[List] 7 Netflix Originals While on Quarantine: TheList

Hello everybody!  Welcome to TheList.  Wow! I haven’t done a list in a minute.  For this list, I thought I’d give you some of my favorite Netflix Originals to watch while we are all stuck in the house during this wretched virus.  

I had a couple of criteria for this list.  The first was that it had to be a Netflix original.  Second, I wanted non-anime shows. The reason for this is that not everyone is an anime fan (for some reason).  Finally, I wanted to cover different genres. Let’s get into it!

1. The Umbrella Academy

Released in February of 2019, The Umbrella Academy is based on the comic by Gerald Way.  This eccentric billionaire takes in seven young kids from around the world. All the children share the same birthday and have extraordinary powers.  The children eventually will grow up and go their separate ways. Years later, they return upon their father’s death. Meanwhile, one of the children discovers that the world will end.

The show’s characters are complicated.  You really feel the trauma of growing up in this man’s house.  Also, the villains are fantastic, there are great fight scenes, and a cliffhanger ending.  Season 2 should premiere sometime this year. Make sure you catch up before then.

2. Mindhunter

Mindhunter premiered in 2017.  It is based on the FBI serial crime unit created in the late 1970s.  Two FBI agents (with the oversight of a Boston psychology professor) travel around the country interviewing serial killers.  The goal is to gain some sort of understanding as to what motivates serial killers to do what they do. This is where profiling comes from.

Now how can I say this without sounding like a weirdo?  Serial killers are fascinating. It’s not the horrific crimes, it’s how they get away with it for so long with so many victims.  Mindhunter gives you a gritty deep dive into serial killers and murder. It also shows the impact that examining these crimes have on our FBI agents.  Right now, I’m nearing the end of season 1.

3. Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem, and Madness

You’ve probably already seen the Joe Exotic memes flooding your social media.  The docuseries Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem, and Madness tell the outrageous story of big cat enthusiast/zookeeper Joe Exotic and his beef with so-called big cat conservationist Carole Baskin.

You guys, I do not want to go too much into what happens because it’s a lot and you have to see it to believe it.  But, let’s just say “Murder, Mayhem, and Madness” is the understatement of the century. This story is crazy and gets crazier with every episode.  I’m only on episode 5 (out of 7). But, I already know what happens thanks to season 2 of the podcast Over My Dead Body.

4. Altred Carbon

Altred Carbon premiered in 2018.  The first season is a sci-fi murder mystery in a futuristic world where no one dies.  Season 2 takes place in the same crazy world, except our hero Takeshi Kovacs jumps into a new body(otherwise known as a sleeve) and he’s trying to find his mentor/lover that he thought was dead.

This show has a little bit of everything.  It’s futuristic, full of intrigue, and great fight scenes.  My only thing with this show is that it’s very sci-fi. If you do not like that kind of thing, you may find the show boring.  But if you dig shows like The Expanse or Defiant, I think you will appreciate Altred Carbon

5. The Circle

Ah! My new favorite obsession.  The Circle is a 2020 Netflix reality show that puts eight people to the test in regards to their utilization of a social media platform known as The Circle.  Each player lives in separate apartments and tries to gain favor with the other players. It’s like a social media big brother.

I’m on episode 4 or 5 and I’m hooked.  I already have my favorites (Chris and Shooby) and I’m hoping they make it to the end.  I like that some people are catfishing and others are being authentic, but everyone is at risk equally.  What a great idea. Note: I tried Love is Blind, I didn’t like it. I guess dating shows aren’t my jam.

6. Queen Sono

I don’t know if you’ve ever tried some of the international shows on Netflix, but they are freaking fantastic.  One of them is a show straight out of South Africa called Queen Sono. This show is about a smart, kickass, beautiful spy named Queen.  She is trying to stop a Russian private security mogul from bringing her dangerous business to the continent, and discover who’s responsible for her activist mother’s death.

One thing I loved about the show was that the fighting didn’t seem outlandish or unrealistic.  Also, Queen was a complex character with a complicated past that influences her behavior. It is a slick but raw show that reminded me of one of my favorite blacksploitation films, Cleopatra Jones.

7. The Witcher

Another social media meme sensation is 2020’s The Witcher.  The series is based don the novel, which later became an extremely successful video game.  The witcher tells the story of Geralt. Geralt is a witcher that hunts and kills beasts for money.  He also picks up whatever work he can find along the way.

One thing that is crazy about The Witcher is that Henry Cavil’s Geralt looks and sounds exactly like Geralt in The Witcher 3 video game.  Also, like the video game, the storytelling is phenomenal. So if you want to know why everyone is humming a ditty about tossing a coin to a witcher, watch the show and you’ll find out.

Wrapping It Up

Well, that’s it or my list of Netflix shows to watch.  Next week, we wrap up A Destructive God Sits Next To Me and In/Spectre.  I’m also going to bring you a list of some of my favorite Podcasts produced by Wondery.  I will see you later!