Last Post! (For Now)

So my required blog posts for school are finally coming to an end. I’ve honestly enjoyed being able to pass off Netflix as homework while being able to show you guys some of my favourite series. On top of Netflix I also subscribe to Crave, HBO and use On-Demand/PVR almost every day. So if anyone is interested in my opinions or recommendations of other shows I will definitely write more in the future!

A few of the shows that I have been watching recently include: Game of Thrones, Silicon Valley, Arrow, The Flash, Castle, Bones, Vikings, Orphan Black, The Blacklist, Person of Interest, Men at Work and many others. These series are all currently still running and I usually watch the new episodes on a weekly basis, sometimes it’s hard to keep up! All I can hope for is that television as a medium continues to thrive and the writers are able to keep coming up with new and interesting ideas.

I honestly hope that I was able to expose you to at least one series that you might consider watching. I enjoyed going back and watching the first few episodes of each series as I was writing these and even ended up continuing for a couple seasons longer than I needed.

I always get excited these days when I end up finding a show with multiple seasons I had either never given a chance or heard of which I end up enjoying! There’s always that feeling of wanting more when you end finishing or catching up with a new show.  There are a couple reboot series that I am excited for which have yet to be released. X-Files and Heroes are both getting revisited in spinoff series with many of the same characters from the original casts.  I also heard the Breaking Bad is planning a movie based off the series which should be interesting to see where it picks up and who it based upon.

Anyways I’ll say it again it was fun writing these for you guys and if you ever want me to post more I will!

-Jackson

Fringe

For the most part I’ve been trying to focus on series that most people may not have heard of or just skipped over due to lack of interest. This series I was honestly surprised to find out that not as many people had watched it as I thought. If I could compare it to anything it would almost be a modern day x-files but on a completely different scale. Fringe is one of my favourite series in general not just on Netflix.

Olivia Dunham is an FBI agent who goes through a personal tragedy at the opening of the series but because of it uncovers a series of events falling under the category of fringe science. After asking many questions to her superiors she is eventually transferred to a new division with the specific task of stopping these potentially lethal fringe attacks. As they start to investigate the science behind some of the things going on they are led to Dr. Walter Bishop, one of the most brilliant scientists to have ever lived that had been spending the last 17 years in St. Clair mental institution. Due to his conditions the only way they are able to talk to him is if his son Peter is present. Peter also happens to be a genius but works mostly in the black market and doing private contracting of different kinds. 

At first he is reluctant to return home and see his father, but Olivia eventually convinces him by threatening to let “certain people” know his whereabouts. After meeting with Walter the FBI pushes to have him released into Peter’s custody and reopen his lab at Harvard University. Despite being a genius with a recorded IQ of 192 after spending the better part of two decades in the institution he has definitely gone a little crazy. Even so him and his old lab partner William Bell had worked for the government developing their most top -secret projects all while experimenting with psychedelics and other substance constantly. While Walter was away William had started a company called Massive Dynamic, which has become the most powerful and most advanced company on the planet. Most of the events relating to the pattern trace back to Walter but he doesn’t remember everything and as I said earlier is a little bit off his rocker. Walter being as smart and as crazy as he is Peter most often is the only person that can handle and understand him. To be honest the show is worth watching just to experience Walter’s character and his antics.

Fringe’s story progression through the seasons is perfectly paced and eventually becomes a completely different beast than it had originally started as. The scientific phenomena such as teleportation and telekinesis are what make the plot so interesting and the possibility of it through science is what really intrigued me. If I could elaborate more without ruining the plot for everyone I would but I’m not one to dish out spoilers when trying to get people to watch something. Anyways, I would really recommend this especially if you like or don’t mind science fiction.

White Collar

Meet Neal Caffrey, arguably the best forger on the planet, not just on paper but in multiple mediums that fool even the most qualified experts. On top of his talents of replication he is also a world-class thief and con man. The series opens with Neil breaking out of prison with a James Bond level of suaveness, which you will come to know him for throughout the series. Once he has escaped the camera cuts to Special Agent Peter Burke, incidentally the man who arrested Neal in the first place. It shows him and a bunch of other FBI agents pursuing “The Dutchman” in a bank vault which blows up along with the evidence inside. It is then that he is informed of Neal’s escape and goes back on the hunt for him. His pursuit doesn’t take long and goes to his old apartment where Neal’s girlfriend had moved from just days before. He had three months left on a four-year sentence but upon learning that the love of his life Kate was moving away he decided to escape from a Super-max penitentiary.

 Once Peter catches him he is sent back to prison with an extended sentence; where Neal tries to get released as a criminal informant into Peter’s custody. Before long they accept his deal and recruit him to help them catch “The Dutchman” who is so named due to the fact that every time the FBI gets close he disappears. He is given a radius within New York where he is to wear a tracking anklet and they provided him with a fleabag hotel and money to get clothes at a thrift store. As he is looking for new clothes he meets June who is a wealthy older woman that offers him a guest room and her husbands old wardrobe of vintage rat pack suits. Her husband was also a criminal before he died so she is sympathetic to his situation. 

I know I’ve been saying that many of these series are “new and interesting approaches” to procedural crime dramas but this one definitely still fits that category. Neal uses his knowledge and talents to take down white-collar criminals and usually ends up having to forge or steal something off the books. Even though most episodes will be based around a new case there are many story arcs that involve higher stakes criminal or personal situations. Neal constantly has to suppress his urges to return to his life as a criminal and has many opportunities to pull off a score and run away for good. Despite turning “suit” Neal still has many allies, the most important being “Mozzie” his best friend and partner in crime. Mozzie is the guy behind the scenes that helps with all of the preparation and intel needed to pull cons and commit crimes; which they now use to catch criminals for the FBI (to Mozzie’s dismay). Overall this show has a very intriguing storyline, which will keep you interested through the five seasons available on Netflix.