It’s time to call up that one friend with a netflix subscription, because these 7 shows need a binge and they need it asap. You don’t need to fool yourself any longer my friend because we all know this summer will lead to non other than your beloved screen for another season or seasons of a snacking and deep diving into the world of TV. Grab all your girlfriends for a night in you surely won’t forget if you decide to binge these following shows. Most of them are new releases because let’s face it, we’ve maxed out all the other options during the school year…too soon?
1. The Society
If you are a fan of dystopian dramas, this newly released serious will be of no disappointment. This show takes teen tropes and mixes it in with a dose of supernatural intrigue to create a blend that will keep you on edge, one episode after the other. ‘The Society’ banishes the adults altogether, and slowly anyone but the central teens is also dismissed. At first, the show feels like a superficial high school drama about the popular kids versus the underdogs versus the overachievers. But as soon as their field trip plans go rogue, with no way out or in, the teens of West Ham have to figure out how to live together without imploding under pressure as they unravel the mystery of everyone’s miraculous disappearance. After the initial panic and followed by partying, the characters, begin taking this mystery incredibly seriously. instead of learning how to function as a community, these rich kids are flailing without their Ivy League plans, and no parents to cradle them. Is it a critique of our generation or just a mockery of human behavior? What would you do if you were trapped within one district? Would you feel safe with those surrounding you? Is everything you own sufficient?
2. Jinn
Jinn is one of those shows that despite having beginning quite aggressively, gets more tame the further along you get. Although it draws on the supernatural world to add to the intrigue, it is not the main focus by any means. If anything the supernatural element can be viewed as a metaphor for how teenage problems can seem almost supernatural. Mood changes, awakened passions, naive relationships. All of these start to click when explained through foreign like magic, vampires, and, you guessed it, jinn. This show like ‘The Society’ has a lot to offer in terms of moral dilemmas alongside the turbulent lives of teenagers. So if you find yourself looking for a light-mystery this summer during your girl’s night in, maybe this option is the one for you.
3. When they see us
Taking into consideration the immense dramatization and vivid plotline, this series digs into the heart of racism, the justice system, corruption, politics, media and the general state of the U.S during the late 80s. All the actors deserve to be applauded for their sheer bravery, as I am sure, and soon you will be too, this show was not an easy one to film/ endure. The veterans have given us emotive powerhouse performances, surely to be remembered and revered for years to come. This series has ingenious direction, writing, cinematography, soundtrack, and acting. It evokes every emotion I can think of; from glimmers of hope to crippling sadness, this show has it all. In a cathartic way, it will have you thinking about just how unjust discrimination can be. This series has me thinking perhaps my perspective has been overshadowed by privilege. The fight for social justice continues to this day which is what makes this series resonate and makes it so relevant. It is a nearly flawless masterful dramatic series.
4. Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
This one is a light-hearted comedy that follows a 30-year-old Indiana woman building a new life in New York shortly after her release from the bunker’ in which a self-proclaimed reverend kept her and three others imprisoned for 15 years after leading a group of young girls to believe that they are being protected from an apocalypse…jeez. It should never have worked, yet to their fortune, it did, and brilliantly so, is a testament to the writers or should I say Tina Fey who never fails to deliver when it comes to brilliantly crafted comedies. During the mere four seasons, they intertwined straight and surreal plotlines, pure nonsense and just enough emotions and truth to adhere it all together, while maintaining a comedic plot line so successful that you could be a few rewatchings into an episode before you were sure you’d got all the jokes you missed laughing first time round.
5. On my block
Tough, sometimes nonsensical, but somehow always funny and entertaining, the Netflix comedy-drama ‘On My Block’ seems to be warped in from an alternate reality or should I say an improved version of reality where sitcoms starring people of a multitude of races and color had been allowed to develop on equal footing alongside white ones throughout TV history, and I’m honestly living for it. The series, confines much of its action to a single neighborhood, and mixes foolery, melodrama, and hope to create a tragic sitcom? Its main cast is packed with nerdy high- schoolers and a few ‘rough around the edges’ outcasts, who together form a lecture-like show that delves into the issues of race, ethnicity, social class, and equal opportunity in the U.S, when they aren’t busy getting in and out of trouble of course.
6. You
A psychological thriller like no other, this show will haunt you even days after its ending, or should I say, lack thereof. If you have not yet binged this one, you need to get on it asap! The premise is extremely rom-com like in nature, only that this feeling doesn’t even last five minutes into the plot. It hones in on bookstore manager Joe Goldberg played by the ever so dashing, Penn Badgley. He then falls head over heels in love at first sight with a customer, Guinevere Beck… riveting. The issue is, he will stop at nothing to become her one true love and that’s even before he talks to her, so you can only imagine what follows that notion. From his perspective, stealing her phone, passwords, peeking at her walking around her apartment at night though her giant uncovered windows and following her to Renaissance fairs and kidnapping and murdering her friends is just flirting. The things you do for love!
7. The Good Place
My readers ‘The Good Place’ is a beacon of light and hope, one we all deserve this summer post all the stress of exam season. The sitcom is surprising, meticulously plotted, and hilarious at an extremely high speed. It’s so creative in its own right, that it needed a place on this list. It is, without question, one of the best comedies that explores philosophical and ethical issues as well as entertaining the masses. I realize it doesn’t have a lot of competition in terms of its creative genre, but that doesn’t change the fact that it’s earned the title of an awesome philosophi-com? So, i’ll leave you today with a philosophical question: Does humanity even deserve The Good Place?.