Thursday, February 20, 2014

TV series, Netflix and what's worth watching!

Netflix Junky
Several years ago I joined Netflix. It seemed to make sense once the Block Buster's of the world disappeared and CD's became the "in" thing. It was reasonably priced and it was nice to have choices other than what was offered on regular TV. I have watched a few series in their entirety like ER and Lost. But thanks to Netflix, I've been able to watch shows I hadn't even considered.

 Listed below are some of the shows I believe are worth the watch, depending on your taste.

 Of all the shows I watched, I was completely in awe with Spartacus. When that came on I was glued to the TV. It set the tone very early on and was based on history. I loved the way they portrayed life as it truly was back in that era. So I decided to give my reviews. 1* being okay and 5* being  a must watch!

1. ER ****
2. Heroes ****
3. Lost ****
4. Pretty Little Liars ****(complex plot)
5. True Blood ***
6. Dance Academy **
7. Mad Men **** (this one surprised me)
8. The Borgias ****(Jeremy Irons is stellar)
9. Borgias ***
10. Spartacus *****(phenomenal)
11. Rome ***
12. The Tudors *****(amazing)
13. Orange is the new Black ***
14. Merlin ****(great family show)
15. Lost Girl ****
16. Nip/Tuck ***
17. The Following *****(Kevin Bacon is awesome in this)
18. Vampire Diaries ****
19. Walking Dead *****(surprisingly good)
20. Breaking Bad **********(AMAZING)

So if you ask me out of all these which would be a must watch? Hands down:
 Breaking Bad. Now, don't get me wrong, I was amazed by several of these series, as seen by my rating system. 
Spoiler alert: If you haven't watched Breaking Bad, consider stopping here as I will be discussing the series.
Breaking Bad wasn't something I had even considered watching. My son was a Netflix fan and saw the series and said, "Mom, I think you should watch this, it sounds cool." I looked at the description, kind of shrugged my shoulders and replied, "I guess I can try it." Then I was hooked. The end. LOL
Breaking Bad is a story of a guy (Walt) who is a chemistry teacher who gets diagnosed with lung cancer. His brother-in-law works for the DEA (drug enforcement administration). Long story short, Walt decides because of his lot in life, he needed to come up with a way to provide for his family financially. Being a chemistry teacher and seeing what kind of money drug dealers made via his brother-in-law, he seeks out one of his graduated (stoner) students. He wants to cook meth and sell it. He sets a goal of a certain dollar amount it would take, to not leave his family in total debt. The journey starts with Walt being kind of a wallflower. Not particularly handsome, barely making a living, a lack of people skills and kind of introverted. He's a brilliant man, but lost a chance to make millions when he walked out of another position in another company.  So he and his side kick Jessie begin on their journey of cooking and selling meth. Things are anything but easy. Every episode shows the absurdity of what he is trying to accomplish. Yet, somehow he maintains his composure. The question is why? His wife was pregnant and his son has CP. The series shows a man who essentially has no self-confidence suddenly starting to attain a level of power and wealth he never dreamed he would have. But, that wealth and power came at a price. He started having to lie. He lied to his wife, his son, and his whole family. He was living a double life. Constantly having to look over his shoulder. What started out as just trying to get enough money to leave his family debt free, led to his transformation. Why?? It's called greed. People say you don't change just because you get wealthy. Well, Walt is a prime example of what happens to a man who had nothing and was nothing and suddenly becomes powerful and wealthy and lets it go to his head. I won't go into too many details but you get the gist of it. In the end what I learned from this series:

1. Money turns some nice, average people into very ugly people (ex; Walt).
2. When one lie begins, the lies become endless.
3. Power and wealth shouldn't be had by some people.
4. Power and wealth doesn't make you better than anyone else.
5. Wealth will make you do things which you normally would never do.
6. There are pathological liars out there and they are scary, because they do it with such ease. (Walt started believing his own lies)
7. Walt thought he was doing it for the family, but in the end realized he was doing it solely for himself.
8. He risked losing everything when he let money control his life.
9. Maybe the true character of a person comes out due to the wealth (Walt's transformation through the series)
10. Some people are so poor all they have is money. (He died alone alienated from all family)


What I learned from all of this? 
In the end, something I remember a family member said: At the end of the day, it's not the money or the things money can buy that your children will remember about you. It is the love, the caring, the time you spend with them that matters. All the money in the world won't replace being there with them. Sometimes, being poor is far richer than all the money in the world. I could go on forever about the series and the characters. Walt and Jessie were unbelievable, but Gus played a role that bar none was perfect. Each character was perfectly suited to their individual roles. This show makes you mad, cry, astonished, furious, happy, laugh and more...
Truly magic in motion!!!




Cheers, Lisa