Netflix/Prime/Hulu/BritBox Binge Watching: Coronavirus Edition

[LeafOnTheWind]

Verizon Wireless is giving a free year of Netflix to customers if you prepay a year (at a discount) with another service. You supposedly get to keep your existing Netflix account but I ran into issues. See below. Verizon is offering several streaming channels. Once you setup and prepay for the new service you can go back to Play+ at your Verizon account and link your Netflix account.

I still get 1 DVD because I need to figure out my library access and some movies are only available on DVD. If you only have a Netflix streaming plan you shouldn't have a problem linking the existing account. I ended up creating a new Netflix account, setup my wishlist and then canceled my streaming plan on the old account.

 

[alexikeguchi]

I haven't read every single entry in this thread to see if these series had already been mentioned, but I enjoyed both seasons of the Finnish/Spanish police procedural "The Paradise," S2 even more than S1, and the Irish/Belgian production "Hidden Assets" was also excellent. I watched both on Acorn through Prime, which I subscribed to planning to binge "Line of Duty" for free. I actually didn't totally love Line of Duty and fast forwarded through most of S2 and S3 before bailing entirely; there were twists and turns and some good acting to be sure, but the plot seemed too far-fetched and made me think of how you just want to tell the characters in slasher movies to turn on the lights.

 

[Miezekatze]

I'm really enjoying "The Glory", I like the 2nd season even more than the first. It's so complex and intriguing a story and I love the development of some of the characters.

In the one episode with the product placement disclaimer, they overdid it a bit with the in your face product placement though

 

[Mugs]

I'm really enjoying "The Glory", I like the 2nd season even more than the first. It's so complex and intriguing a story and I love the development of some of the characters.

In the one episode with the product placement disclaimer, they overdid it a bit with the in your face product placement though

I didn't see the product placement disclaimer because I always skip past the introduction. Was that the snack/treat/bar she eats with Mr Ha? I could never figure out exactly what it was Dong-eun was eating but I remember there was a shot of a package on the counter at the store.

I would love to see another series of episodes. There could be focus on Yeo-jeong's revenge. We could learn what happens to Hyun-nam (the housekeeper) and learn about her daughter's fate in the US. We could go back to the past and learn why Dong-eun's mother was so horrible or how the high school kids developed into bullies. We could go into the future and learn the fate of Yeon-jin's young daughter. Will she repeat her mother's deeds? Will she seek revenge on Dong-eun for having her mother incarcerated? There are so many places this story could go and all of the story lines worthy of being told.

 

[TanithandBenFan]

I’m on S2 of Downton Abbey, and while I am enjoying it, I think the pacing of the show is terrible. There are too many huge time jumps which leads to underdevelopment of character relationships. So many things don’t make any sense with the amount of time that has passed. I feel like the villains are also too cartoonish and aren’t well-written at all. But it’s all good soapy fun at least. And Granny is a hoot!

 

[Mugs]

I’m on S2 of Downton Abbey, and while I am enjoying it, I think the pacing of the show is terrible. There are too many huge time jumps which leads to underdevelopment of character relationships. So many things don’t make any sense with the amount of time that has passed. I feel like the villains are also too cartoonish and aren’t well-written at all. But it’s all good soapy fun at least. And Granny is a hoot!

I never watched Downton Abbey when it aired on PBS. There is no way I would have stuck with it for so many seasons. I binged DA on Netflix over a week or ten days and I was surprised how much I enjoyed it.

 

[tony]

I'm finally watching Poker Face, and for whatever reason I thought it was going to be stand-alone stories with the stars playing different characters each episode. It's giving me total Twin Peaks and Murder, She Wrote vibes, especially the latter seeing how some of the murder plotlines are basically the same as they were 40 years ago on MSW- literally, episode 2's premise was done there!

It's supposed to be kooky and not that serious of a show, but still the mysteries are really so basic

 

[MacMadame]

It's supposed to be kooky and not that serious of a show, but still the mysteries are really so basic

To me, it's more like Columbo where we know who did it from the start and the mystery is how she will catch them. (Not that we always know who dunnit but, as you say, it's usually pretty clear.)

 

[TanithandBenFan]

I never watched Downton Abbey when it aired on PBS. There is no way I would have stuck with it for so many seasons. I binged DA on Netflix over a week or ten days and I was surprised how much I enjoyed it.

I thought it was more than six seasons because it seemed like it was on forever on PBS.

 

[clairecloutier]

I enjoyed Downton Abbey, but agree it was a bit uneven. There were some parts that were really good, while others were not so great. And yeah, some of the transitions between seasons were a bit rocky.

We finally finished The Leftovers on HBO. The second season was better than the first in some ways. There was more character development, which was good. However, toward the end of the second season, I realized that we were not getting any answers on the central mysteries. They spent 5 or 6 episodes basically introducing the second season storyline from each character's point of view, but then it just didn't really go anywhere (except for Kevin, Matt, and Mary), and most of my questions were not answered.

Toward the end of season 3, I started to completely lose patience , and probably would have given up if it were just me. I was so irritated with how they kept introducing more mystery and never answering anything until the very last episode!

Spoiler

I also started to dislike Nora. She was so hyper-impulsive and constantly on the edge of hysteria. It was just a lot. Laurie, OTOH, became more likable (and less frenetic than Nora). I thought Season 3 dropped the ball on so many storylines. Like not covering the loss of baby Lily; just one throwaway scene with Jill; Tommy dropping out of the storyline halfway through; never learning the full reasons why John was so angry in season 2 (or how he suddenly mellowed into Mr. Sensitive in season 3 ), what caused Matt to no longer care what happened with his marriage and kid, after the hyper-focus on it in Season 2, and I could go on ....

Overall I can't say I would recommend it.

 

[DFJ]

Oh God, I'm the outlier. I loved DA...everything about it. And on a shallow note, I'd give my right arm for Mary's clothes.

 

[skatingguy]

Oh God, I'm the outlier. I loved DA...everything about it. And on a shallow note, I'd give my right arm for Mary's clothes.

I also love Downton Abbey - one of the few series I think that you can rewatch and see new things every time because their are so many story lines in every episode.

 

[alexikeguchi]

I followed recommendations on Acorn and just binged both seasons of "Blood" with Adrian Dunbar from "Line of Duty." This is exactly the kind of crime drama that I like, with lots of psychology and suspense rather than gore and action. I really enjoyed both seasons and appreciated how well developed the characters were and how the plot flowed from their motivations.

 

[Matryeshka]

I was so disappointed in History of the World pt II. I turned it off halfway through the second episode. It wasn't funny, snarky, or clever. I think Mel Brooks was trying so had to not be offensive it just wasn't anything at all.

 

[TanithandBenFan]

I enjoyed Downton Abbey, but agree it was a bit uneven. There were some parts that were really good, while others were not so great. And yeah, some of the transitions between seasons were a bit rocky.

It's not even so much the transitions between seasons but the time jumps within each season.

Spoiler: Spoilers

In S1 it seemed like a few months had passed and then they said Bates had been working there two years and I was like whaaaat? A year passed between one episode and another and yet they were still talking about the same issues. I mean, this scandal with Mary and the Turk happened in 1912 or 1913 and it's STILL being thrown around in 1918. Then on the romantic front, we have Branson being in love with Sybil when they've had maybe three conversations on screen. If they'd slowed down the time jumps, maybe they could have spent more time on developing relationships. A lot of it just doesn't feel organic.

 

[clairecloutier]

@TanithandBenFan Yes, I remember distinctly that, when we found out that

Spoiler

Branson was in love with Sybil

I was like, Really?? Did not see that coming. It was almost like they dropped several scenes out of the script or something!

 

[emason]

Re: Downton Abbey, if you watched it on PBS you were always going to have issues. PBS cuts everything they show to fit the time slots and shoehorn in the commercials. Several things in Season 1 made no sense at all because of the cuts that were made. That’s the reason I stopped watching; it wasn’t worth the effort.

 

[Jimena]

I liked the first season of Downton Abbey a lot. And then I didn't like it anymore. I thought the writing and the acting was not up to par. Especially the writing. And Mary got on my LAST NERVE.

 

[TanithandBenFan]

Re: Downton Abbey, if you watched it on PBS you were always going to have issues. PBS cuts everything they show to fit the time slots and shoehorn in the commercials. Several things in Season 1 made no sense at all because of the cuts that were made. That’s the reason I stopped watching; it wasn’t worth the effort.

I’m assuming the version I’m watching on Peacock is what was shown on PBS?

 

[MacMadame]

Re: Downton Abbey, if you watched it on PBS you were always going to have issues. PBS cuts everything they show to fit the time slots and shoehorn in the commercials. Several things in Season 1 made no sense at all because of the cuts that were made. That’s the reason I stopped watching; it wasn’t worth the effort.

PBS is a non-commercial network. They do not cut things to fit in commercials because they don't show commercials*. However, the production company cut the show into fewer but longer episodes for US consumption before PBS ever got it.

*let's not talk about Pledge Week, okay?

 

[Allskate]

Oh God, I'm the outlier. I loved DA...everything about it. And on a shallow note, I'd give my right arm for Mary's clothes.

I thought it was a really fun soap opera. It has the benefit of also being a period piece with an amazing wardrobe.

I watch a lot of the period dramas on PBS and most of them are not as good as DA IMO. That's what I was thinking as I spent last evening watching PBS for several hours.

 

[Spikefan]

It's supposed to be kooky and not that serious of a show, but still the mysteries are really so basic

Thanks for this, I was going to download for an upcoming long flight and will pass now.

We started Shrinking last night on AppleTV now that all episodes are out and we didn’t want to stop watching. Made the right call to wait, definitely bingeable.

 

[ilovepaydays]

Finished watching the Netflix docuseries “Waco: American Apocalypse”. It’s hard to believe that the Branch Davidians vs. ATF/FBI standoff happened 30 years ago.

The series had a lot of fascinating and unbelievable stuff. If you are interested in learning more about how these religious cults and/or law enforcement work, I highly recommend watching it.

I still have mixed feelings about how the ATF and FBI handled the initial siege, the standoff, and final tragic assault. But what was going on inside the Branch Davidians was legitimately bonkers.

 

[sk8pics]

We started Shrinking last night on AppleTV now that all episodes are out and we didn’t want to stop watching. Made the right call to wait, definitely bingeable.

I loved Shrinking and I’m sorry the season is over. I thought the penultimate episode was meh, but the season finale was good.

 

[tony]

I also thought it was really good. And it also fixed the abysmal ending of the original series. There was speculation about a second season but it's officially not going to happen, which I'm fine with as I think there's now closure on Dexter's story.

Dexter: New Blood future confirmed following season 2 speculation

There won't be a second outing for Dexter's son.

www.digitalspy.com

While randomly going across other articles today, I actually noticed that just before we discussed this, they actually gave the green light for an additional New Blood season to continue what the finale hinted at, and also the Origins show is moving forward. The latter, I don't know.. seems like it's already been done a reasonable amount in the first few seasons. Also, potentially a Trinity Killer spin-off? Not to pun it, but that's really overkill. However, following Harrison's story could be intriguing.

Dexter: Origins: Ordered by Showtime, Season Two of Dexter: New Blood in the Works

Get ready to return to the world of Dexter. Showtime has announced an order for a new series titled Dexter: Origins. The prequel will take viewers back in

tvseriesfinale.com

 

[emason]

PBS is a non-commercial network. They do not cut things to fit in commercials because they don't show commercials*. However, the production company cut the show into fewer but longer episodes for US consumption before PBS ever got it.

*let's not talk about Pledge Week, okay?

Of course they show commercials. What do you think all those ‘brought to you by Viking Cruises’ blurbs are? They are ads disguised as sponsorship notices.

If you research the original descriptions of the episodes of Season 1 as shown in England, you can determine exactly what was cut out of the episodes when they were shown in the US. For example, in Episode 1 we see the snuff boxes that Hugh Bonneville’s character collects. Later in the season when the ladies maid and evil footman try to get the valet in trouble once again they mention something about their previous plan not working out. Apparently they tried to frame the valet for stealing one of the snuff boxes, but those scenes were cut by PBS and we the viewers were left scratching our heads trying to figure out what they were talking about.

 

[Bunny Hop]

I liked the first season of Downton Abbey a lot. And then I didn't like it anymore. I thought the writing and the acting was not up to par. Especially the writing. And Mary got on my LAST NERVE.

I think I lasted two and a bit seasons before giving up once I realised I wasn't really invested in what was happening to any of the characters. Completely agree about Mary. Probably didn't help that it was shown on a commercial network here so, whilst they didn't edit anything out as described up thread, they'd take random multi-week gaps every few episodes and it was always getting delayed when the previous program ran late, so it was hard to maintain attention and interest.

Having said that, I quite enjoyed both the movies.

 

[Ananas Astra]

I stumbled over "Toast" on Prime these days and as soon as I recognized Helena Bonham Carter and Freddie Highmore I decided to watch it.
Didn't regret it for a second, the movie is extremely enjoyable, especially if you are into cooking.
8/10 Astras from me.

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

I don’t know where to put this, but are any of you watching this brand new television show that I just cannot get enough of?… It’s called the court trials of Gwyneth Paltrow.


OMG CUCKOOS ON ALL SIDES

 

[Sarah]

Has anyone watched Cardinal? It’s a Canadian show and I think there are 4 seasons (6 episodes each). It’s decent though dark and gritty. I’m currently watching the 3rd season.