saga Noren (Sofia Helin) and Henrik Sabroe (Thure Lindhardt). Were they the awesome crime-fighting duo we’d seen at the end of series 3? Were they working together to solve the disappearance of Henrik’s daughters? Well, yes and no.
The series begins with Saga behind bars serving time for her wicked mother’s murder, patiently awaiting a re-trial. We know she didn’t do it, but how on earth can a cop with such limited social skills survive the system unscathed? Devoted Henrik who is trying hard to turn his life around is a frequent visitor. Absence really does make the heart grow fonder – their relationship seems much stronger than ever before. And a good job too, as there are some incredible storms to weather in this series – new highs and desperately tragic lows that are quite alien to Saga’s usual even keel. There’s heartbreak for all here, especially Saga as she finally has to confront her dreadful abusive childhood, and how it’s shaped her adult life. Saga in therapy is powerhouse acting from Sofia Helin, pushing at the limited scope in her character’s movements and facial expressions. I’ve not seen more entertaining and revealing therapy sessions since The Sopranos.
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