Bingeworthy

~ MaryG

What are you watching and/or reading to escape paying attention to the fall of democracy?

My husband and I just started season 5 of “Poldark”—the period drama from Masterpiece. We were watching it in Passport (the PBS app), but Netflix just acquired it, so you can watch it there. Highly recommend (if you like period dramas). I’m a longtime Masterpiece lover, but somehow I missed Poldark when it originally aired. It takes place in the late 1700s, with the main character (Ross Poldark) having returned to Cornwall from Virginia, where he was fighting for the British in “the American War.”

Ross and Demelza Poldark will win you over as they gallop across the cliffs of Cornwall, which look very much like Ireland to me.

Also, we recently read “A Visit from the Goon Squad” (copyright 2010) by Jennifer Egan in my book group. It won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2011, but I had never read it. This genre-blurring book traces the lives of a GenX record-executive and his young assistant across decades of cultural change, interlocking thirteen short stories into a vivid mosaic of time, music, ambition and memory. I liked it so much, I read “the sequel” The Candy House, which came out in 2022. I can’t really explain it, but the term “sequel” is not particularly apt in this case. It’s more of a prequel & futuristic running out of the stories from Goon Squad. Highly recommend if you’re between 50 and 70 years old and find the zeitgeist interesting. Even if you simply enjoy saying the word zeitgeist, I think you will like these books.

Knowing me as you do (😉), please let me know if you have any other recommendations.

Related:

Bingeworthy, part 2

25 thoughts on “Bingeworthy”

  1. I started watching Lucifer the same way I watched Poldark: in bed on my phone while trying to get back to sleep. Poldark did it for me, but Lucifer has now become a guilty habit I sneak an episode of during the day, sometimes. It’s like Sherlock with the devil as the investigator and a scrappy young woman and her ex-husband as the sidekicks. Two actors I like from old shows are on it: the Cylon Six from Battlestar Galactica (she plays God’s vengeful ex-wife) and the principal who Buffy briefly dates and turns out to be in it to avenge his former-vampire-slayer-mother killed by Spike (he is Amenadiel, Lucifer’s angel brother, also stuck on Earth with powers that come and go). Whatever, it’s fun and full of attractive people.

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      2. Much appreciated! My BFF & I had major crushes on Richard Hatch in the original Battlestar Galactica, but I never watched the newer version.

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  2. I really liked Poldark too. Suggestions: Task on HBO, featuring the excellent Mark Ruffalo. A family/crime drama. So good! One of my favorites of the year. The Lowdown with Ethan Hawk. Very quirky crime drama set in Oklahoma. On Hulu. Finally Slow Horses with the excellent Gary Oldman. Quirky spy drama. On Apple. Do you detect a trend? 😉

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    1. Ooo, yes… TASK was so good! Such phenomenal acting and heart, but a few scenes were too violent for me. I’m taping Lowdown on FX (cuz I canceled Hulu). Excited to watch it! I tried a few Slow Horses, but Oldman was just too gross in that for me. Thanks for reminding me about Lowdown. Hopefully not too violent for me…I love quirky! Thank you!!!

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  3. Ooh Poldark, I’ll check this out!! I did watch Season 3 of The Gilded Age, was amazing!! Last night finished The Righteous Gemstones (very weirdly entertaining), and am almost finished the Ed Gein series.

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    1. Loved Gilded Age and We really liked Gemstones too! (Goggins as Uncle Baby Billy especially 🤣) Ed Gein is an idea…but I couldn’t get through Dahmer, so not sure about another serial killer 🤔 thx CJ!

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      1. I think my favourite part of the Gemstone family was that weird dynamic between Kelvin and Keefe, like at the end they made their relationship public but all throughout there were so many innuendos and references yet it just walked a fine line of like are they or aren’t they?!! And Judy was something else lol

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  5. Thanks for the recommendation, Mary. I’m always looking for new shows to watch. I’m currently attached to Nashville, but I like country music. So if you’re not a fan, you wouldn’t like it. What impresses me is all the actors do their own singing and they’re really good. It’s a drama though and makes my life look beyond wonderful. 🙂 Lots of twists and turns, along with some heavy issues. I also liked Nobody Wants This, and season 3 is out, so that’ll be next. It’s fun to get engrossed in a show or movie for an escape from some reality like our country’s drama or world events.

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  6. I have never watched this but should give it a go!

    If you like period Dramas, Outlander is absolutely incredible. The show is amazing, one of my favourites, it was so good I decided to then read the books. However, they are massive (800/900 pages) & there is about 9, so it’s a big commitment. They are really well written so worth a read if you have the time, failing that the show should definitely be on your Binge list 😊

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