Category Archives: Binge worthy

2021, Abduction, Abuse of Women, Acceptable for teenagers, Addiction, Amputee, Angola, Attempted Murder, Based on true facts, Binge worthy, Bloody scenes, Bureaucracy, CIA, Cold War, Communists, Complicated, Conspiracy, Corrupt Military, Corrupt Politicians, Corruption, Could Be Hard To Watch, Cover-up, Cruelty, DO NOT MISS, Drama, Ethical struggles, Extramarital Affair, FADO songs, False Accusations, False Imprisonment, Family Conflict, Father-daughter relations, Frame someone for a crime, Government cover-up, Historical Fiction, Hostage Taking, International thriler, Invincible villain, Jealousy, Lesbian Theme, Local color, Longsuffering wife, Love Story, Male Chauvinism, Marital Infidelity, Military, Missing Person, Monstrous Father, Mother-son relations, Murder, Murder by poison, Mysterious Disappearance, Netflix Streaming, Nudity, Pianist, Plot twists, Police Corruption, Police cover-up, Political Intrigue, Portuguese, Portuguese History, Portuguese-Angola War, Promiscuity, Puzzling Ending, Radio Free Europe, Rape, Revenge, Russian Anti-USA Scheme, Russian Spy, Ruthless Killer, Sex Scenes, Sexual promiscuity, Spousal Abuse, Suicide, Surprise Ending, Suspense, Tennis, Thriller, Torture, Traitors, Trust Nobody, Unhappy Marriage, Unwanted Pregnancy, Violent, War, Wife Beating, Womanizing, Wrongful Arrest

Glória (2021)

From IMDB:

In the 1960s, at the height of the Cold War, in the small village of Glória do Ribatejo, João Vidal will take on several high-risk espionage missions that could change the course of Portuguese and world history.

From Netflix you can stream the 10 episodes of this Portuguese spy thriller.  Each episode lasts about 45 minutes. In Portuguese and English with subtitles.

RARET is short for portuguese RAdio de RETransmissão (Retransmission Radio).  Think of RARET as Radio Free Europe.  An article in the New York Times suggested this film to me. That article, which is worth reading, begins as follows:

————————————————————————-

Anyone who didn’t live through the Cold War might find the Portuguese Netflix spy thriller series “Glória” improbable.

Deep in the Portuguese countryside, in the tiny village of Glória, a complex radio transmission operation run by Portuguese and American engineers springs up in the 1950s, a branch of a Munich-based news organization called Radio Free Europe.

It broadcasts news and anti-communist messages in languages of various Soviet republics, but, in the show and in real life, that’s only part of its early mission: It’s also a C.I.A. front.

Until 1971, Radio Free Europe was a covert U.S. intelligence operation seeking to penetrate the Iron Curtain and foment anti-communist dissent in what was then Czechoslovakia, in Poland and elsewhere.

João (Portuguese for John) is a Russian spy seeking to undermine the activities of RARET.  Through 10 episodes we watch his masterful deceits while many around him get hurt as a result. To really appreciate the story you might brush up on some Portuguese history such as its imperialism (especially in Angola), the dictator Salazar, and PIDE (the Portuguese secret police).

Because the very ending comes as a complete and puzzling surprise, after finishing the series you can read an explanation.

Do not expect much happiness. But – DO NOT MISS!

2022, Abandoned child, Abduction, Acceptable for teenagers, Arson, Based on a Book, Binge worthy, Child abuse, Child Molestation, Child Social Services, Clever Plot, Complicated, Dark family secrets, Detective, Discussions about Emotions, DO NOT MISS, Failed Mother, Frame someone for a crime, Hopeless Love, Incompetent or unfit mother, Lawyers, Marital Infidelity, Monstrous Mother, Mother-son relations, Murder by poison, Murder Investigation, Parkinson's disease, Personal Betrayal, Plot twists, Prostitute, Psychological Thriller, Psychologist, Revenge, Ruthless Killer, Self-cutting, Self-harm, Shocking Ending, Sundance Now Streaming, Troubled Personality, Wrongful Arrest

The Suspect (2022)

From Sundance Now:

Joseph O’Loughlin has the perfect life: a beautiful wife, a loving daughter, and a successful career as a clinical psychologist. But it all begins to unravel when the police seek his professional opinion about the murder of a young woman. Caught in an increasingly complex web of deceit, Joseph risks everything as he embarks upon a search for a killer.

From Sundance Now (through Amazon Prime) you can stream the 5 episodes of this clever suspense series. Each episode lasts about 47 minutes.

Thanks to my neighbor Terry for introducing me to Sundance Now which currently through Amazon Prime is $6.99 per month after a short free trial.

Someone is killing a series of people.  Although DI Vince Ruiz almost obsessively zeroes in on the psychologist Joe O’Loughlin, you will probably spend all 5 episodes bouncing your suspicions from one character to the next. After many character twists the conclusion is a knock out.

Joining Sundance Now just to watch “The Suspect” is worth the price. Besides, you can cancel at any time.

DO NOT MISS!

2022, Abduction, Acceptable for teenagers, Action sequences, Attempted Murder, Binge worthy, Blackmail, British Politics, Career Competition, CIA, Complicated, Corrupt Politicians, DO NOT MISS, Ethical struggles, Everybody lies, Father-daughter relations, Father-son relations, Friendship, MI-6, Mother-daughter relations, Mother-son relations, Murder, Murder by poison, Netflix Streaming, Plot twists, Political Intrigue, Revenge, Russian Spy, Suspense, Trust Nobody

Treason (2022)

From IMDB:

Adam Lawrence was trained and groomed by MI6; his career seems set. When the past catches up with him in the form of Kara, a Russian spy with whom he shares a complicated past, he is forced to question everything and everyone in his life.

From Netflix you can stream the 5 episodes of this British political intrigue series. Each episode lasts roughly 40 minutes.

Potentially complicated, this series is actually fairly easy to follow. As usual the theme is “you can’t trust anyone.”  Your task is to figure out who is the Russian spy in the British government.  Is Adam Lawrence the traitor?  Who killed the 5 men in Baku?

Be ready for unexpected twists and turns in this binge-worthy British thriller.

DO NOT MISS!

2022, Acceptable for teenagers, Action Hero, Action sequences, Amazon Prime, Ambitious Dirty Tricks, Based on a Book, Binge worthy, Bloody scenes, Career Competition, Chase film, CIA, Cold War, Complicated, Confusing Plot, Conspiracy, Corrupt Military, Corrupt Politicians, Coup, Ethical struggles, Everybody lies, Father-daughter relations, Fist Fight, GRU, Invincible Hero, Murder, Narcissistic Personality, Navy, Personal Betrayal, Physical fighting, Plot twists, Political Conspiracy, Political Intrigue, Politicians, Suspense, Thriller, Traitors, Treason, Violent

Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan (2022)

From Amazon Prime:

In Season 3 of Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan, Jack races against time and across Europe to stop a rogue faction within the Russian government from  restoring the Soviet Empire and starting World War III.

From Amazon Prime you can stream season 3 of the Jack Ryan series. Season 3 consists of 8 episodes. Each episode runs between 45 minutes and an hour.

Continuing in the view of the first two seasons, this series treats us to one action event after the other. Along the way the cast of characters and their loyalties keep changing in possibly confusing rapidity.  Flashbacks are vital in explaining the motives of the various actors in the plot.

Among the many good performance I would award a prize to James Cosmo for his portrayal of Luka Gocharov.

Expect 8 hours of constant excitement and possible confusion.

2021, Binge worthy, Brother-Brother relations, Brother-Sister relations, Cocaine, DO NOT MISS, Everybody lies, Explicit sex, Extramarital Affair, Failing Marriage, Family Conflict, Farm Life, Gay theme, Homophobia, Marital Infidelity, Melodrama, Milk Farming, Mother-son relations, Netflix Streaming, Nudity, Personal Betrayal, Rape Victim, Sex Scenes, Soap Opera, Suicide, Swiss German, Swiss Soap Opera

New Heights [Neumatt] (2021)

From IMDB:

Michi is a successful consultant in Zurich. But a phone call changes everything. His father took his own life. Together with his mother and two siblings, Michi must now decide between his own career or saving the family farm.

From Netflix you can stream the 8 episodes of season 1 of this award-winning Swiss soap opera centering around milk farming in Switzerland. Each episode lasts about 48 minutes. “Neumatt” is the Swiss title for this series which is notable for the fact that the original language is Swiss German.  Season 2 is supposed to be released in spring 2023.

According to Wikipedia :  “Netflix will offer the series in 30 languages and in 190 countries worldwide.” Now is your change to hear Swiss German. Choose from a slew of languages for subtitles.

“Neumatt” is the name of the family milk farm of the Wyss family.  Farming is an arduous, difficult life for which not everyone is suited.  In one of the companies for which I worked there was a fellow employee who grew up on a North Dakota farm. He loathed the life and fled. Similarly in the Wyss family the son Michi and daughter Sarah also fled to other careers while the mother Trudi, son Lorenz (LoLo), grandmother, and father remain on the struggling, almost bankrupt farm.  Is it any wonder the father commits suicide?

Julian Koechlin (Michi) and Marlise Fischer (Trudi) received the Prix Swissperform as “Best Leading Actor” as “Best Supporting Actress” in the first season of Neumatt as part of the 57th Solothurn Film Festival.

Make no mistake, this series is a SOAP OPERA.  But I could not stop watching, no matter how harrowing the lives of the characters became.  And if season two ever comes along, you can be sure I will be there rooting for Michi and Lorenzo.

If you are willing to endure a series that sometimes seems to go on forever, then

DO NOT MISS!

2022, Acceptable for teenagers, Accidental Death, Amazon Prime Brit Box, Based on true facts, Basically Sad, Binge worthy, Bloody scenes, British Drama, British History, British Police, British Politics, Detective, Drama, Ethical struggles, Everybody lies, Family Secrets, Father-son relations, Fight Scenes, Government cover-up, Historical Fiction, Manslaughter, Marital Infidelity, Miners, Miners versus Scabs, Murder, Occasionaly violent, Panic Attacks, Personal Betrayal, Police cover-up, Police Culture, Police Investigation, Redemption, Revenge, Sister-sister relations, Small British village, Suicide, Suspense, Undercover police spy, Undercover police work, Violent, Wonderful acting, Yorkshire Accents

Sherwood (2022)

From IMDB:

Two shocking and unexpected murders shatter an already fractured community leading to one of the largest manhunts in British history.

From Amazon Prime Brit Box you can stream the 6 episodes of this north England series. Each episode is just under an hour.

In 1984 Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher crushed a coal miner’s strike, thereby earning her title of “Iron Lady.”  Hard feelings between the striking miner’s and those who continued to work, so-called “scabs”,  have persisted from then on.  Sherwood is a small town historically associated with Robin Hood.  Of all the town’s inhabitants only one family is a “scab” family.  Striker versus scab is the paramount theme of this series which continually bounces back and forth between 1984 and the present.

Past tragedies involved the  young policemen and miners who now are middle age going on retirement.  One challenge in watching this series is to match the young characters with their present-day versions.

There are three vital subplots:

  • Someone is murdering people with a crossbow. We soon learn who and the police hunt is intense.
  • Andy Fisher inadvertently kills his daughter-in-law and the hunt is on.
  • In 1984 there was an undercover police spy, dubbed the “spy cop”, who incorporated his-or-herself into the community.  Again there is this third hunt to find the “spy cop.”

If you watch much British drama you will recognize many familiar faces. As usual in British drama the acting is superb.  With such an engaging and suspenseful plot you cannot go wrong.

DO NOT MISS!

2022, Abduction, Anxiety Attacks, Arson, Binge worthy, Bloody scenes, Boating, Cocaine, Contract Killing, Corruption, Could Be Hard To Watch, Dark family secrets, Detective, Dishonest father, Divorce, DO NOT MISS, Dog episode, Drama, Drug Dealers, Father-daughter relations, Father-son relations, Frame someone for a crime, Hopeless Love, MHz Choice, Mother-daughter relations, Mother-son relations, Motorcycles, Murder, Murder Investigation, Prison, Psychiatrists, Revenge, Suspense, Swedish, Swedish Crime Thriller, Violent

Gasmaman (2022)

From MHz Choice:

Alexandra Rapaport stars as a suburban mom pulled into the criminal underworld to pay off her murdered husband’s debts.

From MHz Choice you can stream the 8 episodes of Season 1. Each episode lasts about 44 minutes.

Sonja Ek and her husband Fredrik have three children Nina, Gustav and Linus.  Sonja’s brother is Niklas.  Fredrik, Niklas, and their associate Stein have stolen cocaine from a crime boss. Because Fredrik has hidden the cocaine and then been shot dead, the  other two cronies cannot return the cocaine to the crime boss. Sonja is now burdened with appeasing the crime boss. Sonja’s father is also corrupt, which only makes her life more difficult.

There is not a single relaxing moment in this tense Swedish crime drama.  Expect lots of violence. DO NOT MISS!

 

2021, Abduction, Action Film, Anxiety Attacks, Binge worthy, British Mystery Series, Car Chase, Cocaine, Conspiracy, Corrupt policemen, Could Be Hard To Watch, Cover-up, Crime Family, Crime thriller, Detective, DO NOT MISS, Drug Dealers, Drugs, Ethical struggles, Family Conflict, Gay theme, Mother-son relations, Murder, Murder Investigation, Panic Attacks, PBS Masterpiece Streaming, Plot Twist, Police Corruption, Rape, Romance, Ruthless Killer, Suspense, Thriller, Torture, Undercover police work, Violent

Before We Die: Season One (2021)

From PBS Masterpiece Streaming,

Determined to solve her lover’s murder, Detective Hannah Laing persuades one of his confidential contacts to help her. But when Hannah discovers the informant’s identity, she realizes there is far more at stake than bringing the killers to justice.

From PBS Masterpiece Streaming you can stream the 6 episodes of this tense British thriller. Each episode last about 45 minutes.

Lesley Sharp played DC Janet Scott for 33 episodes of “Scott and Bailey” from 2011 to 2016. In 2011 she was 51 year old  In the 10 year span from 2011 to the filming year 2021 she has aged  considerably and to her credit sits for many thoughtful and still screen shots despite the wrinkles.  Brits seem to value the acting skill above any appearance.

In this series Lesley plays  detective Helen Laing and the mother of Christian Radic (played by Patrick Gibson). Her sidekick in an off-the-books investigation of a unscrupulous and violent family of Croatian criminals is Billy Murdoch (played by Vincent Regan). Vincent played DCS Dave Murray in the same “Scott and Bailey) series.

From the very beginning Christian volunteers to be part of the murder investigation by inserting himself into the crime family. In doing so he invites great risk to himself and causes great anxiety for his detective mother.

Season one ends in such a way as to lead into season two. However season one is complete in itself with an almost satisfying ending.  But conspiratorial villains remain undetected.

WARNING:  In the beginning of the story there are scenes of torture (another family  specialty) that are hard to watch.  In the reminder of the episodes there is much tension but no torture.

Tension plus a really clever plot twist at the end make this series a

DO NOT MISS!

2015, Autism, Binge worthy, Bloody scenes, Conspiracy, Controlling personality, Disguises, Divorced Mother, DO NOT MISS, Failed Marriage, Family Conflict, Family Secrets, Father-daughter relations, Gay Bashing, Gay theme, Lesbian Theme, Mother-daughter relations, Muddled biblical references, Murder, Occasionaly violent, PBS Masterpiece Streaming, Personality or religious cult, Physical fighting, Police Investigation, Profiler, Religious fanatic, Romance, Suspense, Swedish crime series, Swedish Detective

Modus (2015)

From IMDB;

During a snowy Christmas season in Sweden, psychologist and profiler Inger Johanne Vik and her autistic daughter both get drawn into the investigation of a number of disturbing deaths.

From PBS Masterpiece Streaming you can stream  the 8 episodes of this Swedish mystery series. Each episode lasts about 45 minutes.

Just because the villain intends to kill multiple victims does not, as I understand the term, make the villain a serial killer. Rather in this well-done series his motive has a homicidal rationality.  But I will leave it up to you to guess for yourself that motive before the profiler Inger Vik realizes what is happening.

Many well-presented characters interact.  Throw a romance into the pot and the result is successful suspense.

DO NOT MISS!

 

 

2020, Acceptable for teenagers, Australian, Binge worthy, Bloody scenes, Brother-Brother relations, Contract Killing, Corrupt policemen, Detective, DO NOT MISS, Failed Mother, False Imprisonment, Friendship, Gangs, Good Brother - Bad Brother, Incompetent or unfit mother, Murder, Narcissist, PBS Masterpiece Streaming, Plot Twist, Sniper, Suspense, Violent, White Supremecy

Halifax: Retribution (2020)

From IMDB:

A sniper is on the loose, as Jane Halifax comes back to the rescue to find the sniper before its too late. 20 years on the race for answers is more important than ever.

From PBS Playhouse you can stream the 8 episodes of this second season of this Australian thriller filmed in Melbourne. Each episode lasts about 45 minutes.

In 1994 Rebecca Gibney, who plays Jane Halifax, starred in the first series consisting of 21 episodes.  This explains the IMDB reference to “20 years”.

In “Retribution” she plays opposite Anthony LaPaglia, who plays a somewhat washed out Tom Saracen.   According to the plot Saracen is on his last legs as an overweight, alcoholic, divorced policeman. In fact Anthony LaPaglia looks horribly unhealthy. But he fits the role perfectly.

At least three plot threads are at play: Jane’s relation with her step-daughter Zoe and Zoe’s mother Mandy;  The appearance of a woman author whom Jane put in jail 20 years ago; Most important,  the effort to discover and capture an intelligent sniper who is on a mission to warn the world about technological mind control.

Fast moving plot,  white supremacists, corrupt policemen, and a capable supporting cast make for an enjoyable ride.

DO NOT MISS!