Small Screen, Big Impact: Top Three Mini-Series

I have been having a hard time with shows recently. The Netflix, Prime, and Hotstar algorithms have become a bit too tuned to my tastes – with the result that every mini-series or movie seems more of the same thing.

But recently got some nice recommendations from friends and social media, which worked well for me. So, sharing this here in case you’re also in a bit of a viewing rut.

Mare of Easttown

Set in rural Philadelphia, Mare (Kate Winslet) is a police detective battling her personal demons while trying to find the murderer of a teen girl.

This was not a show that was on my radar. I feel pretty burnt out from murder mysteries, but everyone I knew was raving about Kate’s acting, and everyone is right. She is magnificent.

The show tackles generational depression, drug dependency, suicide, and biting, desperate economic hardship alongside the usual thematic dose of missing/dead girl. So, yes, it isn’t a happy watch. But this is a show whose very drabness is riveting. The superbly plotted story, the characters, the setting, and the acting make this a must-watch show.

The White Lotus

This show is a perfect blend of everything I was in the mood for recently. It’s a show about rich people enjoying a luxury vacation in Hawaii’s fancy White Lotus resort. In the very first few minutes, you come to know there is a murder. But who is murdered and why? The rest of the show (just 6 episodes) is a flashback of their vacation building up to the murder.

What I like about the show is the blend of luxury, glamour, and suspense. It was also the perfect antidote after the gritty Mare of Easttown.

I also really like that The White Lotus touches on many serious subjects but not in a preachy way. You can take this show as light escapism or delve deeper into some themes (white privilege, money privilege, and more).

Overall, a fantastic show that I recommend highly to all and sundry!

Clickbait

After a long time, I found something I love on Netflix. I started watching Clickbait a couple of days ago, and if I have to find one word to describe it, it’s addictive.

Unlike Mare of Easttown and The White Lotus, which start slow, Clickbait is addictive from the get-go.

The story chronicles the life of Nick Brewer (Adrian Grenier), who is kidnapped. Afterward, his sister Pia (Zoe Kazan) and wife Sophie (Betty Gabriel) desperately try to find him. After being kidnapped, Brewer appears in a viral video on the internet, holding a sign saying I abuse women. With five million views, I die.

The series has 8 episodes, focusing on a character to assemble the big puzzle of what happened to Nick Brewer.

This is the first series I have watched that covers big ideas about the internet – catfishing, cancel culture, surveillance, etc., in a way that made sense. That said, this isn’t a serious show. It’s Clickbait; you’ll binge-watch it madly, but you aren’t going to remember it as an all-time classic or anything. You may barely remember the plot.

And that’s ok. It entertained me for the time I watched it, and that’s good enough for me.

Have you been watching any shows/movies recently? Which ones resonated with you?