#people actually believing his lies is jason’s favourite form of entertainment

[undertheredhood]

i feel like jason todd is the type of person who would just lie for no reason, and somehow no matter how crazy it is, people just end up believing it

[popcorn-for-dinner]

The 2017 Binges you absolutely have to do before 2018

"The Golden Age of Television". That's a saying you've most likely heard as a description of the current state of TV. It has been used from everyone from TV and Studio executives to that your one friend who won't shut up about how great Master of None is. Whatever your feelings about the term, one thing is for certain, there are more quality shows being produced at an almost daily basis than ever before. So many that it seems impossible to follow the TV landscape while, you know, having a life.

That's why I'm here. I've given up my real life so that you can have one and still watch the best TV. You're welcome. Whether it's your FOMO on all the great TV topics or you're just looking for an easy binge for the Christmas break, I’m going to try and provide adequate suggestions to satiate everyone.

The Weekend binges 

Mindhunter (Netflix)

David Fincher's return to Netflix! This show is based on a book by John E. Douglas, a former FBI special agent and a pioneer in criminal profiling in the FBI’s Behavioural Science Unit.

While the protagonists are fictionalised versions of the actual people, the real attraction of the series lies with serial killers and their interviews with the FBI. The criminals do maintain their real names and are depicted to a chillingly high degree of accuracy, in some cases even lifting actual dialogue from the real life interviews.

A terrific examination of the criminal psyche (a feat David Fincher has shown to be a master at), Mindhunter will have you hooked from the first episode.

You’ll like this if you liked: Zodiac (2007 film), Hannibal, Dexter (probably).

Ozark (Netflix)

Although dealing with a fairly well trodden premise, Ozark manages to elevate itself from the constraints of its premise and deliver an entertaining, gripping season.

There is no mistake though, this is Jason Bateman’s show to shine and shine he does. Wearing multiple hats as star, producer and director of 4 episodes (probably the show’s best episodes), Jason Bateman delivers a complex and entertaining performance as Marty Byrde, a money launderer for a crime syndicate who is forced to uproot his family and move to the Ozarks in order to pay back a debt to the syndicate.

You might believe you know all the tropes of this sub-genre but Ozark has a few surprises waiting for you.

You'll like this if you liked: Bloodline, Breaking Bad.

The Niche binges

I believe everyone should love a great dick joke. A perfectly crafted and executed dick joke can be side splittingly funny as is evidenced by the fact that Silicon Valley’s season one's “optimal tip to tip efficiency" joke  has seemed to take on a life of its own even spawning research papers with actual Stanford approved maths. I however concede that not everyone is as sophisticated as me, which is why I have put these 2 shows in the “niche” category.

American Vandal (Netflix)

American Vandal is really just an almost 5 hour dick joke at its core. It takes a simple, quite ridiculous, premise- someone spray paints 27 dicks on teachers’ cars in the school parking lot and the accused student is expelled. It is a true crime mockumentary but it doesn’t seek to discredit the genre but rather as all great satire does, it pays it homage.

The characters and the show approach this premise with such straight faced seriousness and investigative attitude that it makes the jokes that much more hilarious. Special mention should be given to Jimmy Tatro whose performance drives the show and who turns the “YouTube douche” personality into an art form.

I did find that, beneath all the dick references, well over 1,000 (both visual and verbal), American Vandal tries to say something and if you pause long enough from laughing and figuring out “Who drew the dicks?” you might just hear it.

You'll like this if you liked: 7 Days in Hell, Documentary Now!, Making a Murderer (but yearned for something less deep).

Big Mouth (Netflix)

Following the success of the Simpsons, animation quickly became the go to medium for telling deeply perverse and hilarious stories that could never be written for and performed by real people. But the real successes came in the episodes of Simpsons, South Park, Family Guy etc that transcended their "cartoons tell dirty jokes" gimmick and showed some heart and deft in their storytelling. Big Mouth has lots of heart.

With a stellar voice cast which includes co-creator Nick Kroll. John Mulaney, Jordan Peele, Maya Rudolph and Jason Mantzoukas, Big Mouth manages to tell an insightful, universal coming of age, puberty story while also juggling the fact that two of its main cast are "Hormone Monsters" and it has the ghost of Duke Ellington living in a character's attic. (The show is weird, guys)

You'll like this if you liked: Family Guy (the earlier years) and basically any other R-Rated animated comedy.

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The Snowed-in and cuddle binges

Dear White People (Netflix)

I am a sucker for a good story by and about black people. If such a show manages to deftly attack systemic racism then I'm fully sold. Dear White People however, is more than a guns-blazing attack on racial injustice. Sure, that's the premise by which it starts but as it evolves it begins to say something more on identity, especially Black Identity and all that term entails.

Based on his critically acclaimed film of the same name, Justin Simien manages to improve on his original work in possible every imaginable way. It follows a group of black students at a predominantly white University, as they attempt to negotiate the racial politics and come to terms with their own identities.

You'll like this if you liked: Black-ish and Dear White People (2014 film).

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The Bold Type (Freeform)

It is no secret that there is a paucity of stories about and driven by female characters and what is even rarer are stories that explore female relationships, especially friendships amongst the younger demographic.  Insecure and Jane the Virgin have told some of these stories during their runs and The Bold Type did it incredibly well, under the radar, in 2017.

Through Scarlet, the Teen-vogue like magazine where the protagonists work, The Bold Type manages to address relevant societal issues such as politics, rape, religion and professional ambition while maintaining a "summer-y binge feel to it".    

You'll like this if you liked: Ugly Betty, The Devil Wears Prada (2006 film).

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The Good Fight (CBS All Access)

First of all, for any The Good Wife fan who hasn't seen this already, shame on you. For any non-Good Wife fans though, do not be deterred by the Good Wife link because this show more than ably stands on its own.

Set a year after the finale of TGW, The Good Fight follows the great Diane Lockhart after a financial scam causes her to lose all her savings and she is forced out of her firm. She then joins an all-black law firm that already includes The Good Wife fan favourite Luca Quinn. Rounding off the cast are Sarah Stele (returning as another fan-favourite Marissa Gold), Delroy Lindo, Justin Bartha and Game of Thrones' Rose Leslie.

For Good Wife fans, you don't know how satisfying it is to hear Diane yell "Fuck" until you actually do.

You'll like this if you liked: The Good Wife or any other great legal drama.

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Obligatory Superhero binge

Legion (FX)

In a year where Superhero TV was littered with messy newcomers such as Iron Fist and Inhumans, Legion was such a breath of fresh air. Rising above the genre of "Superhero TV", it was in my opinion, one of the best new shows of the year.

Noah Hawley (creator of Fargo) examines what would happen if instead of being enlightened as to his mutant powers, a very powerful mutant was diagnosed as having schizophrenia. Legion is the son of Professor Xavier in the comics and excluding a few easter eggs and nods, that is where this show's link to the wider X-men universe ends. It is a show that stands on its own and does not require knowledge of the wider X-men mythology to be enjoyed.

Legion and Noah Hawley are much more interested in diving into an examination of mental illness and the various stereotypes surrounding it than they are in fighting a "big bad". It is a very trippy, colourful and awe-inspiring piece of television that is evident right from its excellent pilot. The performances of Aubrey Plaza and Dan Stevens manage to shine through from a group of wonderful performances.

Top Picks

There are few things more satisfying to me than a perfectly told, timely story of import. Unfortunately, in the mad dash to tell an "important" story, especially on cable television, good storytelling has often been pushed aside for either pretension or just sloppy work. Their ability to buck this trend was one of the many refreshing things about Big Little Lies and The Handmaid's Tale.

Big Little Lies (HBO)

The immediate draw to this series (for the non-book readers) is undoubtedly the cast. This highly stacked cast includes the likes of Nicole Kidman, Reese Witherspoon, Shailene Woodley, Laura Dern, Zoë Kravitz, Alexander Skarsgård and Adam Scott, but once the novelty of the cast wears off, the strength of the story will keep you hooked.

Big Little Lies is a wonderfully well written, directed and acted piece of television that approaches some very heavy and important topics with a delightfully nuanced touch. It says a lot to the strength of the several stories told that the murder mystery at the center of the show, while intriguing in its own right, quickly fades into the background. To give any more details would be to spoil what is a very well done show.

Trailer

The Handmaid's Tale (Hulu)

In The Handmaid's Tale's world, fertility rates have plummeted to almost non-existent numbers. This has resulted in the fertile women being kept as personal breeding grounds for the more affluent member of the cult-like organisation that has taken over society.

The Handmaid's Tale holds many mirrors to our current society but perhaps none is more chilling than the straight path that can be drawn from 45's current America to the "dystopian" society predicted in this 1985(!) novel.

The Handmaid's Tale is built on the Emmy-winning performance of Elisabeth Moss and firmly stands as my best show of 2017 and a definite must watch.

Bankole Imoukhuede

@banky_I

[undertheredhood]

random person: are you dating arsenal?

jason has never seen roy as anything but his older brother's friend and is disgusted that people see them as romantic: *makes up an incredibly complicated sob story on the spot about how he and roy are actually cousins whose parents' had a nasty falling out and they were only able to meet each other because jason became robin instead of saying no like a normal person*

random person who now regrets ever asking: you could've just said no, i didn't need to hear your whole life story

(this is in reference to this post, btw)